Shiva Puja India Gods and Goddesses Vishnu

Vijay Kumar:
You need to first basically understand the system created by God before venturing into the meaning of the Prayers and Pujas.

Why do we at all Pray to God ... atheists (non believers of God) ... if these people can survive without praying to God then what is the meaning of Prayers ... offering a Puja to God Almighty! Different Prayers for different purposes ... if we keep praying all the time ... does it mean all our wishes shall get fulfilled. If it were true ... there was no need to perform Karma ... everyone would sit in the temples and pray to God all the time.

The priest of the temple we find is normally not happy ... for he is bereft of even the basic necessities of life. Who wants to serve a priest In present times ... in a Kali Yuga ... the priests suffer most. Why?

There was a time in the society when the priests were the most respected lot. Most kings could not survive or administer their kingdom without the advice of the head priest. It was this time ... the period between Satyuga and Kali Yuga that the priests of that era had almost monopolized the religious system. The downtrodden ... the shudra (the underprivileged) in the society were not even allowed to venture near the temples ... what to speak of their learning the sacred Scriptures.

The Brahmins of that era shunned the downtrodden denizens of the society. God Almighty never differentiated between different Human Beings but here on Mother Earth ... the priests and the Brahmins were promoting casteism. There was none who could counter them ... the priests and Brahmins of that era were all powerful. Some of the Kings even feared the might of the priests.

Every system in the Cosmos rotates a full circle ... time has now come that these downtrodden denizens of the society ... the shudra are ruling the society. The priests and the Brahmins are facing their wrath. It was in the times of Mira Bai that a priest of that time ... the priest of the temple where Mira Bai wanted to go and worship God did not permit Mira Bai to attend the congregation. According to the priest, the precincts of the temple were not meant for womenfolk ... for the priest the womenfolk were meant for rearing children and household works alone ... they were not supposed to be reading the Scriptures and gaining Spiritual knowledge.

When in spite of all efforts Mira Bai failed to gain entry to the temple ... she sent a chit to the priest. and lo! The priest was at the feet of Mira Bai. He was profusely begging pardon. He had misunderstood. What was written in the chit that made the priest changed his mind. Mira Bai had simply mentioned that there is only one Purusha (a Karta) in whole Cosmos ... one and only one Creator ... and all others are ladies.

The priest had understood the significance of the words of Mira Bai ... one who cannot create ... one who cannot produce a single pebble out of nowhere ... one who cannot create a leaf ... is but a lady for Purusha, Karta, God Almighty is the one and only one who can create. If such a happening can occur with Mira Bai then what of the downtrodden denizens of the society ... those underprivileged class who were not even considered worthy of entering a temple and offering their Prayers to God.

The priests of that era made it clear that a shudra is only supposed to serve those higher in the society ... they are not supposed to be reading the sacred Scriptures ... it so happened that many times the priests misguided the king for their vested interests. It was a tyranny of the day ... not even in control of the king. The whole society had to bear the tantrums of the priests.

The shudra lived a life of humiliation ... yet, without offering Prayers to God in the absence of a temple ... he did not die ... he did not perish ... he survived the onslaught of the priests. If the atheists and the shudras survived ... then what is it that impels us towards a temple?

God Almighty is Nirakaar (it has no form ... it is formless) ... it is a form of energy ... the combined power of all purified atmans in the cosmos is what we call God Almighty. It is a mighty source of energy ... much beyond the comprehension of a normal human being.

In our day-to-day lives we commit many sins knowingly and unknowingly ... for the sins committed unknowingly ... how do we absolve ourselves out of it. It is only the Prayers, which shall remove the dross within and propel us towards our goal. For different kind of sins we have to offer different Prayers. Your purpose in offering Prayers to Shiva and Ma Ganga is not understood ... what you want to arrive at ... what is your purpose in performing this Puja! Every Puja is supposed to be directed towards completion of a particular goal of life.

Carrying out a vague Puja never helps. Rituals do not help much these days. In the present scientific society we need to proceed ahead on the path of spirituality by following the path of Jnana Yoga. The path of Bhakti Yoga comparatively takes a considerably longer time. It is as good as going from New Delhi to Bombay by bus or catching the flight. Rituals were a practice at the time of the Vedas ... subsequently came Lord Krishna (an Avatar of the era) and gave us the wisdom of Bhagavad Gita.

Bhagavad Gita contains everything that is contained in all the four Vedas - namely Rg Veda (Rig Veda), Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and the Atharva Veda. It is the essence of all the four Vedas ... In present times we are not required to read everything that is contained in all the four Vedas ... for Bhagavad Gita contains the complete extract of all the four Vedas.

In the modern times we prefer taking the juice instead of the fruits independently ... the four Vedas are four independent fruits ... we extract the juice and the contents of the Bhagavad Gita are before us. Going to the temple ... offering Pujas is part of the ritual ... we can even do without. The path of Jnana marga is comparatively difficult than Bhakti Yoga ... Maharishi Ramana who initially proceeded on the path of Bhakti Yoga ... at a certain stage switched over to Jnana Yoga. This happens with everyone ... after a certain stage has passed on the path of Bhakti Yoga ... this path of Bhakti Yoga combines with the path of Jnana Yoga. The vice versa is not true. Anyone proceeding on the path of Jnana Yoga need not proceed on the path of Bhakti Yoga.

One needs to have complete faith in the system of God ... that is much more sufficient than proceeding on the path of Bhakti Yoga. You have expressed you want to wash away your sins ... for every different type of sin ... we need to pray differently ... I can guide you on the right path only after you send me the complete details. Merely following a ritual ... going to the temple and praying ... is not the only solution. Remaining wherever we are ... even while working in our office ... we can always offer our Prayers to God.

Many a times it so happens that we keep ourselves under the impression that we have committed a sin ... whereas we may have not! I shall write to you on the subject after hearing from you further.

The Vishnu ji you are refereeing to is your atman the soul within. The sweet small inner voice which always guides us on the right path ... the voice of our atman the soul within must normally be contained within the surroundings of our thinking. What can we hope to achieve by disclosing the subtle truth of life to anybody else. If you have committed a sin and if atman the soul within your body is guiding you ... there is no point in telling anybody whatsoever your atman the soul within is prompting you.

None in this world cares for another ... we Human Beings are the most selfish breed on mother earth. We always have two faces ... one for the society and other the real self of us. If you really need to eradicate yourself of all the problems and the ills facing you ... you need to continue hearing the sweet small inner voice and get guided by it. For our atman the soul within is the only absolute truth ... it has taken this body for its purification ... it is not vice versa ... when comes the time it shall leave the body.

It is not always that whatever you have been telling to others ... they were able to follow ... it is not jealousy ... it is a sheer chance that most are not interested in your personal episodes of life. It is when others do not follow that they tend to become irritated. Personal matters of life as a matter of principle must never be disclosed to anyone ... we may never gain anything out of it ... rather we may get harmed by those who do not love us ... our close nears and dears who otherwise pretend to be close to us ... are not so close! Refrain from talking to others and you shall reduce your sufferings and pain.

Most Human Beings do not pray to God directly ... they need to create an image of the object they are praying to ... in your case it is the image of Vishnu, which is helping you. It is fine. This is the prime purpose why so many idols are kept in a temple. Send me the complete details of your problem and I shall suggest a solution accordingly.

Always there to clarify your queries ( send your query),

Essay by: Vijay Kumar "Atma Jnani" ... The Man who Realized God in 1993!

Full text of query: I would like to know what is a rudra - not the beads but the actual Prayer of Shiv ji. How do we perform a rudra and what are the necessary saman? I had asked Ganga Ma to show me how to wash away all my sins and she had shown me a way - the Mohini Ekadashi. I had doubts that something I was doing might be a sin. But on the day of the Mohini Ekadashi I was not able to perform this Ekadashi - does it mean that I am not doing a sin or is it too early for me to wash away my sins.

I always address Vishnu Ji as my friend and he very often answers to my questions which I ask straight away to him. Is it good or bad to repeat or narate to someone else what Vishnu Ji told me. Does it not create a sort of jealosy in people. I had in the past some experiences like this and after narating this to my Guru he made sure that all my Prayers were nulified - I will tell you in full about this experience of my mine another time.

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