[Advaita-l] chanDI yAga at Madhwa institutions

[Venkata sriram P]

Namaste Subbuji,
 
////
 
Is durgA a deity worshiped/worshipable by sattvika-s?  
 
//
 
Yes.  The Vanadurga Kalpa details out 3 modes of worship.  The satvik, rajasik & tamasik.
 
Depending upon the mode of worship, the corresponding dhyAna slokAs and bija samputikarana is done.  
 
In satvika dhyana, the Durga is meditated as having 8 hands and the bhAvana of worship
is for chitta shuddhi.
 
In rajasika dhyana, the Durga is meditated as having 16 hands and the bhAvana of 
worship is for iShTa kAmya siddhi.
 
In tamasika dhyana, the Durga is meditated as having 32 hands and the bhAvana of 
worship is for shatru saMhAra and mAraNa prayOga.  
 
So, the same deity Vana Durga is used for 3 different aspects and depending upon the
"mood & taste of the upasaka", the upAsana guNa is decided.  
 
///
 
At the end of the details of vinAyaka worship, the above smRti says that
vinAyaka would even bless one with mokSha by giving Atma jnAna.  Would
Shankara denounce the worship of 'such'  a vinAyaka
 
//
 
One of the acharyas of Sringeri is Shri Sacchidananda Bharati (not sure) who had a 
vision of ganapati while entering a room on a wall above the threshold and the place
where he had the vision is said to be tOraNa gaNapati now.  
 
Another acharya had just made a gaNapati vigraha with turmeric in malahanikareshwara
temple and it bulged out which is known as sthambha ganapati.
 
Abhinava Vidyatirtha used to take delight in worshipping his own personal gaNapati idol 
right from his childhood.
 
Brahmasri Dravida Rajeshwara Sastrigal of Kasi used to chant gaNapati sahasranama
daily and he had a small personal copy of the same which he used to carry always. 
He was a gaNapati bhakta.  
 
So, vinAyaka is something different, which is related to mAtrika varNa mAla & tat-adhiShTAtru devata.  
 
There are 51 letters "a" to "kSha".  Every letter has a corresponding devi, yOgini, 
rudra sakti, siva sakti, nakshatra, graha & vinAyaka. So, there are 51 mAtrikAs (devi) as 
well as 51 vinAyakAs and the Srividya Upasaka who has undergone mahApUrNAbhiShEka
perform 51 nyAsAs which is called mahAShODa nyAsa.  
 
regs,
sriram