Poojas at Home or temples ?

[Ravi Mayavaram]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Poojas at Home or temples ?
Date: Sat, 08 Jul 2000 20:23:26 +0530
From: elmec <elmec at giasbg01.vsnl.net.in>
To: Ravi <msr at comco.com>, Ravisankar Mayavaram <miinalochanii at yahoo.com>

Hari Om,
The following message that I sent to the list was rejected saying that
the "elmec" address of mine is not valid. Can you please forward this
message to the List ? Sorry to bother you.

Regards,
latha vidyaranya

************************************************************

Hari Om,

My pranaams to all the list members.

Worshipping god is an obligatory function of every person. To obtain the

main objectives of life like Dharma, Artha,  Kaama and Moksha - the
chaturvidha purusharthas, God's grace is necessary. To obtain His grace
one should perform pooja which is a Nitya Karma for every Brahmin. By
this the Paapa karmas or the effects of bad deeds done in ones janma,
either this birth or the previous ones, are  annihilated. This purifies
the antahkarana and paves way for attaining jnaana.

The pooja mantras are the vaidhik mantras which are found in our Vedas
which were given to us by the Rishis of yore.Each letter and each
syllable in the mantras are full of hidden energy which are released
when uttered with true devotion. The sound energy gets transformed into
electromagnetic waves which in turn cleanses the whole atmosphere. The
chanting of mantras develop devotion and concentration of mind and has a

very soothing effect on the listener too. It envelops one with an
inexplicable pleasantness, reducing tension and procuring peace of mind.

When such advantages are cited it is but benefitial to perform poojas at

ones own place. The silence and solitude that one gets at home can not
be found in temples.The elders when perform poojas at home will be
setting a live example to the kids at home to follow who will inturn get

a chance to imbibe our culture and tradition. But now a days it is a
very sad trend that people think that those who perform  poojas are old
fashioned and are not modern in their out look. Even those people who
are ready to spend lakhs of rupees to build palacial bungalows for
themselves think it unnecessary to build a seperate pooja room to the
god who has showered all the prosperity upon them ! They think it is
sufficient to keep Him in a remote corner of the kitchen and light an
electric lamp for him !!

On the other hand, the poojas performed at temples are for the welfare
of the whole community and the good of all the people . When people
gather together in temples and perform aarathis and bhajans, there is a
distinctive advantage of inspiring the whole community to involve in
good deeds. The different occasions like consecrating the temple or the
icons installed in it and the annual Car festival ( Rathothsava ) etc
are a time of joy and merriment to the young and the old alike. The mass

feeding that takes place on such occasions procure merits to the
sponsorers. The big occasions like above involve the services of so many

people that it develops a sense of cooperation and good will among the
people of the community. Petty quarrels and differences are forgotten
and people join in with enthusiasm to make the occasion a grand success.

Those who are financially well off can donate generously towards these
poojas and yagnas  and will be blessed with long life, continuance of
their lineage and also aquire celebrity. The society on the whole is
blessed with prosperity and conditions like drought and famine are
eliminated. People also believe that by propitiating certain dieties or
devis in temples the epidemics like cholera, plague etc are brought
down.

On the whole poojas performed either at home or temples certainly bring
about harmony among people and prayers like " sarve janaah sukhino
bhavantu ",  " sarve bhadraani pashyantu " will help develop an attitude

of broadmindedness and selflessness in the minds of people.

Regards,
Hari Om,
Latha Vidyaranya

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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