Respected Anbil Swami & fellow bhagavathas, Adiyen's humble pranams to you all. The observance of these poojas can be authenticated as these have not just sprung from out of the blue. But I assume what is meant by Sri Anbil Swami's mail is that whether we, the srivaishnavas have any authentication to rely upon, to attend these poojas since in the present day world of multi-god believers, we often get a doubt whether we are committing any apacharam by refusing to attend these poojas. Let me quote "vaarthaa maalai", a compilation of advices of Acharyas on different issues (532 Vaarthaigal). Vaarthai 348 & 349 give us the guidance on this issue. Vaarthai 349 ( given by Sri Nampillai & found in page 385 of Guruparampara prabhavam) says that since homas on other devathas are conducted as per vedas (veda vidhi)and since it is Sriman Narayanan who receives the ultimate offering, there is nothing wrong in taking part in them. But visiting the temple of other devathas have no veda vidhi and hence prohibited for a srivishnava. One may ask how then Arjuna did shiva pooja ('theerthanulagalanda.. Thiruvai mozhi - 2-8-6) That is justified because it was so ordained by Emperuman for the sake of a particular 'laabham' of getting paashupada asthram. The inference from this in the context explained by Sri Anbil swamy is that if it is a homa, a srivaishnavan need to have no qualms to attend. If it is a worship of another devatha, he must not attend. Why he should not attend is given in the vaarthai 348, (given by Sri Bhattar and found in page 355 of Guruparampara prabhavam.) It is because a srivaishnavan, as he is a worshipper of saatwic god, namely Vishnu, is satwam-embodied. All the other gods have mix of other 2 gunas too. So they are a shred below the srivaishnavan and not the other way round. To such a srivasihnavan other gods come to serve ( Purusha sookhtham 2-5 "yas dwaivam brahmano...) If such a sri vaishnavan goes to worship other gods saying that he indeed sees Sriman Narayana in them, in due course, he will be enveloped with the gunas of those deities and lose satwam in him. The inference from this is (combining the previous vaarthai) is that a srivasihnavan steadfast on his committment to Sriman Narayana, needs to have no worries whether he is doing apachara by abstaining from attending a pooja on other deities. In the present day scenario where honouring a friend's invitation to attend a pooja is also important ( A srivaishanvan never hurts others' sentiments), attending such a pooja and worshiping Sriman Narayana as the athman of those deities is not wrong, as Sri Nampillai has cautioned against doing such a worship 'continuously'. A rare occurence of such worship/ participation, taking into consideration other issues does not result in diminution of satwam. However avoiding this can happen if we adhere to vaarthai 321 (a compilation based on azhwars' advice in prabhandam. The Srivaishnavan is compared to a pati-vrathai and is advised on whom they have to stick to and whom to give up. There are 5 types of people whom they have to keep off from. They are samsaaris, other devathas, worshippers of other devathas, followers of other religions and srivasihnavas who pretend to be srivasihnavas. The message is clear. In this present day world, we have to move with difefernt types of people. But while giving close space to the so-called friends, a srivaishnava must be choosy, and allow closeness to only those who have steadfast committemt to Sriman Narayana. A little distance is needed against beleivers of other gods and religions so that piquant situations can be avoided with no harm being done to personal equations with others. Please pardon me if I have done any apacharam to this group and fellow bahgavathas by writing this mail. Dasan, Manivannan. --- In SriRangaSri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Ram Anbil <Ramanbil@...> wrote: > > Dear Bhagavatas: Recently, I was invited by some good and well meaning friends to attend the following Poojas > > Ayyappa Pooja: > (With wearing of "maalai", black colored Dhoti etc and reciting "SaamiyE Saranam Ayyappa") > > Durga Pooja: (Bengali style) > (With Durga depicted as killing "Mahishasura") > > Sathyanarayana Pooja: (Maharashtra style) > (With reading the story of Sathyanarayana and how non performance of the Pooja will affect the non believers etc) > > As a Prapanna, I do not involve myself in all these Poojas and I have firm and unshakeable faith in Sriman Narayana who ALONE can grant "moksha". > > I would like to know from the erudite scholars in the group whether there are any references authorising observance of these Poojas in the > - Vedas, > - Upanishads, > - Itihaasas > - "Saatvic" PuraaNas > - Azhwars > - and / or any directions of SrivaishNava Achaarya Parampara > (right from Nathamunigal to present day Achaaryas). > > If so, I will be obliged to have the EXACT QUOTES from these scriptures. > > If they are not in any of the above, I would like to know where exactly they have been referred to in our scriptures that lend an aura of authenticity, if any. > > As these doubts seem to have been bothering other Bhagavatas also as seen from their frequently asked questions, I am presenting them for your well researched clarifications. > > Thanking you in advance > > Dasoham > Anbil Ramaswamy > Yahoo! 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