Pushkarmuni Abhinandan Granth

Author(s): Devendramuni, A D Batra, Shreechand Surana
Publisher: Rajasthankesari Adhyatmayogi Upadhyay Shree Pushkar Muni Abhinandan Granth Prakashan Samiti

Page 1167

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श्री पुष्करमुनि अभिनन्दन ग्रन्थ : नवम खण्ड
मानसान् जयशब्दांश्च कृत्वा विज्ञापयेदिदम् । स्वागतं तव देवेश ! सन्निधिं भज मेऽच्युत ! बृहाण मानसीं पूजां यथार्थपरिभाषिताम् ॥
-पारमे सं. ४ : १३४-३५
The upacaras or the offerings to be presented are not tangible (a) but products of will-power (f) and their speciality lies in their being immense in size, abundant in quality and they can be gathered from any place of choice out of the seven worlds. Besides they are through and through auspicious, holy, bestowed with finest qualities and undecayable.14 All is abstract for instance, the fire to be produced is by rubbing the sticks of meditationध्यानारणि तू निर्मथ्य चिदग्निमवतार्थं च The fire also is not ordinary but a spiritual one. The nyāsa, the mantras, the mudrās all are abstract. Nothing is tangible. The whole performance when accomplished is to be surrendered to the Lord and then the entire paraphernelia is to be withdrawn into one's heart and is to be treasured into one's self, by the power of will or Samkalpa. Then the devotee has to beg permission of the Lord to perform the Bahyayāga. The conclusion (Visarjana) worship-within is not to be done till the completion of the worship without.
The Agamic seers promise the performer of the Manasayaga various reliefs: from diseases, oldage, mortality, bondage of the worldly ties etc., and further assure him of annihilation of all demerit to his account, thereby granting him 'the eternal bliss'. It is described as the best of the paths and the follower is honoured as the best of the worshippers. It is further assured that the performance of this form of worship, though very hard to practise becomes easy by constant practice.15 The followers are warned against revealing this to those who have neither faith nor eligibility to perform this.
The first thing that strikes us is the completeness of the process contemplated in the Manasayāga as compared to the processes of मानसजप, मानसस्नान, मानसहोम etc. They are small units in themselves which rather serve as component parts of the abstract worship, while this is a self-sufficient unit.
_The_Parā pūjā_or Mānasapūjā explained by Adi Sankara, the भूतशुद्धि, न्यास, योग and like topics fall under the same category with the Manasayaga as noted already. But there are a number of subtle points of difference. In the Manasapūjā offered to the Goddess, we find the Sodaśopacara created and offered by mind alone. In the Parapujā however, the immense finiteness of the worshipper and his equipments in comparison to the Infinite' which is the object of worship seriously strikes the mind of great Sankara and in a mood of ecstacy he expresses his inability to worship the Lord, and going a step further, he says that the action of Pūjā is impossible due to the identity of the Pujya and the Pujaka. In the Manasayaga on the other hand, no inability is contemplated, nor the identity of the Pujya and Pujaka at least at the time of the ritual.
In the elemental purification we find a process wherein both psychological and physical agencies are at work. Besides, it is a preparation for the worship and not the body of it. In Manasa-snana, what is aimed at is the internal purification of the body and mind. Mānasajapa is a practice of concentrating on the muttering of the mantras or divine names without the help of the tongue and the lips. In the nyasa both the physical as well as the mental activity is at work. In dhyāna or meditation, what is required is application of one's mind towards single object.
In the yogic practice, we find that at the stage of Samadhi, mind has to develop the faculty of concentration (ekagrata) at the first instance and further in the state of the NirbijaSamadhi what is contemplated is the total merger in the object namely the Supreme Self. Besides, the Nāḍī system is yoked to the yogic feats, which may not be employed in the Agamic process of the internal worship.