Pancaratra System: Deity Worship System

Panca means 5 and ratra means nights. It is said that once two demons, Madhu and Kaitava, stole all the Vedic knowledge from Lord Brahma so that Lord Narayana had to teach it to Brahma again. He did so within 5 nights only. There are 108 pancaratras of which the Narada-pancaratra is one. It is divided into 5 parts also known as pancanga-puja, or the worship according to 5 steps. They are as follows:

1. Abhigamana or preliminary activities such as waking early morning, paying obeisances to one’s spiritual master, cleansing one´s body, putting on fresh cloths, performing acaman, putting on tilak, reciting Gayatrimantras, etc.

2. Upadhanam or collecting the required items for worship.

3. Yoga or linking one’s mind with the Supreme Lord by reciting bhutashuddhi-prayers, which help one to understand ones true identity as an eternal servant of the servant of the Supreme Lord.

4. Ijya or the actual worship of the Lord with 16 upacaras.

5. Svadhyaya or the personal meditation or cultivation of devotional service such as sravanam and kirtanam

As we can see the bhagavat-vidhi is the 5th step of the pancaratra-system or the pancanga-puja. The pancaratra-system is a perfect spiritual life-style, meant to assist people in Kali-yuga to calm down their agitated minds and to purify their consciousness. In this way they are uplifted on the platform of sattva-guna from where a concentrated and substantial nam-japa can be practiced. Hare Krishna