Preparation
- Bathe, apply tilaka, wear clean cloth. Perform ācamana, sipping water three times: oṃ keśavāya namaḥ, oṃ nārāyaṇāya namaḥ, oṃ mādhavāya namaḥ.
- Offer daṇḍavats to your guru and to Śrīla Prabhupāda, and request permission to serve.
- Arrange the items (odd numbers preferred): incense; a ghee or camphor lamp of five or more wicks; a conch with water (arghya); a cloth or handkerchief; flowers; a cāmara; a peacock fan in warm weather; a bell; a conch for blowing.
- Purify each item by sprinkling a few drops of water on it before offering.
Order of offering (full ārati)
Blow the conch three times. Ring the bell in the left hand, held above the waist. Offer each item clockwise with the right hand, attentively and gracefully: first to your guru (three to seven circles), then to Śrīla Prabhupāda, then to the main Deities (the full circles), then to the associates and the paramparā (three to seven circles), then to the assembled devotees (one to three circles).
| Item | Circles | Upacāra-mantra, then the mūla-mantra |
| Incense | 7 around the whole body | eṣa dhūpaḥ |
| Camphor | as the ghee lamp | eṣa nīrājanam |
| Ghee lamp | 4 to the feet, 2 to the navel, 3 to the head, 7 around the whole body | eṣa dīpaḥ |
| Water in the conch | 3 to the head, 7 around the whole body; pour a little into the throw-out pot | idaṃ arghyam |
| Cloth | 7 around the whole body | idaṃ vastram |
| Flowers | 7 around the whole body | etāni puṣpāṇi; idaṃ puṣpam for a single flower |
| Cāmara | wave before the Lord a suitable number of times | eṣa cāmara-sevā |
| Fan (vyajana) | wave before the Lord a suitable number of times | eṣa vyajana-sevā |
Mūla-mantras
- Kṛṣṇa: klīṃ kṛṣṇāya namaḥ
- Rādhārāṇī: śrīṃ rāṃ rādhikāyai svāhā
- Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu: klīṃ gaurāya namaḥ
- Nityānanda Prabhu: klīṃ deva-jāhnavī-vallabhāya namaḥ
- Tulasī Mahārāṇī: oṃ tulasyai namaḥ
- Śrīla Prabhupāda: oṃ parama-gurave namaḥ
- Guru Mahārāja: aiṃ gurave namaḥ
Simplified option: “Please accept this offering of [the item].”
Completion
- Blow the conch three times.
- Distribute the arghya and the flower prasāda.
- Chant the prema-dhvani prayers if called for.
- Offer praṇāmas with joined palms.
- Clean up, and offer final daṇḍavats.
