The text in this article is from notes captured during travel with Shri Raghupathi Sir.
Performing acts that help earn merit (punya) is a concern for every person. Learning to earn punya is the best education. For better future here and hereafter the most important thing is savings of punya. In fact whatever wealth we earn and whatever pleasures we enjoy in life are the results of punya earned previously. However this punya gets consumed through acts of enjoyment. Like if no effort is made to save money for future then one day there will be nothing left and life will be in crisis. In the same way if no effort is made to earn punya, existing savings of punya will be consumed and one day no punya will be left and life will be in crisis.
Giving alms (offering food), charity, worship are all acts that help earn punya. Out of these acts of earning punya giving alms is considered as best deed. However question arises as what about people who cannot give alms, people who do not have enough money to offer food to others, will they remain deprived of earning punya?
Or lets take an example of worship. To perform worship one has to take bath first. But what about the people who cannot take bath due to health reasons? Will they remain deprived of earning punya that is earned from worship? Shastra provides workaround for this. Such people who cannot take bath can just sprinkle water on their head, a ritual called as prokshan, and by doing that they will earn the same punya of taking bath as earned by person who has taken a full body bath and will be eligible to perform worship. Another workaround is to apply bhasma at designated places on the body, forehead being the primary place. This act also helps earn same punya that is earned through full body bath.
Again lets take an example of worship. What if a person does not have enough money or physically unfit to gather all paraphernalia for worship such as fruits, flowers, lamp, gandha, dhoop etc? Such people can still perform worship entirely through mind. This is called manas puja. In this puja the form of deity to be worshiped is completely imagined in the mind and once the image of deity is in front of mind, all the acts of worship such as applying gandha, offering flower, offering dhoop, waving lamp and offering naivedya are performed through mind. Such act of worship offers same punya as earned through external worship performed using actual worship materials. In fact they say that this, manas puja, is a purest form puja when performed with complete concentration.
In the same way if one does not have enough money to offer alms, or to perform charity, the strong desire itself to perform such an act helps earn the same punya as earned by performing actual act.
Shastra provides workarounds for the people who are unable to perform good deeds due to unavoidable circumstances. What is required is strong desire to perform good deed and sincerity.
Performing acts that help earn merit (punya) is a concern for every person. Learning to earn punya is the best education. For better future here and hereafter the most important thing is savings of punya. In fact whatever wealth we earn and whatever pleasures we enjoy in life are the results of punya earned previously. However this punya gets consumed through acts of enjoyment. Like if no effort is made to save money for future then one day there will be nothing left and life will be in crisis. In the same way if no effort is made to earn punya, existing savings of punya will be consumed and one day no punya will be left and life will be in crisis.
Giving alms (offering food), charity, worship are all acts that help earn punya. Out of these acts of earning punya giving alms is considered as best deed. However question arises as what about people who cannot give alms, people who do not have enough money to offer food to others, will they remain deprived of earning punya?
Or lets take an example of worship. To perform worship one has to take bath first. But what about the people who cannot take bath due to health reasons? Will they remain deprived of earning punya that is earned from worship? Shastra provides workaround for this. Such people who cannot take bath can just sprinkle water on their head, a ritual called as prokshan, and by doing that they will earn the same punya of taking bath as earned by person who has taken a full body bath and will be eligible to perform worship. Another workaround is to apply bhasma at designated places on the body, forehead being the primary place. This act also helps earn same punya that is earned through full body bath.
Again lets take an example of worship. What if a person does not have enough money or physically unfit to gather all paraphernalia for worship such as fruits, flowers, lamp, gandha, dhoop etc? Such people can still perform worship entirely through mind. This is called manas puja. In this puja the form of deity to be worshiped is completely imagined in the mind and once the image of deity is in front of mind, all the acts of worship such as applying gandha, offering flower, offering dhoop, waving lamp and offering naivedya are performed through mind. Such act of worship offers same punya as earned through external worship performed using actual worship materials. In fact they say that this, manas puja, is a purest form puja when performed with complete concentration.
In the same way if one does not have enough money to offer alms, or to perform charity, the strong desire itself to perform such an act helps earn the same punya as earned by performing actual act.
Shastra provides workarounds for the people who are unable to perform good deeds due to unavoidable circumstances. What is required is strong desire to perform good deed and sincerity.
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