Worship is one of the modes of bhakti, others being singing
and rejoicing. There are several words to define the idea of bhakti – upasthana
(standing up to show respect), upasana (sitting close to the deity or waiting
upon the deity), puja (literally, offering flowers and thus paying respect),
saparya (hosting the deity), varivasya (literally, adoring the deity), upachara
(symbolic offering), seva (rendering service) and archa (worshiping through an
icon – a medium to reach Supreme Truth).
Upasana and upasthana have been copiously used in Vedic
literature. Upasthana is now mostly confined to the showing of respect to the
rising and the setting sun. Upasana has come to denote one’s affiliation to one
particular form of the Godhead. Puja is a generic term for worship in the home
or in a temple, while saparya and varivasya are mostly confined to agamic
worship rituals.
Archa is mostly confined to temple worship, and seva is used
as euphemism for puja in the Vaishnava context.
The Upanishadic disciplines of vidyas (experiments in comprehension
of the Absolute) combined with upasana and agnicayana (a form of ritual) formed
the foundation of later-day worship. The agamic or tantric ritual is actually a
redaction of the Vedic ritual, varying not so much in spirit as in
restructuring. As such they are not offered to each other; on the contrary they
complement each other. If we juxtapose the Vedic altar and the horizontal plan
of a temple, we find a one-to-one correspondence.
The garbhagriha, or sanctum sanctorum in a temple, corresponds
to the chamber for fire offering, while the main altar corresponds to the place
for the Pratishtha (central icon), and the place for the shakti (power) of the central
deity corresponds to the seat for the wife of the yajman. The mandapa (outer hall)
corresponds to the sadas (the seating place for the participants in the ritual),
the dining area to the place where the sacrificial material is stored, and the
dhvaja (frontal flag pole) to the yupa (pillar).
Similarly, the Deeksha procedure in yajna is transformed
into the nyasa procedure, as both are aimed at sanctification or deification of
the sacrifice or the devotee. The shastra (final offering) transforms into
naivedya (putting oneself into the sweet offering).