DURVA ( GRASS ) AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN HINDU PUJAS
A special kind of grass in various Hindu puja rituals is popularly known as the durva or doob grass. In fact, no puja is ever deemed complete without offering durva to the deity. It is especially an important offering when you perform Ganesh puja.
So, what exactly is durva? Durva is a special type of sacred grass. The word Durva is derived from the words duhu and avam.
Durva brings the distant pure spiritual particles (pavitraks) of God closer to the devotee. The durva grass consists of three blades which represent the three principles of the primal Shiva, the primal Shakti and the primal Ganesha.
Durva is said to have the highest ability to attract Ganesha’s aura, which explains why it is an important offering made to Lord Ganesha. Generally, the tender shoots of durva are used in the puja ritual of a deity. These tender shoots have the highest capacity to absorb principles of deities present in the dew drops fallen on their leaves. This benefits the worshipper.
If durva bear flowers, they are not used in puja ritual, because a flowering plant denotes ripeness. Ripening causes decrease in the vitality of the plant. This further reduces its capacity to attract the frequencies of the deity principle.
Mythological Story Of Durva
Once, a demon named Analasura caused havoc in the heavens. He emitted fire from his eyes and destroyed whatever came in his way. All the demi-gods fled and sought Lord Ganesha’s help against the demon.
Ganesha assured them that He would finish off the demon and restore peace. In the battlefield, Analasura started attacking Lord Ganesha with fireballs and eventually tried to gulp him down. At that moment, Lord Ganesha showed him His original form, or ‘Virat Roop’ and gulped down the demon, instead.
After gulping down the demon, Lord Ganesha felt extremely restless due to the heat inside His body. So, the moon came to His help and stood on Ganesha’s head. Thus, He was named ‘Bhaalachandra’. Lord Vishnu also gave His lotus to bring down the heat, Lord Shiva tied His cobra around Ganesha’s belly. But nothing could bring down the heat. Finally, a few sages came with 21 durvas and placed it on Ganesha’s head.
Miraculously, the heat evaporated! Thus, Lord Ganesha declared that whoever worships Him with durva grass will forever receive His blessings.
The minimum number of durva grass to be offered to Lord Ganesha should be 21. The Durva is tied together and offer them to Lord Ganesha after dipping them in water. The entire idol of Lord Ganesha, excluding the face, should be covered with Durva. You should begin by offering the durva from the feet of the deity and then moving on to other parts.
The principle of a deity is emitted in higher proportions through the holy feet of the idol. So, the Durva offered in the beginning attracts Ganesha principle in higher proportions.
This principle is then transferred to the Durva offered later. The Nirgun frequencies of principles of deities are attracted in the idol. These frequencies are then transformed into Sagun frequencies in the idol and they are then emitted through the idol because of which the worshipper gets more benefit.
It is due to the emission of the deity’s principle through the Durva, the adverse influence of the raja-tama-predominant principles in the environment is reduced. This is the reason why a person suffering from negative energies feels more positive and de-stressed when he/she comes in contact with the Durva.
