Puja ritual method ‘Allahu Akbar’ and meaning: Part 2 speaks of a belief

Then the Rishi says after offering Him whatever is available easily at that ‘Time’ and ‘Place’ the devotee should worship the Lord with the mool-mantra of his Ishta, chosen form of the Lord).

Thereafter he should decorate the Lord’s statue and make offerings of eatables, water, flowers, honey, garments, fragrance, curds and rice.

Perceiving the Lord therein one should lovingly bathe the statue and then decorate it with a tilak and garlands and then light a lamp. (The lighting of a lamp at the altar signifies the gaining of the light of knowledge and the dispelling of the evil darkness of ignorance).

Then bow to the Lord and sing “stotras” (poetical rendering of prayers) he who thus worships the elements, Guest and the “Lord as himself” in his heart, soon attains liberation.

The worship of the elements is found in every hindu text. It springs out of devotion and gratefulness for what the life-giving elements bestow upon man from the sense of his dependence on them for life and from the sense that all creation is holy and that the Lord permeates every thing.”

Even the apparent simplicity of the Bhagwat injunctions often clothe deep philosophical dictums which escape a cursory reading.

At the end of all these apparent, dolls play instructions, a very powerful instruction creeps in; “while doing all these rituals, the devotee must constantly remember and meditate on the fact that he and the Lord are one and the same thing, and only when one can think and feel like this should a devotee follow the above rituals to empower them to lead him to liberation.”

How many of us can follow this last instruction? Prarthna Saran, President Chinmaya Mission New Delhi. Email: prarthnasaran@gmail.com The phrase Allahu Akbar (or God is Great) is the most important part of the Islamic form of ritual prayer. If you add up the number of times this phrase is used in the azan, the call to prayer, and while performing the ritual prayers 5 times a day, it comes to around 300 times every day! This declaration of God being the Greatest is the phrase that is heard and uttered the most number of times in a Muslim’s life.

This shows that in Islam the most important thing is that a person should discover the greatness of God. The glory and greatness of God should be the most important part of his consciousness. God’s greatness should be an integral of party of his consciousness in such a way that under no condition should he lose awareness of it. The phrase “God is Great” enjoys the status of a master-stroke in a person’s life. If you truly discover God you will experience the most enormous possible positive earthquake in your life. You will be transformed into a completely new person. God will become the only focus of your thinking. Your life will become a truly God-centred one. God will become your sole concern.

Everything other than God will become secondary for you. You will stop thinking in materialistic terms. Instead of thinking on communal lines, your thinking will be shaped on the basis of certain principles. You will seek success in the Hereafter. You will be fully cleansed of negative thinking.

You will become modest and will be freed from arrogance.

In a sense, the phrase Allahu Akbar speaks of a belief. In another sense, it embodies a complete way of life for a person. In fact, Allahu Akbar is the essence of faith. www.cpsglobal.org