IDOL-WORSHIP DEVELOPS DEVOTION
Idol-worship makes concentration of man simpler and easier. You can bring before your
mind’s eye the great Lilas the Lord has played in His particular Avatara in which you view Him.
This is one of the easiest modes of Self-realisation.
Just as the picture of a famous warrior evokes heroism in your heart, so also a look at the
picture of God will elevate your mind to divine heights. Just as the child develops the maternal
Bhava (mother-feeling) of the future caressing, nursing, protecting mother by playing with its
imaginary toy-child made up of rags and suckling the child in an imaginary manner, so also the
devotee develops the feeling of devotion by worshipping the Pratima and concentrating on it.
REGULAR WORSHIP UNVEILS THE DIVINITY IN THE IDOL
Regular worship (Puja) and other modes of demonstrating our inner feeling of recognition
of Divinity in the idol unveil the Divinity latent in it. This is truly a wonder and a miracle. The
picture comes to life. The idol speaks. It will answer your questions and solve your problems. The
God in you has the power to awaken the latent Divinity in the idol. It is like a powerful lens that
focuses the sun’s rays on to a bundle of cotton. The lens is not fire and the cotton is not fire either nor
can the sun’s rays, by themselves, burn the cotton. When the three are brought together in a
particular manner, fire is generated and the cotton is burnt. Similar is the case with the idol, the
Sadhaka and the all-pervading Divinity. Puja makes the idol shine with the divine resplendence.
God is then enshrined in the idol. From here, He will protect you in a special manner. The idol will
perform miracles. The place where it is installed is at once transformed into a temple, nay, a
Vaikuntha or Kailasa in reality. Those who live in such a place are freed from miseries, from
diseases, from failures and from Samsara itself. The awakened Divinity in the idol acts as a
guardian angel blessing all, conferring the highest good on those who bow to it.
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ALL ABOUT HINDUISM
THE IMAGE, A MASS OF CHAITANYA
The idol is only a symbol of the Divine. A devotee does not behold therein a block of stone
or a mass of metal. It is an emblem of God for him. He visualises the Indwelling Presence in the
Murti or image. All the Saiva Nayanars, saints of South India, attained God-realisation through
worship of the Linga, the image of Lord Siva. For a devotee, the image is a mass of Chaitanya or
consciousness. He draws inspiration from the image. The image guides him. It talks to him. It
assumes human form to help him in a variety of ways. The image of Lord Siva in the temple at
Madurai in South India helped the fuel-cutter and the old woman. The image in the temple at
Tirupati assumed human form and gave witness in the court to help His devotees. There are marvels
and mysteries. Only the devotees understand these.
WHEN IDOLS BECAME ALIVE
For a Bhakta or a sage, there is no such thing as Jada or insentient matter. Everything is
Vasudeva or Chaitanya—Vasudevah Sarvam Iti. The devotee beholds actually the Lord in the idol.
Narsi Mehta was put to the test by a king. The king said: “O Narsi, if you are a sincere devotee of
Lord Krishna, if as you say the idol is Lord Krishna Himself, let this idol move.” According to the
prayer of Narsi Mehta, the idol moved. The sacred bull Nandi before Siva’s idol took the food
offered by Tulsidas. The Murti played with Mira Bai. It was full of life and Chaitanya for her.
When Appayya Dikshitar went to the Tirupati temple in South India, the Vaishnavas
refused him admission. The next morning they found the Vishnu Murti in the temple changed into
Siva Murti. The Mahant was much astonished and startled, asked pardon and prayed to Appayya
Dikshitar to change the Murti again into Vishnu Murti.
Kanaka Dasa was a great devotee of Lord Krishna in Udipi, in the district of South Kanara,
in South India. He was not allowed to enter the temple on account of his low birth. Kanaka Dasa
went round the temple and saw a small window at the back of the temple. He seated himself in front
of the window. He was soon lost in singing songs in praise of Lord Krishna. Many people gathered
round him. They were very much attracted by the sweet melody of his music and the depth of his
devotion. Lord Krishna turned round to enable Kanaka Dasa to get His Darsana. The priests were
struck with wonder. Even today, pilgrims are shown the window and the place where Kanaka Dasa
sat and sang.
The Murti is the same as the Lord, for it is the vehicle of the expression of the
Mantra-Chaitanya which is the Devata. The same attitude should the devotee have in regard to the
Murti in the temple, which he would evince if the Lord would appear before him in person and
speak to him in articulate sound.
VEDANTA AND IDOL-WORSHIP
A pseudo-Vedantin feels himself ashamed to bow or prostrate himself before an idol in the
temple. He feels that his Advaita will evaporate if he prostrates himself. Study the lives of the
reputed Tamil saints, Appar, Sundarar, Sambandhar, etc. They had the highest Advaitic realisation.
They saw Lord Siva everywhere and yet they visited all temples of Siva, prostrated before the idol
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HINDU WORSHIP
and sang hymns which are on record now. The sixty-three Nayanar saints practised Charya and
Kriya only and attained God-realisation thereby. They swept the floor of the temple, collected
flowers, made garlands for the Lord and put on lights in the temple. They were illiterate, but
attained the highest realisation. They were practical Yogis and their hearts were saturated with pure
devotion. They were embodiments of Karma Yoga. All practised the Yoga of Synthesis. The idol in
the temple was all Chaitanya or Consciousness for them. It was not a mere block of stone.
Madhusudana Swami, who had Advaitic realisation, who beheld oneness of the Self and
who had Advaitic Bhava, was intensely attached to the form of Lord Krishna with flute in His
hands.
Tulasidas realised the all-pervading essence. He had cosmic consciousness. He communed
with the all-pervading, formless Lord. And yet, his passion for Lord Rama with bow in His hand did
not vanish. When he had been to Vrindavana and saw the Murti of Lord Krishna with flute in His
hands, he said: “I will not bow my head to this form.” At once Lord Krishna’s form assumed the
form of Lord Rama. Then only he bowed his head. Tukaram also had the same cosmic experience as
that of Tulasidas. He sings in his Abhanga: “I see my Lord all-pervading, just as sweetness pervades
the sugar-cane;” and yet, he always speaks of his Lord Vitthala of Pandarpur with His hands on the
hips. Mira also realised her identity with the all-pervading Krishna, and yet she was not tired of
repeating again and again: “My Giridhara Nagar.”
From the above facts, we can clearly infer that one can realise God through worship of Murti
or idol; that the worship of the Lord in Saguna form is a great aid for the realisation of the Lord in
His all-pervading, formless aspect also; that the worship of the Murti is very essential for the
purpose of concentration and meditation in the beginning and that such a worship is not in anyway a
hindrance to the attainment of God-consciousness. Those who vehemently attack Murti Puja are
groping in extreme darkness and ignorance, and they have no real knowledge of Puja and worship.
They enter into unnecessary vain debates and discussion against Murti Puja to show that they are
learned persons. They have not done any real Sadhana at all. They are persons who have made idle
talking and tall talk their habit and profession. They have ruined themselves. They have unsettled
the minds of countless persons and ruined them also. The whole world worships symbols and
Murtis only in some form or the other. The mind is disciplined in the beginning by fixing it on a
concrete object or symbol. When it is rendered steady and subtle, it can be fixed later on, on an
abstract idea such as ‘Aham Brahma Asmi.’ When one advances in meditation, the form melts in the
formless and he becomes one with the formless essence. Image worship is not contrary to the view
of Vedanta. It is rather a help.
Those who have not understood the philosophy and significance of idol-worship will have,
now at least, a clear understanding of them. Their eyes will be opened now. Ignorant persons only,
who have not studied Sastras and who have not associated with Yogis, sages and Bhaktas, raise
unnecessary arguments against idol-worship.