May 2019 – padmavajra

https://twitter.com/Better_Not_Shar/status/1133063165472755719

mAnasika pUjA is not a substitute for the external rituals. Are we yogis that we can ignore/shut out all sensory inputs from our various indriyas and surroundings and do the pUjA in our current states just mAnasika?An example of how all the senses were directed towards nArAyaNa is the example of mahArAja ambarISha given in the link.(Using the ISKCON translation because I am lazy)

sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor

vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane

karau harer mandira-mārjanādiṣu

śrutiṁ cakārācyuta-sat-kathodaye

mukunda-liṅgālaya-darśane dṛśau

tad-bhṛtya-gātra-sparśe ‘ṅga-saṅgamam

ghrāṇaṁ ca tat-pāda-saroja-saurabhe

śrīmat-tulasyā rasanāṁ tad-arpite

pādau hareḥ kṣetra-padānusarpaṇe

śiro hṛṣīkeśa-padābhivandane

kāmaṁ ca dāsye na tu kāma-kāmyayā

yathottamaśloka-janāśrayā ratiḥ

Mahārāja Ambarīṣa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord’s temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Kṛṣṇa or about Kṛṣṇa. He engaged his eyes in seeing the Deity of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa’s temples and Kṛṣṇa’s places like Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, he engaged his sense of touch in touching the bodies of the Lord’s devotees, he engaged his sense of smell in smelling the fragrance of tulasī offered to the Lord, and he engaged his tongue in tasting the Lord’s prasāda. He engaged his legs in walking to the holy places and temples of the Lord, his head in bowing down before the Lord, and all his desires in serving the Lord, twenty-four hours a day. Indeed, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa never desired anything for his own sense gratification. He engaged all his senses in devotional service, in various engagements related to the Lord. This is the way to increase attachment for the Lord and be completely free from all material desires.

All these to keep one’s mind while doing the ritual of pUjA,japa,etc to establish the prescence of the devatA in the mind. Are those who claim mAnasika pUjA can be done merely due to lack of effort in shuchi/correct dravya/ityAdi yogins /have reached that quality of being absorbed in your devatA all your time?If yes,I have no objections.

Copying from Halley Gowami because some things deserve a more permanent media than a Facebook post

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” Some ladies recieved higher education and managed to rise to great hieghts ! Amongst such rare women , Hotee Vidyalankar , Hotu Vidyalankar , Anandamayee Devi (1752 — 1772) and Priyamvada Devi (16th cent–17th cent) stands out .
Hotee Vidyalankar was the most famous of them all . Born to ‘kulin’ brahmin family she was a widow from childhood . She became an authority on Sanskrit grammer , poetry , Smriti , Navya-nyay and established her own ‘chatuspathi’ ( centers of higher learning ) at Varanasi ! Brahman Pandits bestowed her with the title of Vidyalankar . She died at an advanced age in the year 1810 .

Hotu Vidyalankar’s real name was Rupamanjari . She was not a brahmin , but her father , Narayan Das noticed her exceptional intellgence and sent her at the ‘chatuspaathi’ of a brahmin pandit . There Rupamanjari mastered Ayurved , Grammer and other branches of studies . Her fame spread far and wide and students used to come from far off places to learn or get opinions on Ayurved , charak samhita and grammer . Ayurvedic doctors of the age used to consult her on matters of medicine ! Rupamanjari never married and kept her head shaven with a ‘shikha’ ( Chuda / tuft of hair ) and dressed as a man . She died 100 years of age at 1875 . ”

Someone in the comments mentions that Narayan Sanyal wrote a book রূপমঞ্জরী on haTI vidyAla~Nkara.

Month: May 2019

On mAnasika pUjA

On Hotee Vidyalankar and other learned brAhmaNa ladies