PRAYASCHIT

While in chennai,i saw a relative doing a puja on the rishi panchami day.she had placed an idol of lord krishna standing in a pose with one feet crossing the other with a flute in his hands & a cow at his back almost kneeling its face 2 the feet of the lord.she had covered an asan ( a mani in kannada n peeth in marathi) with a rangoli & placed the idol on that.she recited some shlokas n lighted a lamp.i asked what this was all about n she replied that this was like atonement for all the poojas done earlier by a woman when she would hav knowingly/unknowingly done acts for puja when she was out of doors .it is something like confession in christianity.this puja is 2 b done on rishi panchami day 4 5 years.n i believe this can b done by ladies when they r in menopause.i am sure various sects hav some r the other atonement procedures like this.but r they only 4 women ? does this mean that only a woman is impure when she does pujas - not all the times but sometimes ?r v all really pure in mind & r body when we set in obesience before the lord ? can v say 4 sure that v r ekchit - 1 mind before the almighty ?but 1 good thing about this is that there is an act - the act of poojas 2 atone- something like an appeal before the higher courts,if v hav been impure physically & mentally.as one of my friend says always " Every sinner has a future ,every saint has a past ".in other words,past actions need not fetter us- v can always b better n even god will allow n help us in our endevours.