Tattva-viveka
Arati procedure
Ramakesava - August 15, 2004 4:27 pm
Here is a quick(ish) question:
I just had a discussion with a friend online about arati, and was looking at the sheets I had printed out for the arati procedure when I was first at Audarya. My confusions comes because in ISKCON's Pancaratra-pradipa and various other Gaudiya Matha sources it is said to offer the arati paraphernalia in ascending order, however in the files I had printed out it stated descending order. ...also - and prabhu, forgive me if I'm wrong - but I'm sure I saw Kalpavrksa prabhu offer arati in descending order.
I'm confused. I can understand why to do ascending order, but not descending... Citta Hari prabhu suggested the reason could be that mercy descends from top downward.
Ys., Rama Kesava
Dayal Govinda Dasa - August 15, 2004 4:38 pm
And here is a quick answer according to my understanding:
We offer in descending order beacause as the articles are offered they become prasad. Thus we offer the prasad of Gaura Nitai and Krsna Balarama to the Guru parampara, then to all the devotees present.
To offer in an ascending way would seem to be offering the prasad of the Guru parampara to Gaura Nitai, not something usually done.
Guru maharaj once commented, on seeing someone perfrom Aratika in this way, that they are probably doing it in the consciousness of offering the articles through the Parampara first and thus seeking their blessing to worship Radha and krsna.
That said and done, at Audarya we offer in the descending way as that is the way Guru maharaja has instructed us.
Hope that answers it.
In service
Dayal Govinda dasa brahmacari
Swami - August 15, 2004 7:27 pm
Both systems are valid. We cannot offer the guru's prasada to Krsna, and we cannot offer to Krsna without first worshiping the guru. Thus the dilemma of ascending vs. descending. So here we first worship the guru, taking his permission to worship Krsna. Then we worship Krsna and offer his prasada to the guru.This is how it is done almost everywhere except for ISKOCN, where Srila Prabhupada introduced the ascending method to stress that we must approach Krsna through the guru. However, he also told his disciples that we could adjust such things in accordance with how it is done in Gaudiya Matha or the Radha Raman temple in Vrndavana.
In the ascending order, one offers the article first to his guru with the idea tha this guru will then offer it to his own guru and so on. But this seems a bit more confusing becasue the devotee offering arati physically offers it to everyone himself.
Ramakesava - August 16, 2004 9:16 am
Thank you for explaining, Guru Maharaja, and Dayal Govinda. I'm not confused now (I was wonderinf if my eyes were deceiving me!)...
Caitanya-daya Dd - August 19, 2004 1:56 pm
This matter of ascending and descending order of an offering is something new to me and actually quite fascinating to hear/read about. Having been "raised" in ISKCON for so many years, i was taught to offer things in the ascending order.
In that case, that brings to mind the offering/recitation of prayers. For example, the order of the gayaytri mantras. And when singing kirtana. Or offering bhoga. Pranams to guru, prayers to Lord Caitanya & His associates, and then culminating in Hare Krsna, or prayers to Sri Krsna. Everything i've ever done/been taught has been in ascending order.
This is not an argument or opposition on my part. I guess the idea of offering arati items in descending order confuses me.
Jason - August 20, 2004 6:15 am
I'm confused too....
For those of us who are worshiping Deities in our homes, could you explain this again? If we have a standard set in regards to how we do aratik, should we change, or stick with the program that we've been doing?
Another question:
Since I work full time and will be going to school, it's often hard to improve on my arati at home. Is it ok to bathe Sri Sri Gaura Nitai on Ekadasi days as opposed to more frequently?
YS,
Jason
Vrindaranya Dasi - August 20, 2004 3:20 pm
Dandavats,
In the descending method of offering arotika and bhoga, one first worships the Guru. Then, by the Guru's mercy and on his order, one starts the worship; for example, offering arotika or bhoga. In the case of offering arotika, the first item that is offered is the incense. The incense is offered first to the Deity, and then the incense (which is now the Deities' prasad) is offered to the Guru. The Guru is happy to be offered the Deities' prasad.
In the ascending method, the procedure is the same, except that the incense is first offered to the Guru and then to the Deity. This presents the problem that you are offering the Deity incense that has just become the prasad (remnants) of the Guru. This is against etiquette. Therefore, to overcome this problem, the proper conceptualization is that you are giving the Guru the incense to offer to the Deity and then the Guru is offering the incense to Krsna. However, this is rather abstract because physically you are offering the item--if you were giving the incense to the Guru to offer to Krsna, why would you wave it and meditate on offering the item? And if the incense isn't offered to the Guru when you wave it (but is only handed to him or her to offer to the Deity), then when is the incense actually offered to the Guru?
These conceptual problems do not occur when one is singing bhajans or offering prayers. You offer the prayer to the Guru and then a new prayer to the Deity. The Deity is therefore not getting the remnants of the Guru, as in the case of the incense (there is not a new stick of incense that is offered to the Deity, but rather the one that has just already been offered). Although the Deity might be pleased to get the remnants of the devotee, the devotee will not want this.
Ys,
Vrindaranya
Vrindaranya Dasi - August 20, 2004 4:48 pm
In answer to the second question, Guru Maharaja does not recommend that devotees who have not received second initiation start Deity worship, but rather that they offer their food to a picture of Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai at Audarya. However, if devotees already have Deities, he says that they should continue worshipping as they have been.
In chanting there are no hard and fast rules, so anyone can take it up, but Deity worship has many rules and there is every chance of making an offense. Therefore, it is best to wait until one has more knowledge and purification (as well as the mantras to worship the Deity with!) before commencing Deity worship. To have a Deity, one’s life must center around the Deity, not the other way around. If one does this in the home, involving all the family members, it is extremely powerful and can totally transform the house into the spiritual world. However, due to the fast pace of life in the West and many other factors, it is very rare for Deities to be taken care of properly in the home. Thus for many devotees it is better not to have Deities at home. The same is true in a preaching center or temple if there are not enough devotees to properly do the worship.
A disciple asked Guru Maharaja whether she could start worshipping a Deity in her house by daily waking the Deity and offering incense. Guru Maharaja suggested that she fast for a couple of days while burning incense and see if the answer came to her. In other words, how would she herself like only a little burning incense every day but no food?
To get the full benefit of Deity worship and avoid offending the Deity, we must see that the Deity is Krsna himself standing before us. If we can only practically do this when visiting the temple, we should identify with the temple Deities and serve them in whatever way we can. This way the Deity is always being worshipped by someone.
Swami - August 26, 2004 4:19 pm
Here is something from Thakura Baktivinoda's Harinama Cintamani:
“The spiritual master is to be worshipped first; only then may one worship Lord Krsna. The spiritual master should be offered different paraphernalia like a nice seat, shoes, foot bath, cloth, etc.; then with the spiritual master's permission one may worship the Deities of Sri Sri Radha and Kåñëa. Food should be first offered to the Deities and then offered to the spiritual master, then to the demigods and other Vaisnavas. Without the spiritual master's sanction one cannot engage in Radha-Krsna worship. Before chanting the holy name, the disciple should remember the spiritual master and his instructions.
Shyam Gopal Das - September 1, 2004 9:32 am
I have been thinking about this and am confused now how I should offer food to my picture altar. Could anyone delineate on the procedure? Thank you!
Mathura-natha Das - September 1, 2004 12:57 pm
I agree with Shyam Gopal prabhu. Although I have got some good advice from Vrindaranya, the above post made me wonder if I should change my main picture to Gaura-Nita at Audarya(now i have Radha-Krishna)? It can be a bit confusing in that sense that we come from different backgrounds (mostly ISKCON I suppose), and now that we have taken shelter under Guru Maharaj it would be good if these things, like offering food, should be starighten out, like which mantras to sing and so forth. Because I discovered that it´s quite different that from ISKCON. A little Vaishnava handbook Audrya style would be very nice and helpful for us newcommers! So, anybody who can give some advice, please don´t hesitate to give instructions to us, we are craving for them! 
Ramakesava - September 1, 2004 1:43 pm
A little Vaishnava handbook Audrya style would be very nice and helpful for us newcommers! So, anybody who can give some advice, please don´t hesitate to give instructions to us, we are craving for them!
Maybe we could make something a bit like Arcana-kana--some little book?
When I was at Audarya I had the fortune of reading some files from Citta Hari that were an Audarya-ized version of Pancaratra-pradipa. I think there were still some niggling typos/errors that we had spotted....
I'm now off sick from work for at least two more weeks now for my blood pressure, so if the Audarya-vasis would kindly give guidance I would be happy to manifest this for the assembled Vaisnavas. Guru Maharaja, could I do this service?
In service,
Rama Kesava dasa
Vrindaranya Dasi - September 1, 2004 5:38 pm
Dandavats,
The idea for a simplified book is very good. I think we'll have to work on it here though, because I have given devotees a simplified version of the precedure from our Deity worship book and some still find it too complicated. Therefore, we'll have to work out different levels of offerings. All these adjustments need to be gone over with Guru Maharaja, so it is easier to do it from Audarya. In the meantime, just go forward with the offering as you are doing. I'll get a picture of Audarya's Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai Deities posted on a web page soon, so that anyone who doesn't have a picture of them can print one out.
Ys,
Vrindaranya
Babhru Das - September 1, 2004 10:07 pm
This will be a great boon to many of the devotees here. I look forward to it myself.