Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 41
Arcana-vidhi: The Method of Deity Worship
Vedic, Tantric, and Mixed
तप्तजाम्बूनदप्रख्यं शङ्खचक्रगदाम्बुजै: । लसच्चतुर्भुजं शान्तं पद्मकिञ्जल्कवाससम् ॥ ३८ ॥ स्फुरत्किरीटकटककटिसूत्रवराङ्गदम् । श्रीवत्सवक्षसं भ्राजत्कौस्तुभं वनमालिनम् ॥ ३९ ॥ ध्यायन्नभ्यर्च्य दारूणि हविषाभिघृतानि च । प्रास्याज्यभागावाघारौ दत्त्वा चाज्यप्लुतं हवि: ॥ ४० ॥ जुहुयान्मूलमन्त्रेण षोडशर्चावदानत: । धर्मादिभ्यो यथान्यायं मन्त्रै: स्विष्टिकृतं बुध: ॥ ४१ ॥
tapta-jāmbūnada-prakhyaṁ śaṅkha-cakra-gadāmbujaiḥ lasac-catur-bhujaṁ śāntaṁ padma-kiñjalka-vāsasam
The intelligent devotee should meditate upon that form of the Lord whose color is like molten gold, whose four arms are resplendent with the conchshell, disc, club and lotus flower, and who is always peaceful and dressed in a garment colored like the filaments within a lotus flower. His helmet, bracelets, belt and fine arm ornaments shine brilliantly. The symbol of Śrīvatsa is on His chest, along with the glowing Kaustubha gem and a garland of forest flowers. The devotee should then worship that Lord by taking pieces of firewood soaked in the sacrificial ghee and throwing them into the fire. He should perform the ritual of āghāra, presenting into the fire the various items of oblation drenched in ghee. He should then offer to sixteen demigods, beginning with Yamarāja, the oblation called sviṣṭi-kṛt, reciting the basic mantras of each deity and the sixteen-line Puruṣa-sūkta hymn. Pouring one oblation after each line of the Puruṣa-sūkta, he should utter the particular mantra naming each deity.
FAQs
This verse describes meditating on the Lord’s four-armed, ornamented form and then performing regulated offerings—ghee portions, āghāra libations, the ghee-soaked oblation, the sixteen offerings with the root mantra, and finally the sviṣṭikṛt oblation to Dharma and related deities.
Because Canto 11 presents practical bhakti disciplines; here Śukadeva explains how devotion is expressed through orderly worship—meditation on the Lord followed by offerings performed according to śāstric rule.
Keep worship centered on remembrance of the Lord’s form and qualities, and then offer what you do with cleanliness, order, and sincerity—finishing your practice with a conscious “completion offering,” i.e., gratitude and dedication of results to God.