Hare Krsna,
Please accept my humble obeisances,
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada,
During summer time I could offer my deities daily jasmine flowers with wonderful scents.
But now during winter time the roses or other flowers that I offer to the deities has no scent.
please see attachment.
During winter I buy the flowers from flower shops and they come from relatively warmer countries.
So I keep the flowers outside fresh before offering to the deitis but they have no scent at all as I said before.
I know that to offer scentless flower is an offense but not to offer any flower must be worse I guess.
What is your opinion or suggestion?
Can I drop rose oil on roses?
Everyday I wash my deities with pure rose water and I also add little bit of rose oil in the rose water.
It has a very, very nice smell. I don't smell directly but the smell comes till my nose and it is the best part of the morning.
Maybe some rose oil on the roses can be a pleasure for the deities?
Rose oil will not disturb the skin of the deities right?
Your aspiring servant,
Replies
Haribol dear:) You can spray rse water onto flowers...We do this way in the temple:)
Oh Thank you for the idea, I was also doing that sometimes but I am not sure if it contaminates the flowers?
Because even washing or dipping considered contamination or rose oil is not allowed. Is rose water allowed in all the temples to spray onto flowers?
washing flowers with clean water is recommended as like we should with Tulasi leaves also but i do not know about spraying to them rose water.
Senior Devotees told that even if flowers do not have smell we can decorate with them Altar. Or Deities, making garlands...
Also heard that if there is no smell we can put them on sandal paste and then offer them. But about rose water i will tell later when i get correct reply from seniors.
Your servant,
yes I can put sandal paste on them and thank you very much if you could ask if we could put pure rose water on them. I particularly talk about the pedals that we offer to the deities.
your aspiring servant,
The answer was from Pancharatra Pradipa:
"Also, one should not use stolen flowers or flowers that have been perfumed with oil or another agent."
In this we way only way is that we can use sandal paste nothing else.
Your servant ,
Mataji your sincerity in deity worship is really inspiring, I wish I can also attain such sincerity some day.
Hari Hari.
Radhe Radhe,
Prabhupada said that if you take care of your deities very well, one day they will speak with you.
They are already speaking with me by whispering into my heart.
Just realize that they are the divine couple. that's all about it.
we are not qualified to serve to the divine couple personally in our very fallen condition without making offense but we are allowed to serve the deities and they are Lordships.
yes, thank You for sharing Your feelings with Deities!
It is true, in the beginning we might not have faith into Deities, that They are God Himself. But when we start to worship Them according to the instructions of Guru, Sadhu and Shastra then faith will come and They will respond to us.
As like there was one incident:
one new Devotee came to HH Jaypataka Maharaja and told that he does not believe and can not accept that Deities are real God. That They are alive. That They are God Himself.
Then Maharaja told ok, but suggested to do the last experiment. The experiment was he had to take Goura Nitay Deities, bring Them to his house and start to worship Them for 2 weeks. If within 2 weeks nothing happens then new Devotee was free from worshiping the Deities.
In this way he took Deities to his house and kept Them in his room and started to worship Them offering food reading prayers and paying obeisances, also doing kirtan for Them, putting Them to sleep, changing clothes some times, massaging Their feet...
In this way few days past. One day he was offering food with prayers and was paying obeisances. Suddenly that time his mother entered to the room and seeing him bowed down before Deities she shouted:
"You are bowing down before DOLLS???? what is wrong with you?..."
Devotee became also very angry and standing up he also shouted:
"How dare you can call my God as doll???"
that time he realized that within his heart he accepted the Deities as Their Lordships. They became real Personalities to him. And became very angry when They were offended...
In this way he stayed back in ISKCON and got initiation from HH Jaypataka Maharaja and became a very nice pujari.
Your servant,
Very nice pastime thank you so much for your time and for sharing, very precious, thank you.
in Vaishnava etiquette lecture i heard that we should not apply oil to the flowers. It contaminates. But we can apply oil to the massage but not in flowers.
In our Temple one Pujari used to apply oil to the flowers but every time she was requested not to do so by the Temple president.
Along with flowers You can offer Tulasi Manjari or leaves They have always smell.
Your servant,
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