bhagavanmānasapūjā

Shankara's mental worship, in which a whole sixteen-part puja is carried out with nothing but words. It opens by setting Krishna in the lotus of the heart, dark as a water-laden cloud, garlanded and crowned, his face like the full moon of autumn, the flute in his hands and the cowherd women around him. Then the offerings begin, each named as precisely as if it were being handled: come from the island in the sea of milk and take this golden seat set with gems; I wash your marked feet; here is arghya of durva and fruit and water; bathe in the five nectars, then in Ganga water from a golden pot; wear the cloth the colour of lightning, sandal mixed with musk on the forehead, this garland of lotus and tulasi. The food is the tenderest part of it, six tastes in a golden dish with a cup of cow's ghee, and he is asked to eat with the companions who are waiting for what he leaves.