It is our choice to perform a ritual or not.. It is for the smritihis to decide what non performance would do..

It is our choice to perform a ritual or not..

It is for the smritihis to decide what non performance would do..

If we are following methods not in consonance with the rules and traditions, then it is not fair to say we are compensating it with some other thing..

Pooja and its parts are for believers and followers of the rituals.

There is no arithmetical formula to say I will perform certain rituals as per smrithis this way and then whatever I am not doing I will compensate through actions outside the rules..

Of course, there are prayaschittams and shortcuits in rituals prescribed to atone for the defects and performing the rituals in a shortened form. in extreme cases .

But part performance through ritual and compensating the other part by other methods.. though it may sound very noble and exact has no value as per smrithis .. and no one can prove its value because the external things are just our own inventions without much basis..

Any type of prayer will work.. even if the prayer is not according to the Smrithis.

Even the great ritualistic scholars following Jaimini knew that..

Every system, Tantram, Shaktam, Kapalikam... all work..

But mixing can be dangerous..

Ravana was a great Vedic and agamic scholar...

He is the one who contributed to the division of Vedas into Panchaatis(fifty word combinations) which actually maintains the purity of words and pronunciation of vedas for all ages..

He used to worship Shiva with great ardour.. In Valmiki Ramayanam in Sundarakanadam, we see that Hanuman is witnesseing the fact that Ravana and the ministers of Ravana and the citizens of Lanka were doing agni karyams etc..

But Ravana went many steps beyond the four walls of things assigned to him..

He enjoyed life like anything, but he had to pay the price too ..

His city gutted by Anjaneyaswamy , his life lost through an arrow of Rama and so on..

True , for his staunch devotion he remains as the second greatest Parshada or major member of the retinue of Lord Shiva even today .

. In every Shiva pooja, we offer Nirmalyam to Bana, Ravana, Chandesa, Nandi Bringiriti and so on. in that order .

Chandikesa, Nandi Bringiriti are all the real assistants of Shiva by birth and posts...

But the asuras Bana and Ravana gets priority over the regulars.

This is the result of their devotion,

but for the wrong actions Bana and Ravana had to suffer humiliation too..