Offerings and Prayers

Interview with a devotee
Hanuman Temple, Allahabad

I am from Riva District in Madhya Pradesh. I went into the temple where the idol of Hanuman Ji is. I prostrated myself before him, and I made a request of him, saying, “Oh Lord, whatever physical suffering or other kinds of difficulty I or my family may have, save us from these things and let us live in blissful happiness.” My religious quest in life is only this: that I and my family should be happy and that difficulties should not come our way. In my area of the country, the main gods are Ram, Hanuman and Ma Sharda Devi. Personally, I follow Hanuman and Sharda.

[The interviewers asked the man if he had a relationship with the god he worships.] We do not see our gods right in front of us or anything, but when we do get a chance to see an idol or a temple, then we go and do something there. The bhagvans do not ask anything of us. Whatever we want to offer the gods, we can offer according to our desires, but they do not make any specific requests of us. We get do’s and don’ts from the gods. [He pauses to think, while a man in the crowd replies, “they don’t speak, so who’s going to give us teaching.”] Well, we get the idea of serving — [The man in the crowd interjects again, “It is our own shraddha, reverential offering. But other than that, we cannot talk to them or convey anything to them. They neither eat our prasad, nor do they show any inclination to wear garlands. But we decide that they should wear garlands, and we put the garlands on them.”] — but the bhagvans do not make any moral demands of us. We get our moral teachings from sadhus and pious people.

The meaning of the river [Ganga] is what the saints in our religion teach us — that is, that our sins can be stricken away by bathing in it. I have already bathed three different times in this river. I don’t feel that I get any benefit immediately, from bathing in the river, but afterwards — [A man from the crowd replied, “What do you mean you don’t get any benefit from the river”] — any kind of bodily difficulties go far away.