Threshold - puja

[AmIHindu]

Namaste,

We Hindu people do puja of threshold also. Threshold as in देहली, द्वारपिंडी, ग्रहावग्रहणी.
I myself has done this puja many times when I was in India. First wash Threshold , wipe it clean, draw swastika, aum and some kumkum. Threshopd is generally at a higher level then the floor, it may be wide also. At my home it was 2 inch higher then the floor and it was 8 inch wide.

But I do not know what is the importance of doing Threshold puja. Threshold was used in our scripture when Narsimha Avataar, kills Hiranyakashyapu.

If anyone from HDF know anything more about threshold puja, please add to my knowledge.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namast�

I do not know what is the importance of doing Threshold puja. Threshold was used in our scripture when Narsimha Avataar, kills Hiranyakashyapu.

If anyone from HDF know anything more about threshold puja, please add to my knowledge.

Let me offer this one view of where the threshold resides. It represents madhya , the middle, the gap, we call turīya. It suggests where we can find the Divine.

Hiraṇyakaśipu could not be killed by human, deva or animal. narasiṃha appears as half-man half-animal.
Hiraṇyakaśipu could not be killed in the day or at night; narasiṃha comes at nether day or night but at twilight.
Hiraṇyakaśipu could not be killed neither indoors or outdoors; narasiṃha comes to neither but on the threshold of a courtyard, from within the pillar ( as we are told).





praṇām

[AmIHindu]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namast�



Hiraṇyakaśipu could not be killed by human, deva or animal. narasiṃha appears as half-man half-animal.
Hiraṇyakaśipu could not be killed in the day or at night; narasiṃha comes at nether day or night but at twilight.
Hiraṇyakaśipu could not be killed neither indoors or outdoors; narasiṃha comes to neither but on the threshold of a courtyard, from within the pillar ( as we are told).



praṇām

To add to that, Hiranyakasipu could not be killed by any weapon, narasimha killed him with his clows.

So we started puja of Threshold because Hiranyakasipu got killed on Threshold ?

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namast�

So we started puja of Threshold because Hiranyakasipu got killed on Threshold ?

you may perhaps be missing a finer point here....
It ( the threshold) represents madhya , the middle, the gap, we call turīya. It suggests where we can find the Divine. The threshold acts as a reminder, a symbol of being in-between or of the gap, of that place where pure consciousness rests and can be found at any time. That place then is equal to the Divine.

It is not so much of where anyone got destroyed ( in this case hiraṇyakaśipu can be the representitive of base actions not becoming a spiritual being) but where the Divine resides.

praṇām

[AmIHindu]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namast�


It ( the threshold).............where we can find the Divine.
praṇām

Well explained.

Gratitude.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namast�

How do we make sense of his name, hiraṇyakaśipu ?
It means ( in general) having a golden pillow or cushion. There must be more to this, no ?

praṇām

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namast�

How do we make sense of his name, hiraṇyakaśipu ?
It means ( in general) having a golden pillow or cushion. There must be more to this, no ?

Here is my view on this matter , just from the inspection of the words and syllables that make up hiraṇyakaśipu.

We have several words to look at
hiraṇya + kaśipu

• hiraṇya = uncoined gold; Yet too it is defined as imperishable matter
• hiraṇyaka - yaka as the middle term means 'who' or 'which'
• kaśipu = pillow or cushion

If we look at it this way, we can say it is that entity (who) has a cushion of being imperishable. But why the two-fold name of gold
and of being imperishable matter ? Because hiraṇyakaśipu was a king. A king is known by his riches, and hence this hiraṇya implies this. Also the cushion may imply the life of a king, he that sits on riches.

praṇām