For morning thiruvArAdhanam and sARRumuRai during anadhyayana kAlam, what is the order in which upadhEsa rathina mAlai and thiruvAimozhi nUtrandhAdhi are to be recited?
First upadhEsa rathina mAlai and then thiruvAimozhi nUtrandhAdhi are recited. Same order is for sARRumuRai.
If we are away from home, does the rule of carrying the Lord with us and doing ordained worship apply for photos of bhagavAn too or only for mUrthis?
Only for mUrthis with prathishta or SAlagrAma shila – we have ordained worship.
How to perform pUja of SrI vishvaksEna?
Offering arghya, pAdhya and Achamana can be done. prasAdham of bhagavAn can be offered to vishvaksEna. In sthOthra rathnam, [https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org/index.php/2017/01/sthothra-rathnam-42/], 42nd SlOkam glorifies vishvaksEna
thvadhIyabhukthOjjithaSEshabhOjinA
thvayA nisrushtAthmabharENa yadhyathA |
priyENa sEnApathinA nyavEdhi thath
thadhA’nujAnanthamudhAravIkshaNai:
One (vishvaksEna) who eats the food remnants of what you (emperumAn) ate, who is placed your burden/responsibility (of managing nithya vibhUthi (spiritual realm) and leelA vibhUthi (material realm)) by you, who is dear to all and you who approves off those actions in the same manner by your merciful glances, whichever actions requested in any manner by such vishvaksEna.
How can I get perumAL to worship at our place? Can I purchase perumAL mUrthis from a dhivyadhEsam and worship in my pUja room?
He will come to us. We just need to keep longing for his arrival. But purchasing with money is not allowed. He will come through some elders or co-SrIvaishNavas.
Whenever we eat fruits, dry fruits, etc., can we offer to SAlagrAma perumAL by opening the box?
Some of us have the habit of keeping kOyilAzhwAr (perumAL sannidhi) open till night and do Sayanam, and then close the doors. In such case, we can offer anytime. If we have the habit of keeping the sannidhi closed immediately after thiruvArAdhanam, then food items can be offered from outside the sannidhi or to perumAL pictures.
Is it mandatory that our thiruvArAdhana perumAL is the same as our AchAryan’s?
No such compulsion.
adiyEn has a small mUrthi of ranganAtha swAmy (not done prathishta). adiyEn will be away from home. Should I take him with me?
It is your choice – no specific ordained worship for vigraha without prathishta – it is only done out of our love.
Can a non-brahmin who does not have yagyOpavItham but has taken pancha samskAram, worship SAlagrAma perumAL?
Yes – without reciting vEdha manthrams, with AzhwAr pAsurams and pUrvachArya sthOthrams, thiruvArAdhanam can be done.
Why is it said that we should not keep ugra rUpam of perumAL like SrI narasimha for thiruvArAdhanam?
I have not seen such statement in SAsthram. Nothing like that – SrI narasimha appeared with ugra form only but was very loving towards prahlAdha. His anger is only towards enemies, not towards devotees.
At our homes, which photo of SrI narasimha perumAL can we keep?
Any picture is fine – even ugra narasimha is fine.
Can women do pUja to bhagavAn?
Women can engage in pUja, while helping their husbands daily. But they cannot touch SAlagrAma forms and vigraha forms with prathishtA. They can offer water, food, dhIpam and dhUpam too – any kainkaryam without touching bhagavAn’s forms.
Is it true that just by doing dhivya sAkEtham parikrama, we are doing parikrama of all dhivya dhEsams?
If we have the real bhakthi, that can be said even to our home perumAL.
What should we do regarding thiruvArAdhanam in suthak (theettu) when someone dies?
We need to arrange someone else to take deities to their home or they should come and do the worship here.
If we want to keep SrInivAsa perumAL’s vigraham in home, do we need to have it along with SrI and bhU dhEvi together or is SrInivAsa alone enough since Lakshmi is present in the vakshasthala of SrInivAsa?
Ideally, we can have with SrIdhEvi and bhUdhEvi.
Is it mandatory to perform pUjas for nithya sUris or worshipping lakshminArAyaNa alone is enough?
AchAryas, AzhwArs and nithyasUris can be worshipped along with lakshminArAyaNa. if archA mUrthis are not present for them, pictures can be used. Otherwise, we can worship them mentally before worshipping lakshminArAyaNa.
In adiyEn’s home altar, there are other pancha dhEvatha too along with perumAL. What can adiyEn do, when even parents will not allow adiyEn to keep only perumAL for worship? Also, can we blow conch before thiruvArAdhanam?
You can keep perumAL separately in your room. Conch blowing is not part of standard SrIvaishNava pUja – it is used only in some places.
In anadhyana kAlam which has to be recited first: thiruvAimozhi nURRandhAdhi or upadhEsa rathina mAlai during morning ArAdhanam?
upadhEsa rathina malai and then thiruvAimozhi nURRandhAdhi. Same order for sARRumuRai.
Since our pUrvAchAryas have not mentioned much about rAdha, if we do ArAdhana to krishNa, do we need to consider rukmiNi krishNa?
Yes – usually krishNa with rukmiNi, sathyabAmA – this is how he is present in most of our SrIvaishNava temples also.
Is it not necessary to see amAvasyai, EkAdhasi, Fridays, etc., to pluck thuLasi if it is for thiruvArAdhanam? Also, can women pluck thuLasi leaves?
Yes – for thiruvArAdhanam, we should have fresh thuLasi – hence no such rule. As far as adiyEn heard, only men should pluck.
Can we have vittala mUrthi as SrIvaishNavas?
This is not generally seen in our sampradhAyam.
How many times should we offer bhOgam to perumAL in a day according to SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam?
In temples, usually there will be 5 times pUjA – and hence 5 times bhOgam for perumAL. But in many temples, we are only having 2 times or even 1 time pUjA. At home, we need to do 3 times pUjA: Early morning – viSvarUpam or mangaLa Arathi – fruits/milk; Noon time – main bhOgam; Evening – snacks/fruits can be offered; Night – milk can be offered during Sayanam.
When we are out of town and we don’t have the option to do thiruvArAdhanam, what can we do?
When we are out of town and don’t have the option to do thiruvArAdhanam (pUja), we can do the following:
* Try to do usual routines like while waking up, guruparampara recital, SlOkams, pAsurams
* Bathing, Urdhva puNdram, sandhyAvandhanam (if applicable)
* If possible, AchArya SrIpAdha thIrtham can be taken
* Sitting in a quiet place, pUja steps can be done in the mind
* pAsurams can be recited
* guruparampara/dhvayam can be chanted
Additionally, we should make sure that the thiruvArAdhana perumAL in our own homes is not abandoned. Either we should carry Him with us, or appropriate arrangements should be made for Him. If possible, we can go to a nearby temple, mutt or AchArya thirumALigai and engage in thiruvArAdhanam activities there too.