Why Do We Offer Doob Grass To Lord Ganesha?

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You must be aware of the use of a special kind of grass in various Hindu puja rituals. It is popularly known as the 'durva’ or the 'doob’ grass. No puja is deemed complete without offering durva to the deity. It is especially an important offering when you perform Ganesh puja.

Durva is a special type of grass. The word durva is derived from the words duhu and avam. Durva brings the distant pure spiritual particles (pavitraks) of God closer to the devotee.

The durva grass consists of three blades which represent the three principles of primal Shiva, primal Shakti and primal Ganesha. Durva is said to have the highest ability to attract the Ganesha principle which explains why it is an important offering made to Lord Ganesha.

Generally, the tender shoots of durva are used in puja ritual of a deity. These tender shoots have the highest capacity to absorb principles of deities present in the dew drops fallen on their leaves. This benefits the worshipper.

If durva bears flowers, they are not used in puja rituals. Flowering plant denotes ripeness. Ripening causes decrease in the vitality of the plant. This further reduces its capacity to attract the frequencies of the deity principle.

Now, let us take a further look at how durva should be offered and know a little more about the importance of durva grass in the Hindu rituals.

The Story Of Durva

Once a demon named Analasura caused havoc in the heavens. He emitted fire from his eyes and destroyed whatever came in his way. All the demi-Gods fled and sought Lord Ganesha’s help against the demon. Ganesha assured them that he will finish off the demon and restore peace. In the battlefield, Analasura started attacking Lord Ganesha with fireballs and eventually tried to gulp him down. At that moment Lord Ganesha, showed him his original form or 'virat roop’ and gulped down the demon instead.

After gulping the demon, Lord Ganesha felt extremely restless due to the heat inside his body. So, the moon came to his help and stood on Ganesha’s head. Thus, he was named 'Bhaalachandra’. Lord Vishnu gave his lotus to bring down the heat, Lord Shiva tied his cobra around Ganesha’s belly. But nothing could bring down the heat. Finally, a few sages came with 21 leaves of durva grass and placed them on Ganesha’s head. Miraculously, the heat went off. Thus, Lord Ganesha declared that whoever worships him with durva grass will receive his blessings forever.

How To Offer Durva?

Offer the Durva with three or five leaflets to Lord Ganesha. They are called durvankur. The middle leaflet of durvankur attracts the principle of primal Ganesha and the other two leaflets attract primal Shiva and primal Shakti principles. The minimum number of durva to be offered to Lord Ganesha is 21. Tie the durva together and offer them to Lord Ganesha after dipping into the water. The entire idol of Lord Ganesha excluding the face should be covered with durva. You should begin offering the grass from the feet of the deity and then moving on to other parts.

Importance Of Offering The Durva

The principle of a deity is emitted in higher proportion through the feet of the idol. So, the durva offered in the beginning attracts Ganesha principle in higher proportion. This principle is then transferred to the durva offered later on.

The nirgun frequencies of principles of deities are attracted in the idol. These frequencies are then transformed into sagun frequencies in the idol and they are then emitted through the idol to the grass because of which the worshipper gets more benefit. It is due to the emission of the deity’s principle through the durva, that the adverse influence of the raja-tama-predominant principles in the environment is reduced. This is the reason why a person suffering from negative energies feels more positive and de-stressed when he/she comes in contact with the durva.