Method of worship

Krsna Ksetra (das) ACBSP

Many devotees have expressed some confusion about this "method" of offering arati in the
PancaratraPradipa. Whether it is due to bad or incomplete explanation, or because we "got it wrong", or
a combination of both is a matter of consideration.
The "problem" is that sastra gives practically no details about *how* to offer arati; Srila Prabhupada
showed how, *and* he also said to follow the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition. But to our conditioned eyes,
there appeared contradictions in the two in the matter of protocol (who receives worship first, next,
next). Gaudiya practice (following other Vaisnava practice) I am told begins the worship with the
"main" Deity. Traditionally (before Bhaktisiddhanta?) in many temples there would likely be only one
Deity, and no pictures of gurus. One worshiped the guru prior to going on the altar, along with
performing bhutasuddhi and other purvangakarmas.
The "solution" of the DW committee (as I, the editor understood it: maybe I got it wrong!) was to
understand Srila Prabhupada's offering of articles first to guru and "working up" was two things: 1) the
inclusion of the preliminary worship of guru etc. into the arati itself, and 2) acknowledgement that the
pujari is acting as assistant to his own guru in the worship of the Deities (he once, in another context,
gave the example of a disciple handing him the camara to worship the Deity, as illustration of how the
disciple assists the guru in worship of the Lord). With this understanding, we described the procedure as
you read it in PP.
There are several reasons this "solution" could be criticized.
1. It is speculation
2. It is not quite what Srila Prabhupada actually showed.
3. It ends up being something like a double arati.
4. It is complicated.
5. It involves too much cerebral gymnastics ("am I 'offering' or 'presenting' an item; what is really the
difference?")
6. It can't really work quite as described, in all temples, especially where there are 3 altars.
7. ??
There could also be arguments defending it.
1. It's recognizing the principle of worship through parampara, and it is
also recognizing that in arati one worships the main Deity, then (because of the notfullytraditional
situation of there being several Deities and acaryas present to be worshiped / honored) the "prasada" of
each item offered is "distributed" in descending order.
2. What Srila Prabhupada showed seems to have had variations. Exactly which version of his "showing"
is to be taken? hence, he did encourage consultation
with the wider Gaudiya tradition.
3. It's not really a double arati, if you keep the "number of circles"
minimal "on the way up", recognizing that the "full" number of circles is
mainly for the main Deity(s).
4. It's not complicated once you give a few minutes time to understand what
you are doing. Many pujaris around the world have been doing the arati this
way for several years and find it quite nice.
5. I personally found in the course of learning something about arcana and
the philosophy behind it that, in a sense, to be very conscious of what one

is doing makes the difference between Deity worship and "idol worship". It
seems to me that the procedures are all there both as means of showing
devotion to the Lord and means to focus the mind so that one is actually
making offerings of love, not mechanical motions. In temple arcana, we are
practicing vaidhisadhanabhakti, which means rules and regulations. The more
we appreciate the meaning of the rules, the more we avoid the practice of
niyamagraha.
5a. Many devotees have no trouble learning complex things regarding computer
use, so it should not be difficult for them to learn procedures for Deity
worship.
6. Where there are three altars, make appropriate adjustments. "Do the
needful"
7. ??
Back to the point we tried to emphasize in the PP Intro: that as much as we
might like to make ISKCONwide standards, we have to also acknowledge that
there will be various factors in each temple which call for differences.
Therefore we conceived of PP as a *guide* which can help each temple work out
its own standards.
Actually, in the French version of PP, which is presently being worked on, we
decided to include (as we have "simplified" process of worship), a
"simplified" process of arati. So maybe this is the solution for a future
edition of the English PP !
Hope this helps and doesn't further confuse
Your servant,
Krsnaksetra dasa
(Text COM:887672)