Sankalpam for the Pooja

 Experiences with Maha Periyava: Sankalpam for the Pooja

It was Telugu New Year’s Day. Maha Periyaval was was camping near Chittoor. There were a number of visitors and darshanam was going on and on. It was nearly 1.30 p.m. and Maha Periyaval had not started the first kalam pooja. One of the senior staff of the Mutt gently pointed out the lateness of the hour.

H.H.: We should start the New Year with Chandramouleswara Pooja and pooja begins with sankalpam.

Then He asked the large gathering of assembled devotees the purpose and meaning of sankalpam of the daily pooja. People began to guess. One said may be it was for the sake of Periyaval. Another suggested both Maha Periyaval and Pudu Periyaval. A third opinion was that it was for the welfare of the Vedas. A fourth guess was that it was for kings or rulers, brahmins and cows according to the well known sloka. Then Maha Periyaval called the sastrigal who used to recite the sankalpam and asked him to translate and explain the sankalpam to everyone present. Only then did we realize that the daily pooja at the Mutt was being performed for the welfare of every man, woman, and child belonging to this country, irrespective of age, sex, religion, caste, state, language or any other distinguishing factor.

Author: Prof S.Kalyanaraman, Neurosurgeon, Chennai

Source: Moments of a lifetime

Compiled by Jagadguru Sri Maha Periyava - Kanchi Paramacharya/Fb