Why is āratī plate of camphor kept to the right of Deity?

 

The spiritual science underlying keeping of āratī plate of camphor to the right of Deity.

 

The right side is the seat of Sun channel or Suryanāḍi. The activation of Suryanāḍi awakens the Divine energy or Shakti. The right hand direction of a Deity contains the mārak or destroyer principle of the Deity.

 

Destroyer means the one which destroys unwanted, Tama predominant things. The performance of camphor āratī emits destroyer type frequencies of fragrance. The atmosphere laden with frequencies of fragrance attracts frequencies of Shiv principle present in the universe. These Shiv frequencies then destroy the unwanted and impure frequencies in the atmosphere which gets purified thus.

 

The atmosphere at the place of worship becomes full of Chaitanya or Divine consciousness. This explains why the āratī plate of camphor should be to the right of Deity or to the left of worshipper. Also the strong fragrance emitted while the camphor is burnt has greater capacity to attract the Shivganās (servant Deities of Deity Shiva). The presence of Shivganās helps us to obtain the blessings of Deity of place (Sthāndēvatā) and Deity of premise (Vāstudēvatā) The fragrance of camphor when inhaled leads to decrease in the severity of respiratory diseases. The Shiv tattva enters the wind pipe through the medium of breath because of the fragrance of camphor.

 

Answer by: Forum for Hindu Awakening

Why do we do Araati?

Towards the end of every ritualistic worship (pooja or bhajan) of the Lord or to welcome an honored guest or saint, we perform the aarati. This is always accompanied by the ringing of the bell and sometimes by singing, playing of musical instruments and clapping.

It is one of the sixteen steps (shodasha upachaara) of the pooja ritual. It is referred to as the lighted lamp in the right hand, which we wave in a clockwise circling movement to light the entire form of the Lord.

Each part is revealed individually and also the entire form of the Lord. As the light is waved we either do mental or loud chanting of prayers or simply behold the beautiful form of the Lord, illumined by the lamp. At the end of the aarati we place our hands over the flame and then gently touch our eyes and the top of the head.

We have seen and participated in this ritual from our childhood. Let us find out why we do the aarati?

Having worshipped the Lord of love - performing abhisheka, decorating the image and offering fruits and delicacies, we see the beauty of the Lord in all His glory. Our minds are focused on each limb of the Lord as the lamp lights it up. It is akin to silent open-eyed meditation on His beauty. The singing, clapping, ringing of the bell etc. denote the joy and auspiciousness, which accompanies the vision of the Lord.

Aarati is often performed with camphor. This holds a telling spiritual significance. Camphor when lit, burns itself out completely without leaving a trace of it. It represents our inherent tendencies (vaasanas). When lit by the fire of knowledge which illumines the Lord (Truth), our vaasanas thereafter burn themselves out completely, not leaving a trace of ego which creates in us a sense of individuality that keeps us separate from the Lord.

Also while camphor burns to reveal the glory of Lord, it emits a pleasant perfume even while it sacrifices itself. In our spiritual progress, even as we serve the guru and society, we should willingly sacrifice ourselves and all we have, to spread the "perfume" of love to all. We often wait a long while to see the illumined Lord but when the aarati is actually performed, our eyes close automatically as if to look within. This is to signify that each of us is a temple of the Lord.