Is pūjā just a prayer?

We often translate pūjā into English as "prayer" unthinkingly and unquestioningly. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines prayer as an address (a petition) to God; an earnest wish or request; a religious service. And, of course, pūjāas - the way a lot of us perform it, and as it is portrayed in mass media, includes this meaning. "Prayer" can be traced back to the Latin precari (to ask earnestly, to beg, to entreat), and precari is cognate with the Sanskrit praśna (rather than pūjā), carrying the sense of "to ask". I hope to demonstrate that we should understand pūjā differently, and that we do it a gross injustice by just thinking of it just as "prayer". It is so, so much more. The variety of pūjās is mind-boggling, yet they share a common ontological core. And, perhaps, not many of us know that this core is as ancient as the Ṛgveda.

Pūjā extends from connecting or contemplating the divine mentally, to focusing on an external mūrti/pratimā of our deity at home or in the temple, and complex temple liturgies on which the order of the cosmos is believed to depend. There are intricate daily smārta pūjās mandated by dharma texts for dvija Hindus. There are naimittika or occasion-related pūjās and kāmya pūjās, which are performed with a specific desire in mind. Pūjās can be done for/to an inanimate object (for instance, a book during sarasvatī pūjā), an animal (a snake on nāgapañcamī), a person (a teacher on guru-pūrṇimā) or a plant (a banyan tree on vaṭasāvitrī). Not to mention stones (liṅga, śālagrāma) and rivers (such as Gaṅgāpūjāna).

What do all these pūjās have at their core? I hope to convince you by the end of this piece that it is much more than entreating or "prayer".

Bhagvad Gita 9.26 sets the tone for personal pūjā "pattrampuṣpamphalamtoyamyo me bhaktyāprayacchati tadahaṁbhaktyupahṛtamaśnāmiprayatātmanaḥ (He who offers me a leaf, a flower, fruit [or] water with bhakti, from that pure self I accept the offering)". In addition, simple pūjā offerings consist of traditional items like haldi, kuṅkuma, sandalwood paste (But why do we offer these?). Elaborate pūjās consist of a sequence of offerings (upacāras) which can number from one to 108, accompanied by the chanting of mantras. These can be performed by the head of the household or a priest at home, or by one or several priests in a temple. In traditional homes, even today, women are not allowed to chant Vedic mantras in the pūjā. However @sudarshanhs points out that it does happen in non-traditional homes, and in some traditional homes, women can do so after menopause. Clearly, bhakti was game changer for women and non-dvijas in pūjā, but that is a separate study.

The earliest instructions for pūjās are to be found in the pariśiṣṭas (appendices) of the gṛhyasūtras (500-200 BCE) and in the Ṛgvidhana, which predates them by at least 400 years. Pūjāvidhis (methods) appear copiously in the Purāṇas, dharmaśāstricnibandhas and are codified in key texts like Pūjāprakāśaḥ and Bhaktiprakāśaḥ of Mitramiśra written between 1610 and 1640 CE. You and I are most likely use "bazaar literature"- booklets, CDs, cassettes- based on these earlier sources, to organise and offer our "prayers". Most of us (myself included) are unaware of the deep tradition and symbolism of intricate gestures in pūjā. Our devotion is limited to memorising a cālisā (40 couplets), or if we are very enthusiastic and brave, we might recite some sahasranāmas (thousand names) or mahātmyas (glorifications) in Sanskrit.

So what does pūjā mean? The root of pūjā is √pūj - the primary meaning of which is to honour, to show respect and reverence. German indologist Paul Thieme quotes ancient texts to explain. Yāska’s Nirukta 3.18 says "siṃhovyāghraitipūjāyāṃśvakākaitikutsāyāṃ". When one intends to show honour to someone, one says "[he is a] lion", "[he is a] tiger". On the other hand, one says, "he is a dog" or "he is a crow" when one intends to show contempt. On the occasion of the union of Rāma and Sītā, Janaka says to Daśaratha (Rāmāyaṇa 1.69.11) – "…diṣṭyā me pūjitaṃkulam, Rāghavaiḥsahasaṃbandhāt… (By providence, my family is honoured on account of the [matrimonial] relation with the descendants of Raghu)". And √pūj as respect: "…gurpūjayāṃdharmaścapyatulomahān" …[by] honouring elders/gurus great and unparalleled dharma accrues [to you](Rām. 2.31.16)", or the circle of ministers - "saciva-maṇḍalam", which is pūjitam honoured, deserving respect. (Rām. 2.101.13)

So pūjāthen, of which asking god for something is a small part, is a procedure (sometimes simple, sometimes extremely complex) to honour, to show respect to divinity. If we were to draw a Venn diagram of the instructions given in the aforementioned ancient texts, we arrive at these elements. Inviting the deity (āvāhavana), offering a seat (āsana), water for washing feet (pādya), water offered respectfully (arghya), water offered for sipping (ācamanīya), food (naivedya), clothes (vastra), gandha (fragrant paste, for example, sandalwood), puṣpa (flowers), dīpa (lamp), dhūpa (incense), mouth freshener (mukhavāsa), prostration (praṇāma) and circumambulation (pradakṣiṇā).

If a lot of this sounds familiar, it is because this is exactly how a guest (atithi) is supposed to be treated according to normative Hindu texts. "God as guest and guest as god" in our texts is similar to the chicken and egg story. While we say atithi-devo-bhava - be the one who honours a guest as a god (TaittirīyaUpaniṣad 1.11.2) - since the existence of Upaniṣads, the Ṛgvedicsaṃhitā, from centuries earlier, makes references to gods as guests, invited to and honoured at the sacrifice. Ancient Vedic seers called upon the gods, offered them a special seat strewn with barhis (a special grass used in Vedic sacrifice). They were given soma (an invigorating drink) and havis (oblations – ghee, milk, curd, et al) and asked to listen to hymns composed especially in their honour. Remember how Krishna is received by the Pāṇḍavas? There you have god and guest as one. That reception itself is pūjā.

Are the Vedic yajña and pūjā as we practice it today connected? Following Thieme, I suggest that they share a common core. We saw gods being treated as guests in the yajña. Contemporaneously, weapons of war, and sacrificial tools were "prayed" to or honoured. “idam…iṣvaidevyaibṛhannamaḥ” (RV.6.75.15) - here/this great adoration to [the]divine arrow. Atharva Veda 5.20, 21 praises the war drum, sprinkled with melted ghee, almost as a divinity working in tandem with Indra. Likewise, RV 6.47.26-28 invokes and glorifies the war chariot. This is echoed in Rām 1.31.12, in which a bow is the recipient of sacrifice, honoured with flowers, aroma and incense.They are pujita in the same way as we do pūjā today.

There is so much to say about pūjā that even a book wouldn’t be enough. I’ve only tried to make a start here, looking at the variety, meaning and antiquity pūjā. Whether you make a small misshapen āṭṭā lamp or perform kākaḍāratī* you are knowingly or unknowingly performing a rite with an ancient and deep tradition. As yet, we have to explore the similarities between external and internal pūjāl. We have not even touched upon how Tantric practices imbue pūjā as we know it today. Nor have we been able to explore the impact of bhakti on pūjā, or examine its symbolism in any detail. Each requires a separate study.

To know pūjā better, you could begin with the Pūjāprakāśaḥ and Bhaktiprakāśaḥ, which form volumes four and 11 of Mitramiśra’s Vīramitrodaya here. You can read hymns used in the Vedic yajña here. Or if you don’t mind spending a bit of money, I recommend this - the first English translation in over a hundred years. Ideally, though, please learn Sanskrit, so that you can read the original texts and assess translations competently.

And the next time you perform a pūjā, revel in the privilege, cherish its antiquity, symbolism and richness. And never forget that you are not just "praying".

No matter where you go in the country (or outside) you will find this core. Whether it is the Kaḷukācalamūrtti in Kalugumalai, Tamil Nadu, or CiṭṭāMandir in Yamuna Nagar, Haryana.

*I would like to thank @deshrajeev for his explanation of kākaḍāratī - “a thick wick made with strips of cloth dipped in oil or ghee, lit at one end and held with a bare hand at the other end.” I would also like to thank @ikasusara for confirming the relative dating of the gṛhyasūtras and the Ṛgvidhāna.