1. Preparations are made according to the instructions in the "Sri Srimurti Puja" booklet, published by ISKCON Los Angeles
2. The couple should wear newly bought clothes.
3. Sankirtana
4. The bride sits to the right of the groom. Garlands are offered to the priest and couple after they have been touched to the Deities' feet. Incense is lit and placed around the spot where the sacrificial fire is to be lit.
5. The priest says the first of line of the Gayatri mantra.
6. Everyone chants japa throughout the ceremony.
7. The priest demonstrates how to take water in a spoon from a goblet. Holding the spoon in his right hand, he puts water in his left palm, once, twice, thrice. He then sips the water. He takes one more spoonful of water into his left palm to wash it, and he then throws it to the side. Then the priest passes the water goblet to the couple to be married, and they follow the same procedure. The goblet is passed around counterclockwise. The priest leads responsive chanting of
om apavitrah pavitro va sarvavastham gato 'pi va
yah smaret pundarikaksham savahyabhyantarah sucih
sri-vishnu sri-vishnu sri-vishnu
("Unpurified or purified, or even having passed through all situations, one who remembers the lotus-eyed Supreme Personality of Godhead is cleansed without and within.") This whole procedure is executed three times.
8. The priest lectures on the importance of marriage.
9. The girl's parent or godbrother says: "_________ Dasi has been in my charge for so long, and now I am giving her unto your care. Do you accept her as your wife?"
The bridegroom says: "Yes, I accept _________ Dasi as my wife, and I shall take charge of her throughout both of our lives. We shall live together peacefully in Krishna consciousness, and there will never be any separation."
The priest says, "Will you accept Sriman _________ as your life's companion, serving him always, and help him to execute his Krishna conscious activities?"
The bride says, "Yes, I accept Sriman _________ as my husband throughout my life. There shall never be any separation between us, either in happiness or distress. I shall serve him always, and we shall live together peacefully in Krishna consciousness. "
10. Garlands are exchanged by the couple. The couple exchanges sitting places. The groom places vermilion in the part of his bride's hair, and he covers her head with her sari cloth. The groom's dhoti is tied to the bride's sari, and the garments should stay tied for one week.
11. The priest sprinkles differently colored dyes up and down and sideways on the dirt where the fire is to be lit. With a candle, he lights a splinter dipped in ghee and builds a small fire. He mixes ghee with barley and sesame seeds.
12. The mangala-carana prayers and the prayers to the spiritual masters are said while the barley and sesame are passed around. When the priest says svaha, after each prayer is completed, the devotees throw the grains into the fire, and the priest spoons in ghee. The prayers are said responsively, including the svaha. The priest has to add wood to the fire to keep it going. All the dyes should be added to fire toward the end.
13. Everyone stands up, and the married couple, holding bananas before them in their folded hands, stands by the fire. The following prayer is said responsively three times:
namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca
jagat-hitaya krishnaya govindaya namo namah
svaha svaha svaha.
14. The bananas are placed in the fire, and the priest pours any extra seeds from the bowl into the fire.
15. Everyone responsively repeats:
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
16. Everyone bows down and offers obeisances to Prabhupada.
17. Sankirtana
18. The priest mixes ashes from the fire with a little ghee left in the bowl, and a mark of ashes and ghee is placed on everyone's forehead.
19. Feast
Ref-Vedabase
Comments