Beginner Puja – Day 13 – What can I offer thee?

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

So here we are on Day 13.

First a prayer,” Dear Maa and Swamiji, May I impart the correct

information. May I say only what you would want me to say! May we all

learn together! May it be so! Amen!”

 

Hokay! Here is where we are – we have Shiva in our homes in our hearts

and altars. We have just completed establishing Him on us and

meditated on his form and chanted his mantra. We have become one with

Him.

 

And yet, we take a moment to step back, separate ourselves from the

union and enjoy the duality of beloved and devotee. It seems that

this is the most enjoyable part of the puja. We visualize our beloved

in any form we want – as a spouse, as a baby, as a friend, as a

mother, as a father, as -A BELOVED! Some endearing beloved person who

makes us melt with devotion and love.

 

And that’s what this offering part of the puja is all about … giving

and giving and giving of ourselves.

 

What wouldn’t we give to the person dearest to us?

 

We start off with the offerings.

 

“Om Namah Shivaya paadyam samarpayami” - This means footbath. So take

a few drops of water from the purified water (remember we discussed

this water not too long ago) and gently sprinkle on the deity.

Symbolically, we have washed Shiva’s feet. (Give him a pedicure too,

while you are at it)

 

Next we give him a bath, not just with water but also with so many

ingredients. You can pour all the ingredients on the deity and

collect it at the feet of the deity by placing a plate underneath, OR

you can pour these offerings into a cup reserved for this purpose.

Swamiji pours into a cup, Maa pours directly on the Lingam. So you

have a precedent for any choice you make.

For the purposes of this puja we will refer to pouring into a cup.

 

With “Om Namah Shivaya payah snanam samarpayami”, pour milk into a cup.

 

“Om Namah Shivaya dadhi snanam samarpayami”, pour yoghurt into the cup that holds the milk.

 

“Om Namah Shivaya ghrta snanam samarpayami”, pour ghee (clarified

butter), into the up that holds yoghurt and milk.

 

“Om Namah Shivaya madhu snanam samarpayami”, pour honey into the cup

that holds ghee, yoghurt, and milk.

 

“Om Namah Shivaya sarkara snanam samarpayami”, pour sugar into the cup

that holds honey, ghee, yoghurt, and milk.

 

“Om Namah Shivaya panchamritam snanam samarpayami”, take the cup that

holds the five ingredients from above and offer it once again to the

deity.

 

By offering to the deity, I mean, you would take the item and take it

near the deity, chant the appropriate verse that goes with the

offering, and place it at the foot or neatly arrange near the foot of

the deity.

 

Ok next offering …I mentally visualize a spa, this helps me remember

the order of the offerings in a natural logical way… Shiva has been

bathed in milk, yoghurt,ghee, honey, sugar, and then a mixture of all

the five…. And is now totally moisturized. Now he needs to be washed

off with water. So that’s what we give him next.

 

“Om Namah Shivaya Ganga Snanam Samarpayami” - Oh Goddess Ganga come

and bathe my lord Shiva and make him clean!

 

So now he is clean, and needs a change of clothes.

 

“Om Namah Shivaya Vastram Samarpayami.” Typically, you would reserve a

piece of cloth exclusively for this purpose and offer it everyday. You

could wrap this cloth around the deity as artistically as you deem

fit. Maa takes the cloth and wraps it over the top of the lingam so

that it hangs with equal length to each side of the lingam. Incase

you have a new outfit that you are planning to wear, you can offer it

to the deity with this same mantra before your wear it. Just an idea

to regard everything as His gift to us!

 

Next Rudraksh – “Om Namah Shivaya Rudraksham samarpayami” – I have one

rudraksh that is tied to a string. You could offer one rudraksha or a

rudraksh mala with a certain number of beads whichever is easy for

you.

 

Always remember if you do not have an item for offering; just offer a

drop of water from the pot holding the purified water. Or imagine it

coming from the garden of your heart.

 

Now that Shiva has bathed and dressed and even has jewellery

(rudraksh) on, we focus on his face and see what we can do to enhance

his beauty even more.

 

We offer him a red powder called sindoor. It should be available in your local Indian store.

 

“Om Namah Shivaya sindooram samarpayami” – place it as a dot in the

third eye of the deity. If you have a Shiva Lingam, imagine a face on

the lingam and place it where you would think would be the spot for

the third eye.

 

Then comes Sandalwood. “Om Namah Shivaya chandanam samarpayami”

Take a little of this powder and mix with water to make a thick

paste. Use this paste to draw a small horizontal line over the

sindoor dot.

 

Akshata is next. “Om Namah Shivaya akshatam samarpayami”

Take a few grains of akshat (rice or rice mixed with turmeric) and sprinkle on the deity’s head.

 

Flower garland. “Om Namah Shivaya pushpamalam samarpayami”

Drape a garland (and yes you can use artificial if you prefer) over the deity.

 

FOOD! “Om Namah Shivaya bhog naivedyam samarpayami”

We have decorated Shiva to our hearts content and now we want to

offer the food that we have prepared especially for him

 

And what would you like to drink? WATER! “Om Namah Shivaya panartha jalam samarpayami”

 

Offer him water in a bowl or cup reserved for this purpose.

 

OK!!! We have offered him everything, or have we? Any flowers that we

have left we joyously throw on him and say

“Ete gandhapushpe om Namah Shivaya”

 

Jai Shiva! How we love thee!

 

OK all, any questions? I look forward to hearing from you.

Love

Nanda

[Guest guest]

Dear Nanda,

 

you explained:

> And yet, we take a moment to step back, separate ourselves from the

union and enjoy the duality of beloved and devotee. It seems that this

is the most enjoyable part of the puja. We visualize our beloved in

any form we want – as a spouse, as a baby, as a friend, as a mother,

as a father, as -A BELOVED! Some endearing beloved person who makes us

melt with devotion and love.

 

As I understand it, the journey towards union has taken several steps

during the puja. Separation, however, seems to take no steps at all.

Why do we not have to 'disengage' ourselves and establish divinity in

the object we are going to offer to?

> Ok next offering …I mentally visualize a spa, this helps me remember

the order of the offerings in a natural logical way…

 

Ah, this is very helpful!

> "Om Namah Shivaya Ganga Snanam Samarpayami" - Oh Goddess Ganga come

and bathe my lord Shiva and make him clean!

> So now he is clean

 

do we then remove the cup with the ingredients we just offered and

replace it with the cup with clear water to symbolize that he is

clean? or do we let both cups stay on the altar?

>Incase you have a new outfit that you are planning to wear, you can

>offer it to the deity with this same mantra before your wear it. Just

>an idea to regard everything as His gift to us!

 

Lovely idea and I would want to do that with all new clothes! Just one

question, though: if the garment is too large to place on your altar,

you would just hold it up as an offering and then put it aside. Am I

correct in the assumption that you would not lay anything on the

floor? So you would have to have a little table or somthing to put the

item on? By the way, if you have a new anything, could you offer it to

Shiva before using it?

> We offer him a red powder called sindoor. It should be available in

your local Indian store.

 

If you have a picture of Shiva can you put this on the picture, or is

a lingam preferable?

> FOOD! "Om Namah Shivaya bhog naivedyam samarpayami"

We have decorated Shiva to our hearts content and now we want to

offer the food that we have prepared especially for him

 

Would you offer cooked food (a little bit of what you yourself are

going to have, bread for instance) or fruit/vegetables or is anything

ok?

 

These are my questions for today, I hope I have made myself clear,

 

with love,

Henny

 

 

 

 

 

 

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

ok, some questions, nanda

> “/Om Namah Shivaya paadyam samarpayami/” - This means footbath. So

<snip> deity. Symbolically, we have washed */Shiva/*’s feet.

(Give him a

> pedicure too, while you are at it)

pedicure--are you being funny? or is this an

allusion to some other symbolic thing i don't know?

> “/Om Namah Shivaya panchamritam snanam samarpayami/”, take the cup

> that holds the five ingredients from above and offer it once again

to

> the deity.

my question here is do

we use both hands or just one for this?

> of all the five…. And is now totally moisturized. Now he needs to

be

> washed off with water. So that’s what we give him next.

> “/Om Namah Shivaya Ganga Snanam Samarpayami/” - Oh Goddess

*/Ganga/*

> come and bathe my lord */Shiva/* and make him clean!

>

how exactly do we clean

him?  sprinkle water on or what?

> Always remember if you do not have an item for offering; just

offer a

> drop of water from the pot holding the purified water. Or imagine

it

> coming from the garden of your heart.

noted again

> FOOD! “/Om Namah Shivaya bhog naivedyam samarpayami/”

> We have decorated */Shiva/* to our hearts content and now we want

to

> offer the food that we have prepared

especially for him

what food and where is

it put?

> And what would you like to drink?

WATER! “/Om Namah Shivaya panartha

> jalam samarpayami”/

> Offer him water in a bowl or cup

reserved for this purpose.

is this yet another cup

or the same?

thank you, nanda, for everything.  that's it for now.

--

Be Love,

Berijoy

http://www.egyirba.net