Pushkarmuni Abhinandan Granth

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

Page 1169

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श्री पुष्करमुनि अभिनन्दन ग्रन्थ : नवम खण्ड
or injuring would fetch them worse fruit that accrued through a bodily act of injury. Again they may fear that indulgence in the मकार of मदिरा-मांस-मैथुन etc. even on a psychological plane may invite a mental degradation by the process contemplated in the Gita verse: surat faqur ga: arquera etc., leading straightway to the doom or destruction. Mental contemplation (f) may prove to be more harmful than actual physical act.
As for the relative superiority and inferiority between the inner and outer worships, it is unanimously declared that the former is superior to the latter. All the same, the two rites are not competitive but complementary ones. An option to the Antaryaga preferred by an individual devotee in his domestic worship (f) may be tolerated. But it is no way an option for the temple ritual. It is obligatory on the part of a temple priest (Archaka) to perform it with accuracy and devotion since he is doing it for the benefit of the devotees at large in a representative capacity. It seems that the Agamas expect of an ideal worshipper, a capacity to perform the manasayaga with perfection. In other words, it may be deemed as a necessary requisite for his eligibility to hold the office. Besides, sincere and devoted, accomplishment of the Mānasayāga paves the way for perfection and liveliness in the otherwise prosaic mechanism of the outer worship, and charge the ritual with spirituality which is automatically transmitted to the minds of the devotees who partake the worship only as spectators having full faith in the priest who actually performs the worship.
The priority and posterity of the two rituals also is an interesting topic and may create sometimes, a controversy among scholars. In the daily routine, we find that the mānasayāga comes first and then comes the Bahya-yaga. The arrangement of chapters in the texts also testify this. It is however that it is 'Bahyayaga that paves the way for the Antaryaga'. There is an apparent contradiction between the two views before us. Probably the second view is based on the verse from Vämakeswara Tantra which runs as follows:
बहिःपूजा विधातव्या यावज्ज्ञानं न विद्यते ।
- वामकेश्वरतंत्र अ. ५१
When we understand the proper position, the paradox will be removed. In the daily worship, the Antaryaga comes prior and brings perfection, purity and better sense of devotion to the Bahyayuga which follows. However, the Bahyayāga has its own limits on the path of spiritual progress of the individual aspirants. One day or other he must cry halt to the performance of Bahyayaga and it is always desired that the time should come as early as possible and that too before the aspirant is compelled to leave his earthly body. If he gains perfection in performing the Manasayaga, before the end of his life, he may continue the worship during the tenure of his further embodiments or inter-embodied states. It would be interesting to note here that individual aspirants have a lattitude of acquiring the proficiency in this ritual even upto the end of this life or failing it in the subsequent embodiments. For an Arcaka, however, the skill has to come at the initial stage of life. It is just like those who enter the renunciation stage () at the initial stage of life, which for others is a final stage. For this reason, the Arcaka is rightly praised as 'अर्चको हि हरिः साक्षात् ।'
One more point to be noted about the Manasyaga is the purpose behind it. In the Jayakhya Samhita of the Pañcar atra-Agama, it is explained that there exist two aspects of the Vāsanās or the passionic precipitates of the individual self. They are originating from without or within (ara and aaf). The former are accrued to the soul from the objects around, while the latter go on accumulating even in the absence of objects tempting the senses. The former can be overcome by diverting one's mind from their temptation by yoking the same to the process of outer worship. Nevertheless, that process is ineffective regarding the internal urges (vāsanās) that stir the mind from within and are likely to stir the faculties of the body which are restrained by the Samskaras achieved through the Bahyayaga. Those vāsanās are not an outcome of outer functioning of the senses. They are the sum-total of accumulations of pre