C.

PRELIMINARY PUJA

1. Guru Puja (Worship of Guru):

One does not directly worship ones worshippable Deity. One must begin by worshipping
the spiritual master. Only by pleasing the spiritual master and gaining his mercy, and only by
obtaining him as the via medium, can one offer anything to the Lord. Thus, before worshipping
the Lord one must always worship the spiritual master. This is the injunction of pancaratrika
scripture.

prathamam tu gurum pujya tatas caiva mamarcanam

kuran siddhim avapnoti hy anyatha nisphalam bhavet
Hari Bhakti Vilasa 4.344

He who first performs worship of the spiritual master and then performs worship of Me
(bhagavan) attains perfection. If one does otherwise, there will be no results from ones activities
of worship.

gurau sannihite yas tu pujayed anyam agratah

sa durgatim avapnoti puranam tasya nisphalam
Hari Bhakti Vilasa 4. 345

The person who performs someone elses worship before the worship of the guru attains
simply misfortune. His worship is useless.

pujayisyams tatah krsnam adau sannihitam gurum

pranamya pujayed bhaktya dattva kincid upayanam

One should first come before ones spiritual master, pay obeisances to him, present him
with some offering and worship him with devotion. Having gained his grace, one should then
worship the Supreme Lord.
Hari Bhakti Vilasa

Or one may worship his shoes, which are considered non different from him. Or one may
worship the spiritual master in a yantra, ghat (water pot), picture or murti. By this worship one
demonstrates ones realization of the fact that surrender to the spiritual master is the fundamental
step in approaching the Lord.
In Hari Bhakti Vilasa, this worship is performed before entering the Deity room. In other
texts however guru puja is performed after entering the Deity room and performing preliminary
purification.
One may perform worship of guru with sixteen upacaras,ten upacaras or five upacaras,
depending on ability and circumstance. As in all types of worship, articles should be offered in
manasa puja, then in exterior puja. If possible one should perform the worship with actual
articles, or one may offer flowers and candana as substitutes for the articles while saying the
mantras, or one may offer pure water in substitution for the articles. If this is impossible, then
one should worship the spiritual master by manasa puja alone.
One should remember to keep the upacaras to be offered to guru separate from those to
be offered to the Deity so that there will be no contamination caused by mixing unoffered items
with offered items.
 The worship of guru should be performed according to the rules for Deity puja: ie. one
should first perform dhyana or meditation on the spiritual master, situated below the throne of the
Panca-tattva to the right, in the spiritual abode of Navadvipa; one should then perform manasa
puja, offering all the articles to the guru mentally; then one should perform exterior worship with
the articles available, offering them according to the rules, using guru mula mantra; one should
then recite verses of praise, perform japa of guru mantra and gayatri, and pranamas. Finally one
should beg the spiritual master's permission to serve the Lord.

2. Gauranga Puja:

Before worshipping Radha and Krsna the followers of Lord Caitanya first worship Lord
Caitanya, for only through Him can one hope to approach service to Their Lordships. One can
perform puja with sixteen, ten or five items as in guru puja with as many items as possible or with
substitute items, using the Gaura mula mantra. One should first perform manasa puja, then offer
the items and conclude with japa and pranama. Then one should beg Lord Caitanya's mercy to
perform Radha Krsna worship.

D. MEDITATION AND INTERNAL WORSHIP:

1. Dhyana:

Dhyana means concentration of the mind in one direction. In Deity worship the object of
meditation is the Deity one is worshipping. The mind is purified though bhuta suddhi and
pranayama and it attains spirituality by concentration on the form and activities of the Lord. The
form of the Lord in the mind is considered a murti of the Lord, nondifferent from Himself, and
ones own body is a pitha, or sacred altar for the Lord.
The form of the Lord used for meditation should correspond to authorised descriptions
from scripture. Some puja manuals give suitable descriptive verses of the Deity being
worshipped, which may be recited at this time. The important element however is not the
recitation, but the form of the Lord that the description invokes in the mind.
A sample dhyana for Krsna worship, as given in the Hari Bhakti Vilasa, is given as
follows:

The pure land of Vrndavana is cooled by the presence of trees whose tender branches are
laden with clusters of new buds and the most attractive flowers, which are flowing with honey
and saturated with heavenly fragrances, and whose trunks are twined with vines decorated with
clusters of fresh flowers.
The heart of Vrndavana resounds with the humming of swarming bees who have come to
taste the nectar from the blossoming flowers, and with the cries of the doves, parrots, sarikas and
cuckoos. Everywhere the peacocks perform their dances.
Vrndavana is served by the soft, soothing breeze, which carries fine drops of water from
the lapping waves of the Yamuna river, and that breeze, dusted with the pollen from the interiors
of fully blown lotuses, playfully shakes the garments of the gopis, whose minds then become
agitated with desire for their Lord.
In the midst of Vrndavana stands a towering kalpa vrksa, bestower of all desires, whose
branches are coral, whose leaves are emeralds, whose bouquets of buds are diamonds and pearls,
and whose fruits are rubies. Being served by the seasons personified it produces all types of
flowers simultaneously.
At the base of the nectar-showering kalpa vrksa tree is an open space of ground, shining
as brilliant as the sun rising over a range of solid gold mountains and sparkling with inlaid jewels
and glowing with heaps of golden pollen. This place is completely freed from the waves of
lamentation, illusion, old age, death, hunger and thirst.
On the jewel-inlaid floor is an exquisite asana in the form of an eight-petalled lotus tinted
the colour of the dawn. In the center, resplendent as the rising sun, sits Mukunda in a
comfortable pose.
He shines like a brilliant, dark sapphire, deep black as lampblack, dark as a mountain of
monsoon clouds, delicate as a blue lotus. On His black mass of hair, which is thick, glossy and
curled, sits a luminous peacock feather.
On His head are ornaments of parijata blossoms served eagerly by swarms of bees, and on
His ears are fresh flowers. On the flat surface of His forehead, surrounded by stray locks of hair,
shines vertical tilaka, bright yellow in color, between a pair of long, creeper-like eye brows. His
face shines like the flawless moon of the autumn season, and His eyes are wide like lotus petals.
His mirror-like cheeks glitter with the rays from his jewelled shark earrings. His beautiful nose
points upwards gracefully and His tender smile, similar to the moon, a jasmine flower or the
mandara flower, illuminates all His features.
Around His conch neck is a string of coral flowers and young leaves, and from His
shoulders to His feet extends a garland of kalpa vrksa flowers swarming with intoxicated bees.
On His full chest sparkles a string of pearls, like a constellation of stars, and there shines the
kaustubha jewel, like the sun in the sky, and His distinguishing mark, the srivatsa.
His shoulders are high; His well-formed thick arms reach to His knees; His stomach is
slightly indented and raised; in its center is a handsome, deep navel. Extending upwards from
His navel is a delicate line of black hair. He is decorated with arm bands, bracelets, necklaces,
anklets, cords and a golden belt studded with jewels. On different parts of His body are painted
different designs. Around His waist is a yellow cloth.
He has beautiful thighs and knees, charming ankles and feet more lusterous than polished
turtle shells. His toe nails shine like ruby mirrors, and His toes are like jewelled leaves. On His
pink hands and feet are the pleasing signs of the fish, elephant goad, cakra, conch, flag, lotus,
thunder bolt and barley grain. His body, composed of the topmost elements of beauty, conquers
the bodily attraction of Cupid, the god of love.
Sri Krsna is an ocean of unlimited bliss. From His flute, made perfect by conjunction with
His lotus face, by the simple movements of His fingers, arises transcendental ragas. Hearing those
ragas, all the creatures and their offspring become attracted and stunned, their hearts being in a
perpetually melted state.
Sri Krsna is surrounded by cows with long, slender tails. They move towards Him with
unsteady gait, for their udders are swollen with milk. Their large eyes become glued to the lotus
face of the Lord, while half-chewed tender grass shoots remain poised on the ends of their teeth.
The newborn calves, enhanced in beauty by the milk foam flowing form their small lips and teeth,
which had so eagerly sucked at the full udders, now remain motionless. They prick up their little
ears to hear the deep, enchanting notes from His flute. The older calves, with colorful blankets
around their throats and little horns emerging from their soft head, raise their tails, butt each
other, and playfully gallop this way and that, and finally gather around the Lord. The massive
bulls, laden with the burden of their huge humps, lowing in deep voices, approach in a lazy
manner. But when the liquid nectar from the flute enters their raised ears, they widen their
nostrils fully and tilt up their heads.
The cowherd boys, similar in character, blissful nature, age, activities and dress as Krsna,
play sweet, low melodies on their flutes and vinas. They sing graceful tunes, and with arms
extended, dance very expertly. The babies, with little lisping words in their mouths, tiger claws
hanging from their necks, and jingling bells attached to their ankles and fat bellies, also approach
the Lord. The attractive cowherd girls, marked with three lines on their waists, come forward,
eager to serve him. They sway with the weight of their broad, heavy hips, and their heads bow
beneath their piles of abundant hair. The desire trees of their bodies, being drenched with the
nectar from His flute, sprout goose bumps like flowers blooming on a vine. The ocean of prema
in the gopis' hearts increases by the moon beam smile of Nanda's son, and the splashing from
those rushing waves of prema appear as sweat drops on the bodies of the labouring gopis.
From His long, bowed eyebrows, by sharp glances, He shoots a shower of deadly arrows
of love, which break the vulnerable points in the composure of the gopis. Disturbed but
unsubmitting, they try to supress the painful tremblings which begin to afflict all parts of their
bodies. But eager to drink the nectar of the incomparable form of Krsna, through half-closed
bashful eyes, they furtively glance upon Him, and thus continue to float in the streams of prema.
Swarms of bees, eager to drink the honey flowing from the flowers which have fallen
from their loosened tresses of hair, surround the standing forms of the gopis. Out of intense
frenzy, they utter inaudible, tender words, and their waist bells jingle from their uncontrollable
trembling. Their fine silk clothes, loosened by their heavy breathing, reveal parts of their
lusterous bodies. The soft sound of their hesitant footsteps mixes with the sound from their
jeweled anklets and echoes in all directions. Their lips quiver, their earrings glitter, and their eyes,
rimmed with graceful eyelashes, stay half-closed in shyness. Due to the agitation of their deep
breathing, their pink lips darken. In their delicate, sportive hands are various presentations for
their Lord, whom they constantly attend.
The Lord, a reservoir of pleasure, is decorated with a garland of full-blown blue lotuses in
the form of the gopis' dark restless eyes, which fix themselves on His form. Those eyes,like a
garland of love-hungry bees, madly drink the liquid honey of His all-attractive face.
The gopas, gopis and cows remain at some distance, while the Devatas stand in front with
Brahma, Siva and Indra in the lead, reciting verses to attain material wealth (artha). To the right
side stand the assembly of munis intent on fulfilling the codes of dharma with Vedic knowledge.
Behind, the Yogindras headed by Sanaka, being desirous of liberation (moksa), remain in a state
of samadhi. To the left side stand the Yaksas, Siddhas, Gandharvas, Vidyadharas and Caranas
with their wives, along with the Kinnaras and the best of the Apsaras. In pursuit of kama,
pleasure, they sing, dance and play musical instruments.
White as a conch, shining like the moon, like a jasmine flower, like a lightening bolt,
appears Narada Muni in the sky. He is decorated with matted locks of reddish hair. Conversant
with the conclusion of all scriptures, he serves the lotus feet of Krsna with undeviating devotion,
having given up all attachments to material pleasures. He pleases the Lord by striking on his vina,
which produces wonderful melodies arranged in skilful ragas.
His vina, which produces wonderful melodies arranged in skilful ragas.