8/10/2019 How to Take Darshan in the Temple
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How to take darshan in the temple
Offering obeisances
Upon entering the temple, one should first offer obeisances
(panchanga pranama) to the assembledVaisnavas and utter the
prayer:
vch-kalpatarubhya ca kp-sindhubhya eva ca
patitn pvanebhyo vaiavebhyo namo nama
I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaishnava devotees
of the Lord. They are just likedesire trees who can fulfill the
desires of everyone and they are full of compassion for
fallenconditioned souls.
Then one should offer obeisances (full dandavats for men) to
Srila Prabhupada, keeping him on one's left,and chant his pranati
mantra.
One should then move towards the deities and offer full
prostrated obeisances, keeping the deities on our
left side and chant their respective pranama mantras.
It may be noted that one should not ofer obeisances on one hand.
Both hands should support the body whilebowing down and both hands
should be outstretched.
Meditating upon the deities
After offering obeisances to the deities one should take
darshana with great devotion and beg forTheir mercy.
One should not, however, immediately look upon the deities full
in the face. The proper manner inwhich one should take darshan of
the Lord is described in Srimad Bhagvatam 2.2.13
The proces of meditation should begin from lotus feet of the
Lord and progres to Hissmiling face. The meditation should be
concentrated upon the lotus feet then the
calves, then the thighs and in this way higher and higher. The
more the mindbecomes fixed on diferent parts of the limbs one after
another, the more theintelligence becomes purified.
Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport that such meditation
will help us get detached from sensegratification. The mood of the
devotee taking darshan is "Sir, I am your seternal servant. Please
letme know how can I serve You?". The functions of the big deities
in the temple are for givingdarshan and usually are the istadevas
of the sampradaya. So it is quite natural and respectful to seeThem
first.
There are also other considerations. If there are three altars
Like the Krishna Balaram Mandir inVrindavan or Sri Sri Radha
Rasbihari Mandir at Juhu then Srila Prabhupada would pay
obeisancesfirst at Gaur Nitai`s Altar then go to Krishna Balaram's
Altar and then to Sri Sri Radha Syamsunder.
