Pooja considerations, importantly special Poojas - 2

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

Please read the post "Pooja considerations, importantly special Poojas" before reading this

So, during this time, the distractions should be completely avoided. Examples -

1. Calling someone to get some item which is not present at the pooja area.

2. Giving directions to your house to your guests over the phone. Telling Brahmin,
"కాస్త నెమ్మదిగా చదువుతారా మంత్రాలు? నా మాట అతనికి వినపడటం లేదు."

3. Checking about the status of the lunch
"భోజనాలు 12 గంటలకి తెమ్మని చెప్పాను. వచ్చాయా?"

4. "Thanx for coming. భోజనాలు చేసి వెళ్ళండి." to your guests.

5. Asking the Brahmin,
"ఇంకా ఎంత టైం పట్టొచ్చు పూజ అవడానికి?"

6. Someone has come in and so should receive that person, otherwise that person might feel bad. Hence getting up in between.

7. Someone has come in and has been there for a while, but you did not see him and so conducting discussions with that person in between.

8. Waving at friends and folks who walk in - Since you should not get up, doesn’t mean you keep saying Hi, Hello, "బావున్నారా sir. రండి కూర్చోండి.", to your guests, keeping God and his entourage in front of you.

9. Becoming restless because the Pooja has crossed the scheduled time and so putting questioning faces to the Brahmin enquiring when it would be complete.
“ఈ పూజ ఆపెలాగా లేడు ఈయన.” Kind of feelings.

MOST IMPORTANT:

There has to be a sync between the mantram being recited and the ఉపచారంbeing done.

Examples of above -
పురోహితుడు"దీపం దర్శయామి." అని అంటున్నప్పుడు మనం ధూపం చూపించడం. తాంబూలం అన్నప్పుడు నివేదన చెయ్యడం.

In case the Brahmin is running like an express in his mantra recitation, you should stop him and tell him that you are still not done with the upachaaram/kriya associated with the earlier mantra.

Obviously, it is easy to say what to do and what not to do, without specifying how to achieve the above. The following are some guidelines.

1.    Ensure that the items required for performing the pooja are kept near the Mandapa and ensure that this information is provided to the Brahmin so that you don’t have to ask anyone.

2.    Appoint relevant and responsible persons for various tasks.

a.   Receiving guests, ensuring that they are comfortable.

b.   Providing information about special guests and how they should be handled

c.    Person to take care of the lunch, coffee and other such arrangements.

d.   Person to handle Mobiles and Phones for giving directions and other things.

3.    Ensure that you don’t have any time constraints and in case the scheduled time is crossed have the lunch and other things served if required so that the Pooja need not be abridged.

4.    Informing Brahmin upfront that he should not finish it off without any coordination between the mantra and your Upachaara/Kriya.

You have to feel that God is actually sitting in front of you and that you are doing all the upachaaras to him personally. For example, during Nivedana (Naivedyam), you should think that he is sitting in front of u and eating what you are serving him. So, don’t finish off the serving in 2 seconds as no one can eat anything in 2 secs. Take that kind of care and you will not realize the time that goes into the pooja.

If we do Pooja with all our focus and concentration on God, I am not sure whether that minister (if at all) would do you a favour or not, but God will CERTAINLY not let you down on your requests.

Note: When a couple is sitting in a pooja, you should never talk to them by going in between or hand over things by going in between them. Always go around them.

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.