Can devotees perform Satyna-Narayan puja?

Hare Krishna. Question. Can devotees perform Satyanarayan puja? Answer.

Satyanarayan puja is of course the worship of Lord Narayan, which is the worship of the Supreme Lord. And in that sense, there should not be any question whether it can be performed or not. But at the same time, even within the worship of the Lord, there are multiple levels at which he is worshipped.

And Satyanarayan puja is usually associated with the Karmakand level of worship, where God is worshipped for being in some material things. So it is talked about in the Skanda Purana. And there is a conversation in the Rewakhand between Suta Goswami and the Shana Kali Rishis.

So where the glory of performing this puja and the trouble of promising to perform the puja and then not doing the puja, that is talked about. In this way, there is an overall encouragement to do the puja. Satyanarayan, here sometimes people misunderstand.

What is a Satyanarayan? Is there a Mithyanarayan or what? But Satya is not an adjective. It is an epithet. Satyaseti Narayana.

That Narayan who is the Supreme Satya, like in the Srimad Bhagavatam, Satyam Param Dhimahi. So in that sense, it is the worship of Lord Narayan. And of course, it is a worship which is done in the Karmakand sense.

So for the sake of gaining material things and that's why it begins with the worship of Ganesh. And it focuses on certain stories about Lord Narayan, which describe his glories. So now as sadhakas in the Gaudiya Vaishnav tradition, we want to focus on Parabhakti, on pure devotional service.

And that's why as devotees we need to do Satyanarayan puja. But if as a part of our family or our social custom, it is being done, there is no need to be on a campaign against it. We can participate in it.

We can even take the prasad. It is a prasad that is offered to Narayan. And we can also, Gopal Bhitta Goswami, Sanatana Goswami, in their books, like Hari Bhaktivelas and other books like that, they have described the way in which the Karmakand rituals can be spiritualized.

And one can consult local devotee priests if there are devotees who are trained in doing the rituals like marriages and others. We can ask them if the Satyanarayan puja can be more directly spiritualized, if we have the facility and the opportunity to do that. Then if the puja is performed not by priests who are doing it for monetary purposes, but it is performed by devotees who are aspiring for pure devotion, then that is always better.

But overall the important principle is that we would like to focus on pure devotional service, but we recognize that the scriptures do provide facility for mixed devotional service. And because Satyanarayan puja is coming from scripture and is focusing on the Supreme Lord, so it can also be accepted for those who want to do it out of their own inclination or their specific family or social tradition. Thank you.

Great question.