KAUAI, HAWAII, January 8, 2024 (Hinduism Today, “Publisher’s Desk” by Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami): ”One practice that most world’s religions share is having an ordained priest or minister conduct a religious service in a place of worship which lay members of the faith attend. In the Western (Abrahamic) religions, this takes place on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. In Eastern religions, there is no universally accepted day of the week on which adherents worship. In Hinduism, priests are ordained through initiation, called diksha, and usually perform ritual worship, called puja, every day in a temple, sometimes multiple times a day. As explained in our Hindu Lexicon, “Puja, the worship of a murti through water, lights and flowers in temples and shrines, is the Agamic counterpart of the Vedic yajna rite, in which offerings are conveyed through the sacred homa fire. These are the two great streams of adoration and communion in Hinduism, drawn from Hinduism’s two massive compendiums of revealed scripture–the Vedas and the Agamas.”

What is different in Hinduism is that significant worship also takes place in the home, ideally on a daily basis. Commonly conducted by the husband, sometimes by the oldest son, it is called atmartha puja, which means puja done for oneself. Even priests perform daily at­martha puja in their own homes. The Karana Agama explains: “Only a well-qualified priest may perform both atmartha puja, worship for one’s self, and parartha puja, worship for others.” The Agama also says, “Worship of one’s chosen Linga by anyone in their own home for divine protection is called atmartha puja.” In other words, in Hinduism it is traditional for a family man to function as a lay priest in his own home. Puja in the home connects the family with the Divinities, bringing protection, right living and shared spirituality.

More at source.
https://www.hinduismtoday.com/magazine/january-february-march-2024/worship-in-the-home/

Download the entire January issue in PDF: https://www.hinduismtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Hinduism-Today-January-February-March-2024-smaller.pdf

Post Views: 339