Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c10.s1.65

c10.s1.65

After the worship of the supreme deity, comes the Aṅga and Upāṅga Pūjā, with reference to the Mantra, Varṇa, Pada, Veṇu, Mālā, Śrīvatsa and Kaustubha of the deity at the particular place of Nyāsa on the image, and to his attendant deities (Āvaraṇa-devatā), retinue, weapons and paraphernalia. This worship must be performed, with his permission, by means of bath, flower-offering and appropriate Mantras. The lists of such subsidiary objects of worship include the friends (Sakhi) of the deity, such as Dāma, Sudāma and Vasudāma; his wives such as Rukmiṇī, Satyabhāmā, Nāgnajiti, Sunandā, Mitravṛndā, Sulakṣaṇā, Jāmbavatī and Suśīlā; such relatives as Nanda, Yaśodā, Balarāma, Subhadrā, the Gopa-Gopīs (but Rādhā is not explicitly mentioned!); the eight Dikpālas; the five sacred trees (Mandāra, Pārijāta, Kalpa-vṛkṣa, Haricandana and Samtāna); his eight weapons and ornaments (such as Vajra, Śakti, Daṇḍa, Khaḍga, Pāśa, Aṅkuśa, Gadā, Triśūla, as well as Cakra and Padma); and lastly, his eight sacred names, Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva, Nārāyaṇa, Devaki-nandana, Yadu-śreṣṭha, Vārṣṇeya, Asurākrānta-bhāra-hārin and Dharma-sthāpaka. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa adds that those who are unable to go through elaborate ceremonies may worship with these eight names alone, which are equally efficacious.