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Archana : One of The Nine-fold Bhagavatic Devotion

                                     Archana : One of The Nine-fold Bhagavatic Devotion

  Sravana (Hearing),Kirtana(Glorification)and Smaranam(Remembering) are the foundation of Vaishnava Devotion ;after attaining the taste for Lord’s Service,a devotee further continues the Bhakti Yoga with PadaSevanam (serving the Lotus Feet of Sri Hari),Archana (Detailed worship),Vandana (Prayers),Dasya (Servitude) ,Sakhya (Friendly attitude) & Atmanivedanam (Surrender).Archana or worship is one of the scriptural way to increase the Bhava (sentiments) for the Lord. In the Uddhava Gita of Srimad Bhagavata ,Sri Krishna explanied this Archana Vidhi to His devotee Uddhava ; As per krsna’s conclusion ,this archana can be done by observing the Vedic , Tantric or Mixed ways .But, The Vaishnava Archana is also bit different than the other Vedic or other worship methods ; As in the Holy Bhagavata itself says people understand the meaning of Yagna as per their Gunas (Material quality) & Vritti (Work). So, to understand this self-less worship method ,we should refer to the Authentic Texts & the life of the greatest devotees. 
     
     In the Agni purana ,it’s said there are eight flowers required to worship Lord Narayana , But what are these flowers ?

Ahimsa Prathamam pushpam Pushpam indriya nigraha
Sarvapushpam  daya bhute pushpam santirvishishyate
Samah pushpam tapah pushpam dhyanam ushpam cha saptama
Satya-nchaivashtamam pushpam

Meaning : Non-violence is the first flower,control of the senses is the second ! being Merciful,bearing forgiveness, knowledge,Austerities,inner peace and truthfulness are the remaining flowers used for Vishnu’s worship ; As in the Padma puran - Vishnoho preetikaram !

In the Bhakti Ratnavali of Madhavdeva ,it’s written –

Aakapata adi bhava sudha hridayar
Pujar parama bastu ehise Krishnar .

Meaning :greater amount of precious things and money ,polluted with ego can not make Narayana happy ; the selfless intention and other bhavas of a devotee’s pure heart are the materials for the Worship of Lord Krishna .

  Worshiping the Lord or other divinities for attaining prosperity is the lowest form of Archana ! That’s why vaishnava archana or padasevanam methods can be performed by Ragatmika devotees only ! This stage of Raga can be obtained only by the mercy of pure devotees ! One of the greatest example is found in the Ramayana of Tulsi Das ; where Sabari , a devotee offer her food remaining to Sri Ramachandra out of love . But ,we should not try to follow this example of shabari, because we are materially bound, we can’t do that raga,without realizing the Lord !
  Archana in detailed way includes not only flower offerings,but also a detailed process so that an aspiring devotee can attain the perfection in Bhakti Yoga ; this includes physically & mentally cleaning one’s own-self, Chanting the holy Names of Sri Hari,Cleaning the temple of Hari, preparing food for worship,cleaning the utensils ,distributing the prasada to all, Serving the devotees .The greatest example we can read in the Gundica Leela of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Madhya leela ,Chaitanya Charitramritta,Chapter 12) ! Sri Chaitnaya, the incarnation in guise of a realised devotee, performed this method to show the meaning of archana . During the Time before the ratha yatra, Chaitnaya mahprabhu ,the  incarnation (karunavatar), the realized brahmana (Dvijavara),The sanyasi, not considering any ego of Social and religious status, along with his followers cleansed the Gundica Temple, cleaned the utensils ,form the temple altar to the gardens ,from the roads to the ocean beach ! After that He distributed food to the devotees ,his followers, also to the beggars while performing the Hari sankirtana. 
                                               
        ‘ei mata saba puri karila sudhana
Sitala,nirmal kaila – yeno nija mana’

 Meaning : Like his cleansed and pure mind, he cleansed the entire Puri (Jaganath puri or the town)!

  It’s hard to glorify the Bhagavatic Marg  and the deeds of devotees in the fullest ; as we are limited ! Let the Lord grant us the association of such pure devotees and advancement in our spiritual process. OM NAMO BHAGAVATE VASUDEVAYA !



Picture courtesy : Scrutiny , Painting of Nabadha Bhakti

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