WHAT IS PUJA--WORSHIP?

WHAT IS PUJA-- WORSHIP?

Most of us perform puja mechanically without understanding its real significance! Generally it involves sixteen types of ‘upacharas’ called ‘shodashopachara’.-invoking the deity, offering him seat, water and other needs! Real puja is when we imagine that our chosen deity is present really before us to receive our worship! “ As stone, it is of little value. But, when feeling permeates it, when devotion transmutes it, the stone becomes the Supreme, the treasure of the human mind.” says Sri Satya Sai Baba. The stone or any other material should not be seen as the material stuff of the idol but as “ the principle that is inherent in it, the power that is symbolized by it. It is the same power that is inherent in his own heart and that pervades and transcends all creation.” (SSS 6.4.61) The idol we worship is a way to reach God! It is not the end. It is stone outside but Divinity inside.

Show and ostentation do not constitute real worship. Present to God something ‘clean and fragrant with the perfume of virtue and innocence and washed in the tears of repentance’ declares Swami in his discourse. As Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita, “ Patram, pushpam, phalam, toyam- a leaf, a flower, a fruit, and water, if offered with pure devotion or bhakti, is acceptable for God. The leaf is the body; heart is the flower; phalam or the fruit is the mind; toyam is not the tap or river water but the tears of joy shed under the ecstasy of prayer! In one of his discourses Swami elaborates on the eight kinds of flowers that are dearly needed for the worship of God!  These flowers are not the usual flowers from the garden that fade, lose their fragrance and decay. They are unworthy and impermanent.

Nonviolence is the first flower. Dama or control of senses is the second flower. Compassion to all creatures is the third. Forbearance or kshama is the fourth flower. Fifth is shanti or peace the seventh flower. Tapas or penance is the sixth. Meditation or dhyana the last and the eighth flower is Satya or Truth! Swami says that God will shower his infinite grace on one who worships him with these ideal sacred flowers! God is the bestower of everything for the happiness of humanity. He does not need anything from us. To think that we are giving God something is utter foolishness and ignorance. Whatever is offered with pure love and devotion, he accepts gladly. A morsel of food in the ‘ Akshaya patra’ from Draupadi satisfied Krishna's hunger and that of the entire world as it was full of pure bhakti or devotion! Sudama’s bhakti too was such that Krishna eagerly grabbed the flattened rice and ate it up! “ Bhagavan Baba says  “There should be no artificiality in your attachment to the Lord, no affectation, no pride, no egoism to soil the freshness of the flower you offer.”

Any activity, if suffused with devotion or bhakti becomes sacred. “ A piece of paper is almost a trash; but if a certificate is written on it, you value it and treasure it; ...It is the bhava, thought behind, that matters, not the ‘bahya’, the outward pomp; the feeling, not the activity that is performed. Man does not know the secret of transmuting every act of his life into sacred worship, and so he suffers from disappointment and grief ”. (S.S.S 11.1.66)  Carrying on every activity for God is true bhakti or devotion.It should be an offering to God. “ The relation between a devotee and God is only heart to Heart and Love to Love. By offering jewellery you are making God also a beggar. You should always keep in mind that God is bigger, not a beggar.” remarks Swami in one of his discourses. Mostly we worship God for some personal or private benefit and request His grace. We take a vow that if our desire is satisfied we will offer Him certain things. We  should never bargain with God. He knows what is best for us and shall grant us at the proper time and place! He is the universal mother who knows the wants of every child that he has created! “The joy of having Him is enough reward. This is the secret of human happiness.”

Man has become a worshipper of Mammon,the God of wealth. He worships Lakshmi the goddess of wealth. While worshipping SRI he has neglected HARI. He does not know that devotion to  Hari will automatically bring in SRI or wealth! The lure for money is so great that man goes to any extent to obtain it. It is very difficult to earn money in the world. To save what is earned is more difficult. When it is lost and spent away it becomes most difficult to bear. Then  why should  you earn money, the root cause of all misery in the world says a bhakta! Let us develop true devotion to God and worship Him when all prosperity and happiness shall come by itself!!