The Bhakti Thread

[mangalavara]

Mangalavara, is it a Sanskrit poem? If so give me the link. (Well, it could be your own creation)

It was created right then and there by yours truly.

 

[JustGeorge]

JustGeorge, you may have heard about Krishna's Rasa-leela. He danced with many gopis wherein he manifested himself many times so that each gopi got to dance with him. Lord Shiva wanted to participate in this dance. Since it was only for females, he transformed himself into a female form and went and danced with Krishna in Rasa-Leela. This form of Shiva is known as Gopeshwar Mahadev. There is a temple in Vrindavan where Shiva is in this form. Attaching picture. In Gaudiya tradition, he is one of the 5 main deities who can grant a person residence in Vrindavan. He is a guardian of the dham. My guru told me he is capable of granting a person residence in Goloka.

View attachment 96808

Thank you for sharing this!

 

[Aupmanyav]

It was created right then and there by yours truly.

That is why I asked. I have come to know of the bent of your mind to certain extent.

 

[Jainarayan]

So, I composed my own upachara sloka... in Sanskrit (Latin alphabet with diacritics, I still can't read Devanagari).

oṁ śrī kṛṣṇāya namaḥ patram samarpayāmi
tulsi patram idam gruhān bhagavan pritya tav priyam
tulsi devyai yat premnah tav sadā mam bhavatu

Om Reverence to Lord Krishna I offer [to You a tulsi] leaf.
O Lord please accept with love this tulsi leaf.
May I always have [the] love for You that You have for Devi Tulsi.

There are probably a thousand (well, maybe 10) ways to say it, but being that Sanskrit has pretty much a free-for-all syntax, I'm going with it. And I do hope that my little tulsi plant, which is actually doing quite well this time, winters over in the house. We have only a north exposure, so I'm going to need a Gro-Lite. At the previous two houses, She just didn't survive. I think She hates me. She started out so well and thrived over the summers, even turning dark purple. I suspect it was either too dry, and/or too much light, and/or too little light, and/or a water issue. Currently She's all green but growing nicely. When I pick leaves for puja I chant mantras asking for Her forgiveness if I hurt Her. I haven't done a puja specifically for Her, but when She comes in the house maybe I'll wave the incense and flame before Her during puja, as I do with the other deities.

 

[Aupmanyav]

You know Tulsi pujan is the first thing that married women do in India after taking a bath and before they do their usual pujas of deities or any other daily work. Tulsi holds the pride of place in a traditional Hindu home. Tulsi pots come in all sizes, all materials (Clay to brass) in India. I am sure the rich have silver pots for Tulsi.

Tulsi worship in a Hindu home - Google Search

https://www.google.co.in/search?sa=...2ahUKEwjNiu65m-OIAxVInK8BHSL7NeQQrNwCegQIRRAA

 

[mangalavara]

So, I composed my own upachara sloka... in Sanskrit (Latin alphabet with diacritics, I still can't read Devanagari).

oṁ śrī kṛṣṇāya namaḥ patram samarpayāmi
tulsi patram idam gruhān bhagavan pritya tav priyam
tulsi devyai yat premnah tav sadā mam bhavatu

That's a nice accomplishment! Jaya Sarasvati Devi!

 

[mangalavara]

This evening when I went up to the teachers' office on the fifth floor of the building, I noticed there was a small silver picture frame standing on my desk. Inside the frame was a photo of a little boy with very blond hair. Later, when two other teachers were in the office, I asked one of them if she knew who that was in the photo. She laughed and said she didn't know. Then, the other teacher, our head foreign teacher, said that she found it in a box that we use for storing chopsticks and plastic utensils. She said that she placed it on my desk earlier and that they had a good laugh about it. I laughed about it right there. After that, she said that it's a nice little frame and that I could replace the photo with a picture of a Hindu god. I nodded and said that that sounded like a great idea.

About 40 minutes before it was closing time, I got onto the computer, searched Wikimedia Commons for Durgā pictures, found one, resized it, and printed it out. It's too bad that the printer is only black and white because a color printing would have been better. After printing it, I cleaned the plastic cover and inserted the new picture into the frame. Finally, I cleaned part of my desk with lemon hand sanitizer and set the picture there.



Now, I've got to find something to prop it on. I could then set before it a very small plate for offerings (there are very small plates used for very small servings of kimchi, squid, and other foods in Korea).

Has anyone here ever done something similar in an office? I imagine that offices in India and Nepal are filled with little shrines!

 

[JustGeorge]

This evening when I went up to the teachers' office on the fifth floor of the building, I noticed there was a small silver picture frame standing on my desk. Inside the frame was a photo of a little boy with very blond hair. Later, when two other teachers were in the office, I asked one of them if she knew who that was in the photo. She laughed and said she didn't know. Then, the other teacher, our head foreign teacher, said that she found it in a box that we use for storing chopsticks and plastic utensils. She said that she placed it on my desk earlier and that they had a good laugh about it. I laughed about it right there. After that, she said that it's a nice little frame and that I could replace the photo with a picture of a Hindu god. I nodded and said that that sounded like a great idea.

About 40 minutes before it was closing time, I got onto the computer, searched Wikimedia Commons for Durgā pictures, found one, resized it, and printed it out. It's too bad that the printer is only black and white because a color printing would have been better. After printing it, I cleaned the plastic cover and inserted the new picture into the frame. Finally, I cleaned part of my desk with lemon hand sanitizer and set the picture there.

View attachment 97618

Now, I've got to find something to prop it on. I could then set before it a very small plate for offerings (there are very small plates used for very small servings of kimchi, squid, and other foods in Korea).

Has anyone here ever done something similar in an office? I imagine that offices in India and Nepal are filled with little shrines!

That's a great picture, just in time for Navaratri!

 

[Aupmanyav]

This evening when I went up to the teachers' office on the fifth floor of the building, I noticed there was a small silver picture frame standing on my desk. Inside the frame was a photo of a little boy with very blond hair. Later, when two other teachers were in the office, I asked one of them if she knew who that was in the photo. She laughed and said she didn't know. Then, the other teacher, our head foreign teacher, said that she found it in a box that we use for storing chopsticks and plastic utensils. She said that she placed it on my desk earlier and that they had a good laugh about it. I laughed about it right there. After that, she said that it's a nice little frame and that I could replace the photo with a picture of a Hindu god. I nodded and said that that sounded like a great idea.

About 40 minutes before it was closing time, I got onto the computer, searched Wikimedia Commons for Durgā pictures, found one, resized it, and printed it out. It's too bad that the printer is only black and white because a color printing would have been better. After printing it, I cleaned the plastic cover and inserted the new picture into the frame. Finally, I cleaned part of my desk with lemon hand sanitizer and set the picture there.

View attachment 97618

Now, I've got to find something to prop it on. I could then set before it a very small plate for offerings (there are very small plates used for very small servings of kimchi, squid, and other foods in Korea).

Has anyone here ever done something similar in an office? I imagine that offices in India and Nepal are filled with little shrines!

Beautiful. Get a colored image on photographic paper.
Get a silver wire and bend it in suitable shape.
Ideas here: wire bent to make prop at DuckDuckGo

 

[Jainarayan]

Has anyone here ever done something similar in an office? I imagine that offices in India and Nepal are filled with little shrines!

My cubicle at my last job was virtually a shrine. I had picture collages and small brass statues. My Indian coworkers always came by to take darshan. On one bring-your-child-to-work-day one of my coworkers brought her son to my cubicle to show him.

 

[Vinidra]

My cubicle at my last job was virtually a shrine. I had picture collages and small brass statues. My Indian coworkers always came by to take darshan. On one bring-your-child-to-work-day one of my coworkers brought her son to my cubicle to show him.

I wish we didn't share cubicles at my job because I would do this, too!

 

[Jainarayan]

Another one of my overthought questions:

Can I snuff out incense and offer it again, or is it a one and done? I think @Vinayaka once said he and Boss are snuffers. I don’t think he said if they use it again.

 

[Vinayaka]

Another one of my overthought questions:

Can I snuff out incense and offer it again, or is it a one and done? I think @Vinayaka once said he and Boss are snuffers. I don’t think he said if they use it again.

Yes, we use it again. One stick lasts about 6 pujas. Probably the primary reason is that smoke is an irritant during allergy season, and I don't want to spend my entire sadhana coughing and wheezing. My amateur Sanskrit sounds enough like that already.

 

[Jainarayan]

Great, thanks!