Wonder how a priest will feel/think, when a devotee is not coming forward to receiv

[SANDHYAV]

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You are in a temple (lets be political we are under a banner of the temple and not a mosque or church or gurudwara in this page).

there is a large hall, 3 priests and about 10 devotees. some music is on...not a busy temple, and a constant priest..

every one prays, circles around idols and in the end receives prasad from the priest and either leaves or sits for few minutes in the corner...

One devotee just sits in a corner for 15 minutes and leaves.. many times....Refuses if you may call it to follow the ritual of the others...

What would he think? Naturally he is a human being with his salary to take home and service to perform...

 

[renuka]

..

What would he think? ..

You would have to ask him.

I once had to attend a Homa organized by my fathers relatives and after the Homa got over I was getting ready to leave and the priest approached me and asked me if I was satisfied with the Homa.

I told him I merely attended it and to state a satisfaction or dissatisfaction would mean that I judged him..and by judging him that means I would be expecting an outcome.

Expecting an outcome means I want fruits of the Homa ritual.

Then the priest asked me "Dont you want to know the fruits of the Homa? all your other relatives are asking me what they will benefit from this Homa..dont you want to know?"

I replied..'Karamenyavadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadacana"

Then the priest said "Aiyoo..if every starts thinking like you..that would be the end of the source of my income"

So I got an honest answer from this priest..he was concerned about his income and I guess its fair enough too...he too needs to live.

 

[SANDHYAV]

lets go a bit further.

If i were the priest, i would find out a mantra or homam to recite at the end of the day for all those to whom he could not deliver his service...

there is one already! and he does not have to THINK about it?

 

[renuka]

lets go a bit further.

If i were the priest, i would find out a mantra or homam to recite at the end of the day for all those to whom he could not deliver his service...

there is one already! and he does not have to THINK about it?

That priest was always trying to tempt people to do Homas.

He used to tell me that many doctors do Sudarshan Homa for prosperity.

I told him..I dont mind donating money to the temple for good use but no need for me to do any Homa for the sake of prosperity.

But somehow he managed to convince my cousin who does yearly Mahalakshmi Homa in her house.

With me he has given up..but I did donate money to his temple.

 

[sangom]

You are in a temple (lets be political we are under a banner of the temple and not a mosque or church or gurudwara in this page).

there is a large hall, 3 priests and about 10 devotees. some music is on...not a busy temple, and a constant priest..

every one prays, circles around idols and in the end receives prasad from the priest and either leaves or sits for few minutes in the corner...

One devotee just sits in a corner for 15 minutes and leaves.. many times....Refuses if you may call it to follow the ritual of the others...

What would he think? Naturally he is a human being with his salary to take home and service to perform...

There is no saastra that everyone visiting a temple must go and receive prasad of any kind, nor is there any saastra compelling a devotee to give cash (dakshina) to any priest. In short there is no saastram compelling a hindu to visit temple/s.
Hence if the concerned priest expects some cash/dakshina, he may feel sad.

 

[Raji Ram]

If anyone wants to get scolded for NOT giving / giving less than Rs 10 dhakshina, please visit Vadapalani temple in Sing. Chennai.

There exists a priest who has a rude expression on his face and ready to scold the less paying devotees! :blah:

A sample: hotel-la pOyi ambadhu roobakku dOsai thingaRayE! thattula oru paththu rooba note-ai pOttA ennavAm?

 

[krish44]

we need to give priests good regular salaries in temples in order that , they do not consider devotees as sources of his regular day to day income to make a living.

they behave like waiters in hotels looking for tips after service.

temples have ceased to be a place of worship .

there are only money hungry priests besides establishment making sure that people of different social/economic classes get discriminated and getting treated

differently by organising various queues for darshan of dieties depending on paying capacities of devotees.

one feels disgusted with it all.

if a devotee wants to go to a temple and sit in a corner in silence and return home , neither the priest nor the management will put up with him

 

[Vaagmi]

we need to give priests good regular salaries in temples in order that , they do not consider devotees as sources of his regular day to day income to make a living.

they behave like waiters in hotels looking for tips after service.

temples have ceased to be a place of worship .

there are only money hungry priests besides establishment making sure that people of different social/economic classes get discriminated and getting treated

differently by organising various queues for darshan of dieties depending on paying capacities of devotees.

one feels disgusted with it all.

if a devotee wants to go to a temple and sit in a corner in silence and return home , neither the priest nor the management will put up with him

Dear Krishji,

1. The separate queues for rich and poor is there only in large, well known temples. In most of the temples it is a few regulars who visit the temples and the visitors in large numbers are only the bats that live in those temples.

2. The bhattachars and the sivachars attending to the aradhana duties there are a famished and brutalised lot. The hindu society is responsible for their plight.

3. The temples which have large tracts of fertile lands given as endowments in the distant past are all poorly maintained and the archakars paid a meagre salary which was fixed decades back during the Brittish times. (I went to a village temple in which the only archakar there was paid the princely sum of 3 pucca பக்கா gingelly oil and three kottai கோட்டை paddy per year as the compensation for an year!!). It is besides the point here that that archaka will not leave his Navaneethakrishnan in the temple even though his son in California is pleading with him to go with him leaving the village for ever. I consider that as the real bhakti or love for god. The income from lands goes to pay salaries and PF of Thomases and Khaders working in the HR&CE Dept., and to fill up the pockets of the politician tenents of those lands.

4. Have you seen the Kurangaatti who comes with a tethered trained monkey? The archakars are like that monkey left to expect the pittance of a tip from the devotees who come to pray before the God. and there are devotees who will look down upon those poor hapless souls. They would even call them pests and parasites and take out on them their frustrations.

My views on this:

When I go to temple I pray to god standing in the queue waiting for my turn. I understand it is not the fault of the priests there. I understand that it is the result of large number of devotees coming to the temple at that particular time for darshan. When my turn comes I go pray and quickly get out without waiting for any special attention. I drop my small contribution of money in the thattu brought by the archakar so that it goes to him only. I do not drop any money in the hundi kept in the temple for obvious reasons explained in para 3 above. If a archakar privately approaches me for financial help to educate a son or a daughter I help as much as I can without holding back.

I do not expect any one else to agree with me or follow me on this. I understand that each one looks at a situation with their own equipment. LOL.

 

[KRN]

My usual practice on temple visits is to sit in a corner and recite a stotra like Vishnu Sahasranama or Sivamahimna stotra before leaving. Never questioned by the priest. Occasionally I do parikrama or contact the priest for an archana if I feel like it.

 

[sangom]

Dear Krishji,

1. The separate queues for rich and poor is there only in large, well known temples. In most of the temples it is a few regulars who visit the temples and the visitors in large numbers are only the bats that live in those temples.

2. The bhattachars and the sivachars attending to the aradhana duties there are a famished and brutalised lot. The hindu society is responsible for their plight.

3. The temples which have large tracts of fertile lands given as endowments in the distant past are all poorly maintained and the archakars paid a meagre salary which was fixed decades back during the Brittish times. (I went to a village temple in which the only archakar there was paid the princely sum of 3 pucca பக்கா gingelly oil and three kottai கோட்டை paddy per year as the compensation for an year!!). It is besides the point here that that archaka will not leave his Navaneethakrishnan in the temple even though his son in California is pleading with him to go with him leaving the village for ever. I consider that as the real bhakti or love for god. The income from lands goes to pay salaries and PF of Thomases and Khaders working in the HR&CE Dept., and to fill up the pockets of the politician tenents of those lands.

4. Have you seen the Kurangaatti who comes with a tethered trained monkey? The archakars are like that monkey left to expect the pittance of a tip from the devotees who come to pray before the God. and there are devotees who will look down upon those poor hapless souls. They would even call them pests and parasites and take out on them their frustrations.

My views on this:

When I go to temple I pray to god standing in the queue waiting for my turn. I understand it is not the fault of the priests there. I understand that it is the result of large number of devotees coming to the temple at that particular time for darshan. When my turn comes I go pray and quickly get out without waiting for any special attention. I drop my small contribution of money in the thattu brought by the archakar so that it goes to him only. I do not drop any money in the hundi kept in the temple for obvious reasons explained in para 3 above. If a archakar privately approaches me for financial help to educate a son or a daughter I help as much as I can without holding back.

I do not expect any one else to agree with me or follow me on this. I understand that each one looks at a situation with their own equipment. LOL.

Dear Prof. Vaagmi,

Though we usually have divergent views on most topics, here I am 101% with you! Of late I do not visit any temple, and in Kerala, the priests are not like the archakar in TN temples (some of them, in the more popular temples like Sabarimala, Trivandrum, Guruvayur, etc.) are quite well-to-do.

 

[krish44]

Dear Krishji,

1. The separate queues for rich and poor is there only in large, well known temples. In most of the temples it is a few regulars who visit the temples and the visitors in large numbers are only the bats that live in those temples.

2. The bhattachars and the sivachars attending to the aradhana duties there are a famished and brutalised lot. The hindu society is responsible for their plight.

3. The temples which have large tracts of fertile lands given as endowments in the distant past are all poorly maintained and the archakars paid a meagre salary which was fixed decades back during the Brittish times. (I went to a village temple in which the only archakar there was paid the princely sum of 3 pucca பக்கா gingelly oil and three kottai கோட்டை paddy per year as the compensation for an year!!). It is besides the point here that that archaka will not leave his Navaneethakrishnan in the temple even though his son in California is pleading with him to go with him leaving the village for ever. I consider that as the real bhakti or love for god. The income from lands goes to pay salaries and PF of Thomases and Khaders working in the HR&CE Dept., and to fill up the pockets of the politician tenents of those lands.

4. Have you seen the Kurangaatti who comes with a tethered trained monkey? The archakars are like that monkey left to expect the pittance of a tip from the devotees who come to pray before the God. and there are devotees who will look down upon those poor hapless souls. They would even call them pests and parasites and take out on them their frustrations.

My views on this:

When I go to temple I pray to god standing in the queue waiting for my turn. I understand it is not the fault of the priests there. I understand that it is the result of large number of devotees coming to the temple at that particular time for darshan. When my turn comes I go pray and quickly get out without waiting for any special attention. I drop my small contribution of money in the thattu brought by the archakar so that it goes to him only. I do not drop any money in the hundi kept in the temple for obvious reasons explained in para 3 above. If a archakar privately approaches me for financial help to educate a son or a daughter I help as much as I can without holding back.

I do not expect any one else to agree with me or follow me on this. I understand that each one looks at a situation with their own equipment. LOL.

I do understand what you are saying applies to temples in the interior of tamilnadu and elsewhere where temples are in poor shape and archakars have a meagre

income and have to depend on thattu money for a living.

most what are puramboke lands have ben swindled and takenaway by politicians.

many who continue have no alternative as do not like to be withtheir children who have gone to practise other professions,

many of these are not accepted by their own off springs and left to fend for themselves.

their situation is pathetic.

their women many times support by helping out in functions of well off as cooks and also collect offerings of sarees presented to them as sumangalis .

this takes place even in madras .

I do not go to temples by choice.

I go to give company to wife in unknown places .

i prefer to stay away from it all.

 

[SANDHYAV]

Children, simple question, IS THERE A MANTRA for the priest to recite for all the devotees who entered his premises, not just the ones who offered him money and took puliyotharai from him.

 

[Vaagmi]

Children, simple question, IS THERE A MANTRA for the priest to recite for all the devotees who entered his premises, not just the ones who offered him money and took puliyotharai from him.

I do not know about the Shiva temples where Saiva Agamam is followed. In Perumal temples the archaka every day during the morning and evening aradhana (during archanai and Saatrumurai) prays for the welfare of the whole humanity and all the devotees as part of the Koil thiruvAradhana kramam.

Not only that. Every night before closing down the temple for the day the archaka seeks the forgiveness of God by placing his head at the feet of the deity and saying " please forgive me for all the apacharam I have done thinking that they are all upacharam for you". The sanskrit equivalent is "upacharaan aapathesena kruthaan aharaharmaya apacharan imaan sarvaan kshamaswa purushoththama". So when he comes next day he comes with a clear conscience to do service to God again.

 

[praveen]

Closed as per op request.