Berijoy's question :- Offerings

[Guest guest]

Berijoy's question :- I am listening and trying to recite as i can

but that is going to take a bit, i think. i have read the english

and love the translation of the meaning. it's lovely. now there are

many things i don't understand in that. in certain places (e.g.,

page 27--it says "yogurt bathghee bathhoney bath" and other

pages have similar things like "red powder,sandal paste,' etc. i

have no clue what that means. can you explain?

 

 

Latha's response :-

 

You are referring to all the offerings that we can give the deity.

In the beginner Puja books these are the following offerings

1) Milk

2) Yogurt

3) Ghee

4) Honey

5) Sugar

6) Panchamrit - literally pancha - five, amrit -nectar - therefore

five nectars

7) Water

8) Cloth

9) Rudraksh

10) Sindoor - ( Red powder)

11) Chandan ( Sandalwood paste)

12) Akshata ( Rice grains)

13) Pushpa mala (Flower Garland)

13) Bhog Naivedya ( Food )

14) Drinking water

 

The first seven offerings are actually offered as a bath to the

deity - meaning you would pour them over the idol if you had one.

But for simplicity sake we could just offer them into a bowl and not

on top of the idol. Just mentally visualize that you are bathing the

deity with these 7 offerings.

 

The first five offerings, you would offer about a spoon of each into

a common bowl, and for the 6th offering , offer the contents that

you have combined (in 1 to 5) to the deity.

 

SO basically,

 

Offer milk (pour into empty bowl)

Offer yogurt ( pour into the bowl that already contains milk from

previous step)

Offer Ghee (pour into the bowl that contains milk & yogurt from prev

step)

Offer Honey (pour into the bowl that contains milk+yogurt+ghee from

prev step)

Offer Sugar (pour into the bowl that contains milk+yogurt+ghee+honey

from prev step)

 

For panchamrit (step 6) - offer the bowl that contains

milk+yogurt+ghee+honey+sugar from prev step.

 

 

Now Sindoor - the red powder - is something you would normally find

in any Indian store and this has to be applied in the third eye of

the deity (between the eyebrows) .You would take a pinch of this

powder and place it as a dot between the brows.

 

 

Sandalwood paste - sandalwood is obtained as a powder or stick in

many Indian stores and has to be mixed with a drop of water to make

a paste. Again apply this as a dot just above the red dot you

applied in the previous step between the brows.

 

Hope that clarified a bit. Please let me know if you have any

questions.

 

Victory to the Divine Mother.

Latha

[Guest guest]

thank you latha for you quick and helpful repsonses. of course it

seems that questions beget more questions.

these offerings- are they required every time the puja is done, and is

the entire puja to be done everyday? that point wasn't clear to me.

also, i don't know if there are indian stores where i am (arizona).

do you know of online sites as well? and what is the idol that you

refer to? would i need to have one of those, and from where would i

find one?

i know i am ways away from performing this ritual, however, i would

really like to know and be able to visualize how it ought to be.

thanks so much for your help.

Be Love,

Berijoy

Pirate Vesta Animal, Keeper of Divine Secrets

http://www.egyirba.net:*``*::*``*::*``*::*

--------------

"Latha Nanda" <lathananda >

Tue, Jul-6-2004 4:20 PM

Berijoy's question :- OfferingsBerijoy's

question :- I am listening and trying to recite as i can but that is

going to take a bit, i think. i have read the english and love the

translation of the meaning. it's lovely. now there are many things i

don't understand in that. in certain places (e.g., page 27--it says

"yogurt bathghee bathhoney bath" and other pages have similar

things like "red powder,sandal paste,' etc. i have no clue what

that means. can you explain?Latha's response :-You are referring to

all the offerings that we can give the deity. In the beginner Puja

books these are the following offerings1) Milk2) Yogurt3) Ghee4)

Honey5) Sugar6) Panchamrit - literally pancha - five, amrit -nectar -

therefore five nectars7) Water 8) Cloth9) Rudraksh10) Sindoor - ( Red

powder)11) Chandan ( Sandalwood paste)12) Akshata ( Rice grains)13)

Pushpa mala (Flower Garland)13) Bhog Naivedya ( Food )14) Drinking

waterThe first seven offerings are actually offered as a bath to the

deity - meaning you would pour them over the idol if you had one. But

for simplicity sake we could just offer them into a bowl and not on

top of the idol. Just mentally visualize that you are bathing the

deity with these 7 offerings.The first five offerings, you would

offer about a spoon of each into a common bowl, and for the 6th

offering , offer the contents that you have combined (in 1 to 5) to

the deity. SO basically,Offer milk (pour into empty bowl)Offer yogurt

( pour into the bowl that already contains milk from previous

step)Offer Ghee (pour into the bowl that contains milk & yogurt from

prev step)Offer Honey (pour into the bowl that contains

milk+yogurt+ghee from prev step)Offer Sugar (pour into the bowl that

contains milk+yogurt+ghee+honey from prev step)For panchamrit (step

6) - offer the bowl that contains milk+yogurt+ghee+honey+sugar from

prev step. Now Sindoor - the red powder - is something you would

normally find in any Indian store and this has to be applied in the

third eye of the deity (between the eyebrows) .You would take a pinch

of this powder and place it as a dot between the brows.Sandalwood

paste - sandalwood is obtained as a powder or stick in many Indian

stores and has to be mixed with a drop of water to make a paste.

Again apply this as a dot just above the red dot you applied in the

previous step between the brows.Hope that clarified a bit. Please let

me know if you have any questions.Victory to the Divine Mother.Latha

[Guest guest]

Berijoy, You are welcome .

 

The offerings are required every time the puja is done - but if you

DONT have the offerings, then mentally visualize it coming from your

heart and offer to the deity. Swamiji says we can get all the items from

the garden of our heart - as what She really wants is to give her

our undivided attention and love.

 

Yes, the puja is to be done everyday and the ENTIRE puja is to be

done everyday. BUT, if you are just starting out and feeling

intimidated with the length , then by all means start small. What

Parvati gave in another post is an excellent way to start and then

expand to include all the parts from the Beginner Durga Puja.

 

Regarding the items obtained from Indian stores, there are Indian grocery stores

in most major metros if you just spend a lil time looking for

them. Maybe someone in this group is from Arizona and can reach you

separately to help you discover a shop in your area.

 

Getting an idol - hmmm lets see. Again, you will need to go to an

Indian store not just a grocery store but one thats likely to have

such idols and artifacts. This is going to be a tough one. Or you

could order an idol online - try to do a search on "Durga idol"

or "Durga murti" on google and see if it takes you to some online

vendor.

 

My humble suggestion would be to get a picture of Chandi Maa and

place her as your deity until you can really get a good idol of your

choice . You could do this by printing the picture that we have in

our homepage on good photo quality paper or requesting for a wallet

size picture when you order your books from

http://www.shreemaa.org/bookstore.htm

 

Hope that answered your questions. If you have anymore, please dont

hesitate to ask them.

 

VICTORY TO THE DIVINE MOTHER !

Latha

 

 

 

 

 

, "Berijoy" <berijoy> wrote:

> thank you latha for you quick and helpful repsonses.  of course it

seems that questions beget more questions.

>  

> these offerings- are they required every time the puja is done,

and is the entire puja to be done everyday? that point wasn't clear

to me.  also, i don't know if there are indian stores where i am

(arizona). do you know of online sites as well? and what is the idol

that you refer to? would i need to have one of those, and from where

would i find one?

>  

> i know i am ways away from performing this ritual, however, i

would really like to know and be able to visualize how it ought to

be.  thanks so much for your help.

>  

>  

> Be Love,

> Berijoy

> Pirate Vesta Animal, Keeper of Divine Secrets

> http://www.egyirba.net?:*``*::*``*::*``*::* 

>  

> --------------

> "Latha Nanda" <lathananda>

>

> Tue, Jul-6-2004 4:20 PM

> Berijoy's question :- Offerings

> Berijoy's question :- I am listening and trying to recite as i

can ?but that is going to take a bit, i think. i have read the

english ?and love the translation of the meaning. it's lovely.  now

there are ?many things i don't understand in that. in certain places

(e.g., ?page 27--it says "yogurt bathghee bathhoney bath" and

other ?pages have similar things like "red powder,sandal paste,'

etc. i ?have no clue what that means. can you explain????Latha's

response :-??You are referring to all the offerings that we can give

the deity. ?In the beginner Puja books these are the following

offerings?1) Milk?2) Yogurt?3) Ghee?4) Honey?5) Sugar?6) Panchamrit -

literally pancha - five, amrit -nectar - therefore ?five nectars?7)

Water ?8) Cloth?9) Rudraksh?10) Sindoor - ( Red powder)?11) Chandan

( Sandalwood paste)?12) Akshata ( Rice grains)?13) Pushpa mala

(Flower Garland)?13) Bhog Naivedya ( Food )?14) Drinking water??The

first seven offerings are actually offered as a bath to the ?deity -

meaning you would pour them over the idol if you had one. ?But for

simplicity sake we could just offer them into a bowl and not ?on top

of the idol. Just mentally visualize that you are bathing the ?deity

with these 7 offerings.??The first five offerings, you would offer

about a spoon of each into ?a common bowl, and for the 6th

offering , offer the contents that ?you have combined (in 1 to 5) to

the deity. ??SO basically,??Offer milk (pour into empty bowl)?Offer

yogurt ( pour into the bowl that already contains milk from ?

previous step)?Offer Ghee (pour into the bowl that contains milk &

yogurt from prev ?step)?Offer Honey (pour into the bowl that

contains milk+yogurt+ghee from ?prev step)?Offer Sugar (pour into

the bowl that contains milk+yogurt+ghee+honey ?from prev step)??For

panchamrit (step 6) - offer the bowl that contains ?

milk+yogurt+ghee+honey+sugar from prev step. ???Now Sindoor - the

red powder - is something you would normally find ?in any Indian

store and this has to be applied in the third eye of ?the deity

(between the eyebrows) .You would take a pinch of this ?powder and

place it as a dot between the brows.???Sandalwood paste - sandalwood

is obtained as a powder or stick in ?many Indian stores and has to

be mixed with a drop of water to make ?a paste. Again apply this as

a dot just above the red dot you ?applied in the previous step

between the brows.??Hope that clarified a bit. Please let me know if

you have any ?questions.??Victory to the Divine Mother.?Latha