- After ācamana,pādya and ācamana again,the naivedya is ritually purified before it can be offered to Śrīpuruṣottama. For the offering to Puruśottama only a small portion of the bhoga is taken out of all the earthen pots and placed in a metallic plate in front of the devatās of the ratnavedī. The steps of purification of the naivedya before it can be offered to the devatā are as follows.
- Vikṣaṇa(worshipper looks at the naivedya uttering the mūlamantra while placing the index and thumb finger of the right hand as a span on the forehead,while the rest forms a fist)
- Prokṣaṇa:With kuśa grass in the prokṣaṇī-pātra(vessel) he sprinkles the naivedya thrice with the asramantra(praṇava asurāntakacakrāya svāha,astrāya phaṭ)
- Abhirakṣaṇa:The cakramudrā is deployed and the mantra (praṇava) namaḥ sudarśanāya astrāya phaṭ is uttered,and the naivedya is protected
- Tālatraya and digbandhana
- Avaguṇṭhana:Performed with the appropriate mudrā.
- Pariśoṣaṇa:Using the vāyubīja yaṃ the impurities of the naivedya are dried up
- Dāhana:Using the agnibīja raṃ the defilement of human touch is burned up,thus making it fit to be offered
- Āplāvana:Using the bīja of the svādhiṣṭhāna cakra,the new nectarine naivedya is recreated now which is entirely different from the old naivedya
- Amṛtīkaraṇa:The naivedya is touched with the right hand of the worshipper,the mūlamantra recited 8 times and thus turned into amṛta. It is worshipped tulasī and candana.
Offering the naivedya to the devatā
The deity is requested to accept the naivedya with the following śloka:
devāsuramanuṣyāditṛpteḥ paramakāraṇam
nānāvidhamayaṃ/(var.idam) deva naivedyaṃ pratigṛhyatām
The mūlamatra is uttered with the devatā taking a few drops of water in the palm along with the words śrīkṛṣṇāya saṇgāya sarvātmane idaṃ naivedyam svāhā and water is sprinkled with kuśa grass.
The deity is requested to take the naivedya with the formula nivedayāmī bhagavate juṣanedaṃ havir hare and the tejas of the deity is imagined as entering into the mouth of the deity and a few drops is offered as āpośāna with the appropriate mantra(OṂ amṛtopastaraṇamasi svāhā)
After this the first five morsels of the naivedya is offered to the devatā just like it happens in the bhojana of any dvija jāti. (with the five set of mantras prānāya svāha,apānāya svāhā,vyānāya svāhā,udānāya svāha,samānāya svahā with praṇava prefixed).
The whole naivedya is then offered to the devatā with the naivedya mudrā/dravya mudrā with the mantra ṭhvauṃ namaḥ parāya avātmane aniruddhāya naivedyaṃ kalpayāmi.
The offered material to Jagannātha is next offered to Bhagavatī Vimalā as Her naivedya,and then only after that,it is known as Mahāprasāda.
All credit is to Gaya Charan Tripathi and his excellent work on Jagannātha:(Communication with God:The Daily Pūjā ceremony in the Jagannātha temple)
padmavajra 