[Advaita-l] Re: paJNchAyatana pUja

[bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com]

Still, the veda says this in the context of the various vedic devatas.
The full R^igveda mantra 1.164.46 which is rarely quoted in full is

Indram mitram varuNam agnim ãhuh,
atho divyah sa suparNo garutmãn,
ekam sad viprãh bahudhã vadanti,
agnim yamam mãtari?vãnam ãhuh.

praNAms Sri Abhishek prabhuji
Hare Krishna

Normally devata-s have been attributed with all auspicious qualities like
compassion, grace, magnanimity etc. etc.  devotees would like to see these
qualities in their beloved IshtadEvata...it may be shiva, vishNu, dEvi,
RaghavEndra, SaibAba, bhagavan ramaNa, Hanumaan, gaNesha or any other
human/celestial being  with specific name & form....Choice of IshtadEvata
is in my opinion is quite subjective & we cannot restrict it to some
specific & stipulated names & forms..if we put boundaries to these names &
forms, sometime it may lead us to bigotry......for that matter, nowadays,
nowhere I have seen one is worshipping yama, Indra, varuNa as his
IshtadEvata .....though they are the *yEkam sat* but with different names
:-))  In most of the cases IshtadEvata-s have been chosen either from
purANa-s or one's subjective attachment to some noble personality..I dont
think there would be any problem in keeping some specific name &  form as
their IshtadEvata when they know the  ultimate truth behind these names &
forms.

Just few of my throughts

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar