Puja question(s)

[Jainarayan]

My puja is pretty short and simple. For those of you who worship and revere several deities and their forms, when you do your puja to your ishta-devata, do you include prayers and sloka-s to those deities? If not, do you recite/chant them at other times, if at all? I tend to think that one's ishta-devata should be the focus of the puja, with worship (prayers to, chanting sloka-s) of other deities done at a different time. I'm just curious what other people do, but I don't want to press anyone for answers since worship is usually a deeply private matter.

 

[Kirran]

Yeah, I do, I chant the respective Gayatris for all the murtis on my shrine, finishing on my ishta.

 

[Jainarayan]

Yeah, I do, I chant Gayatris for all the murtis on my shrine, finishing on my ishta.

That's nice, I like that. I have a booklet, several actually, of sloka-s, gayatris and mantras that I occasionally chant from. I used to do them in my regular puja but it was getting out of hand, i.e. super long. I could pare down my shrine, but then I feel like it's uninviting wedding guests.

 

[Kirran]

That's nice, I like that. I have a booklet, several actually, of sloka-s, gayatris and mantras that I occasionally chant from. I used to do them in my regular puja but it was getting out of hand, i.e. super long. I could pare down my shrine, but then I feel like it's uninviting wedding guests.

Haha, yeah I know what you mean, dropping stuff can feel weird

Do you chant from a script, or do you know the mantras?

 

[Jainarayan]

Haha, yeah I know what you mean, dropping stuff can feel weird

Do you chant from a script, or do you know the mantras?

Both, but for the most part I know them. Some I'm not so good at and have to read. I finally got the entire Mantra Pushpam down. It helps to learn what the Sanskrit means and get the meter right.

 

[Kirran]

Both, but for the most part I know them. Some I'm not so good at and have to read. I finally got the entire Mantra Pushpam down. It helps to learn what the Sanskrit means and get the meter right.

Can't say I know any Sanskrit

But it does flow so much more smoothly when you know the mantras and so on!

 

[Aupmanyav]

I say Shiva I bow to you, Mother Parvati I bow to you, Vishnu I bow to you, Mother Laxmi I bow to you, then Rama Sita, Krishna (which is a bit of a problem) with Rukmini and Radha, Ganesha and Kartikeya, Mothers Durga and Saraswati, Hanuman and then say all other Gods and Goddesses of Hinduism. Remembering each one of them is absolutely essential and that is the end of my puja. I do not chant any mantra, I talk to them. Prose.

 

[Jainarayan]

Can't say I know any Sanskrit

But it does flow so much more smoothly when you know the mantras and so on!

I'm not very well versed in Sanskrit (no pun intended ), but I'm learning as I go along. I can't read devanagari yet, so I find transliterated ones. For the verses and mantras I don't know or am learning, I have to break up the words at what seem like natural breaks.

 

[Kirran]

I'm not very well versed in Sanskrit (no pun intended ), but I'm learning as I go along. I can't read devanagari yet, so I find transliterated ones. For the verses and mantras I don't know or am learning, I have to break up the words at what seem like natural breaks.

Oh man being able to read Devanagari, even as slowly as I do, is very convenient. I'm not really aiming to learn Sanskrit, I have no ambition to. And being Sanskrit, without a strong ambition you probably ain't gonna learn it!

You can often know how things are said more often than not, once you get the feeling of the language and how it flows.

 

[Jainarayan]

I say Shiva I bow to you, Mother Parvati I bow to you, Vishnu I bow to you, Mother Laxmi I bow to you, then Rama Sita, Krishna (which is a bit of a problem) with Rukmini and Radha, Ganesha and Kartikeya, Mothers Durga and Saraswati, Hanuman and then say all other Gods and Goddesses of Hinduism. Remembering each one of them is absolutely essential and that is the end of my puja. I do not chant any mantra, I talk to them. Prose.

That's interesting, because I found something somewhere that lists off the names of Gods and Goddesses in the format oṁ [deity] namaḥ. Basically it's a litany using the nāma japa format for greetings; as you said "I bow to ... ". In fact, it was called Greetings to Deities. I made a little booklet of that too (if someone stands still for too long, I'll make a booklet of them too ).

 

[Jainarayan]

You can often know how things are said more often than not, once you get the feeling of the language and how it flows.

Yeah, that's exactly it. In fact, that's how ancient languages were deciphered. Figure one thing out, then start chipping away at it.

 

[Kirran]

Yeah, that's exactly it. In fact, that's how ancient languages were deciphered. Figure one thing out, then start chipping away at it.

Yeah, that's true. I guess that's how a baby learns a language. If I watch a bunch of Japanese films, I start to pick up some basic Japanese. Same deal with learning from mantras I guess! Although I know mantras in Sanskrit then bhajans almost entirely in Tamil, so it mixes it up a bit!

 

[Vinayaka]

I do Ganesha puja daily, and during that puja offer incense, food, and aarti to Murugan, Siva, and Guru. I would do Siva puja but am not initiated.

Obviously schools and traditions vary substantially.

 

[Jainarayan]

I would do Siva puja but am not initiated.

Well, now that's interesting. All this time I thought Shiva was the focus of your puja.

 

[Satyamavejayanti]

"Jainarayan",

Namaste,

For me Puja always starts with Ganesh, usually with the Vakra Tunda mahakaya Mantra, then to Shiwa with simple Om Namo Shiwaye chants, then Durga with just a chant of Jai Ambe Jai jagdambe mata, then Kali with Jai mata Kali kripalini, - this I keep in this set sequence usually, after that Rama, Sita, Hanuman, Krishna, Murugan, Lakshmi Nama Japa in no particular order.

The Gayatri is always just before the end of daily Puja.

I usually end with OM Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

But there really is no set order of Nama Japa or Mantra, sometimes when lack of time in the mornings i just recite the Gayatri 3 times and ask for forgiveness if i have made any errors.

 

[Aupmanyav]

That's interesting, because I found something somewhere that lists off the names of Gods and Goddesses in the format oṁ [deity] namaḥ. Basically it's a litany using the nāma japa format for greetings; as you said "I bow to ... ". In fact, it was called Greetings to Deities. I made a little booklet of that too (if someone stands still for too long, I'll make a booklet of them too ).

I talk to my deities in Hindi (or sometimes in English) and not in Sanskrit. They understand it. Not even 'Oṁ ( devaya / devyai ) namaḥ'.

 

[Jainarayan]

I talk to my deities in Hindi (or sometimes in English) and not in Sanskrit. They understand it. Not even 'Oṁ ( devaya / devyai ) namaḥ'.

Yes, the gods are beyond language. I like the rhythm of the meters and the sound of Sanskrit. I think it's poetic and musical. When I pray in my own words rather than with sloka-s or mantra-s I use English. My coworker said his wife's Sanskrit is so bad she does puja in Gujarati.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Oh, yes. Sanskrit remains the language of deities. But I do not know their language well.

 

[Bhadr]

I would do Siva puja but am not initiated.

Well, now that's interesting. All this time I thought Shiva was the focus of your puja.

I think he is talking about a specific way of doing Siva Puja but not general Siva Puja as such.
Usually,when a devotee takes initiation a specific method of worship is given or sometimes special initiations maybe required to perform some rituals.For example,in Saiva Siddhanta Sampradaya,priests worshiping in temples have to receive additional dikshas.Virashaivas have an initiation in which they are given a Shivalingam that is to be worn in a casket on the neck always,but Saivas from other traditions don't need to practice this.Recently I read a news article about one western couple who took this initiation,they said they are already devotees of Siva since many years.Now after initiation they'll follow the Siva Puja procedure as taught by their tradition.So only specific kinds of Siva puja require initiation.
.

 

[Vinayaka]

Yes, Bhadr, you are correct. In the broadest sense, any person can do any puja any time. Just as any driver can drive any vehicle, with or without training, or a license, as long as they know a few prerequisites like turning a key, etc.