[Advaita-l] Proper worship in Shankara's tradtion

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Wed, 1 Mar 2006, arun nair wrote:

> Dear Sri Jaldharji
>
> "Shankaracharya glosses it as beings like Vinayakas, Matrkas,
> etc. "
>
> What do we mean by Vinayakas or Matrkas. Pls if you can elaborate.
>

Thanks to Bhaskar for reposting my previous mail on this subject.  You may 
also be interested in a followup mail in that thread where I give the list 
of bhutas some other Advaitic commentators give.

Basically the thing Vinayakas, Matrkas etc. all have in common is that 
they must be respected.  They can cause trouble in the affairs of men if 
offended.

Also from observing popular Hinduism (at least in Gujarat) I notice there 
is a feeling that the "Big Gods" are too busy running the universe to pay 
attention to ordinary people while the "Little Gods" are more willing to 
meddle in ones' personal life.  (But you have to be careful or it can 
backfire on you!)  This is probably why despite the opprobrium of 
philosophers, such folk traditions have survived all these centuries.

Btw, I still haven't found any information about Chaturbhaginis so if 
anyone has some insight let me know.

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>