Questions about flowers?

Namaste all,

I have a question regarding pooja flowers. I grow flowers in my garden outside for my devtas, and when I pick the flowers I make sure there are no bugs inside them since all is God. But lately, I try to wash the bugs out of the flowers, and there are still so many bugs in the flowers.. I do not know what to do now! The bugs are so small, very minuscule. I do not want to be responsible for killing those bugs, but what can I do to prevent this? I must offer flowers to my devtas. I grew the flowers specifically for my devtas, and now I am very scared to use them because many very small bugs have taken the flowers as their home.. What shall I do? I cannot buy flowers because I don't have money since I do not have a job.. And I will not take flowers from gardens of other owners because that is stealing. Thank you everyone, bless you all.:(

Namaste...

If you can plant varieties of daisies, asters and/or chrysanthemums they should repel insects.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jainarayan

Namaste...

If you can plant varieties of daisies, asters and/or chrysanthemums they should repel insects.

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Namaste Sri Jainarayan,

Thank you for helping! Most of my flowers in my garden are daisies, and roses.. All of the daisies and roses have little bugs in them, the bugs are so small and they jump really fast as well. So, now I know for sure that daisies do not help my problem :( I have a lot of rhododendrons (बुरांस) flowers, but they have completed the flowering season now. The rhododendron flowers were so perfect for me, they had no bugs at all inside them.

Namaste Chakreshvari,

There is no offence if some very minute bugs stay in the flowers we offer. This is what I heard from my father. We may not like to do it purposefully as no one wants to offer bugs to deity but in your situation I would not have bothered so much. After all, God knows my situation better than anyone else can know. Flower is actually symbolic offering, what we offer to God is our love, devotion and reverence. So, it is ok if the bugs cannot be avoided ! :)

OM

Vannakkam,

Personally, I don't give it a second thought. You're just moving bugs around. For larger ones that appear in the shrine room, we keep a jar to catch and release them. Flowers are filled with tiny living creatures, and many are very small, like bacteria. The idea of offering a freshly picked flower rather than a sanitized one from a flower shop is just so much more organic.

Aum Namasivaya

Namaste Sri devotee, Namaste Sri Eastern Mind!

Thanks for the advice :) I just feel very guilty for offering the flower to my devtas since I do not want to be responsible for the death of those insects. I asked my parents to buy me a bouquet of flowers once a month, and I offer a few of those flowers everyday. As for my garden's flowers, now I pick the petals off the flowers, and then I inspect the flower petals for any bugs, and then I offer those flower petals to my devtas too now.