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| Culture |
| Puja Samagri |
The importance of puja has been
accepted in the daily activities of a Hindu.
The religious teachers say that we should
perform pujas for the God who looks after
us from the time we are in the mother's womb
till we die. Certain symbols have been chosen
for this puja. Leaf, flower, fruit, water,
red turmeric powder (kanku), etc. are necessary
for puja. The rich and the poor alike perform
puja with these ordinary looking symbols.
This means that God values devotion more than
material things. It is necessary to perform
puja to thank or appreciate God who has given
so much. The puja is not to stand before God
with folded hands and beg for materialistic
comforts. Such pujas turn out to be hollow,
hypocritical and useless.
Leaf and flower are symbols of Puja. It shows
that man is also a valuable flower of this
world-garden. Its fragrance is his good deeds.
In this way fruits inspire man to bring happiness
in life by doing good deeds. Water is considered
holy. It is formless. It takes the shape of
whichever vessel it is poured into. So devotion
is in proportion to one's intentions. And
God is therefore matched to one's devotion.
So weight is put on the performer of the puja.
The puja will only be successful with the
use of symbols of puja if our intentions are
also pure. Red turmeric powder nadachhadi
have also been considered as pure or holy
from a religious point, and so there is their
importance also.
There is one religious meaning hidden in puja
the samagri (materials) and prashad. God's
hand or help is present in all our work. One
who stands by one's actions has the right
to be in his family. So it is God's puja when
we offer a portion from our earnings at his
feet. It is not only rich people's work or
duty to take out God's portion. God is responsible
for everyone's lives - both rich and poor.
So everyone should offer according to one's
capacity for the welfare of the society. Money
which is offered and collected in our temples
is a symbol of Dev dravya and so it should
be spent on human welfare. Otherwise this
fund is wasted. People have forgotten to do
good deeds with the loosening control of religion
in their lives. Man is indulging in worldly
pleasures instead of being devotional to God.
Because of this the society has lost honesty
and has become pale without life and light
or simply lifeless. Man has forgotten dignity
and majesty of self and God and instead has
become self-willed. God does not like the
outward show of hypocritical pujas which are
performed to nourish ones ego and obtain prestige
in the society only. One cannot please God
with any of such false pujas. God's blessings
are reaped only if our intentions are pure
and the means of acquisitions for fulfilment
of these intentions are also pure.
To conclude, whatever we have is given to
us by God only. And so to use what has been
given by Him after first offering it to Him
is called Prashad. Prashad means God's blessings.
Life is only sweet if there is God's blessings.
We prepare and distribute prashad made from
ghee, sugar-candy, milk and wheat so that
love comes into our life. So God has not forgotten
us today. The true puja is to resolve not
to forget God, but rather perform his Puja
daily or regularly. |
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