Thread by @Kal_Chiron

Why chant this at the end?

We worship our dèvatās in 16 steps.

1. Āvāhana
2. Āsana
3. Pādya
4. Arghya
5. Āchamana
6. Snāna
7. Vastra
8. Yagnopavīta
9. vilèpana
10. Pushpa
11. Dhūpa
12. Dīpa
13. Naivèdya
14. PradakshiNā
15. Namaskāra
16. Mantrapushpānjali

https://twitter.com/IndianCartel/status/1294543587972177923

The puruSha-sūkta of Rgvèda has 16 verses.

Each verse is coupled with each step.

Verse-1 —> step 1
Verse 2 —> step 2

So on.

16th verse is - ॐ यज्ञेन यज्ञमयजन्त देवा ..... 😊

Usually 1 vedokta and 1 purāNokta mantra (usually descriptive of the step being done) chanted

So step-16 which is the last step of any vèdokta pūja has this verse as part of it.

It continues to a ruchā for vaishrsvaNa kubèra (2nd verse of pushpānjali) asking for his blessings.

Continues to third ruchā - part of every vaidik rājyābhishèka ritual. To do list of a king.

Continues to 4th ruchā dedicated for maruta who envelop/wrap the aforementioned bhudevi (in verse three) like clothes, Asking all the gods to bless descendants of king avikshit and kāmapri.

Example

Vèdokta

[ॐ सहस्त्र शीर्षा पुरुष: सहस्त्र अक्ष:सहस्त्र पात्
स भूमिम्  विश्वतो वृत्वा अत्य तिष्ठद् दश अंगुलम्]

purāNokta

[आगच्छ देव देवेश तेजोराशे जगत्पते
क्रियमाणां मया पूजां गृहाण सुरसत्तम]

श्री महाविष्णु प्रमुख पञ्चायतन देवताभ्यो नमः 
आवाहन अर्थे अक्षतां समर्पयामि

Step 5

Vèdokta
ॐ तस्मात् विराळ जायत विराजोSअधि पूरुषः
स जातोSअत्यरिच्यत पश्चाद् भूमि मथो पुरः]

purāNokta
कर्पुर वासितं तोयं मन्दाकिन्या समाहृतं
आचम्यतां जगन्नाथ मया दत्तं हि भक्ति तः

Step
श्री महाविष्णु प्रमुख पञ्चायतन देवताभ्यो नमः 
आचमनीयं समर्पयामि

Any vaidik mantra HAS to be prefixed (at times suffixed too) by ॐ.

Therefore any vaidik mantra starting with ॐ needs dvijatva. That is upanayan is must before getting this adhikāra.

Exception : ॐ नम: शिवाय has been made open for all by some sage after intense tapasyā.

Other ones like ॐनमो भगवते वासुदेवाय aren’t vaidik as far as I know. But chanted traditionally with ॐ. Reasons unknown to me.

Hence only vèdokta part has ॐ prefixed. Always

ॐ एतावानस्य महिमा अतो ज्यायान्ग् श्च पूरुषः
पादोस्य विश्वा भूतानि त्रिपादस्य अमृतं दिवि

पाद्यं गृहाण देवेश सर्व क्षेम समर्थ भो
भक्त्या समर्पितं देव लोकनाथ नमः तु ते

श्री महाविष्णु प्रमुख पञ्चायतन देवताभ्यो नमः 
पाद्यं समर्पयामि

The last step of mantrapushpānjali has no purāNokta version.

It is all vèdokta. Includes gāyatri mantras of all 5 main dèvatā (gaNapati-vishNu-Shiva-Sūrya-Dèvī)

Until the final process description line of “मंत्रपुष्पांजलिम् समर्पयामि”

Historical tidbit. This is the origin of (in)famous vedokta controversy of chhatrapati shahu maharaj of kolhapur.

A brahmin did not say the first part of such mantras and was saying only second (puraNokta) part. Shahu maharaj being a staunch vaidik and aarya samaji, caught it.

Shahu maharaj insisted on saying full verse (starting with om). The Pujaari refused. Saying Shahu Maharaj had no adhikaara of vedokta

Matter escalated quite a lot in those times. Tilak intervened in favour of Brahmins (real reason different - that some other time) against Shahu

Even today, the progressive anti-brahmin circles propagate this story almost always in their narrative.

The vedokta controversy.

Exactly which ritual was being performed, no idea. I guess standard usual ones.

While Shahu Maharaj belonged to a dvija kula (Shivaji Maharaj started this with his rajyabhisheka), I do not know whether he personally had done upanayana in his childhood

All sons and grandsons of Shivaji Maharaj (himself too post abhisheka) were dvijas performing sandhya daily

But Shahu Maharaj was an adopted child (from Ghatge family) because his adopted father (Bhosale lineage of Kolhapur) was not having an heir to the throne.

So upanayana status during childhood of Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur is unknown.

As per Shahu Maharaj - he was part of dvija-kula now and hence adhikaari of vedas..

As per brahmins - they doubted his upanayana status and deemed him shudra. Anyone born or belonging to dvija-family but without upanayana is shudra, says the rules.

It got very ugly actually.

कहाँ से कहाँ आ गया. :D

But this vedokta and puraNokta parts of normal puja mantra are essential. Basis of Sanatan Vaidik Hindu Dharma.

It was never a problem when all dharmiks had upayanana performed in childhood.

Due to vanishing of sanskara, all these problems arose.

I faced similar problem few years ago. I do not refuse vedokta puja to any hindu if requested. Irrespective of his dvija status. Rude thing to do. I almost never do puja for anyone else. This was very close friend - a Jain. :)

https://twitter.com/Kal_Chiron/status/1040132855089770497

The moral problem in front of me was this -

https://twitter.com/Kal_Chiron/status/1040155822523916288

A truly Dharma sankaTa for someone like me who genuinely believes in vedavaakya pramaaNam and apaurusheyatva of shruti. And who, owing to some guru krupa, understands or has had some glimpse of the chetana knowledge that vedas represent

:D

Eventually I did it properly. Vedokta