The word
‘puja’ is a commonly used Sanskrit word. It is used by people, who do
not even know Sanskrit, as it is present in almost every Indian language. The
widely used meaning of the word ‘puja’ is worship. However, it is necessary to
see the other meanings and the origins of this Sanskrit word. Sanskrit is a
classical language like Greek, Latin, and Persian. And in Sanskrit, as in most
classical languages, most words are derived from a stem or root.
The word ‘puja’ is derived by adding the suffix a in the passive
voice to the root puj. The suffixes of ang and tap are
also added sometimes. The word ‘puja’ means worship, salute, honour, adore,
praise, laud, the ritual of worship, the sixty-four rites of worshipping
Shakti, austerities, contemplation, honouring of guru, the worship of weapons
and vehicles before war, action, the establishment of the different faces of
different forms of Shakti, the aids for doing ritual worship, culture, respect,
reverence, homage to superiors, adoration of the gods, and homage.
In the sense of ritual worship, puja can involve a structure with many elaborate steps. The place of worship and the person who does the worship have to be physically clean. The worshipper has to start the puja with a calm and spiritually-oriented pure mind.
First, the avahana or the invoking of the deity is done. Then, the
deity is offered a seat or asana. In the next step of padya, the deity’s
feet are washed, symbolically or physically. Water is also offered for complete
washing of the deity’s body. Arghya is water offered to the deity for
washing the mouth. In snana or abhisheka, water is symbolically
offered for the symbolic bathing of the deity. Then, vastra or clothes
are given to the deity. Then the sacred thread is put on the deity. Then, perfumes
or anointments are applied on the deity through gandha. The deity is
offered abharana or ornaments. The deity is also offered chhatra
or umbrella. Flowers or pushpa are offered to the deity.
Then, dhupa or incense is offered to the deity. Naivedya or
food offering is given to the deity. Achamaniya or water is offered for
sipping by the deity. A lamp or arati is waved before the deity. The
deity is offered chamara or fly-whisk. The worshipper then prostrates
before the deity, thus offering namaskar or pranam. Then, the worshipper does a
parikrama or circumambulation of the deity. In some rituals, there is visarjana
or moving the deity or saying farewell to the deity.
There are various versions of puja based on the number of offerings, like pancha-upachara
or five offerings, dasha-upachara or ten offerings, shodasha-upachara
or sixteen offerings, or chatushashthi-upachara or sixty-four
offerings.
Often, the elaborate steps of puja are shortened into a brief and quick
version, enabling people without much knowledge of rituals also to be able to
perform worship.
Some schools of the Purva-Mimamsa
system of philosophy critique the performance of puja and consider it a false
ritual because images cannot accept offerings. In Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism,
puja is performed on images or pictures of deities.
Author is Editor Prabuddha Bharata. The Balabodha series as written is a
glossary of words and not an article.
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articles by the Author
This article
was first published in the November 2019 issue of Prabuddha Bharata, monthly journal of The Ramakrishna Order started by
Swami Vivekananda in 1896. This article is courtesy and copyright Prabuddha
Bharata. I have been reading the Prabuddha Bharata for years and found it
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