Required Paraphernalia

8/13/2019 Required Paraphernalia

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Purifying the Items (Upacaras)

Before picking up and offering each item, first purify your right hand and then the item by sprinkling them with waterfrom the acamana cup. You can purify the item by taking the spoon in your right hand and sprinkle water on the itemdirectly from the spoon.

Offering Procedure

While standing on a mat (asana) and ringing a bell, present the incense first to your spiritual master by waving it inthree or seven graceful circles, and then present it to Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya in the same manner.

Arati paraphernalia should be offered gracefully, in a meditative mood. But do not be either too slow or too fast, anddo not perform it in a showy manner, but as a humble servant of your spiritual master and the assembled Vaisnavas.Stand to the left of the altar (as viewed from the temple room)—not hidden entirely from view but also not distractingby your presence.

For devotees who are not direct disciples of Srila Prabhupada: Along with the worship of one‘s own spiritual master,devotees in ISKCON worship His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedänta Swami Prabhupada as both the Founder-Acaryaof ISKCON and the siksa-guru for all devotees of ISKCON. In addition to the worship of Srila Prabhupada in his guru-puja, one should also honor him when performing arati by presenting the arati items to Srila Prabhupada after

presenting them to one‘s own spiritual master.

Then, with the consciousness that you are offering it on behalf of your spiritual master and with the blessings of SrilaPrabhupada and Lord Caitanya, offer it with the full number of circles (listed below) to the main deity.

After offering the incense to the main Deity, offer it as prasada to the Lord‘s associates in descending order, and tothe guru-parampara – senior to junior. This may be done with seven or three circles for each personality, dependingon time allowance. (Some manuals say that when offering items as prasada in arati, one should not offer below thewaist.)

Then ―distribute it‖ (with one or three circles) to the assembled Vaisnavas as the prasada of the Lord and Hisassociates.

Offer the remaining items in a similar way. When offering each item, say softly the name of the item and theappropriate mula-mantra of the deity being worshiped. Or in simplified worship, simply say to each personality,―Please accept this offering of [incense, lamps, etc.].

Offered items should not be mixed with unoffered items. You may place offered items back on the plate that wasused to bring in the paraphernalia, provided no unoffered paraphernalia remains on it.

How to Offer Each Item

Offer all the items, except the camara and fan, by moving them in seven clockwise circles around the Lord‘s bodywhile ringing a bell with your left hand (above waist level), fixing your attention on the deities. The flowers should beoffered in seven circles around the feet.

Completing the Arati

Full aratis, including fanning and blowing of the conch before and after the arati, may last up to twenty-five minutes;the duration of short aratis (in which incense, flowers, and camara are offered) is from five to eight minutes.

After completing the arati, blow the conch three times outside the deity room, as at the beginning of the arati. Thendistribute the arghya and flower prasada to the assembled devotees.

Then with joined palms offer pranama prayers softly to your spiritual master and Their Lordships.



Next remove the arati paraphernalia from the deity room, clean the area and articles, and at last offer dandavat-pranamas (prostrated obeisances) outside the deity room.

On a plate reserved for the Lord‘s use, nicely arrange the preparations to be offered (Refer to kitchen and preparationrules on this page). Perform acamana and offer obeisances to your spiritual master requesting his blessings to assisthim in the worship. The offering plate is placed in front of the deities, either directly on the altar or on a table beforethe altar. Arrange for the Lord to eat in private, perhaps by putting up a curtain before the altar or leaving the room

while He is eating.

Checklist

You will need the following items:

1. a small bell on a plate2. an acamana cup containing fresh water and a spoon3. some arrangement for the offering plate(s) – preferably low tables4. cushions or mats (asanas) for your spiritual master and the deities5. the food offering (bhoga)6. a mat (asana) for you to sit on

Perform acamana and offer obeisances to your spiritual master requesting his blessings to assist him in the worship.

Before entering the room (or area where the altar is) draw the Lord‘s attention by making a sound, either by ringing abell, clapping your hands, or knocking on the door. Enter the room (or area) while chanting the names of the deities.

Clean the offering area, wash your hands, arrange the eating places (tables, cushions, etc.), and wipe the tablesurfaces.

Offer your spiritual master a sitting place (asana).

Purifying the Offering

Bring in the plate(s) for the offering (bhoga) and place them on the table(s).

Hold the acamana spoon in your right hand and sprinkle the food items on each plate with a few drops of water.

Make sure the food items (bhoga) have tulasi on them.

Inviting the Deities to Take Their Meal

Offer seats (asanas) to the deities, in ascending order, inviting Them to take Their meal with a gesture of the handsmotioning Them to Their sitting places.

Offering the Bhoga

While ringing a bell, chant the pranama prayer(s) to your spiritual master three times, begging permission to assisthim in serving the deities:

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale srimate [your spiritual master's name] iti namine

I offer my respectful obeisances unto [your spiritual master's name], who is very dear to Lord Krsna, havingtaken shelter at His lotus feet.

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Chant the following two prayers to Srila Prabhupada one after the other, three times, requesting his mercy:

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine

I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is verydear to Lord Krsna, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.

namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine

Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvati Gosvami. You are kindlypreaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with

impersonalism and voidism.

Chant the following prayer to Lord Caitanya three times, requesting His mercy:

namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah

O most munificent incarnation! You are Krsna Himself appearing as Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Youhave assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krsna. We

offer our respectful obeisances unto You.

Chant the following prayer three times, offering respect to Lord Krsna:

namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca jagad-dhitaya krsnaya govindaya namo namah

I offer my obeisances again and again to Lord Krsna, who is always worshiped by qualified brahmanas andis very dear to them. He is always concerned with the welfare of the cows, the brahmanas, and the whole

universe, and He gives pleasure to the cows, land, and senses.

Leave the area, offer obeisances praying for the Lord to accept the offering then chant the Gayatri mantras. Meditateon the Lord eating.

After some time (leave long enough for the Lord to eat), return to the altar. Ring the bell to indicate that the offeringhas finished and meditate on escorting Their Lordships and your spiritual master back to the altar, indicating the waywith a gesture of your right hand.

Remove the plates. Wipe the tables. Purify your hands with a few drops of water from the acamana

Getting Ready for Worship

In this chapter we will discuss the activities performed from the time you wake in the morning up until the point youstart worshiping the deity. The chapter is broken into two sections. In the first section we will look at how to prepareyourself for worship. Beginning with rising in the morning, cleansing the body, dressing, what type of cloth to wear,how to applying tilaka and sipping water for purification.



Then in the second section of this chapter we will describehow to prepare the various items of worship that will be offered to the deity during your daily worship. Also wherenecessary we will describe what the different articles offered represent. This book is for devotees worshiping the deityat home and as such the procedures are simplified. If you are interested in following more elaborate procedures thenyou should refer to the temple worship (Nitya seva) book.

In this section, as throughout the book, we will be quoting from the books of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,particularly from the Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, chapter 24. This section of the Caitanya-caritamrta was thefirst deity worship book in ISKCON and was called, ―The Perfection of Deity Worship.‖

―You should discuss the qualifications necessary for receiving a mantra, the perfection of the mantra, the purificationof the mantra, initiation, morning duties, remembrance of the Supreme Lord, cleanliness and washing the mouth andother parts of the body.‖

Rising early

In the purport to the above quotation Srila Prabhupada says,

―in the early morning hours (known as brahma-muhurta) one should get up‖

The brahma-muhurta is generally accepted as the most auspicious time of the day to performspiritual practices. During this time of day the world is peaceful and the influence of the modes ofpassion and ignorance are less thus enabling us to focus more on our spiritual practices. Thebrahma-muhurta begins approximately one and a half hours before sunrise. Although this may bedifficult for some devotees, due to pressures of work etc., rising early and regulation arebeneficial for the development of spiritual life. If you cannot rise this early it is still good to rise asearly as possible and at the same time everyday.

In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna says,

yuktahara-viharasyayukta-cestasya karmasu

yukta-svapnavabodhasya yogo bhavati duhkha-ha

He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains bypracticing the yoga system.

Leading a regulated life helps us to overcome the influence of the modes of material nature and thus be situated in aposition more conducive to developing transcendental consciousness.

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Chant Hare Krsna or Remembering Krsna

When you waken in the morning you should chant the name of the Lord.This helps to clear the consciousness of the influences of sleep or any bad dreams you may have experienced duringthe night. You can chant the names of the deities you are worshiping or the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. In the purportto Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 24.331 Srila Prabhupada says,

―Concerning pratah-smrti , remembrance of the Lord in the morning, in the early morning hours (known as brahma-muhurta) one should get up and immediately chant the Hare Krsna mantra, or at least ‗Krsna, Krsna, Krsna‘. In thisway, one should remember Krsna. Some slokas or prayers should also be chanted. By chanting, one immediatelybecomes auspicious and transcendental to the infection of material qualities. Actually one has to chant andremember Lord Krsna twenty-four hours daily, or as much as possible:

smartavyah satatam visnur vismartavyo na jatucit

sarve vidhi-nisedhah syur etayor eva kinkarah

Krsna is the origin of Lord Visnu. He should always be remembered and never forgotten at any time. All therules and prohibitions mentioned in the sastras should be the servants of these two principles. [PadmaPurana, from the portion called Brhat-sahasra-nama-stotra.]

Evacuating, Rinsing Mouth, Brushing Teeth and Bathing

―You should describe how in the morning one should regularly brush his teeth, take his bath, the word pratah-krtya inthe present verse of the Caitanya-caritamrta means that one should evacuate regularly in the morning and thencleanse himself by taking a bath. One has to gargle (acamana) and brush his teeth (danta-dhavana). He should dothis either with twigs or a toothbrush – whatever is available. This will purify the mouth. Then one should take hisbath. Actually householders and vanaprasthas should bathe two times a day ( pratar-madhyahnayoh snanam vanaprastha-grhasthayoh). A sannyasi should bathe three times daily, and a brahmacari may take only one bath aday. Whenever one is not able to bathe in water, he can bathe by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra.

After waking, evacuating, and appropriate cleansing, brush your teeth, scrape your tongue and then take bath.Without taking bath one remains impure and cannot perform deity worship. Everything you touch before bathingbecomes as impure as your body is. Morning bath is compulsory for all, except those who are ill. In Vedic culturebathing is considered a sacred act to be accompanied by meditation on the Lord and recitation of prayers.

Rules for bathing

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Do not bathe naked. Wear a kaupina. This shows respect to the personality ofthe water and shows that one recognizes bathing to be a sacred act. One shouldbe particularly careful to observe this injunction when bathing in a river or otherpublic place.

Grhasthas should bathe wearing two cloths. (Besides a kaupina, they wear a

second cloth (gamcha), usually tied around the waist.) Brahmacaris andsannyasis should wear at least a kaupina when bathing. Do not take unnecessary baths. Three times a day plus after any occasion of

impurity is sufficient. Do not bathe in impure water. If you must evacuate, do so before bathing. Otherwise you will be like the

elephant who completes his bath by throwing dust on his body. After bathing, do not shake your hair to dry it and do not shake water from your

cloth or legs. Do not rub oil on your body after bathing. (Oil on the body is considered impure,

and thus if you require it you should apply it before taking a water bath.)

Wring out your bathing cloth and then dry your body with a separate, dry cloth;wiping yourself with your bathing cloth will contaminate you again. However, ifyou wash and wring out your bathing cloth before drying yourself off with it, youwill not become impure.

After bathing, dry your body with a clean cloth; do not wipe your body with yourhands, a dirty cloth, or the edge of the damp cloth you are wearing. The clothused for drying should be washed after every use.

Dressing as a Vaisnava

While worshiping the deity one should wear appropriate Vaisnava dress. Vaisnava dress helps us to identifyourselves as a servant of Krsna.

Unclean and Improper Cloth

A devotee should not wear dirty cloth, especially when cooking or worshiping the deity. Usedcloth that has not been washed and dried again is considered unclean. Cloth worn while sleeping,passing urine or stool, or having sex is unclean. Cloth that touches anything impure, such aswine, meat, blood, a dead body, or a woman in her menstrual period, is also contaminated. Clothwashed by a public laundry service and cloth that, though washed, has become stale are alsounclean and therefore unfit to wear during deity worship.

While worshiping the deity, you should not wear the following types of cloth: brightly-colored cloth (for men), dampcloth, cloth that is too long or too short to be worn properly, stitched or sewn cloth (for men), torn cloth, oil or dirt

stained cloth, soiled cloth, burnt cloth, or cloth chewed by animals or insects. However, you may wear silk many timesbefore washing it, provided it has not contacted anything impure or been worn in impure places.

Unbleached, raw matka (ahimsa) silk is the best for puja. Sheep‘s wool is said to be always pure, but still, you shouldnot wear ordinary woolen cloth when worshiping the deity, because wool particles may fall on the deity‘sparaphernalia. However, you may wear wool cloth if it is very fine, ―nonshedding‖ wool, in which case you shouldreserve these items only for puja. Synthetic cloth should not be worn when worshiping the deity.

Marking the Body With Tilaka and Other Symbols



You should also describe how one should paint one‘s bodyin twelve places with urdhva-pundra [tilaka].

Place some water in the palm of the left hand, then taking a piece of gopicandana (tilaka) in the right hand rub it inthe water in the left hand until a smooth paste has been formed.

The following prayer from the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, quoted in the Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, 20.202, lists theforms of the Lord to meditate on while applying tilaka.

(om) lalate kesavam dhyayennarayanam athodare

vaksa-sthale madhavam tugovindam kantha-kupake

visnum ca daksine kuksaubahau ca madhusudanamtrivikramam kandhare tu

vamanam vama-parsvake

sridharam vama-bahau tu

hrsikesam tu kandhare prsthe tu padmanabham cakatyam damodaram nyaset

tat praksalana toyam tuvasudeveti murdhani

When one marks the forehead with tilaka, he must remember Kesava. When one marks the lower abdomen,he must remember Narayana. For the chest, one should remember Madhava, and when marking the hollow ofthe neck one should remember Govinda. Lord Visnu should be remembered while marking the right side ofthe belly, and Madhusudana should be remembered when marking the right arm. Trivikrama should beremembered when marking the right shoulder, and Vamana should be remembered when marking the leftside of the belly. Sridhara should be remembered while marking the left arm, and Hrsikesa should beremembered when marking the left shoulder. Padmanabha and Damodara should be remembered when

marking the back.

While chanting the following mantras and meditating on the Lord, apply tilaka to the forehead and upper body with thering finger of your right hand.

om kesavaya namah – foreheadom narayanaya namah – navelom m adhavaya namah – chestom gov indaya namah – hollow of the neckom visn ave namah – right abdomen

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om madhusudanaya namah – right armom tr iv ikramaya namah – right shoulderom vamanaya namah – left abdomenom sr id haraya namah – left armom hrs ikesaya namah – left shoulderom padm anabhaya namah – upper backom damo daraya namah – lower back

Wash the excess tilaka from your hands with water, and then wipe your sikha with the palm of your right hand whilechanting:

om vasud evaya namah - sikha

Applying tilaka is a spiritual activity and therefore tilaka should be applied in a sitting position after have sippedacamana.

Marking the Body With Other Symbols and the Names of the Lord

Sometimes devotees also like to decorate their bodies with the names of the Lord or pictures of the Lord‘s feet. Forthis metal stamps that are purchased in India are used.

as well as how one should stamp one‘s body with the holy names of the Lord orthe symbols of the Lord, such as the disc and club.

After this, you should describe how one should decorate his body withgopicandana,

Sipping Water for Purification (acamana)

Acamana , or sipping water, is a means of purification. As immersing the body in water bringsabout physical and subtle cleansing, so taking water infused with mantras into the body bysipping performs a similar function. Thus where purification is required but it is inconvenient to

bathe, acamana is prescribed.

The general process of acamana is as follows:

While looking into water cupped in your right hand, chant a mantra directed into that water and then sip the water.

A devotee should perform acamana to achieve physical and mental purity before performing spiritual activities suchas applying tilaka, chanting Gayatri and japa, performing puja and homa, observing a vrata, taking prasada, readingor reciting sastra or mantras, and meditating.

The place where a devotee performs acamana should be pure – i.e., free from hair, bones, ash, or any other impureitem.

The water should be cool, fresh, without bubbles or foul odor or taste, and untouched by fingernails, hair, or anyimpure item. Rainwater, being in the mode of passion, should not be used.

Out of respect for a spiritual activity, do not perform acamana with your head or throat covered; without having yourkaupina or cloth tucked in at the back; without first cleaning your hands and feet; with shoes on; while standing; orwhile sitting on shoes or sitting with your knees or feet showing.

Chanting Gayatri



One also has to perform his sandhyadi-vandana – that is, one has to chant his Gayatri mantra three times daily – morning, noon and evening.

One may chant Gayatri at the three sandhyas, sunrise, noon and sunset. Also it is acceptable to chant Gayatri in themorning after applying tilaka. See conversation, January 18, 1976, Mayapur

Gathering Items for worship

In the previous section we described how to get yourself ready for worshiping the Lord, now in this section we willdescribe the utensils of worship and how to prepare the various items of worship that will be used, as well as themeans of purifying various items.

Before starting the worship, gather all the required utensils and items.

If you want to offer more than the basic items of worship to your deities and want descriptions of how to preparethese items or what they represent, then please refer to the chapters on temple worship.

Utensils for Worship

Conch

The conch (sankha) embodies the qualities of power, purity, and beauty, and it also represents moksa. Being aconstant companion of the Lord, the conch is worshipable. All tirthas in the world reside in the water within the conch.Just seeing or touching the conch destroys one‘s sins. The Lord is generally bathed with water from a conch. Theconch is normally placed on a three-legged stand.

Bel l

The sound of a bell embodies all music. If a devotee lacks instruments and kirtana he can simply ring a bell, for thatsound in itself is dear to the Lord. In elaborate worship the bell is worshiped before worshiping the Lord, as an item ofHis paraphernalia that is very dear to Him. Many functions of worship require that one ring a bell with a handle.

The scriptures (sastra) state that one who, while worshiping the Lord, rings a bell with a symbol of Garuda or theLord‘s cakra on it attains liberation from birth and death.

A bell with a handle is generally held in the left hand while being rung. When not being used, the bell should alwayssit on a plate; this is the bell‘s seat (asana). When bathing the deity and offering food (bhoga), you should ring thebell. You may ring the bell also when offering other items when it is practical (i.e., when both hands are not requiredto offer the items, such as clothing and ornaments).

Vessels (patrani)

Containers for items such as sandalwood paste, flowers and tulasi leaves may be made of various substances andhave various colors and shapes (a lotus, for example). One may use vessels made of copper, gold, silver, bell-metal,stainless steel, clay, stone, wood (such as coconut shells), or brass. The Varaha Purana states that the best of allvessels are those made of copper: ―[They] are the purest of the pure, the embodiment of all auspiciousness.‖ Whilevessels of gold and silver are certainly pure, a container made of copper is not only pure but also purifies the water itcontains. As the Lord states in the Varaha Purana (quoted in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa):

I am more pleased by containers made of copper than by those made of gold, silver, or bell-metal.

However, sour substances such as yogurt and lemon should not be kept in copper containers.

The bathing tray should be copper, brass, or bell-metal. The best type of bathing tray (snana-patra or snana-vedi ) hasan opening on one side with a long lip, allowing the caranamrta to drain off into a separate receptacle. If the bathing



tray has no such drain, you can empty the bathing tray into the caranamrta receptacle after bathing and drying thedeity.

Holders for incense and lamps (dhupa and dipa) can be of brass, bell-metal, silver, copper, and sometimes clay.

The plate upon which food is offered, may be made of gold, silver, copper, bell-metal, earthenware, or a lotus leaf. Although sastra does not mention it, stainless steel may also be used. Do not use aluminum.

Ingredients for Worship

Oils

In some temples the pujaris offer different oils according to the season. For example, in Vrndavana pujaris commonlyoffer ruh khus during summer, kadamba and rose during the rainy season, jasmine during autumn, and hina (myrtle)during winter. Avoid offering synthetic oils, which contain impure chemicals such as alcohol.

Bathing Ingredients

The principal element of the bath is pure water, with certain restrictions. Do not collect the water at night, nor touch it

with your fingernails. In descending order of quality, the best water for bathing the deity is Ganga or Yamuna water,then water from any tirtha, water from a river that flows directly to the ocean, water from a tributary river, water from anatural spring, lake, pond, or man-made reservoir, water from a well, and finally water from a pot. Bring the water to apleasant temperature for bathing, depending on the weather – cooler in warm weather and warmer in cool weather.

One should bathe the Lord with water in which nicely scented flowers have been soaking for some time.

By adding various ingredients, one may prepare many kinds of water for bathing the deity. You can also addsandalwood paste to the water. Tulasi should always be in the bathing water for the Lord.

Ti laka and Lemon J uice

Brass deities require regular polishing. This is generally done with a paste made of tilaka and fresh lemon juice.

However, you may also use a mixture of fresh lemon juice and ―fuller‘s earth‖, (a very fine potter‘s clay). Lemon juiceshould be from fresh lemons, (fresh limes are also acceptable). The purity of bottled lemon juice is uncertaintherefore it is better to avoid. You may also polish the deities with a paste made from tamarind pulp and a little water.

To make the paste, add fresh lemon juice to powdered tilaka, after a few moments the mixture will bubble. You mayapply the tilaka to the body of the deity directly with your fingers, with a cloth or with cotton wool. Always check thepaste before applying to see that there are no small stones that will scratch the deity.

Towels for Drying

The towels for drying the Lord should be pure, soft cotton. Cotton is better than silk because it is absorbent and canbe washed repeatedly. Do not use synthetics

Cotton flannelette is suitable for this purpose. It remains soft even after washing many times. It also dries quickly so

that if it is washed and rinsed one day it is dry the next day ready for the worship.

Always wash and dry new cloth before using for your deities.

Dress for the Lord (vast ra)

The Lord should be dressed in upper and lower cloth that is durable, soft (not scratchy), clean, untorn, never worn byothers, scented, and of variegated colors. The scriptures allow for various local styles in dressing the Lord, buttraditional dressing, like traditional cooking, is very dear to Him.



All colors may be utilized just suitable to your scheme.

Synthetic fabric is allowable for deity dresses, although natural fabrics such as silk and cotton are best.

The deities should be dressed in clothing suitable to the season – warm clothing in the cold season, light in the hotseason. Dressing deities according to season is prominent in traditional temples in Vrndavana.

Srila Prabhupada was displeased when devotees failed to dress the deities in clothing suitable to the weather:

―It is not at all good that the deities do not have warm clothing for the cold weather.‖

Tulasi Leaves and Bud s

If fresh tulasi leaves are unavailable, you may use dry tulasi leaves for offering food and for placing on the Lord‘slotus feet.

(See instructions on worshiping Tulasi and picking her leaves.)

Ornaments

Since precious metals and precious stones attract thieves, Srila Prabhupada instructed devotees to decorate deitieswith synthetic jewellery. However, semi-precious stones and silver generally may be used, with due consideration forprotection of the deities and Their paraphernalia.

Sandalwood Paste

Sandalwood paste is made by grinding sandalwood on a stone with a little water or rose water. If you are addingother ingredients to the paste, such as saffron of camphor, add them after you have made a little paste, then grindthem into the paste until they are completely absorbed into the paste and there are no small pieces left. Sandalwoodpaste may be also made by adding a pinch of aguru (aloes), musk, or kunkuma. Finely ground tulasi wood may alsobe added.

Flowers

The Hari-bhakti-vilasa dedicates an entire chapter to the subject of flowers. Flowers are a very important item in deityworship. Always try to offer the best flowers possible.

If flowers are unavailable, you may offer leaves (especially tulasi , jambu, mango, amalaki , sami , and tamala leaves)or newly grown grass shoots.

Srila Prabhupada writes:

There is no question of using paper [or] plastic fruits and flowers for worshiping the deities. If no fresh fruits or flowersare available, then you can decorate with some fresh leaves. You have seen our temples; nowhere do we use suchthings… We are not after decoration; we are after devotional service for pleasing Krishna‘s senses. Decoration mustbe there, of course, to make the temple as opulent as possible for pleasing Krishna. Outside the temple, you can use

the plastic ornaments. But not for worship. For daily worship there must be fresh fruit, flowers, and leaves.

Krsna belongs to the village atmosphere of Vrndavana, and He is very fond of flowers. As far as possible try toincrease the quantity of flowers.

Incense (dhupa)

Incense may be of many varieties. It is popular nowadays to offer incense sticks (agarbatti ), since they areconvenient to light and offer. Strictly speaking, one can be reasonably sure that all purchased incense sticks contain

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impure substances-chemicals and possibly even animal products. Even ―pure sandalwood‖ incense is likely to besynthetic. These impurities do not make such products unofferable, any more than synthetic jewelery is unofferable.

As far as possible try to attain pure incense to offer to the Lord.

Lamps (dipa)

Ghee lamps offered in arati vary widely in shape and size and traditionally have an odd number of wicks, (more thanthree). The standard number of wicks for a full arati is five.

The technique for making ghee wicks that burn properly-with just the right amount of ghee, and tapered to a finepoint-must be learned from an expert.

Offer ing Food

Srila Prabhupada writes:

As far as the eatables are concerned, all items should be first-class preparations. There should befirst-class rice, dal , fruit, sweet rice, vegetables, and a variety of foods to be sucked, drunk, andchewed. All the eatables offered to the deities should be extraordinarily excellent.

Offerable foods

The Hari-bhakti-vilasa lists some of the foods that may be offered: bilva,amalaki , dates, coconut, jackfruit, grapes, tala fruit, lotus root, leafy vegetables, cowmilk products, and items madefrom grains, ghee, and sugar.

Grains, especially rice, should always be offered with ghee. Rice without ghee is considered asuric . The Lord is

pleased when offered items made with ghee, sugar, yogurt, guda (jaggery), and honey; chickpea preparations, dals,soups (wet sabjis), varieties of cakes, and other items that can be licked, chewed, sucked, or drunk are all pleasingas well.

One may also offer drinks such as sugarcane juice, yogurt drinks, sweetened lemon water, water flavored withcinnamon, camphor, or cardamom, and fruit drinks of various scents and colors.

Many passages in the Caitanya-caritamrta describe preparations that please Krsna. Here is a sample, describingwhat Lord Caitanya‘s associates would prepare for Him:

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They offered [Him] pungent preparations made with black pepper, sweet-and-sour preparations, ginger, salty preparations, limes, milk, yogurt, cheese, two or four kinds of spinach, soup made with bitter melon [sukta], eggplantmixed with nimba flowers, and fried patola.

In a letter Srila Prabhupada described foods in the mode of goodness and how to present them to the Lord:

Foodstuffs in the modes of goodness are wheat, rice, pulse (beans, peas), sugar, honey, butter, and all milkpreparations, vegetables, flowers, fruits, grains. So these foods can be offered in any shape, but prepared in variousways by the intelligence of the devotees.

In his Caitanya-caritamrta, Srila Prabhupada describes the best type of rice for deity offerings:

In India sukla-caval (white rice) is also called atapa-caval, or rice that has not been boiled before being threshed. Another kind of rice, called siddha-caval (brown rice), is boiled before being threshed. Generally, first-class fine whiterice is required for offerings to the deity.

A devotee may offer bona fide foods considered delicacies by the local people or preferred by him or his family. Incommenting on a sloka stating that one may offer his own or local favorites, Sanatana Gosvami writes that thismeans that even though people in general may not like a certain food, if a person prefers it he may offer it. But thisrefers to foods the scriptures approves, not those they forbid. Thus if one is fond of a forbidden food, one cannot offer

it to the Lord. And thus one cannot eat it. Also, one should not offer even permissible foods that are tasteless,unpalatable, inedible, impure for any reason, or eaten by insects, animals, or people.

If nothing else offerable is available, one may offer fruit alone. If even fruit is unavailable, one may offer pure waterwhile meditating on offering elaborate preparations. If even water is unavailable, one should at least mentally makean offering of food.

Forbidden foods

Common forbidden foods include meat, fish, eggs, onions, mushrooms, garlic, masur-da l (redlentils), burned rice, white eggplant, hemp (marijuana), citron, saps from trees (if not boiled first),buffalo and goat milk products, and milk with salt in it. Also, one should not offer canned orfrozen foods to the deity, and it is best to avoid offering foods containing unhealthy substances

such as yeast and white sugar.

Srila Prabhupada comments:

―Frozen means nasty. I never take frozen…. All rotten, rather the same vegetable, as we have got in India practice,we dry it and keep it. That is tasteful.‖

―So far the cucumber pickles: As far as possible we should not offer to the deity things which are prepared bynondevotees. We can accept from them raw fruits, grains, or similar raw things. So far cooking and preparing, thatshould be strictly limited to the initiated devotees. And aside from this, vinegar is not good; it is tamasic, in thedarkness, nasty food.‖

―Concerning the use of sour cream in the temple, it should be stopped immediately. Nothing should be offered to theDeities which is purchased in the stores. Things produced by the karmis should not be offered to Radha-Krishna.

Icecream, if you can prepare, is O.K., but not otherwise.‖

―Unpolished rice which looks like brown can be used… We do not mind polished or unpolished, but doubly-boiled[siddha rice] mustn‘t be used. Doubly-boiled rice is considered impure. Sunbaked rice (atapa) is all right.‖

―Soya beans and lentils are unofferable.‖



―Regarding purchasing things in the market, these items are considered as purified when we pay the price for them.That is the general instruction. But when we know something is adulterated, we should avoid it. But unknowingly ifsomething is purchased, that is not our fault. Things which are suspicious, however, should be avoided.‖

―No, it is not very good to use yeast in preparing prasadam.‖

―Since it is offensive to offer anything to Krsna that He will not accept, one should be extremely cautious not to offer(or eat) anything questionable.‖

Kitchen Standards

Just as we must select pure, excellent foods to offer to Krsna, so we must also prepare thempurely. To prepare food for the Lord, one must meticulously observe the rules for cleanliness andtake the utmost care to prepare the food properly. The consciousness of the cook enters into thefood he prepares, and therefore he should strive to be Krsna conscious while in the kitchen. Thekitchen, where the Lord’s food is prepared, is an extension of the deity room, where He eats. Sothe same high standard of cleanliness should be maintained in both places.

Kitchen Rules

Follow the standards presented here as far as possible.

Kitchen Dress

If possible cover your hair so as to avoid any hair falling into a preparation. Do not wear wool in the kitchen. All clothing must be clean-that is, it must not have been worn in the bathroom,

when eating or sleeping, or outside the temple grounds.

Personal Cleanliness

You should be freshly showered and wearing tilaka and neckbeads. Wash your hands when first entering the kitchen, and wash them again if you

touch your face, mouth, or hair, or if you sneeze or cough (having-hopefully-covered your mouth).

Food Purity

After assembling the ingredients for cooking, wash all vegetables and fruits andanything else that can be washed.

If something washable falls on the floor or in a sink, wash it off; if it isunwashable, reject it.

The cook should cover all preparations as soon as they are cooked. If an animalsees a preparation before it is offered, it must be rejected. No one except thecook and the pujari should see the unoffered food.

Cover the ghee used for frying when it is not in use. Old ghee should be replacedregularly with fresh ghee.

See to it that all ingredients are properly stored in closed containers.

Kitchen and Utensil Cleanliness



The kitchen should be thoroughly cleaned regularly, including inside the stoves,ovens, and refrigerators.

Do not leave unclean saucepans and utensils lying around in the kitchen. Cleanthem after they are used (the sooner they are cleaned after use, the easier theyare to clean).

No one should eat or drink in the kitchen; nor should anyone use the sink forspitting into or drinking from. Remove all garbage from the kitchen at least once a day. If you need to store prasada in the refrigerator store it in such a way that

unoffered items will not become contaminated. I.e. store prasada in sealedcontainers.

Maintaining Proper Consciousness

As far as possible restrict conversation to topics about Krsna. Do not play recordings of popular-style music in the kitchen. Traditional bhajana

and kirtana recordings are appropriate.

Deep-frying should be done in pure ghee, if possible. Ghee used for frying should be regularly replaced. (Ideally,ghee and other oils should be used only once, since each reheating reduces their digestibility. An expert cook will usea minimum amount of ghee for deep-frying and use the remainder for making halava or mixing into rice.) If ghee isnot available or cannot be made, you may use vegetable oil, such as coconut, mustard, sunflower, or peanut oil.

Arati

Every scheduled food offering is followed by an arati . Except for kirtana, offering arati is the only regular daily functionof deity worship performed publicly.

There two basic types of arati offered in ISKCON temples (both described in the section on how to offer arati ) butaccording to your circumstances and available facility you may offer whatever is practical.

Arati is performed at 1½ hours before sunrise to awaken the deities. Each offering is made by moving it in 7 bigcircles, starting at the Lotus Feet of the Lord, and going clockwise round. First of all, burning camphor or ghee (5 firesif possible) is offered in this way, slowly circling them before the Lord. With left hand bell is being rung, and with righthand the offerings are made by circling. Next burning dhupa is offered. Then water is offered in a conchshell. Then anice handkerchief is offered. Then a nice flower, as a rose. Then the deities are offered a fan, nice peacock featherfan. And the last item is the blowing of the conch shell three times. Throughout arati there is bell ringing, cymbals,mrdanga, gong, harmonium, etc.

So far your question regarding deity worship, during arati everything should be offered first to the Guru.

The cloth offered in arati , should be pure cotton or pure silk.

Documents

Required Paraphernalia