Post by sarmasastrigal on Sept 12, 2012 15:51:46 GMT 5.5
PANCHAYATANA PUJA
Qn. We are not aware if our forefathers were doing Panchayatana puja. Can we start it now?
Ans. Of course. All smarthas are expected to do this daily.
Panchayatana means literally 5 types of different stones without any particular shape without any formatted figures. It should be taken for the puja as it is, as we get it naturally. These five stones are taken from five different rivers.
According to one sampradaya, this puja involves Lord Siva (baana linga) in the centre, Sun God (spatika) in the southeast, Lord Ganesha (sonapatra or red stone) in the southwest, Ambal (kareeya) in the northwest, and Lord Vishnu (saalagrama) in the northeast.
More recently, a small Vel (spear) of Lord Subrahmanya is being added after Maha Periyavaal blessed and directed the addition to the panchayatana puja in one of his anugraha bhashanas.
The Kanchi seer while saying so also gave an explanation.
“Nowadays it has become rare that brahmins perform aupasana daily. Brahmins are supposed to worship the agni by way of this particular aupasana karma. Since Sri Subrahmanya is a jyothi swaroopam, worshipping of Vel along with panchayathana set everyday may to some extent satisfy this needâ€.
Here I feel it apt to quote a paragraph from “Sankara’s Teachings’ by Sri Atmananda of Sri Ramakrishna Mutt on the subject:
“Adi Sankara instituted the worship of all these five Gods, Sun, Ambika, Vishnu, Ganapati and Shiva all on the same pedestal. This emphasized the idea that these are not five different Gods, but they are the one God worshipped in five different forms in different parts of India. Some wrongly think Sankara taught only Jnana and had no place for Karma. Sankara held that the place of Jnana was all-important but he knew equally well that many could not give up Karma and so they should be taught the most beneficial forms of Karma. Thus it is that the Panchayatana Puja (the worship of five Gods) came into vogue in Smartha homes. The other name for this is Siva-Puja.’’
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NB: Such hundreds of questions and Answers can be found in the boook 'THE GREAT HINDU TRADITION')
Qn. We are not aware if our forefathers were doing Panchayatana puja. Can we start it now?
Ans. Of course. All smarthas are expected to do this daily.
Panchayatana means literally 5 types of different stones without any particular shape without any formatted figures. It should be taken for the puja as it is, as we get it naturally. These five stones are taken from five different rivers.
According to one sampradaya, this puja involves Lord Siva (baana linga) in the centre, Sun God (spatika) in the southeast, Lord Ganesha (sonapatra or red stone) in the southwest, Ambal (kareeya) in the northwest, and Lord Vishnu (saalagrama) in the northeast.
More recently, a small Vel (spear) of Lord Subrahmanya is being added after Maha Periyavaal blessed and directed the addition to the panchayatana puja in one of his anugraha bhashanas.
The Kanchi seer while saying so also gave an explanation.
“Nowadays it has become rare that brahmins perform aupasana daily. Brahmins are supposed to worship the agni by way of this particular aupasana karma. Since Sri Subrahmanya is a jyothi swaroopam, worshipping of Vel along with panchayathana set everyday may to some extent satisfy this needâ€.
Here I feel it apt to quote a paragraph from “Sankara’s Teachings’ by Sri Atmananda of Sri Ramakrishna Mutt on the subject:
“Adi Sankara instituted the worship of all these five Gods, Sun, Ambika, Vishnu, Ganapati and Shiva all on the same pedestal. This emphasized the idea that these are not five different Gods, but they are the one God worshipped in five different forms in different parts of India. Some wrongly think Sankara taught only Jnana and had no place for Karma. Sankara held that the place of Jnana was all-important but he knew equally well that many could not give up Karma and so they should be taught the most beneficial forms of Karma. Thus it is that the Panchayatana Puja (the worship of five Gods) came into vogue in Smartha homes. The other name for this is Siva-Puja.’’
=======================================================
NB: Such hundreds of questions and Answers can be found in the boook 'THE GREAT HINDU TRADITION')
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