Puja for deities other than ishta-devata

[Jainarayan]

A thread elsewhere on the forums about Thanksgiving got me to thinking. I made a comment about maybe going to temple and spending some time with Maa Lakshmi to express thanks for the good things she does for me. On the other hand I could do a home puja, a variation of my Sri Krishna puja.

I've seen references on other sites to this effect but I'm not sure just what I'd change, except of course the invocation oṁ srī krishnāya namaḥ [.....am] samarpayāmi to oṁ srī mahalakshmyāi namaḥ [.....am] samarpayāmi. Do I still use oṁ srī krishnārpan astu and kayena vaca ... ? I kind of think so, because Sri Krishna says all prayers go to him anyway, and he ultimately grants blessings and answers prayers. I might also chant/recite the Sri Suktam. I have to read it and/or follow an Apple iTunes recording I bought, I don't know it from memory.

I just thought it would be nice to show my appreciation. Thoughts?

 

[Viraja]

Jai-ji,

Few thoughts. Just sharing casually:

1. Isn't it said evolving oneself spiritually is the best gift that can be given back to god? So in that way, I think your pujas are self-sufficient as a form of appreciation of the divine.

2. You might try offering the phala / fruits of labor for your prayer effort on a routine basis to that divine himself/herself. I get this idea from a scholar's writings in his facebook page. He writes that he regularly offers fruits of his fire yagna/homa to Savita or the Sun god, to show his appreciation for Sun's selfless and tireless rendering of duties.

3. There may be specific sankalpa or mantras to show appreciation, I think that 'kayena vacha' verse that is routinely uttered at the end of Satyanarayana Puja might be one such. You might explore on this.

कायेन वाचा मनसेन्द्रियैर्वा
बुद्ध्यात्मना वा प्रकृतेः स्वभावात् ।
करोमि यद्यत्सकलं परस्मै
गुरुवरायेति समर्पयामि ॥
Kaayena Vaacaa Manase[a-I]ndriyairvaa
Buddhy-Aatmanaa Vaa Prakrteh Svabhaavaat |
Karomi Yad-Yat-Sakalam Parasmai
Guru-Varaayeti Samarpayaami ||

Meaning:
1: (Whatever I do) with my Body, Speech, Mind or Sense Organs,
2: (Whatever I do) using my Intellect, Feelings of Heart or (unconsciously) through the natural tendencies of my Mind,
3: Whatever I do, I do all for others (i.e. without the sense of attachment to the results),
4: (And) I Surrender them all at the Lotus Feet of the Supreme Guru.

 

[Vinayaka]

A thread elsewhere on the forums about Thanksgiving got me to thinking. I made a comment about maybe going to temple and spending some time with Maa Lakshmi to express thanks for the good things she does for me. On the other hand I could do a home puja, a variation of my Sri Krishna puja.

I've seen references on other sites to this effect but I'm not sure just what I'd change, except of course the invocation oṁ srī krishnāya namaḥ [.....am] samarpayāmi to oṁ srī mahalakshmyāi namaḥ [.....am] samarpayāmi. Do I still use oṁ srī krishnārpan astu and kayena vaca ... ? I kind of think so, because Sri Krishna says all prayers go to him anyway, and he ultimately grants blessings and answers prayers. I might also chant/recite the Sri Suktam. I have to read it and/or follow an Apple iTunes recording I bought, I don't know it from memory.

I just thought it would be nice to show my appreciation. Thoughts?

I'm sure many of the chants used do change. When priests do homas, and it's dedicated to one deity, lots of stuff seems a bit different. That said, I still think it's mostly in feeling, in your heart, despite how it's done on the physical plane.

As for ishta, I'll just repeat what I've said before, and that's that not all groups really have the concept of ishta ... primarily a Smarta idea.

 

[Aupmanyav]

If you worship any God or Goddess other than your 'ishta', then for that moment the other God or Goddess is your 'ishta'. 'Ishta' means desired. Your mind should be concentrated on the attributes of that God or Goddess. The other God or Goddess would have no jealousy, if you worship your 'ishta' before or after that puja. Hindu Gods and Goddesses are not possessive and exclusive. See the meaning of 'ishta' here: Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit

 

[Jainarayan]

Thanks guys, that all makes sense!

 

[Shantanu]

If you worship any God or Goddess other than your 'ishta', then for that moment the other God or Goddess is your 'ishta'. 'Ishta' means desired. Your mind should be concentrated on the attributes of that God or Goddess. The other God or Goddess would have no jealousy, if you worship your 'ishta' before or after that puja. Hindu Gods and Goddesses are not possessive and exclusive. See the meaning of 'ishta' here: Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit

Well Aup, God is God: acknowledging a higher power whatever name that comes with. I have my favourite name: which is Sri Krishna, but who knows whether it should not be called Allah or Jesus, or Brahma or Vishnu. These are human religions. I do not have a religion I am a satya-advaitist.

 

[Aupmanyav]

You live in Vyavaharika but you are disregarding it. Your choice.

 

[Shantanu]

You live in Vyavaharika but you are disregarding it. Your choice.

Have you considered that someone has to ask God by what name He should be known and then God has to answer that question?

 

[Aupmanyav]

There are so many Gods and Goddesses and we know them from time eternal. What do you need to ask them?

 

[Shantanu]

There are so many Gods and Goddesses and we know them from time eternal. What do you need to ask them?

What I am saying is that we humans give these names to gods and goddesses and we never asked their permission to call them by those names because no one has ever written how they came across those names, even from the time of the Vedas. It is assumed that these names arose as revelations from the deities but we cannot know that for sure can we?. I have never seen anywhere written how one communicates with the gods or the Supreme God even. Of course I found a way of communicating with a deity that I have assumed to be Sri Krishna using a digital clock. But who will accept that as proof of God speaking to me?

 

[Aupmanyav]

Just as you know Sri Krishna, the other people know their Gods or Goddesses in their own ways.

 

[Shantanu]

God exists but does His own thing: it is not for any humans to be concerned about. Humans should only concern themselves with survival issues, and see God when these issues have been sorted out. One should perform darshan when free from worldly affairs.