Srinivasan - How to Conduct Puja to Mahaganapati

How to conduct

Puja to Mahaganapati

in the privacy of your own home and in the company of

your family and friends

by

Dr. A. V. Srinivasan

with translation and transliteration

Foreword by Sri. Swami Satchidananda

Om Sreemanmahaaganaadhipatayenamaha

I offer my salutations to Mahaaganapati

Revised Edition 2012

A. V. Srinivasan 1999, 2012

No part of this document may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the publisher, Parijata Publications c/o Periplus Line LLC, Box 56, East Glastonbury, CT 06025-0056 U.S.A. www.periplusline.com

by Sri Swami Satchidananda

The scriptures tell us that in this modern age, the easiest path to the Godhead is through Bhakti Yoga, the Yoga of devotion. I would say that the most valuable thing of all is to develop intense love for God. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa called this Raga Bhakti or passionate attachment to God. With this kind of bhav you will be able to achieve every and any success in life.

Let us cultivate that raga bhakti through kirtan, japa, puja, and all our spiritual practices. Do whatever is necessary to gain that bhakti, and if you can irrigate the garden of your heart with the waters of bhakti, then there will be no real effort required to develop dispassion. You will be simply transformed by your sincere devotion and communion with God that all the worldly desires, attachments, vasanas, and samskaras will just fall right away.

What good comes of dwelling on ones own faults and flaws? How difficult it may be to overcome through sheer willpower some problem or some attachment? How simple it is to just immerse oneself in the practice of puja and of Bhakti Yoga? As your heart melts in love of God, love toward all and compassion for all beings begins to dawn; ones own selfish desires and preoccupations will fall away.

I am really delighted that our beloved Dr. A.V. Srinivasan has brought forth this wonderful series How to Conduct Puja. Let these booklets inspire you to conduct puja on a daily basis in your home and to impart these traditions to your children. Let us maintain our sacred traditions and spiritual practices because truly they hold the key to peace and success in life. I congratulate Dr. A.V. Srinivasan for his noble efforts and send my best wishes and blessings to all the readers.

OM Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi.

Worshipping ought to be a personal experience. At the philosophical level, the object of worship is worship itself. Nothing is sought as the end result. However, in order to reach that advanced level, we need to begin and practice praying systematically so that our faith in the Supreme Being is gradually strengthened. To start with, the object of our prayer may be that the Almighty grant us the wisdom to enhance our faith in Him so that we may make a deeper commitment as bhaktas (devotees). Faith is the critical element without which any ritual or religious practice is meaningless. To those who engage in worship of an ishtadevata (Godhead of ones choice), Krishna has an unambiguous warning that is essential for us to note. The message is found in verse 28 of Chapter 17 (Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga) in the Bhagavadgita.

Ashraddhayaa hutam dattam tapastaptam kritamcha yat

asad ityuchyate Paarttha na cha tat pretya no iha

Whatever is sacrificed, offered or performed and whatever austerity is practiced without faith, it is falsehood, O Arjuna. And, further, it is of no value either here or hereafter.

We cannot sufficiently emphasize the powerful suggestion that is so easily and so often ignored. Krishnas warning is that we should never engage in a puja ceremony or any other ritual if our heart and mind are not singularly devoted to it. It should not be performed merely because it is the family tradition or it is the right thing to do or to satisfy someone else. The best reason is the most direct and simple reason and that is to surrender to God to seek His protection and pray for inner peace from the eternal conflicts that afflict humanity. Let us simply resolve to pray to Him to grant us the wisdom to have faith in Him and with that faith seek His infinite grace so that we can live a dhaarmic life full of joy and freedom as we serve Him and the society at large.

With faith as foundation, we can begin to develop the practice of worshipping a God/Goddess of our choice. However we need to understand and follow a systematic procedure. Further we need to create an environment in order to immerse ourselves in bhakti. This is precisely the logic in having puja rooms in Hindu households. In the United States and Canada, a new generation of Hindus is growing up and they need some assistance in learning the methods appropriate to their own framework so that they can perform pujas in the privacy of their homes or apartments. A series of these Puja booklets, with Sanskrit transliterations and English translations, are being published to fill this need. These How to Conduct booklets cover all major Hindu festivals with worships to the Sun God Soorya (Makarasankranti), Shiva (Shivaratri), Rama (Sriramanavami), Krishna (Janmashtami), Ganapati (Chaturthi), Durga (Vijayadashami), Saraswati (Vasanth Panchami and Navaratri), Mahalakshmi (Diwali) and Navagrahas. Each booklet begins with an introduction that provides the background in regard to the particular God/Goddess, and includes a step-by-step procedure to prepare an altar, a list of materials needed, preliminary prayers, the worship and conclusion. Thus Hindus can plan a whole year of festivities, perform the pujas and maintain their own tradition.

Since Sanskrit Devanagari lettering and the relevant diacritical marks are not included in the e-version of this book, the guidelines included below cover mainly what is needed to enable the rhythm of the lines to emerge, that is: some vowel sounds and a few consonants:

a = u in hut; aa = a in father; u = u in put; e = e in they; ai = as in eye; o = as in oh; au = ow; c = ch; v = w, except as an initial letter. For the e-book readers convenience, the sound represented in linguistics as c will be kept as ch in the transliteration.

The print version of the booklet contains Devanagari, transliteration with diacriticals and English translation. You may order it through Amazon.com.

There isnt a Hindu who does not recognize instantly the most revered God Mahaaganapati. Irrespective of the region of India, irrespective of ones special affiliation to any aspect of Hindu religion, Hindus offer their first prayer by invoking and worshipping Mahaaganapati, the Lord of obstacles, before any auspicious tasks are undertaken. Even westerners who have little exposure to Hinduism know the elephant-headed God. It is a common Hindu belief that the first prayers must be offered to Mahaaganapati seeking His blessings to proceed so that the rest of the mission may proceed smoothly and without incident. For example, most concerts of Indian classical music begin with a composition in praise of Mahaaganapati. A common feature in this series of booklets is a prayer to Mahaaganapati immediately after setting up the altar and before beginning the prayers proper for the deity being worshipped. Lord Ganapati occupies a very special place in the hearts of Hindus and it is rare indeed to find a Hindu household that does not have a picture or statue of this Godhead.