Manas Puja - A Short and Effective Method of Internal or Mental Worship

Hindu method of worship involves both external  as well as internal or mental rituals of worship for a chosen deity or Ishta devataa.  A short and effective method for the internal worship is outlined here.  Typically, rituals of external worship follow after the rituals of internal or mental worship.  However, if you do not have time for performing external worship, you will be still greatly benefited by performing just an internal worship.

Hindus worship various aspects of Brahman or Sat-Cit-Anand or the ultimate reality. For example Hindus worship Lord Ganesh for removal of difficulties on the path of spiritual as well as worldly success, goddess Laxmi for spiritual as well as worldly prosperity, goddess Saraswati for spiritual as well as worldly knowledge, etc. A short and effective way of worship is described here for the benefit of mankind.  Except for the moola mantra or root mantra, which varies from deity to deity, the fundamental method of worship remains the same for all deities.  Below are the steps of worship for Divine Mother Durga which can be used for any other deity or aspect of Brahman by just changing the root mantra given in the italics font.  Steps are as follows:

1.      Place a picture of the deity or symbol of worship before you, in this case Mother Durga.

2.      Light a candle and burn incense.

3.      Sit in a comfortable position such as sukhaasana, siddhaasana, or padmaasana etc., siddhaasana being the position of the accomplished.

4.      Place the hands on your knees in chin mudra or the attitude of consciousness.  Keep the spine straight and body relaxed.

5.      Chant Om three times.  The more properly Om is chanted the more effective it is.

6.      Chant “Om Gam Ganeshaya Namah” while contemplating upon Lord Ganesh to remove any difficulties.  One of the major difficulties could be a restless mind, lack of concentration, etc.  While chanting consciously think that Lord Ganesh is removing all your restlessness so that you can fully concentrate on the puja or worship.

7.      Intently gaze at the form of the deity and think about the profound meaning behind the symbolism.  When you know the meaning behind the symbolism, worship takes a much deeper form and is much more effective.  Now close your eyes and try to visualize the form of the deity at your heart center as best as you can while being aware of what the deity or the sacred symbol stands for.  The heart center is located at the sternum.

8.   Do a samkalpa or resolution as to what you want from the aspect of God you are worshiping.  For example "Mother Durga, please remove all evil from within me", etc.  While doing this samkalpa, stay intensely aware of your samkalpa.

9.      Now focus on the muladhara chakra or the perineum, which is located midway between the anus and the genital for men and at the cervix for women.  It is more effective if you can mentally locate and visualize the chakra.  Those who are not familiar with the chakra system simply concentrate at the general location as best as you can.  This chakra represents the earth element.  Sandal paste represents the earth element and the sense of touch.  The root sound is Lam.  Bring the tips of thumb and little finger together.  Mentally offer the earth element in the form of sandal paste to the chosen deity seated at the heart center by mentally chanting “Om Hreem Dum Durgaayai (replace the root mantra in italics appropriately for deities other than Durga)Lam Prithivyatmakam Gandham Samarpayaami” while visualizing dissolution of the earth element into the form of the deity.  The chanting within the quotation marks means “I am offering to Thee sandal paste representing the earth element.”

10.      Move your attention to visuddhi chakra or throat center and visualize the chakra.  This chakra represents the aakash or space element and the sense of hearing.  The root sound is Ham.  Bring the tips of the index finger and thumb together.  Mentally offer the space element in the form of a flower to the deity at the heart chakra by chanting “Om Hreem Dum Durgaayai Ham Aakaashaatmakam Puspam Samarpayaami” meaning “I am offering Thee the flower representing the space element.”

11.   Move your attention to anaahata chakra or throat center and visualize the chakra.  This chakra represents the vaayu or the air element and the sense of smell.  The root sound is Yam.  Place the tip of index finger on the thumb nail.  Mentally offer the air element in the form of incense to the deity at the heart chakra by chanting “Om Hreem Dum Durgayaai Yam Vayaatmakam Dhupam Samarpayaami” meaning “I am offering Thee the incense representing the air element.”

12.   Move your attention to manipura chakra or naval center and visualize the chakra.  This chakra represents tejas or fire element and the sense of sight.  The root sound is Ram.  Bring the tips of the middle finger and thumb together.  Mentally offer the fire element in the form of candle to the deity at the heart chakra by chanting “Om Hreem Dum Durgaayai Ram Banhyaatmakam Deepam Samarpayaami” meaning “I am offering Thee the candle flame representing the fire element.”

13.   Move your attention to swaadhisthana or sex chakra and visualize the chakra.  This chakra represents aapah or the water element and the sense of taste.  The root sound is Vam (pronounced Wam).  Bring the tips of the ring finger and thumb together.  Mentally offer the water element in the form of food offering to the deity at the heart chakra by chanting “Om Hreem Dum Durgaayai Vam Amritaatmakam Naivedyam Samarpayaami” meaning “I am offering Thee the food offering representing the water element.”

14.   Move your attention to the visualized deity at the heart chakra.  Bring the tips of all five fingers together.  Mentally offer all elements by chanting “Om Hreem Dum Durgayai Sam Sarvaatmakam Sarvopachaaraan Samarpayaami” meaning “I am offering you all items representing all elements.”

15.   Chant a prayer in honor of the deity.  For example for Durga you can chant “Sarva Mangala Maangalye Sive Sarvaartha Saadhike.  Saranye Trayambake Gauri Naraayani Namostute.”  Depending on your time availability you can chant more prayers.  Mentally surrender yourself to the deity.

16.   Open your eyes and prostrate before the deity offering your reverence to the deity.

This ends the short mental worship.  The whole worship can be completed in as little as 5 minutes or in as long as you want.  The idea of offering the elements is to negate that you are not the physical body made of the five elements.  Remember that you are truly not worshiping anyone other than your very own Self in the form of a sacred symbol since your mind cannot comprehend the transcendental.  Perfection in the worship described above will prepare you to do higher saadhanaa where you will be able to offer your own mind, intellect, memory, and ego finally realizing that your essence is none other than the Supreme Self.  

Internal or mental method of Hindu worship is a very powerful method of worship when done sincerely with a samkalpa or resolution to bring about the desired result, be it spiritual or material.  

Four Categories of Devotees

According to the Bhagavad Gita, there are four kinds of devotees of the Supreme: aarta (distressed), artharthi (desirous of prosperity), jijnansu (inquisitive about Self Knowledge), Jnani (one who is situated in Self-knowledge). Of these the Jnani or one who is established in Self-knowledge is the highest.


When times are good, life’s journey is smooth, there may not be enough motivation to turn to spiritual quest. But when one is distressed, one’s life is in danger, one’s survival is in question, one is feeling down, one tends to turn to God, asking for help. In good times, the prayers tend to be weak. But at the time of distress, the prayer tends to be much more intense. The all compassionate Divine residing at the heart of the devotee listens to the prayers and provides protection.

The second category of devotee is desirous of worldly prosperity. He is looking for fulfillment of worldly desires and ambitions. He wants God’s help to make his endeavors successful. The creator of the world, when sincerely prayed by a devotee, fulfills his or her worldly desires so that the devotee can make spiritual progress. Without a certain level of contentment or fulfillment, spiritual progress is not possible. No one should take up on a spiritual path because of frustration with the world but because one has developed an understanding of it. It will not take much to arrive at Tagore’s conclusion that “all the sense lamps that are lit by us shoot into worries”.

The third category of devotee is much wiser compared to the previous two. He has made many observations about life. He sees that all things are transient. He sees the dualistic nature of the world. He sees the impermanence of happiness derived from material pursuits. He has developed some level of dispassion toward the world. He has a philosophical mind. Questions such as “who am I”, “what is all this?”, “what is my purpose”, “why do I perceive myself separate from the rest”, etc. are naturally occurring to him. He wants to find out the Truth. He is engaged in scriptural reading, yoga, contemplation, meditation, etc. to develop better understanding about the reality and Truth. He is a seeker. He is in the quest. He is a practicing spiritualist.

The fourth and the highest type of devotee is the one who is situated in the Self-knowledge or the Truth. The knowledge that “I am That and all this is That and there is nothing else but That” is Self-knowledge. Here “That” refers to which cannot be described due limitations in human expressions but can be pointed to as Sat-Cit-Anand or Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. Just as after one finds out what was thought to be an apparent body of water is actually a mirage, he never falls into the delusion again that there is water. Similarly, one who is situated in the True knowledge, it is impossible for him/her to seriously engage in the world. One who is seated in such knowledge is the best of the devotees. His devotion is unbridled and unshakable. He is beyond any doubt. He is in the state of bliss. This is the only kind of devotee that knows the Truth as Truth is and is not deluded by the worldly objects. According to Lord Krishna, there is nothing holier or more sacred than the knowledge of the Truth or Self-knowledge and there is not a dearer devotee than a jnani or one who is established in Self-knowledge.

Significance of Mother Kali Worship

The word Kali comes from the word “kala” or time.  She is the origin or ruler of time, therefore her name is Kali.  What is time?  Time represents change.  The concept of time can only exist if there is change.  When One is perceived as many due to the spell of ignorance by MahaMaya, time is born.  MahaMaya is that aspect of Brahman which is responsible for creating the veil of ignorance or illusion.  The veil of ignorance is responsible for perception of multiplicity or the world.  If you deeply think about it, change is not possible if one is established in Oneness or Sat-Chit-Ananda or Brahman.  Conversely, it is impossible to perceive multiplicity without the concept of change.  To perceive the change, concept of time and space is essential. The concept of time is intertwined with the concept of space.  One cannot exist without the other.  In order for an individual consciousness to get back to one’s root or Oneness or Universal Consciousness, one has to transcend change or the idea of space-time.  It is impossible to transcend space-time without the grace of the creator of space-time or the Supreme Mother Kali.  Change or space-time brings experience of multiplicity, the good and bad, the benevolent and malevolent, the gracefulness and viciousness, the joy and sorrow, darkness and light, pleasure and pain, etc.  Such duality makes life possible.  Life is nothing but experience of such duality by individual consciousness.  Such duality makes it possible to perceive rest of the creation separate from the ego or individuality. 

Thus, Kali is the creator of the world.  She is the Supreme Mother.  The seers realizing this have given the formless a form for ordinary people to be able to meaningfully worship or contemplate upon Her.  She holds a severed head, a sword, a gesture of bestowing fearlessness, and a gesture of giving boon to Her devotee.  She is standing on a corpse depicted as Lord Siva.  She is supremely beautiful and vicious at the same time.  The spiritual interpretation is that She severs the ego or illusory perception of individuality with the sword of knowledge to bestow the boon of fearlessness to Her devotee.  Fear is only possible when there is multiplicity.  In Oneness there is no fear as there remains nothing to be afraid of.  She is colored dark to represent Her as the creator of ignorance.  She is the creative aspect of the Pure Consciousness or Siva.  The Siva aspect of Brahman is actionless or static like a witness as represented by the corpse.  The Kali aspect is the dynamic or creative aspect of Brahman represented by Her dancing on the corpse.

The Supreme Mother Kali is to be worshipped with all thy heart.  There is no better worship than deeply contemplating upon the aspect as described above.  That said, for the worldly minded, She is the giver of material fulfillment so that the devotee can make spiritual progress.  She is the destroyer of enemies such as kama (desire, lust being one of the strongest desire), krodha (anger or frustration when the desire is not fulfilled), lobha (or greed when a particular desire is fulfilled), moha (or attachment to the objects of the world), mada (or the doership or the perception that the ego is the doer), and matsarya (or jealousy or the craving by the ego to possess what another individual seemingly possesses).  When these demons are completely destroyed, ego has no protector and can be easily dissolved leading to realization of Oneness.  When these demons are subdued by Her grace, even worldly minded people can make much worldly progress.  These demons are not only the stumbling blocks for spiritual progress but also great stumbling blocks for worldly progress.  Therefore, on this Kali Puja day the Supreme Mother Kali is to be adored by both worldly minded and spiritually minded alike.  Jai Maa Kali!