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pA'ncarAtra Practice:

	The book by Prof. Ramachandra Rao published by the Kalpatharu Research
Academy contains a chapter with the above title. I am not including much of the material covered there, but only a brief overview, followed by the part relating to the pa'nca samskAra which many of us will be familiar with.

	PA'ncarAtra, like other Agama-s, specifies worship of the Deity in
concrete forms, and specifies the need for obtaining proper eligibility for worship. Worship can be performed in an icon, in fire, in water, or in one's own heart. Of these, iconic worship is the easiest. When worshipping in one's own heart, procedures like the placement (nyAsa), visualizing one's own body as the temple of God, and identifying oneself with the Deity being worshipped, are specified. The four vyUha forms, the twleve vyUhAntara forms, and the thirty eight vibhava forms, each have their own mantra. While chanting the mantra, the devotee must visualize the iconic form of the Deity which the mantra represents.

	Initiation is of three kinds:  para-dIkshA (ultimately leads to
salvation), vyUha-dIkshA (calculated to accomplish worldly welfare and salvation), and vibhava-dIkshA (only worldly welfare). Initiation involves the following five consecrations (pa'nca samskAra):

	1. Branding of heated metallic emblems of vishNu (vis. The conch and
the discus) on the arms of the devotee.

	2. the wearing of marks on the forehead signifying devotion to vishNu

	3. the bestowal of one of the names of vishNu (whichever form out of
the thirty-eight vibhava forms appeals to the devotee) - not one of the "nambi - pimbi" names (recall the prabandham pASuram in this context).

	4. the formal communication of the selected mantra for the above Deity

5. Fire-rituals.

Of these, the ritualistic branding is considered the most important, and is a requisite for initiation. This is what marks a devotee as a vaishNava (a person belonging entirely to vishNu).

	Later samhitA-s give different definitions for the different types of
initiation, which we are not addressing here.
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