Rudri - 7 - The book layout, and .... EXTRA credit

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Thank you Vasantha for your post on Kannappa Nayanar. Linda quipped

- "I'll be traveling with Rudra from now on. : )"

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Linda also asked ..."I am thinking that perhaps there are more than

one, or even two pujas for any diety. And Swami is so organized about

presenting things, I am thinking he translated the other pujas first,

but why? Are they the main pujas for the diety? Or would using the

Rudri as a puja be just as "good" as using the Advanced Shiva Puja

.... or would we use them for different purposes " Yes Linda dear,

you can take a puja to any deity and then lengthen or shorten them

depending on the time. If we use the Rudri as a puja for example (see

below for how we would), we would need to add a few of the components

like offerings to complete the puja. If we use the Advanced Shiva

puja book, we could take

more techniques, like establishing a pot, doing pran pratishta, using

a yantra etc. So we can make it as elaborate or as simple - it is all

upto our time and inclination. Thank you Linda for your questions.

Keep em coming. ==================

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Roman'">Here is the layout of the Rudri book. It is very simple and

has three parts Kushandika - Pages 5 to 30 The core chapters –

Pages 31 to 126 Upasanghar –

Pages 127 to 141. The core chapters, we will look into closely,

starting with chapter 1 tomorrow. But first, here is an overview of

the Kushandika and the Upasanghar. In all the scriptures that

Swamiji has translated, he has always given a kushandika as a

prelude. Remember ‘kushandika’ -comes from kush - to shine; andera -

in the darkness, and this refers to the series of mantras with which

we begin any puja: bowing to Gods and Goddesses, washing our hands

and mouth, purifying the asana, and establishing the bhava

appropriate for worship. The purpose of our worship is to surrender

the ego in the light of wisdom through devoted service of the

Supreme. So all we perceive is

peace, all that is at peace, peace, peace, peace. The Rudri too has

a Kushandika – starting on page 5. It includes all the mantras and

sections that have been previously discussed in our expanded puja

classes by Mata Parvati Saraswati. To review, it includes

FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The opening mantras to all the deities starting

with Ganesh Meditation on the 5 faces of Shiva (Sadhyo Jata, Vama

Deva, Aghora, Tat Purusha, Ishaana ) Welcoming with

Lights/Incense/Camphor Chanting the Savitri Gayatri

0pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2">Purifying the

rosary for worship Offering flowers to the deities Purification of

hands, mouth and asana Establishment of Shiva’s mantra in the ten

directions Taking

the sankalpa for worship Chanting the Shanti Mantras In addition to

the above, which is mostly “standard” to all Devi Mandir pujas,

Swamiji has added in the following

mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2">Meditation on Lord Shiva Kara and anga nyasa

Chanting “Om Namah Shivaya” 108 times. The Upasanghar, starting on

page 127, once again has the meditation on the five faces of Shiva,

the nyasas, the “Om Namah Shivaya” 108 times, followed by the Arati

and pranam. Pretty standard stuff!!! So if you wanted to chant the

Rudri, you would start with page 7 and keep going until page 141 and

hit FINIS!!!

Arial">Since we have already had the expanded puja classes, I am not

going to review those steps here. I request everyone to go through

the Kushandika pages (5 to 30) and post questions if you have ‘em.

Now, for those wanting “Extra Credit” in the Rudri class, here is

something to look at … How does the entire layout of the Rudri look

to you? Do the various parts and the sections within each of the part

remind you of something? A puja perhaps? If you said YES, you are

perfectly correct !!! In fact, in the Kushandika, all that is

“missing” is the purification of water, and also the various

offerings. Had they been there in this book, it would have been a

complete puja. However, you could add them as well and make the Rudri

a complete puja. If you have done Shiva puja for a while, you would

know that since a puja is modular, you could add the purification of

water perhaps just after the sankalpa, and the offerings just after

chanting the “Om Namah Shivaya” on page 30. Please note, you CAN

just chant the text straight through without transforming it into a

puja like I suggested above. I would recommend that if you were doing

so, (chanting it straight through) to atleast light a lamp/candle and

offer incense when you come to that verse on page 10.

10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> Hope the layout of the Rudri, and its

potential transformation into a puja is clear to you. If it is not,

please feel free to ask questions. Om Namah Shivaya Nanda

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