Doing Puja of Gangaji with Gangajal Itself
We are seeing about the principles of Shodasha Upachara Puja.
By offering water, chandana, flowers, dhoopa, and deepa, we saw that we are symbolically offering the five elements, the Pancha Bhuta, to the Lord.
The entire universe is created from the Pancha Bhutas only.
So by offering these, we are offering Him everything.
But whatever we are offering, are they ours?
No, they are not ours.
It is like doing puja of Ganga with Ganga Jal.
What else can we do?
Everything belongs to the Lord.
So don’t presume that out of your earnings, you are buying all these and offering to Him.
People do this — whenever they get some money, they keep a certain percentage aside, mostly in coins, and offer at temple or do some good thing.
There is no problem. This is a starting point.
When you do such good things, it will make you realize soon that — what earnings? I have not earned anything.
It is given to me by the Lord Himself. It is not mine.
It can never be mine.
When we deposit money at the bank, the staff at the bank do not consider it as their money.
They are aware that it is only in their custody for some time.
All our resources — they don’t belong to us.
They are with us for some time.
There used to be a system of sadhana called Kramonnati.
The Guru will initially ask the shishya to go on doing the worship — the physical worship — with jala, gandha, pushpa, dhoopa, deepa.
After one year, the Guru will come and ask the shishya:
Where are you getting all these from? Whatever you are offering to the Lord — where are you getting all these from?
If the shishya answers — I get the water from the well, flowers I go around and pluck, oil and agarbatti I buy from this shop —
the Guru will tell him to continue the puja as usual.
Then come back after a year.
Again ask the same question.
This will continue year after year till the shishya answers:
The Lord only gives them to me.
The Guru doesn’t teach this to the shishya.
By doing puja, the shishya realizes this on his own — maybe sooner, maybe later.
But Guru will not tell him anything.
This he realizes on his own.
This is the beauty of puja.
When this realization comes, then the Guru asks:
Who all are there in this house?
Shishya would say: My father, my mother, my wife, my children.
Guru would say: Continue the puja.
After some time, the shishya would have a different answer:
These are wonderful manifestations of the Lord Himself. I thought they were all mine.
Growth at this stage and hereafter are much faster.
Next time, the Guru would ask: Who are you?
This is Kramonnati.
This is the power of puja.
You don’t have to read books. You don’t have to listen to discourses.
Knowledge will simply come on its own, if you keep on doing the simple rituals.
And another important point is that such knowledge gained will never confuse you,
because it is not something that you have been told or taught —
it is something that you have realized yourself.
This knowledge will be stable.
English
Shiva
Click on any topic to open
7
30
Astrology
Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavatam
Bharat Matha
Devi
Devi Mahatmyam
Ganapathy
Garuda Puranam
Glory of Venkatesha
Hanuman
Kathopanishad
Mahabharatam
Mantra Shastra
Mystique
Practical Wisdom
Purana Stories
Radhe Radhe
Ramayana
Rare Topics
Rigveda Explained
Rituals
Sages and Saints
Shiva
Spiritual books
Sri Suktam
Story of Sri Yantra
Temples
Vedas
Vishnu Sahasranama
Yoga Vasishta
26
17
10
0
