panchayatana puja

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

In the thread about the role of Ishwara it was noted that an exclusive
approach to God can end up in fanaticism.  Yet the opposite extreme, to
just lump everything together into one insipid mess is not good either.
In the Smarta sampradaya we have a practice that attempts to eliminate
both problems--the panchayatana puja.  We believe it was established by
Shankaracharya himself.

According to the Digvijayas the situation was not good at that
time.  There were many sects and philosophies that misinterpreted or were
completely against the Vedas.  Amongst the astikas much energy was
misspent in arguing over whether Shiva Bhagawan was superior to Vishnu
Bhagawan or both were inferior to Mataji etc.  To alleviate this and to
get people thinking of the Advaita bhava, this puja was started.

In this puja all the five major deities of Sanatana Dharma are worshipped:
Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesh Bhagawans.  There are five forms of
arranging Them:

Shiva panchayata
----------------

Vishnu  Surya

    Shiva

Devi   Ganesh


Vishnu panchayata
-----------------

Shiva      Ganesh

     Vishnu

Devi       Surya


Surya panchayata
----------------

Shiva       Ganesh

      Surya

Devi        Vishnu


Devi panchayata
---------------

Vishnu      Shiva

      Devi

Surya       Ganesh


Ganesh panchayata
-----------------

Vishnu      Shiva

      Ganesh

Devi         Surya


This way the sadhaka can put his own belowed form of God in center stage
but he never forgets that He has other forms too.


--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

Archives : http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l.html
Help     : Email to listmaster at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
Options  : To leave the list send a mail to
           listserv at lists.advaita-vedanta.org with
           SIGNOFF ADVAITA-L in the body.