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CMDFWShiva Manas Puja

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Shiva Manas Puja

ratnaih kalpitamasanam himajalaih snanam ca divyambaramnanaratna vibhusitam mrgamada modankitam candanam | jati campaka bilvapatra racitam puspam ca dhupam tatha dipam deva dayanidhe pasupate hrtkalpitam grhyatam || 1 ||

sauvarne navaratnakhanda racite patre ghrtam payasam bhaksyam pancavidham payodadhiyutam rambhaphalam panakam |sakanamayutam jalam rucikaram karpura khandojjvalam tambulam manasa maya viracitam bhaktya prabho svikuru || 2 ||

chatram camarayoryugam vyajanakam cadarsakam nirmalamvina bheri mrdanga kahalakala gitam ca nrtyam tatha | sastangam pranatih stuti-rbahuvidha-hyetat-samastam mayasankalpena samarpitam tava vibho pujam grhana prabho || 3 ||

atma tvam girija matih sahacarah pranah sariram grham puja te visayopabhoga-racana nidra samadhisthitih | sancarah padayoh pradaksinavidhih stotrani sarva giro yadyatkarma karomi tattadakhilam sambho tavaradhanam || 4 ||

kara carana krtam vakkayajam karmajam vasravana nayanajam va manasam vaparadham | vihitamavihitam va sarvametat-ksamasvajaya jaya karunabdhe sri mahadeva sambho || 5 ||

Bhakti(Devotion) Through the Ages

Shiva Manas Puja is a beautiful topic. We all perform puja to connect with the Lord. The rishis (sages) have given us various means to connect to the Lord within our heart with respect to various yugas.

In Satya Yuga, the process of connecting to the core was supposedly most difficult. And it required severe tapas (penance). Many of them have done great austerities and acquired boons in search of immortality through existing body, mind and intellect. Hiranyakashapu for example directly asked “let me not die and forever be in this body.” He couldn’t be granted this boon, so he requested another boon but immortality through body is not possible. So Satya yuga had tapas.

In Treta yuga, the processes were yagna, yaga, and havan. Elaborate processes of yagna had meticulous systems. For example different sizes, shapes of yagna kunda were prescribed for different purposes. The mantras (chants) had to be invoked and

Swami Sarveshananda SaraswatiDiscourses held at Chinmaya Chitrakoot Oct. 08 – 11, 2012

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they had seven different kind of flames. A qualified person had to invoke the right flame through the proper mantra using the appropriate materials at particular day/time/positioning.

In Dwapar yuga we have a lot of processes for puja. Predominance of puja was seen in this yuga to get to the core of our being. The puja vidhi (Naradiya Pancha ratra) involves many details. The 16-steps had prior and post steps to be performed! The bell, diva, altar, amrutas etc. are all worshipped even before the 16-steps begin. Then there are punah puja for post-puja activities. These have to be done within certain defined parameters.

In Kali yuga the most effective or simple process is repeating or chanting the name of the Lord. Whether you do with understanding its meaning, or with devotion, just start doing it. Once it acquires the attributes of doing it with devotion and dedication the impact of doing the japa is amazing.

In and through the four yugas, the manas puja vidhi was the secret or the most powerful process, irrespective of what yuga, time, place, you are in; or your qualification – it does not matter. It is a powerful process where the other prerequisites don’t matter as they matter in other puja processes. You can do it during your commute, or during any free time you have. There are no restrictions, no shopping lists, nothing is required. Where you do this process does not matter because you can directly communicate and visualize. This pattern has been followed by great masters since Satya yuga. The most known or greatest devotees of Lord Krishna during Dwapar yuga, were Kunti, Arjuna, Bheeshma. But Bheema was His greatest devotee and his imagination was as big as his size! Whatever he was engaged in during the most desirable corner of his life (cooking), he’d be visualizing Lord Krishna in his heart and he’d perform different steps.

The story goes that once Arjun couldn’t find Bheema. He searched in Rukmini’s palace, Satyabhama’s palace, and many other places, but Lord Krishna was nowhere to be found. As he was stepping out, Narada comes to his rescue. Arjuna asks Narada who then replied that Lord Krishna was tied up in Vaikuntha. Each night Lord Krishna would visit Vaikuntha to receive special puja by Bheema. This seemed a bit odd to Arjuna because he had often seen Bheema sleeping, not performing pujas! Narada recalls how Bheema was constantly performing puja while asleep; and takes Arjuna to Vaikuntha to prove his point. It seems, en route Vaikuntha, all the different things that Bheema had offered in sankalpa were so much in excess that there was a traffic jam in Vaikuntha. Loads of flowers, panchanmruta sent by his manasic sanklapa (mental projections) were actualizing in Vaikuntha as they reached!


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UpasanaSuch a beautiful form of bhakti is called Manas Puja which we can start doing right here right now. There are different names of puja. In Vedic or Upanishadic period there was no word for puja. It was aradhana and upasana. The later Sanskrit we find puja and bhakti. Upasana means to get closest to the lord. Not in the physical sense, but directly transferring the mind to the feet of the Lord rather than letting it run around here and there. Whatever it takes to connect with the lord and take the mind directly to the lord is called upasana. It does not matter what connects us to the lord. Most of us, we really connect to the Lord in times of distress. When things are flowing seamlessly and effortlessly, we may go in front the Lord, but not with connection. It is more like fulfilling an obligation. We go through a checklist – lighting the lamp, agarbatti, etc. in our busy schedules. In our huge homes and shining spaces, we have lots of assigned spaces for specific things – media room, dining room, dog room, etc. But we never assign proper space of God! We place the altar in one inaccessible closet corner. There is no connection. Upasana is to connect to the Lord within, regardless of whether it is a photo or a memory.

Another meaning to Upasana – nikrusta vastu ni utkrushta bhavaha. A photograph for example is a piece of paper with some color pattern resembling someone you know. The paper, color or the conglomeration put together is not your spouse or children; yet through them you connect to. Similarly, all different altars we have, these murtis as idols where I connect to. As soon as I connect, it directs me to the ideal that the idol represents. So connect to whoever is the lord of your heart, … don’t have a dharma sankat wherein the puja altar has so many figures that we are confused whom to worship! Through them we are identifying, but we fear that if we choose one god, the others may get upset! Sometimes we do the entire puja kriya (actions) without even once imagining that we are offering or connecting with the Lord to whom it is being offered. Without the bhavana (emotion), the offering is nothing better than offering to only to a piece of metal or a rock. Puja is meant for being able to connect – your power of imagination helps to connect. That form of God is sitting there right in front of us, alive! That is why first step in many pujas is prana pratishta. Invoke life or Lord’s prana in that murti. Then offer the puja after invoking the lord. However elaborate the process may be, when the connection is missing, it remains only a kriya without any connections.

So what is a puja? Process which takes gross mind to the subtle aspect of divinity. The gross mind is transported to that divinity while shredding its grossness. That act of connecting to the divine is called puja. We can’t get that attitude in one focused point. It is not necessary to sit or be in front of the altar for this. We can use any connecting source that we can relate to; and that source becomes the conduit which takes our mind closest to the divine. But our minds are so untrained that it doesn’t connect even with one focal point! Mind cannot go beyond name and form. Unless it is trained through the name and form to transcend the name and form, puja or aradhana does not find its complete purpose fulfilled. Puja is really a celebration to welcome someone whom you love, like, adore and revere, coming to your house. When such a person is coming, you present yourself and your surroundings in the most beautiful manner. When the Lord himself is being invited, everything is done with that Shraddha (faith) that the Lord Himself is coming to my house and is seated with me in the altar. All my offerings are nothing but the


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best, and a little more than what I can afford. Lord doesn’t expect great things, but offer with the best intentions.

Puja materials can be easily procured. Once we were with Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda ji and a lot of people offer pushpamalas (garlands) to him. A little child came up to him, and Pujya Gurudev knew this girl from the time she was a baby. The girl had created a mala that was just fitting around his head. Other people had beautiful ones created with roses, different colors etc. while this one was like a Greek thing! Later on he removed every mala except this one. Most people had purchased and given him the malas, but this girl had hand-plucked and strung all the flowers together. Her entire heart was seen in this mala. Next time perhaps she’d do a larger one, but her intentions with which she had brought it were so pure. So having that pratima (image) of the lord, and invited Him, how’d you treat Him? Best! Whatever connection you have with the Lord- friend, sakha, father, spouse, whatever form you connect.

Once we were attending a camp in early Jan. in Siddhabari (in Himachal Pradesh). It was very very cold weather, and we had a pada puja for Gurudev. Almost 45 mins of puja, he sat there silently. As soon as the puja was done, he called the priest and informed him “next time can you at least bring room temperature water?” The priest may have been in a hurry and not gotten warm water, but since then whenever I sit for puja, I ensure that the milk and curd are not directly from the refrigerator! Even when we take showers, we never do it with cold water. Not even in summer do we bathe with cold water, so why be so inconsiderate with the Lord? He is Jagadishwara (Lord of the universe), so take care of these small things. Let the items come to a room temperature; remove labels from fruits offered as naivedya. Don’t perform puja without a connection! Do we wipe ourselves with a tissue paper after a bath? No! So prepare adequately – don’t get brand new towels. They don’t soak any water. Wash the towels prior to using.

Naivedya is that food which is offered to Lord. We offer the sweets without even opening the sweet packet! Would you feel comfortable if the seal of a bottle of pickle was not open and you were asked to partake the pickle?

All the thoughts, and the visualization these forms that takes place to connect to that Lord is called puja.

Connecting with the Lord

Can we visualize God as a form? If so, do you know Mr. Suryanarayana? He is tall, bald, black, with big moustache and long whiskers, and constantly chews paan (betel leaf). Do you know him? Poor fellow doesn’t even have teeth. Do you know what naivedya we offer to Sun god? Sankranti, pongal has nicely mashed up food almost like baby food because he has no teeth to chew. Would you be able to connect to someone whom you do not know no matter how well I describe them? That is where we bring in the form of Lord in the idol.

Ved Vyasa without whose presence we’d be lost as a community or culture. We pay our respects to him through Guru Poornima. He realized that the coming generations don’t have the ability to


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remember and reproduce. So he compiled and started writing it down. It was revolutionary. Nobody had up until then documented the scriptures in writing. It wasn’t an easy task for him to write. It was a huge uphill task to convince all existing gurus to explain, convince get their support, and learn all the Vedas to be able to teach to next generations. Have them handwritten, proof read, and train another set of shisyas so that they can learn the recompiled segments and teach them to popularize them with it’s essential meaning given. Mammoth task. 4 Vedas Rg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda. Yajur Veda has 2 parts, Krishna Yajur Veda and Shukla Yajur Veda. Just the Rg Veda takes 12 years to learn (memorize), not even meaning. Krishna Yajur Veda and Shukla Yajur Veda require 10 years each. Sama Veda – 8 years; Atharva Veda – 11 years. So a total of50 years is required to study the Vedas. It is such an intense task. On the side he had Puranas, Upa Puranas, Maha Bharata – 100000 verses! Bramha Sutras contain 550 sutras as essence of entire Vedanta.

Whichever form of God you choose, he has a Purana or an Upa-Purana on it. How can you connect with the Lord if you don’t have any idea about the Lord? E.g. if you love Lord Shiva, you have Shiva Purana. Similarly, we have Devi Bhagawat Mahapurana. for various avataras of Devi; Lord Vishnu and innumerable avataras – Vishnu Purana, Padma Purana, Bhagavatam; Lord Ganesha Purana. Reading through and knowing helps us connect to that Lord. In fact in Ganesha Atharvasheersha the last part mentions certain things Lord Ganesha likes to eat – you may cook the naivedya because you like to eat certain things, but when your guest comes, you usually cook what the guest like to eat. So offer Lord Ganesha the type of food He likes to eat. Or Saraswati Devi – she likes to wear white (Shwetambare devi …) or Ganesha likes red colored; Lord Vishnu likes pitambar color – deep yellow. Laxmi devi always likes to wear pink. Flowers, fruits, upacharas So these upacharas are done in satisfying the specific needs so we get joy in giving what they like the best. To know all of that, Ved Vyasa ji helped us understand each form of Lord – whichever is your Lord. Let the puranas not confuse us. E.g. each purana will show that lord the greatest and other gods constantly running to them for support and help. Don’t get carried away and becoming fanatics. A child saying my mom is greatest, it is comparative analysis. They are not even comparing, not saying that other moms are pathetic, and mine is greatest. It is just expressing love saying that my mom or dad is simply superb. Puranas also cry out with a lot of devotion – that particular Lord is the greatest. It is simply out of love and devotion.

With these different stories, how do we connect with lord, and how do we perform puja? There will be parallel two processes being explained. One explains how to perform the manas puja and secondly, how to perform the physical puja. We will learn both of these through the Shiva Manas Puja which was composed by Sri Adi Shankarachrya.

Whom are we offering to?

ratnaih kalpitamasanam himajalaih snanam ca divyambaramnanaratna vibhusitam mrgamada modankitam candanam | jati campaka bilvapatra racitam puspam ca dhupam tatha dipam deva dayanidhe pasupate hrtkalpitam grhyatam || 1 ||


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There are no limits on imagination - ratnaih kalpitamasanam. Even sky falls short! The devotee Sri Adi Shankaracharya says hey dayanidhe – the embodiment or compassionate incarnate. The compassion or grace of Lord is not something given only to a qualified individual. In fact, His grace is always there. We just have to open the blinds and see the sun shine through our windows! His blessings of heat and light will permeate. Similarly God’s grace is always there for those who want to connect to or benefit from that grace. He is not a sadistic form of God wanting to take vengeance from devotees! God per se is compassionate. Even as parents we find ourselves impatient with our kids. But God is not that way. He is the very incarnation of compassion. O Lord even though I may not have recognized it or basked in your grace so far, yet you’ve provided me an opportunity thinking maybe today or tomorrow may improve and turn eyes towards grace that is already existing! Nidhi is infinite or inexhaustible amount daya – compassion towards pasupate all beings. Pasu doesn’t necessarily mean an animal. It refers to all creatures. He is lord of all creatures. Human beings are also included as creatures – until we don’t realize our true essence or nature or the real nature, we continue to express the animalistic tendencies. Pashyati kevalam iti Pasu – the animals don’t have much intelligent processing. They see and act based on reflexes. To all those who are behaving or living based off of reflexes O Lord you are the pati. You are the dayanidhe. To such one, hrtkalpitam grhyatam Your glorious form imagined in my own heart, I offer unto you and please accept my offerings. Can there really be any worthwhile gift to that beautiful lord who has created the entire creation?!!! It is the power of your imagination and the intensity of your connection with the Lord.

When we do a physical puja, the first thing we do to the murti (idol) is prana pravesha or prana pratishtha. The pandit ji touches the left hand to his heart and the right hand to the murti. O Lord of my heart, I want you to come and be seated in this form. You are inviting the Lord in that form itself in your heart. You begin with Dhyana shloka and visualize the form of the Lord. You just have to visualize the form of linga for lord Shiva, In the physical puja you are invoking and inviting the Lord in a particular form. In the manas puja you are enlivening that form in your own heart and then inviting them to partake in your offereing. Hrtkalpitam grhyatam please partake.

What do we offer?

ratnaih kalpitamasanam– Please come and be seated on this beautiful asanam (seat). It is ratna khachita hema simhasana royal throne made of gold, exquisitely delicately carved with precious stones, diamonds, rubies and emeralds arranged artistically. On that asanam, I visualize a soft textured cloth. Gold is quite hard surface to sit on, so even if it is a golden throne, there should be a soft textured silken velvety tender cloth. On such a beautifully decorated asanam, I invite the Lord and hold His hands and slowly go up and walk Him to the seat. There is a nice shade on the top so that there aren’t any excessive lights. O Lord Shiva, please come down and accept my invitation on this beautiful asanam.


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In a physical asanam, there are limitations on how often you can buy a gold asanam. But in your imagination, each day you can imagine a different design! It is for the Lord of your heart. Sometimes when guests come at home we rush to clean the house and remove all knick-knacks from nooks and corners! But here while I am doing the puja I am prepared to offer you the cleanest and best environment. So clean that the Lord also will notice!

After the Lord is seated, you start doing the pada puja – His feet are nicely placed on the foot rest and you put a plate under His feet. Lord, you must’ve walked on your tender feet this far. Let me wash it with warm water to relax your feet. Clean the entire feet with left hand pouring the water and right hand scrubbing and cleaning. Then remove all the water, take His feet, and with a nice soft cloth wipe His feet clean and place them back on the foot rest. Then you take another bowl full of warm water and request the Lord to wash His hands. Be ready with a towel for Him to clean his hands and wipe His hands softly. Then offer some refreshments – based on season.

Understand the symbolism of Purna Kumbha – there are mango leaves, betel leaves, and then there is a coconut. Traditionally the green coconut with the fiber is offered. There is also sugandhita dravya – sandalwood paste and other things that go in to sanctify, purify and freshen up the water. You wash the athithi’s (guest’s) hands with that water. Then the cocounut water is cut and that cocounut water is given for refreshment. Today it has become only a symbolic gesture – the kalasha, coconut and leaves are presented only symbolically. The purpose of purna kumbha is to offer that tender coconut water as refreshment so that He can quench His thirst after having travelled so far.

Next step is himajalaih snanam ca divyambaram. Lord Shiva loves abhisheka just like Lord Vishnu loves alankara. Soft pitambara cloth, beautiful garlands, in fact Lord Vishnu is called vanamali! He also loves tulasi and chandana all over His body. But Lord Shiva simply loves abhisheka from the fresh waters gurgling out of Himalayas. Then offer panchamruta snanam – people argue that why “waste” all the milk, honey, curd, sugar ghee etc. Instead you can donate it and you can feed the rest. But one should not cut short on this process to feed the rest. Go feed the rest also! There are both scientific and emotional reasons for doing the same.

Scientific explanationMost statues on the altar are made from materials such as marble, granite, copper, silver, gold, panchaloha, sphatika (crystal). When these are installed on the altar, you want that form to continue being there for ages to come by. Most materials externally have a limited tenacity and start chipping off after repeated use over many years. Even your own ornaments wear off after wearing it for so long. So you don’t want the external surface to chip or crack open. It is clearly said in the scriptures that performing abhisheka to the Lord with the panchamruta (milk, curds, ghee, honey and sugar) while cleansing each time have to be offered in the particular sequence. This offering in the particular sequence ensures that the external surface doesn’t chip or crack. This is the science behind it.

Emotional explanation


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Emotionally, these are called amruta tulya. Anything from the cow is considered most sacred. In fact the cow milk benefits the heart and the head. The ghee benefits brain directly and the brain is 77% fatty oils. Amruta provides life sustaining force, so milk, curds and ghee are good. Honey is gathered as the essence from various flowers, so that is the amruta of the entire plant creation. Sugar or jaggery is the essence of all that can be cultivated. Sugar releases into the blood and spikes blood sugar. Experiment with jaggery – it does not shoot up the blood sugar that high. These five are called the amruta and with these five you cleanse the entire form of the lord from head to toe. These ingredients are used even in spas for cleansing. We go to these spas as extreme luxuries and lavishness! Doesn’t the Lord of your heart deserve the best of the best?

After snanam ca (bathing and cleaning) comes divyambaram -we adorn the Lord with beautiful clothes. When we wear, we want clothes to be color coordinated and from head to toe! Even the shade on eyes, lips, bangle color, nail color, flowers, etc. everything has to be perfectly matching. Men also follow similarly – their shoes, socks, shirt, tie, etc. match very well and are coordinated. Sense of fashion is heightened. If you decorate yourself and present yourself so pleasingly, wouldn’t you want to present the Lord such that we just soak into the beauty completely? Provide two-piece cloths, one for the bottom and one for the top ( anga vastra and dhoti). Present the color that the Lord likes. For example, Lord Shiva loves tiger skin. So find that type of design. Else use white cloth for upper cloth. divya ambaram – it is said that once when a Chinese explorer who came in India wrote that the silken cloth made in India was so exquisite that the entire nine yards of the cloth when folded can be put into a matchbox! That’s how beautiful and exquisite the cloth was. Imagine such a best cloth, light yet so beautiful. Offer that type of cloth – after all it is only in imagination!

After the cloth is offered, you offer the yagnopavita, the three-stringed with a knot in the middle. Offer it from the left side of the shoulder going downwards. After that is offered, nanaratna vibhusitam mrgamada modankitam candanam. Here many poets have said that I need not perform this step of the puja. No doubt the ornaments are beautiful, but then it covers the original beauty of the lord. I don’t get to see the Lord’s beauty. So in Siddhabari ashram, Pujya Gurudev purposely installed vanavasi Ram where He did not have any abhushana or decorations, and the cloth was minimal. He wanted to see the complete glow of Lord Rama! But then there are other devotees who plead that may my selfishness not come in way. My selfishness wants to see you in your glowing glorious form. But you like these abhushana, so let me adorn them in spite of how I feel. There is a nice crown for the devas, or for the devis – Chandra chudamani or surya chudamani for jewels and then one more on the hair bun. Then there are connectors to connect all these together! Decorating Lord Shiva is simple. He had all the ornaments on very few occasions (e.g. during His wedding to Parvati Devi.) Else His ornaments are totally different – the arms, wrist, or golden belt, necklaces so beautifully decorated adorned and made. nanaratna vibhusitam studded with beautiful jewels, well made but not gaudy.

mrgamada modankitam candanam. All around Him there is the mrgamada kastoori essence. That is smeared all over His body. A nice tilak is made with chandam on His forehead, and then it is also smeared on His arms, chest, and body. Don’t make it a parade of chandam-kumkum


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everywhere. The tilak should be done properly, not smeared as a blob on His forehead. Make the Lord look beautiful sitting right in front of you! On the chandanam there is kumkum, and on the kumkum there is akshata. Chandanam is put on the hands to cool it down.

jati campaka bilvapatra racitam puspam ca dhupam tatha dipam Beautiful flowers, even of wild varieties – those flowers have a different depth of fragrance. Flowers such as campaka or jasmine, they have outstanding fragrance. Lord Shiva also loves bilva patra. There are many different stories of why Lord Shiva loves bilva patra. It has three leaves, and all put together is bilva patra. It also has many medicinal values such as being good for blood purification, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc. In fact in summer when you crack open the hard shell of the bilva fruit, especially in parts of Madhya Pradesh, they sell the juice made from that fruit because it has the best cooling effect. Every part of the bilva tree is that sacred and that pavitra. As much as tulasi is pavitra for the Vaishnavas, same way, bilva is pavitra for the Shaivas. Lord Shiva loves this bilva patra.

Can you imagine the combination on Lord Shiva with wild flowers and beautiful green leaves? It looks so pleasing to the eyes. On that background of white and green, puspam racitam – different wild flowers that are extremely fragrant are adorned on the top. After that set is done, you change the surroundings around the Lord. You light the lamps, and then at this particular step we offer the dhupam and dipam to illumine the entire space. That also has to be done in a beautiful manner. Sometimes we pull the wick in the oil lamp so long that it has a black soot running all over. Lord won’t like all that black carbon! How should this be done? The light should be so beautiful that it should look like glowing pearls sitting on the edge of the lamp. That is how the flame should be – unflickering. So arrangement should be like this in a tiered layer.

dhupam should not be irritating fragrance. Earlier it was called dashangam, powdered from 10 different sacred herbs. When this combination is lit, even the inhalation of that essence purifies from within. For the longest time it never made sense as to what is the purpose of the light and dhupam at this stage? Then I went to an upscale restaurant in India. The ambiance is so beautiful. You sit on a table and there is a lamp at the table. There is an aromatic essence candle and a little flower bouquet decorated there. Similarly here I offer the dhupam tatha dipam to the Lord and I offer it to the Lord seated in my heart one after the other.

Developing Devotion to the Lord

What good is a mind that is not devoted to God? In spite of enjoying an abundance of fame, beauty and wealth, at such heights that it seems to be beyond the Meru mountain; yet if you haven’t developed any devotion in your heart for the Lord then there is no point of possessing anything. If the heart lacks the devotion for the Lord, the name, fame, beauty and wealth are of no good. Invoke the devotion in our heart by establishing the form of that Lord (whoever may our Ishta deva). Keep that form enlivened while connecting and communicating with that form of the Lord. Whatever may be the tapatraya, relate to the Lord. The tapa (agitations) is at three levels – the Adi bhautika (physically tormented), Adi daivika (mentally and emotionally challenged) and the Adhyatmic levels. On one hand we want to remain balanced and we take


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every effort to be at the core of our own being. However, every effort seemingly takes us away. We appear to jump 3 feet high but fall 30 feet down! We get a burst of sudden inspiration to something for a couple days and then have a big pause! So the real question is how does one develop devotion?

Here Sri Adi Shankaracharya puts it very beautifully. Once you have established the form of the Lord in your heart and you are connected to the beautiful form of your Lord, can there be any moment that a person is not connected to one’s heart? Devotion is constantly enlivened and kept vibrant. We’ve given the asanam (seat), snanam (bath), divyambaram (beautiful clothe)s, nice decorations alankara (gorgeous flowers), dashangam dhupam – a mixture of herbs sprinkled on the ambers to get the wonderful fragrance of herbs. We’ve even offered the dipam, the place is lit with beautiful lamps. In such an environment we repeatedly connect to the Lord who is firmly established in our hearts.

Food Offerings

sauvarne navaratnakhanda racite patre ghrtam payasam bhaksyam pancavidham payodadhiyutam rambhaphalam panakam |sakanamayutam jalam rucikaram karpura khandojjvalam tambulam manasa maya viracitam bhaktya prabho svikuru || 2 ||

Payasam is the naivedya offered to the Lord. Paya means milk, and payasam refers to something that predominantly made of milk. Some people make sweet milk pudding with rice (kheer) and use the pure cow milk – not the 1%, 2% milk! The original milk is boiled and condensed while the rice cooks in it on slow flame. Some even use jaggery and cook rice in it. We offer the payasam made of milk and rice garnished liberally (ghrtam with roasted nuts) including cashews. The ghee is also made from pure cow’s milk. After cooking that on very slow flame, the condensed milk turns pinkish. With flavored rice such as basmati rice, we then pour this in a sauvarne navaratnakhanda racite patre golden bowl beautifully decorated with precious stones. The bowl is also sanctified with ghee and you add the payasam as the main offering.

Bhaksyam pancavidham There are five different kinds of food we take.

Bhaksyam - food which we cook in one particular format, and it goes along with dal, rice, roti, etc.

Bhojyam refers to other side dishes; Choshyam is the food that has to be squeezed and eaten (e.g. mangoes); Lehyam is the food that can be licked and eaten to spice up the mouth and refresh the

palate (e.g. pickle); Peyam is the liquid form of food we can drink (e.g. buttermilk, flavored milk, or panakam,

the special mixture of water, jaggery, spiced with cardamom). These are the five kinds of foods, Bhaksyam pancavidham. Imagine serving all these various kinds of foods along with the usual rice, roti, puri etc. we offer this nice hot meal on the green plain leaf. One


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mahatma once said that dhoopa is brought in so that we don’t taste the food (not even through smell) before it is offered to the lord!

Payodadhiyutam rambhaphalam There are various foods made from milk (payaha), curds or yogurt (dadhi). Rambhaphalam - coconut (narikela phalam) or apples (Kashmir phalam), similarly, rambhaphalam is the kind of banana that is thin layered, yet the fruit is long and handsome. All this has to be placed on the green banana leaf and each ingredient has a special place to be put on the plate. The smaller side of the banana leaf should be on the left hand side because that side is still tender. The right side is the firmer part of the leaf and most of us eat with the right hand. The firm side of the leaf can handle the majority portion of the food. In the front right portion, place the payasam. Serve all other ingredients that are lightly touched during the meal (e.g. pickle, salt, etc.) on the left hand portion along with the tender banana and panakam.

sakanam ayutam - infinite number of fresh vegetables and various kinds of pakvans (delicacies) are also served. Jalam rucikaram – water is flavored with lemon or thin slices of cucumber or roasted jeera.

Usually we chant Om Bhur Bhuva swah for the naivedya and then the mantra to offer the oblations to the pancha pranas (five vital airs). When we breath the air in, it undergoes 49 types of physiological activities due to which the energy burns to produce hunger. Food is therefore directed towards the pancha pranas without whose functioning we wouldn’t have a good metabolism. Even science says that the oxygen goes in when we breathe air in and energy is produced through combustion. Transportation is required for that energy to be redirected. Breath also maintains body temperature in a certain balance. We keep going in and out of our surroundings so fast and the body has to go through a lot of adjustment through the ida and pingala (our nostrils) that open and close to maintain the temperature. Only during the Bramha muhurta (very early morning), our body temperature and pressure is in balance; both ida and pingala are open and mind is focused. Hence it is recommended to do the saadhana or serious studies during this time. These five vital airs do perform different activities to create hunger and thirst. We feed these five vital airs.

After food, the best way to avoid cravings is to rinse mouth thoroughly while washing our hands. That’s why we have the uttara portion, first we wash hands (hastau praskshalayam), wash feet (padau prakshalayam) and then wash our mouth (mukho achamaniyam samparpayami).

Tambulam is a special preparation of betel leaf, betel nuts in numerous varities such as raw or roasted, flavored or sweet, etc. Reverse the betel leaf and remove the veins to that the fibre doesn’t lodge in between our teeth. Then apply a bit of chuna (calcium), add betel nuts, cardmom, cloves, gulkand (rose petals sweetened with sugar syrup) and a small amount of coconut. Fold it in a conical shate and then offer it to the Lord. This cleanses our mouth from any breath issues and Tambulam is offered with dakshina of fruits and money.

Hey Prabho, imagine you wake up daily, take a bath, light the lamp, agarbatti and imagine invoking the Lord in your own heart and start the puja. How beautiful and refreshing is the


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Manas puja! Sky is the limit in imagination. O Lord I am visualizing this and offering it at your feet. tambulam manasa maya viracitam bhaktya prabho svikuru.


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Rest and Recreation

chatram camarayoryugam vyajanakam cadarsakam nirmalamvina bheri mrdanga kahalakala gitam ca nrtyam tatha | sastangam pranatih stuti-rbahuvidha-hyetat-samastam mayasankalpena samarpitam tava vibho pujam grhana prabho || 3 ||

chatram camarayoryugam vyajanakam cadarsakam nirmalamThe Lord has just had a sumptuous meal with delicacies you offered. After an elaborate meal, we need a small siesta to rest and relax. The asanam (seat) provided to the Lord should be big enough for placing nice round pillows on the side. Feet are rested. While you are pressing His feet, one of you can be doing the chatram (round umbrella).In orthodox temples we find this torch like structure with white feathery hair on top. In the Himalayas, a deer called camar

ryuga m was blessed by Lord that it’d always be serving the Lord all it’s life and even afterwards. So all temples have the feathers of this deers’ tail and it is used to fan the Lord. The breeze cools us down when the air passes through. Imagine you as the lead pujari, one family member holding on to the umbrella, and other pressing Lord’s feet while He rests. Then there is some entertainment cadarsakam nirmalam. You’ve just offered this beautifully decorated puja to the Lord, then you take a mirror to show the Lord and ask Him whether He is pleased with the décor. It is as though asking the Lord, “have I done a pleasing job today?” Imagine the smile on Lord’s face and His satisfaction. The devotee will also naturally be satisfied. vina bheri mrdanga kahalakala gitam ca nrtyam tatha – different instruments are fine tuned and sometimes you sing geetams. Sing amazing songs. The Lord loves to listen to Veda mantras, and portions of Rg Veda, Krishna Yajur Veda are chanted. Imagine chanting all these so you can sing them to your Lord. After chanting mantras from the four Vedas, some portions of itihaas (Ramayana and Mahabharata) are chanted. The Lord is Purana priya, He loves the puranas, so chant some puranas to Him. All shruti is chanted and we sing bhajans along with beautiful kritis to the Lord. Offer these and please Him with offerings in various ragas. Some are talented with dance so with accompaniment of vina, bheri, mrdanga all instruments are orchestrated. So Lord relishes and enjoys this music. Then take the Lord in an elephant procession or a horse processing and show your neighborhood surroundings on various chariots.

sastangam pranatih stuti-rbahuvidha-hyetat-samastam mayaWhen the Lord is about to sleep, offer sastangam ( touching eight limbs of our body while prostrating to the Lord.) With hands stretched forward, head to toe lying in front of the Lord. This is only for the men. The women offer panchayana namaskar wherein they kneel down and bend in front of the Lord. This namaskar should be with the bhaav that Lord, I am trying to offer everything I am unto your feet. I offer Tan (body), mann (mind), dhan (wealth) everything I am or I won – into your feet. stuti-rbahuvidha – offer all these steps with an understanding of the greatness and grandeur of the Lord. O Lord, right from invoking You on the asana up until now hyetat-samastam all these different steps maya sankalpena samarpitam I offer these with my pure intense intentions.


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tava vibho pujam grhana prabho Master of everything, Hey vibho please accept all my offering at your feet.

Meditate Upon the Lord

After this step of puja is done, there is one more step after main darshan. We are expected to sit down for few minutes NOT for distributing Prasad and dirtying temple premises, or breaking coconuts, peeling bananas etc. Process is to go in sanctum sanctorum and in most temples the garbha griham or the sanctum sanctorum is not usually well lit. It is dark inside and there are 4-5 lamps inside on each side. After each step of puja, at the end there is aarti done The altar is on a high rise platform and pujari starts with lighting camphor producing bright light. You get the first glimpse of this beautifully decorated feet and the pujari then raises it to the right side enabling us to see the right side of the Lord. Then slowly the light stops at the face for us to admire beautiful form of the Lord. Then the light is shown to the left side and they rotate it around clockwise thrice while chanting mantras. You’ve just grasped and seen the beautiful form of the Lord in the sanctum sanctorum.

When we step out, that part image of the Lord is still fresh in our minds. Let that form be meditated upon in the very premises of the temple. Your process of contemplation and meditation on the form of the Lord is immediately initiated. Right from the time you step out of the sanctum sanctorum, you come out and sit. Close your eyes and think of that form. Offer your stotra stuti to Him and try to mediate and bask in the glorious form you’ve visualized so that it is etched in your own heart. After puja is done you should meditate on the Lord.

In the first three shlokas we saw a beautiful way of worshipping the Lord by invoking a physical form for worshipping and then meditative process of visualizing and doing a manasic puja. There are four potent effects of visualizing the 16-steps of physical puja. Yad bhavam, tad bhavati As we think, so we become.

First we mentally invited the lord, provided the most exquisite beautiful seat made out of gold carvings studded with precious stones and jewels (ratnaih kalpitamasanam). Abhishek Priya Lord Shiva is then offered the abhishek from the Himalayan waters that are abundantly available around Him (himajalaih snanam ca). We also saw the significance of the panchamrtuam snanam. Adorned with beautiful clothes (divyambaram) and beautifully balanced decorations (nanaratna vibhusitam mrgamada modankitam candanam)smeared with chandan (sandalwood) and flowers to adorn Him (jati campaka bilvapatra racitam puspam ca dhupam tatha dipam deva dayanidhe pasupate hrtkalpitam grhyatam). We offered naivedya in a gold vessel (sauvarne navaratnakhanda racite patre) filled with varieties of payasam (ghrtam payasam). Five kinds of foods, namely, bhaksyam, bhojyam, chokshyam, leshyam, and peyam, were offered (bhaksyam pancavidham payodadhiyutam rambhaphalam panakam), beautifully decorated on a banana leaf and organized methodically along with flavored water (sakanamayutam jalam rucikaram). After food, mouth freshner was offered with the tambulam (karpura khandojjvalam tambulam manasa maya viracitam bhaktya prabho svikuru).

After the puja is offered, what kind of meditation should one perform?


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This is very powerful in practice. The bhaav is yadyatkarma karomi O Lord, let me elevate myself to be a devotee in your worship so that each action performed through the body, mind, or intellect, including the actions, emotions or thoughts, may they all be so pure indeed that they become your worship (tavaradhanam). It takes immense effort to raise to that level of devotion. In the field of activity, it is easy to lose the focus on even the purpose for which we started the activity. We often start something but are easily distracted and start doing something else and in effect, we don’t accomplish anything and all tasks are left half done. We see this lack of focus as a pattern of behavior across all ages – from kids to old people. O Lord (sambho)help me to raise to the level wherin whatever actions performed through my body, mind and intellect (yadyatkarma karomi) all of them (tattadakhilam) are pure in thought, word and deed so as to be worthy enough to be offered in your kind of service. What kind of service?

Worshipful Attitude

atma tvam girija matih sahacarah pranah sariram grham puja te visayopabhoga-racana nidra samadhisthitih | sancarah padayoh pradaksinavidhih stotrani sarva giro yadyatkarma karomi tattadakhilam sambho tavaradhanam || 4 ||

atma tvam girija matih - This body of mine is your abode and the sharira is called devalaya. Deho devalaya prktaha jivo sanatana: The body is enlivened with the life force, or spark of life within. This spark is also referred to as the conscious principle which enlivens everything. It isn’t your mind. Your eyes and ears may be open but you are busy thinking of something else. You can clearly make out when someone is paying attention or is already lost in thought! Once you off on a trail of thought, you don’t even realize you are not there. Eyes may be wide open but there could be a glazed look. When the mind is absent, even though eyes may be open, the information doesn’t reach the mind. Even that mind can be controlled, ordained, and directed by the conscious principle. That conscious principle is God. O Lord of my heart, this entire body is your abode. This house has various gates of entry and exit. We have five organs of perception (eyes to see, ears to listen, mouth to taste, skin to touch, and we smell through the nose). We also have five organs of action and together these are the ten gates. Entire body is your house, so how should the Lord’s house be?

It should be a temple or place of worship. It should not just be clean, but it should be sacred and a place of worship in every aspect of it’s presentation. As soon as you enter the altar, the entire space is so serene that you feel like bowing down to the Lord. That is the presence you want to create in everybody’s heart. So when you go to a place of worship and it is not clean, would you even want to step inside? We don’t even feel comfortable if friends drop in when our own house is not clean. We feel awkward to invite somebody in such a house. Imagine the place of worship – it has to be kept clean, sanctified and sacred. You should feel the divine vibrations right as you enter. Similarly for this body to be considered as a house of the Lord, how should you maintain the body? It should be clean in all respects. Lord isn’t a guest, but He lives in this house! External cleanliness should be maintained by keeping oneself clean and pure. Everything we eat or drink to form this body should also be carefully scrutinized. The ingredients should be pure and sattvic because the Lord Himself lives in this body. Don’t eat or drink anything that you know has after-effects. Don’t ruin your body with such intake. Eat things sattvic in nature and


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engage only in pure and natural things. Even processed foods mess up our bodies. The additives in processed foods are very harmful and destructive to the body. Eat sattvic foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Their purity enhances our life. Frozen foods kill the essential life principle. Sattivic foods give us bala (strength) while eating and after eating. They energize us and keep the body in well primed condition. Of course we are also responsible for doing appropriate exercises regularly to maintain the House of Lord.

sahacarah pranah – the breath, the five prana koshas (sheaths) are Lord’s attendants doing various activities for the Lord. The five pranas are Prana, Apaana, Vyana, Udana and Samana.

1. The breath we inhale is called prana vayu and it brings in oxygen in the system. 2. That part of breath which we exhale and which triggers a process of reaction to

remove foreign particles from the human system is called apaana vayu. For example, when the beautiful eyelash falls into the eye, the body doesn’t excuse the eyelash. It doesn’t think “poor eyelash protected me for so long, so let it remain in my eye even though I may be discomforted.” The eye immediately bulges out with tears and until the eyelash is pushed out, the eye is irritated. Similarly, if a foreign particle lodges itself in the body, the body creates pus around it so that foreign particle can be thrown out.

3. Samana vayu maintains the entire body in a regulated temperature and pressure. When it is hot, the body’s natural tendency is to sweat so that it can cool the system. It maintains balance. When it is really cold, it generates heat to compensate and balance. The pressure on average should be 120/80. If it is any less, you feel the world is spinning! If it is any more, then hypertension causes various emotional issues. So the body should be perfectly balanced.

4. Vyana vayu – Once oxygen is gathered in lungs, it has to be supplied to the various parts of the body depending on it’s movement and use so that the cells are energized. Oxygen goes there and produces the burst of energy.

5. Udana vayu – raises Kundalini. Even to have noble thoughts you need udana vayu.

So these pranas are constantly working incessantly to keep the body perfectly balanced and operational.

atma tvam girija matih – You are the Self within and the matih is your shakti (energy). God and His shakti are inseparable. I have the capacity to speak and I can control speech to express myself through speech. But can you separate the speech as something other than myself? This ability is called shakti. Shiva and Shakti are inseparable. The Self has this Shakti. He can remain without expressing the Shakti. We can retail all our Shaktis and just be. But if we have to express, the conscious principle cannot express without the corresponding shakti. Earlier condition was just be. This condition is Just do it. Without shakti you can’t express or do anything. But Shakti and conscious principle cannot be separated from each other. Self within is that Lord and capacities of the intellect or intelligence is matih which is girija (mother Parvati).

puja te visayopabhoga-racana - When I am consciously involving with the world around I ensure I perceive, hear, smell, see all positive around me. We are exposed to all sorts of things – positive, negative and indifferent. As an initial seeker, we’d want to weed out and listen only to


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that which we consider as good. The definition of good is also relative and dependent on time, place and maturity of that individual. When we make a mistake we rarely learn from those mistakes. We repeatedly do it thinking it’d produce a different result this time! But change has to be from within such that mistake has to be stopped. But does life give us the luxury or freedom to have only positive things around us? Everything comes our way. We have to be diligent in receiving good from things that come our way.

In all our interactions at the level of organs of perception and action, all that we should be diligent in receiving positive from it. Sometimes we jump too quickly and decide something is not good. But when put in perspective, we realize there is nothing which is not good or bad. Everything was placed appropriately in making me who I am at this moment! Every experience should be taken with this attitude such that it has been given unto me so that I can step up on it and move ahead in a positive direction. Instead we go oof feeling sad, bad, sorry, or “why me?” We go into loops for which we have no answers. Straighten up and get a grip on your life. Learn to grow from that stage given that it is the unavoidable experience. Take one step at a time and grow diligently. That attitude is the worship of the Lord.

sariram grham puja te visayopabhoga-racana nidra samadhisthitih – O Lord you’ve been running show from the time I wake up till I fall asleep. My sleep is your Samadhi. May you also get little rest. This is out of devotion. If Lord really rests, heart will not pump or enliven! Wherever I travel, whatever I am going around to do, every step is not lying but sancarah padayoh pradaksinavidhih. Circumambulation – wherever I my feet go to do various jobs, all of them are an act of dedication to you alone. Every word I speak living consciously and awarefully, each word is stotrani or hymn to the Lord.

stotrani sarva giro - One of Lord Shiva’s great devotee from Tamil Nadu would chant Shiva Purana daily as a hymn. One day his dad sent him out on a two-day journey and he forgot to carry his Shiva Purana book with him. While he wondered how could he spend day without chanting the Shiva Purana, he had a brilliant idea. He used the entire varna mala alphabets which were there and he chanted each alphabet 1 lakh (100,000) times . He said O Lord, I don’t know all the words or their sequence that go in the Shiva Purana. You know the sequence. I’ve chanted them in excess, now rearrange all that I have chanted and make a hymn for yourself! The extra words are a bonus. Attitude was that all spoken words were the very words which are hymns to Lord Shiva.

Thus yadyatkarma karomi tattadakhilam sambho tavaradhanam – all actions performed, thoughts, words and deeds are an act of dedication as a worship to you O my Lord. To whomever I am serving, whatever I am giving or doing - whether to spoise, children, parents – I am invoking that Lord in my heart. Through every action I remind myself that service to humanity is service to the Lord of Lords. While doing so, inadvertently or unconsciously we lead our lives and do many things unawarefully. Sitting right in front of the lord we have our daily confession as seen next in the 5th shloka.


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Seeking Forgiveness

kara carana krtam vakkayajam karmajam vasravana nayanajam va manasam vaparadham | vihitamavihitam va sarvametat-ksamasvajaya jaya karunabdhe sri mahadeva sambho || 5 ||

We commit two kinds of sins regularly. Everything which creates mental agitations, abrasions within us and others is a sin. What leads to that sin? One, doing what we aren’t supposed to do; and two, not doing what we are supposed to do; both of these are causes of sin.

As human beings, we all have certain responsibilities towards family, parents, children, siblings, neighbors, society, country, nation, humanity, nature, towards the entire universe. We talk a lot of recycling. But see if there is an opportunity to reuse so that we reduce carbon footprint. Don’t even indulge in recycling things. Instead of using paper or plastic bag, carry a cloth bag. Simple tips can help us. You can always wash the cloth bag. Conscious responsible living is not limited only to living with human beings, creatures, plants, but we should act responsibly with everything in creation. We don’t suffer for lack of things, but for abundance of things not knowing what to do with them! So reuse before you recycle.

Do not indulge in things that are prohibited. Be conscious of that. Do what we are supposed to do and firmly avoid doing what we are not supposed to do. Give me clarity on things I am supposed to do and not supposed to do - kara carana krtam (hands/legs) vak (speech) kayajam (body actions) karmajam va sravana nayanajam va - manasam vaparadham done through different organs of perception, action, mind and intellect. O Lord I may have missed something by mistake and sinned inadvertently. Please forgive me in my own mistake of having done this while not living consciously; and don’t consider this as a sin.

jaya jaya karunabdhe sri mahadeva sambho - You are the Lord of compassion, an ocean of compassion. You’ve given me numerous chances so that I could change and improve myself. Let me not waste this chance. May I use it to move towards perfection. Let me carry that inspired heart to constantly improve myself to be next to perfection so that I may be at peace knowing that You dwell in my heart.

Thus this beautiful treat Shiva Manas Puja comes to an end. Composed by Sri Adi Shankaracharya as his dedication to Lord Shiva, we will conclude with the Shanti Mantras.


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