Respecting the form

 S'rî Uddhava said: 'Can You please explain the ritual yoga [kriyâ-yoga] of the service unto You as a deity, oh Master? Who is of that worship, in respect of what form is one of worship and in what manner are You worshiped then, oh Master of the Sâtvatas The sages Nârada, Bhagavân Vyâsa and my preceptor the son of Angirâ [Brihaspati] repeatedly say that for the welfare of men there is nothing as conducive. The words about this that emanated from Your lotus mouth were spoken by the great unborn Lord [Brahmâ] unto his sons headed by Bhrigu and by the great Lord S'iva speaking to the goddess [Pârvatî, This [service to Your deity form] is approved by all classes and spiritual orders of society and is, I think, most beneficial for women and the working class oh Magnanimous One. Oh Lotus-eyed Lord, please, oh Controller of All Controllers in the Universe, speak to Your bhakta - who is so very attached - about this means of liberation from the bondage of karma.'

The Supreme Lord said: 'The number of [karma-kânda] prescriptions for worshiping deities is endless Uddhava, let Me in brief explain it nicely one step at a time.  One should worship Me as one desires following one of the three kinds of sacrifice according to the Vedas, the explanatory literatures [tantras like the Pañcarâtra] or a combination of them. Now hear from Me how a person, who according to the for him specific Vedic precepts [*] achieved the status of a second birth, should worship Me with faith and devotion.  He must, connected in bhakti, free from ulterior motives ['honestly'] with the necessary paraphernalia worship Me, his worshipable guru, as being present in a deity, a sacrificial area, a fire, in the [position of the] sun, in water or in the twice-born heart itself For purification he should first bathe and brush his teeth and next purify himself with both types of [Vedic and tantric] mantras while applying clay and such. To be freed from his karma, he perfectly convinced should engage in My ritual worship [pûjâ] and thereto perform duties as prescribed in the Vedas with worship and such [like expressing the Gâyatrî-mantra] at the three junctures of the day [dawn, noon and sunset].

There are eight types of forms with which one remembers Me: in stone, wood, metal, smearable substances [like clay], being painted, in sand, in jewels and as an image kept in the mind. Of the two kinds of individual temple deities that are moved and not moved, the installed deity oh Uddhava, is in His worship not brought forward (âvâdana) and taken away again (udvâsa).  Not being installed one has these options, but when assigned a fixed place the following two possibilities are found: not being of a smearable substance [or being painted or made of  wood] He is washed, in all other cases He is cleansed without water.  There is the worship of My different deities with excellent paraphernalia, there is the worship of a devotee free from material desire using whatever that is readily available and there is the worship in the heart in a mental respect [by love only]. 

 With a deity [in the temple] customary bathing and decorating is most appreciated Uddhava, for a holy place that is an exercise of respect in mantras [tattva-vinyâsa] and for fire oblations [of sesame, barley etc.] drenched in ghee are considered best. With the sun that is a meditation in âsanas [see Sûrya-namskar] and with water offerings of water and such are most suitable. Offerings presented with faith by a devotee of Mine are most dear to Me, even if it is just a bit of water. And what to say of an offering [by devotees] of foodstuffs, flowers, lamps, fragrances and incense  An offer [by contrast] that, even if it is very rich, is made by a non-devotee will not satisfy Me  Cleansed, having collected the necessary items, having arranged the seat with blades [of kus'a grass] pointing to the east and sitting down facing the east or the north or else directly facing the deity, he should then be of worship . After having assigned mantras to his own body and also having done this to My form, he should clean My Deity with his hand and properly prepare the sprinkling vessel and the sacred pot. With the water of the vessel sprinkling the area of the deity, the utensils and his own body, he next should prepare three vessels with water and arrange for the necessary auspicious items as far as available [like flowers, grains, blades of grass, sesame seeds etc., With the mantras for the heart [hridayâya namah], the head [s'îrase svâhâ] and the tuft of hair [s'ikhâyai vashath] the worshiper should purify the three vessels of water for His feet [pâdya], His hands [arghya], and His mouth [âcamana], and do the same with the Gâyatrî.  He should meditate on the Original Individuality of all Expansions, the very subtle transcendental form of Mine that, within his body that was fully purified by air and fire, is situated on the lotus of the heart and by perfected souls is experienced in the end vibration of the Pranava  With that [meditated form] by his own realization conceived, he, of worship within his body and fully being absorbed in thought of Me, should invite Me within the deity - and all that is respected along with it -  by touching My limbs with mantras [nyâsa] and thereupon honor Me [externally by performing puja]. After first having imagined My seat decorated with the nine s'aktis and the [deities of] dharma etc. as an effulgent eight-petaled lotus with saffron filaments in its whorl, he should offer to Me the pâdya, arghya and âcamana water and other items of worship to be perfect with the two [of enjoyment and liberation] in respect of both the Vedas and the tantras. One after the other he next must honor My disc-weapon [the Sudars'ana cakra], conch [the Pâñcajanya], club [the Kaumodaki] and arrows and bow [the S'arnga], My [Balarâma items of the] plow and pestle [hala and mushala], My gem [the Kaustubha], garland [the Vaijayantî] and chest mark curl of white hairs [the S'rîvatsa]. [He also honors] Garuda, Nanda, Sunanda, Pracanda and Canda, Mahâbala, Bala, Kumuda and Kumudekshana [My carrier bird and eight associates]. Durgâ, Vinâyaka [Ganes'a], Vyâsa, Vishvaksena the spiritual masters and the demigods - each in their own place facing the deity - should be worshiped with the sprinkling of water and other rituals Every day [the deity] should be bathed, as far as the means permit, using different kinds of water scented with sandalwood, us'îra root, camphor, kunkuma and aguru. Also hymns should be chanted such as the ones from a section of the Vedas known as Svarna-gharma, the incantation called Mahâpurusha, the Purusha-sûkta [from the Rig Veda] and songs from the Sâma Veda like the Râjana and others. My devotee should lovingly decorate Me with clothing, a sacred thread, ornaments, marks of tilaka, garlands and [apply] fragrant oils, the way it is enjoined. The worshiper should with faith present to Me pâdya and âcamana water, fragrances and flowers, whole grains, incense, lamps and other items.  According to his means he should make offerings of foodstuffs like candy, sweet rice, ghee, rice flour cake [s'ashkulî], sweet cakes [âpûpa], sweet rice flour dumplings with coconut [modaka], spicy sweet wheat cake of ghee and milk [samyâva], yogurt and vegetable soups. On special days or else every day [the deity] should be offered a massage with ointment, a mirror, an eucalyptus stick for cleaning the teeth, a bath, food to be chewed and not to be chewed, as also song and dance. In a sacrificial area set up as prescribed he should, wearing a girdle, using a fire pit and an elevation for sacrificing, by hand build and bring to a blaze a fire that is equally piled up. Spreading [kus'a grass, mats] and then sprinkling and ceremonially [anvâdhâna] placing wood in the fire according to the rules, he should, having arranged for the âcamana water, sprinkle the items to offer and meditate on Me as residing in the fire. Meditating in worship of Me as being brilliant with a color of molten gold, with My conch, disc, club and lotus, My four arms and peacefulness; My garment with the color of the filaments of a lotus, shining helmet, bracelets, belt, the ornaments on My arms, the S'rîvatsa on My chest, the effulgent Kaustubha and a flower garland; throwing pieces of wood soaked in ghee into the fire and in the course of the arghya ritual making the two offerings of sprinkling ghee [in two ways called Âghâras] and [two different] oblations of ghee [called Âjyabhâgas], a learned person should, with root mantras and the [sixteen lines of the] Purusha-sûkta hymn, offer the oblations into the fire for Yamarâja and the other demigods called Swishthikrit in due order using a mantra for each Thus having been of worship he should bow to offer obeisances unto My associates and next present offerings chanting the basic mantra for the deity in question, thereby remembering Nârâyana as the Original Self of the Absolute Truth. After having offered âcamana water and giving the remnants of the food to Vishvaksena, he should present to Me prepared betel nut with fragrant substances for the mouth He should [next] for some time become absorbed in celebration by listening himself and make others listen to My stories, by acting out My transcendental activities and by dancing, chanting loudly and singing along with others With prayers from the Purânas, with large or small prayers from other ancient scriptures, with prayers written by others [see bhajans] and prayers from more common sources, he should prostrate himself, pay his obeisances and say: 'Oh Lord, please show Your mercy [prasîda bhagavan].' Placing his head at My feet with his palms brought together [he may say a prayer like:] 'Oh Lord, please protect this surrendered soul who in this material ocean is afraid of being devoured by death [prapannam pâhi mâm îs'a, bhîtam mrityu-grahârnavat, Praying thus he should put the remnants granted by Me to his head and do this prayer once more - when the deity respectfully is to be bidden farewell - to give the light [of the deity] a place within the light [of his heart .
 Whenever one develops faith in Me, in whatever deity form or other manifestation, one should for that form be of worship since I, the Original Soul of All, am situated within My own form as also in all living beings  By thus being of worship with the [ritual] processes of acting in yoga as described in the Vedas and more specialized texts, a person will, in both this life and the next, by My grace achieve the perfection he desired. In order to properly establish My deity the devotee should build a strong temple and maintain beautiful flower gardens [that provide flowers] for daily pûjâ, festivals and yearly occasions. In order to assure the continuance of the daily worship and the special occasions, he donates land, shops, cities and villages and will achieve an opulence equal to Mine. Installing a deity one attains the entire earth, building a temple one attains the three worlds and performing pûjâ and likewise services one attains the realm of Brahmâ, but when one does all of these three one will attain a quality [a transcendental integrity] equal to Mine. He who free from ulterior motives worships Me thus, will by bhakti yoga unite his consciousness in devotion and attain Me The one who destroys [or steals away] the service [and/or the goods] delivered to the gods and the brahmins by oneself or by others, is a stool-eating worm bound to take birth for a hundred million years The perpetrator [of that kind of offense] as also his accomplice, the one who instigated it and the one who approved it, all will have to share the karmic consequences in the life that follows over and over [depending the degree of the damage done].'