AARTI

General reasons for Arti




Arti is done for two reasons.



1) to ward off the evil eye.



As the Lord is so handsome and so charming, the evil eye may inadvertently fall from even those who love the Lord - viz the devotes. The arti takes away the evil - eye (nazar) and it also keeps any malicious spirits that may be in the vacinity at bay. Light being the oppressor of darkness, it represents conquest of good over evil.



2) to allow us to see the Lord.



Less than 50 years ago, temples usually did not have electric lights in the inner sanctum. As the svarups are usually small, and inner sanctum rather dark, it was difficult to see the Lord's svarup. Arti was one way devotees could "see" the svarup of the Lord - hence the importance of getting there for the arti part of the darshan.



It is also for this treason that we usually "take arti" at the end of the darshan. It is an expression of our gratitude to the "arti" for allowing us to have a darshan of the Lord.



As we now have bright / electric lights in most temples, there is no need to rush for the arti .



Arti is still an important ritual, but only as a personal inter-action between Yashoda and Nanada-nandan.







Arti as used in Pushti Marg



Unlike other Indian temples, havelis use bells very discreetly.



As a haveli is essentially a "private residence" of the Lord, just like a "private residence", there are no bells in the main hall or courtyard for people to ring.



In the inner sanctum, during mangal arti, bells are not rung and the jalar is struck in muted tones - so as to be as gentle on the ears of the Lord as possible. Afterall, no one wants to be woken up with a loud bang ! For the same reason, Utthapan darshan is also accompanied by little or no music.



Later artis, especially the raj-bhog one has the full musical compliment of bells, jalar, drums, the whole lot !



While the priests are doing raj-bhog arti in the inner sanctum, drummers and trumpeters make their own music at the main gate in Nagar-Khana, announcing the main darshan of the day to all Vaishnavs in the town.



In Pushti Marg, we do not "take" the arti after its offered to the Lord.

In Pushtimargiya Havelis Aarati is performed four times, twice in the morning session of seva and twice in the evening session. In the morning session it is performed during ‘Mangala Darshan’ and during "Rajbhog Darshan’. In the evening session, it is performed in ‘Bhog-Sandhya Darshan’ and ‘Shayan Darshan’.


The concept is generally to ward off any evil eyes that might have fallen upon Him. While the ‘Mangala Aarati’ and ‘Sandhya Aarati’ is performed with the ‘bhavana’ of ‘Yashoda Maiya’, who performs ‘Aarati’ to ward off any evil effect of a bad dream that her ‘Laalan’ may have seen in the night, or to ward off the evil eyes of any evil creatures while the ‘Laalan’ was busy looking after the cows in the jungle.

The ‘Rajbhog Aarati’ and ‘Shayan Aarati’ is performed with the ‘bhavana’ of the ‘Gopis’ or ‘Vraj Bhakt’ who are in the service of ‘Swaminiji’. They perform ‘Rajbhog Arati’ to remove the ‘Viraha-taap’ that they experienced while He was away. This is the reason why we do not ‘take’ the ‘Aarati’ once it is performed.

Once the ‘taap’ is removed, it is not to be taken back as it is the time for ‘Sanyog’.

Only in Nathdwara, at ‘Shrinathji’ the ‘Aarati’ is taken because ‘Shrinathji’ is ‘Jagat-Uddharak’. In Vitthalnathji too, after ‘Rajbhog Aarati’ a conch full of water is waved around ‘Shri’ and the water is then sprinkled over the visitors. This ritual is performed to keep the promise given to the ‘Batuk Shastri’ who brought the ‘Swaroop’ of Shri Vitthalnathji on the day of Gosainji’s ‘Prakatya’. He had requested Shri Mahaprabhuji to let this ritual (of taking Aarati) continue on his behalf, therefore instead of ‘taking’ the actual ‘Aarati’, this ‘Sheetal Aarati’ is taken.

This ‘Sheetal Aarati’ symbolizes the cool relief of ‘Sanyog’ after the removal of ‘Viraha Taap’.
Arti is the outer manifestation of the inner viraha tapa - the intense fire of sorrow caused by our seperation from the Lord. This pain of being away from the Lord is what we should "realise" and realise that the real joy is in being with Him.




The viraha tapa, when it becomes truly intense, eventually consumes the very being (ego etc) of the devotee and as a result, the Lord comes to them out of grace. As darshan is the fruit of viraha tapa, it is much desired and all vaishnavs look forward to a time when their own viraha tapa will eventually result in a darshan of the Lord.



Till than we use the arti, an outer manifestation of the virah tapa, which allows us to do the darshan of the Lord.



Just as in life, once our beloved is before us, we must abandon the pain of seperation and enjoy the moments together. So, once the darshan is achieved, the viraha tapa, the arti, must be put away and the saiyog of the Lord must be enjoyed. As the arti represents the viraha tapa, it is not to be "taken" in Pushti Marg. It would be like taking back the pain you have just put away !



Only in ShriNathji's Haveli is it permitted for people to "take" the arti. As ShriNathji is Sarvo-dharak and Daivo-dharak, aswell as Bhakto-dharak, He has permitted some Sanatan rituals to be allowed in His Haveli, arti being one of them. Here, the arti is being taken as a prasad of the Lord and not as viraha taap.