Why is prana-pratistha not performed for the utsava-murtis though they ave their own names?
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Hare Krishna.
Question. Why is no pranapratishta performed for the utsavmurtis? Although they have their own names, and they are the deities which are primarily worshipped, and they are taken for processions, and they receive worship, just like the main deities, but they have their own names. So, why is no pranapratishta performed for them? Answer.
The very word pratishta means to fix in the ground, to situate at a permanent location. So, by definition itself, those deities which are going to be moved will not have pranapratishta performed on them. And in fact, if pratishta is performed, then the deity should not be moved.
So, often we use the word pranapratishta in a very general sense, where the idea of pranapratishta is that is the time where the Lord is invoked, and then His presence manifests in the deity or as the deity. But pranapratishta refers to a specific kind of invocation. There are various kinds of invocation, and the pranapratishta deities, they are invoked in such a way that they are never moved, except in emergencies.
In Apadharma, as the Goswamis moved the deities, when they were in Vrindavan and they were in danger, they moved them to Jaipur. These are exceptional situations. But normally, the pranapratishta deities are never to be moved.
And there are different kinds of invocation. Now, it is not that the Lord is present only in the pranapratishta deities. There is also aarohan and tirobhav.
Aarohan means that just like in some parts of India, Maharashtra especially, there is Ganesha puja, and there is also Durga puja also, where the Durga deity is invoked, Durga’s presence or Ganesha’s presence is invoked in the deity for a limited amount of time, and for 10 days or 9 days or whatever. And then after that, tirobhav is done, or visarjan is done, as it is called, in different places. So, now before visarjan is done, the idea is that the Lord is invoked, or whichever worshipable devata is invoked, and is told that, Lord, please manifest over here.
And now we have worshipped you. And after the worship, now you can take leave. And then after the Lord has been asked to take leave, requested to take leave, then the visarjan is done.
So, this is also one kind of invocation of the Lord. So, pranapratishtha is not the only way to invoke the deity, invoke the divine presence in the deity. So, now with respect to the Utsavmurtis, the presence is invoked by the calling, by the invocation, or by the calling of the pure devotee.
So, Hari Bhaktivelas describes that the primary reason why the Lord appears is not just that the pranapratishtha is performed. Pranapratishtha involves the formalization of the invitation to the Lord. But the essence of the invitation is the desire of the pure devotee to serve the Lord, and the Lord’s desire to reciprocate with that desire for service.
So, it is only because of that the Lord appears. And that can happen even in the Utsavmurtis. So, because the Utsavmurtis are not fixed, the pranapratishtha, that specific form of invocation is not done.
But when the Utsavmurtis manifest, when the worship is started, before that, there also the divine presence is invoked, and that is invoked through the presence, through the call of an exalted devotee, of a pure devotee. And by that, the Lord manifests in the pranapratishtha, and in the Utsavmurti. And the arrangement is done in such a way, because it is understood at the time of worshipping, that this is the Utsavmurti, and this is the Moolamurti, or the main Murti.
So, it is understood that this deity is receiving worship on behalf of that deity, but that deity is also a separate deity in their own right. But in this particular place, this deity is receiving worship on behalf of that deity. So, the Utsavmurtis are made in a particular way to receive worship on behalf of other deities, but they are also having their own names, and there also the presence of the Lord is invoked, but not through pranapratishtha.
Thank you. Hare Krishna.