Worshiping God

Archanam or Puja and Padasevanam or service of his feet are two kinds of Bhakti for getting close to God through worship of his consecrated images, symbols of the divine, to help orient our minds towards God, taking us from the perceptible to the formless and to the infinite. It we meet no Gods, it’s because we harbor none. For us, God is not a remote, abstract figure; he is a living, loving presence.

The Nirguna or formless God of Shankara’s Advaita is difficult to relate to – but give him a sweet Upasana or worship he can become your very own because of the wonderful ease it creates in human divine encounter. The predominant religious motif of practicing Hinduism is this Archanam and Padasevenam – the worship and adoration of a God made visible to our eyes in beautiful images, in homes and in temples. It is the ornamental centerpiece of the Vaishnav Bhakti tradition set in motion by Acharyas like Ramanuja, Madhava and Vallabha. They promoted the theistic concept of a personal God who can be adorned and pampered like any loved one.

Our Gods and Goddesses surround us, they live with us. We make them swing on silver Jhoolas, take them out in procession for sacred immersions, and celebrate their epic victories. We dress them in rich silks, adorn them with bright flowers, and drown them in incense delicacies during Naivaidya. We wave auspicious lights or Arati, we put them to sleep with lullabies, and then awaken them at dawn with haunting hymns like the Suprabhatam. We bathe the holy feet of the lord in pure water sprinkled with rose petals and have the Tirth as holy Prasad. Padasevanam in its wider sense means service to humanity. The feet of the lord become a potent symbol for the devout.

The holy feet take you across the treacherous ocean of Samsara and are the seat of all bliss. However enchanting the ritual we must not stop at the externals, because, every ritual has a spiritual significance. Also, Puja has no meaning if simultaneously; the heart is not getting purified. Offer with devotion the Patram-Pushpam-Phalam-Toyam (leaf-flower-fruit-water), says the Gita, but also remember what God really wants: the leaf of your body in service to humanity, the flower of your purified heart, and the fruit of your good actions and tears of devotion. In time, reliance on outer modes of worship ceases for there is constant integrated awareness of one’s of kinship with the inner divine.