Purpose, Aim & Power of Prayer in Hinduism

The Power of prayer is immense. Every event at a Hindu home begins with a prayer. Even public events start with a short prayer seeking the blessings of god for the smooth running of events. Psychologists describe prayer as a “subconscious” and” emotional effusion”, an outburst of the mind that desires to enter into communication with the invisible. In the Vedic parlance, a prayer was more or less synonymous with mantra, used to communicate with God and seek blessings and wealth from him. Hindus in the Vedic period performed elaborate rituals, chanting mantras or prayers to seek God’s blessings in the fulfillment of individual desires or for seeking something important for the community as a whole. For eg: One of the most powerful and frequently chanted mantra in the Vedic period was the Shanti Mantra seeking God’s help in peace, health and well-being of everyone.

ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः ।
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चित् दुःखभाक् भवेत् ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः !!

There are many forms of prayer in Hinduism, however essentially all of them have the same purpose – To connect with God, express one’s love and devotion towards him and obtain his blessings. Every religion has formulated its own practices for praying to God. Prayer does not always mean worshiping idols. Even agnostic people accept the presence of a higher power. When does on pray to god? Most of us are reminded of god only when disaster strikes. It is a human weakness that makes us look towards a greater power in times of distress. Prayer whatever its form may be has astonishing effects on the human mind. There is a term known as the placebo effect in the medical world. A fake treatment, the mere belief that he was given some powerful treatment can significantly improve the condition of the patient. This is the power of hope and belief. When your mind is free from the burden of some work after prayer to god, we humans tend to perform better. Prayer small or elaborate, its effects on the human psyche are immense. In Hinduism the prayers are generally elaborate affairs that have been shrinked into smaller versions owing to the busy lives of people. But the practice of prayer in some form is still practiced across every family setup.

Vedic rituals are a rare sight in today’s world. But they are much needed. The constant rush, pollution and all the negativity in modern day can be easily overcome with the help of rituals such as yagnas. Yagnas are something a present generation kid would have seen only in old movies. In Vedic rituals medical herbs and wood vaporizes in the sacrificial fire (Havan) and enters the body through nose, lungs and pores, along with reciting of Mantras to purify and balance body, mind and environment. There specially designated yagnas for each and every occasion of human life. A interesting fact that is worth noting that during one of the worst tragedies in Indian history, the Bhopal gas tragedy that ended up killing almost 32,00 people. One quaint family living within one kilometer radius of the disaster site remained completely unscathed because they were performing agnihotra or the sacrificial havan for Lord Agni. Agnihotra is an antidote even to pollution. This stands as an example of the amazing effects of Hindu practices.

Right from the birth of a child to the last rites of a man, all the rituals and life’s course has been written down explicitly in our ancient scriptures of knowledge. Most of us would be familiar with the Ganpati homam performed during house warming ceremonies. It is to ensure that there is no negativity in the new house. Ganesha is the foremost god in Hinduism. His alternate name is Vigneshwaran which literally translates to remover of obstacles. In all our rituals and pujas there is a lot of meaning and significance.

There are several steps one must follow during worship. This helps a person pray to the deity whole-heartedly and also seek complete blessings of the god.

Bathing: Pouring water for bathing the idol with a conch or a vessel made out of bronze.
Clothing & Flower Decoration: An exquisite piece of clothing is worn on the idol.
Incense & Lamp: Dhupa or incense is offered to the feet and deepa or light is held before the face of the deity. During arati, the deepa is waved in small arcs before the deity’s face and then before the whole image.
Circumbulation: Pradakshina is done three times, slowly in the clockwise direction, with hands folded.
Prostration: The devotee lies down straight with his face facing the floor and hands stretched in namaskara above his head in the direction of the deity.
Distribution of Prasada: Last step is the Tirtha and Prasada, partaking of the consecrated water and food offering of the puja by all who have been a part of the puja or witnessed it.

Everybody who has been to temple would know these steps. When you enter a temple you wash your feet with water. This is because there can be many microbes on you and that shouldn’t destroy the sanctity of the temple not just that, a temple is a crowded place and germs spread faster in there. The next thing you do is ring the bell. It sets upon a vibration in your ears that activates your brain. Next is the sense of sight you see the arathi and the god decked up in all its glory. Next is the sense of taste. The tirtham or the prasadham enhances your taste sense. A visit to a temple is not just to satisfy your nagging parents but also for awakening your senses.

The Vedic people believed in the four aims of human life, known as the Purusharthas –

Dharma or Religion
Artha or Material Wealth
Kama or Sensual Pleasures
Moksha or Salvation

The structure and purpose of prayers in Hinduism are still connected with these aims. If prayer is an expression of one’s faith in the Dharma or religion and a means to understand and comprehend it, it is also a means to achieve the other three. It is also a means by which a devout Hindu can connect with his innermost self and become aware of his true identity.

In Hinduism, there are many annual festivals or occasions such as Shiva rathri, ekadashi, pradosham. There are specific ceremonies and pujas for every such event. Since Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, the innumerous number of pujas that vary from one god to another and one event to another are quite exhausting. But none of these pujas were prescribed without meaning. Superficial involvement in pujas and worship might make it appear boring but once one understands the true essence of worship, a spiritual experience awaits you.