The Philosophy And Significance Of Idol-Worship by Swami Sivananda

The following is an excerpt from Srila Sri Sivananda Maharaj’s “All About Hinduism” (pg. 110-114, Chap. 7)

 

The Idol—A Prop For The Spiritual Neophyte

Idol is a support for the neophyte. It is a prop of his spiritual childhood. A form or image is necessary for worship in the beginning. It is an external symbol of God for worship. It is a reminder of God. The material image calls up the mental idea. Steadiness of mind is obtained by image-worship. The worshipper will have to associate the ideas of infinity, omnipotence, omniscience, purity, perfection, freedom, holiness, truth and omnipresence. It is not possible for all to fix the mind on the Absolute or the Infinite. A concrete form is necessary for the vast majority for practising concentration. To behold God everywhere and to practise the presence of God is not possible for the ordinary man. Idol-worship is the easiest form of worship for the modern man.

A symbol is absolutely indispensable for fixing the mind. The mind wants a prop to lean upon. It cannot have a conception of the Absolute in the initial stages. Without the help of some external aid, in the initial stages, the mind cannot be centralised. In the beginning, concentration or meditation is not possible without a symbol.

Everyone An Idol-Worshipper

There is no reference to worship of idols in the Vedas. The Puranas and the Agamas give descriptions of idol-worship both in the houses and in the temples. Idol-worship is not peculiar to Hinduism. Christians worship the Cross. They have the image of the Cross in their mind. The Mohammedans keep the image of the Kaba stone when they kneel and do prayers. The people of the whole world, save a few Yogis and Vedantins, are all worshippers of idols. They keep some image or the other in the mind.

The mental image also is a form of idol. The difference is not one of kind, but only one of degree. All worshippers, however intellectual they may be, generate a form in the mind and make the mind dwell on that image.

Everyone is an idol-worshipper. Pictures, drawings, etc., are only forms of Pratima or the idol. A gross mind needs a concrete symbol as a prop or Alambana and a subtle mind requires an abstract symbol. Even a Vedantin has the symbol OM for fixing the wandering mind. It is not only the pictures or images in stone and in wood, that are idols but dialectics and leaders also become idols. So, why condemn idolatry?

A Medium For Establishing Communion With God

Idols are not the idle fancies of sculptors, but shining channels through which the heart of the devotee is attracted to and flows towards God. Though the image is worshipped, the devotee feels the presence of the Lord in it and pours out his devotion unto it. It is the appalling ignorance of the modern sensual man that clouds his vision and prevents him from seeing Divinity in lovely and enchanting idols of His form. The very scientific advances of this century ought to convince you of the glory of idol-worship. How are the songsters and orators confined to a small box-like thing to be called a radio? It is a mere piece of a mechanical lifeless structure which breaks into a thousand pieces if you throw it away violently; and yet, if you know how to handle it, you can hear through it, the music that is being played several thousands of miles away and the discourse that is being delivered in the remotest part of the globe. Even as you can catch the sound-waves of people all over the world through the radio receiving set, it is possible to commune with the all-pervading Lord through the medium of an idol. The divinity of the all-pervading God is vibrant in every atom of creation. There is not a speck of space where He is not. Why do you then say that He is not in the idols?

There are others who would glibly say: “Oh, God is all-pervading formless Being. How can He be confined to this idol?” Are these people ever conscious of His omnipresence? Do they always see Him and Him alone in everything? No. It is their ego that prevents them from bowing to the idols of God and, with that motive, put this lame excuse forward!

Empty vessels only make much sound. A practical man who does meditation and worship, who is full of knowledge and real devotion, keeps always silence. He influences and teaches others through silence. He only knows whether a Murti is necessary in the beginning for concentration or not.

However intellectual one may be, he cannot concentrate without the help of some symbol in the beginning. An intellectual and learned person, on account of his pride and vanity only says: “I do not like a Murti. I do not wish to concentrate on a form.” He cannot concentrate on the formless one. He thinks that people will laugh at him when they come to know that he is meditating on a form. He never does any meditation on the formless one. He simply talks and argues and poses. He wastes his life in unnecessary discussions only. An ounce of practice is better than tons of theories. Intellect is a hindrance in the vast majority of intellectual persons. They say that the existence of Brahman is a guess-work, Samadhi is a bluff of the mind and Self-realisation is an imagination of the Vedantins. Deluded souls! They are steeped in ignorance. They are carried away by their secular knowledge which is mere husk when compared to the Knowledge of the Self. There is no hope of salvation for such people. First, their wrong Samskaras should be flushed by good Samskaras through Satsanga. Then only they will realise their mistakes. May the Lord bestow on them clear understanding and thirsting for real knowledge!

A Symbol Of God

Pratima, the idol, is a substitute or symbol. The image in a temple, though it is made of stone, wood or metal, is precious for a devotee as it bears the mark of his Lord, as it stands for something which he holds holy and eternal. A flag is only a small piece of painted cloth, but it stands for a soldier for something that he holds very dear. He is prepared to give up his life in defending his flag. Similarly, the image is very dear to a devotee. It speaks to him in its own language of devotion. Just as the flag arouses martial valour in the soldier, so also the image arouses devotion in the devotee. The Lord is superimposed on the image and the image generates divine thoughts in the worshipper.

A piece of ordinary white paper or coloured paper has no value. You throw it away. But, if there is the stamp of the Government on the paper (currency note), you keep it safe in your money-purse or trunk. Even so, an ordinary piece of stone has no value for you. You throw it away. But, if you behold the stone Murti of Lord Krishna at Pandarpur or any other Murti in shrines, you bow your head with folded hands, because there is the stamp of the Lord on the stone. The devotee superimposes on the stone Murti his own Beloved Lord and all His attributes.

When you worship an image, you do not say: “This image has come from Jaipur. It was brought by Prabhu Singh. Its weight is 50 lbs. It is made of white marble. It has cost me Rs. 500/-.” You superimpose all the attributes of the Lord on the image and pray: “O Antaryamin (Inner Ruler)! You are all-pervading. You are omnipotent, omniscient, all-merciful. You are the source for everything. You are self-existent. You are Sat-Chit-Ananda. You are eternal, unchanging. You are the Life of my life, Soul of my soul! Give me light and knowledge! Let me dwell in Thee for ever.” When your devotion and meditation become intense and deep, you do not see the stone image. You behold the Lord only who is Chaitanya. Image-worship is very necessary for beginners.

The Purpose of Avataras by Swami Krishnananda

(Spoken on March 30th, 1966, on the occasion of Sri Ramnavmi)

The essence of religion is adoration of God. The permanency of a religion is based on its substantial foundations, which is dependent on its universality of outlook. The more universal we are, the more permanent we are. Religion, to be permanent, to be Sanatana, should cater to the needs of all creation, and to the extent it excludes, it is subject to destruction. Sanatana Dharma is eternal religion. It belongs to creation as a whole. It is capable of adjusting itself to the vicissitudes of time.

An idea or concept cannot be eternal unless it is capable of enduring. But everything here is perishable. The body perishes. The world is subject to change and destruction. The world is anitya and asukha. How then can we have something which is eternal in this anitya world? Man is not eternal. Even the greatest saviours have gone. Even Avataras like Rama and Krishna have cast off their physical bodies. Yet, there is something enduring in the midst of all unenduring things. The Upanishads refer to it as the eternal among those which are not permanent. Even though everything is unenduring, we say eternal dharma, Sanatana Dharma, notwithstanding the fact that none have seen it.

Bharatavarsha is identified with eternal religion. Sanatana Dharma is capable of adapting itself to changing time. Some opine that the caste system is one of the reasons for this. Others hold that it is capable of absorbing into itself, and so it is eternal. But, where lies the centre of this religion? What is the substance of our religion that is the cause of its Santana? As I told you in the beginning, it is in the adoration of God, which is the quintessence of religion.

Now, the concept of God differs in every religion and, accordingly, the relation between man and God also differs. The perpetual relation is the relation of the essential nature of the human being, and not the outer relation. That which is eternal in us establishes a relation with that which is eternal in the cosmos so, that the relationship will be eternal. There cannot be relation between the eternal and the non-eternal. Thus, this eternal relation is the summoning of the inner with the outer. It is the cry of the soul for God. As God is eternal, religion must be eternal, as it is the way for the establishment of a relation between man and God, between Nara and Narayana, between Arjuna and Sri Krishna.

How can we establish relation with God? We have not seen God. He is unknown, unthinkable. Hence, relation would fade away if one of its ends was not clear to the mind of the man. This is one of the reasons why religions shake. Therefore, viveka, or clear understanding, is necessary. It is one of the qualifications of an aspirant. He must have an unshakable conviction and conception of God. It must a perception, a clear vision.

Hence, our seers have emphasised that a person who is to be initiated into the Sanatana Dharma should pass through the Gurukula. It is not like the present day education. After coming out of the college, he does not know what to do. He has not been taught to live. He is filled with all unwanted information, not useful for living. But in the Gurukula, the inner man is trained, and faith is given the greatest importance. The human intellect cannot function except in terms of duality, such as ‘I and you are different’, ‘The world is outside me, and I have a function to perform for my satisfaction in the world which is outside me’, etc.

Religion is not rooted in the reason of man, but in faith based on intellect. It is a symbol of inner culture. This inner training imparted in ancient times was of a permanent nature, and was to help the student throughout his life. Today there is a large gap between education and life. There is nothing which touches the soul of man. The Gurukula during the Bramacharaya ashrama was a process of initiation of the soul into true living in the consciousness of a higher life. The students were told to always live for something higher, as the present life is not complete. It was taught that life is a process for higher living, a journey to reach a destination.

Religion, therefore, takes that higher into consideration. At every step in the journey, an inner connection is established between the soul and God. Religion is what we do when we are alone, and not what we worship in temples, etc. It is the unfoldment of our consciousness.

Sanatana Dharma has the capacity to include everything in itself because of its universality. It sees God everywhere. The idea of Avatara makes this concept easy of understanding. The concept of Avatara is peculiar to our religion, though it is in some other religions also. Avatara means coming down. It is the descent of God into the world. How can God descend when He is universal? Then, what is Avatara? It is not so much like a person coming down the steps; it is grander and more profound. Avataras, as generally understood, are possible only when there is a collective cry of humanity for redeeming humanity from some calamity. Then such Avataras, as the Ten Avataras, come. We also have lesser Avataras, like Sankara, etc, called Amsavataras.

It is one of the fundamentals of religious worship that God is immanent, God is in the world. He sees us, hears us. Hence, religion becomes a matter of the heart, of love, adoration and feeling. That God is all-pervading, omnipresent, just here, not apart from us even by a few inches, is the soul or essence of religion. Mere speculation is not religion. Philosophy put into practice is religion.

Religion is, therefore, divine living – divine life. It is not your religion or my religion. It is religion of humanity because it is the relation of man and God – not Hindu with God, nor Christian with God, but man with God. Religion, therefore, essentially cannot be many. Yet, universal religion is not possible, because each one’s way is different. The approach is different because of the difference in the temperaments and capacities. So, we have tolerance. Universal religion should therefore mean following one’s religion with tolerance towards all other religions.

It is impossible to think of God as He is. To think of God as He is, we have to cease to be. Hence, the idea of Avatara is given – as He is to man, as He is manifest. Avatara is the connecting link between the ordinary human nature and the divine. Avatara is the manifestation of God through Mula Prakrati. That is why we have to worship Avatara, though God is everywhere and can be worshipped as such.

Whether an Avatara is a descent of God to man or the man’s ascent to God is immaterial to us. Literally, Avatara means descent or manifestation, as also told in the Gita. When the need for the higher life is felt more, the Avatara becomes necessary. The farther we are from God, the greater is the need we feel for the higher life. When humanity drifts too much from Truth, the Avatara becomes very necessary.

God tolerates our mistakes to some extent. When we go too far, He comes with a rod to correct us. Just as a mother allows her child to play and go here and there, but when the child is about to fall into a pit she runs to help it, God manifests when it is necessary to correct mankind. Lord Rama had to manifest when it was impossible for people to live. The Avatara comes when evil is too much or when sattva is too much – when we are in a high state of spiritual consciousness. In both cases, he comes. Avatara is divinity manifested into prakriti to draw humanity. It is the grace of God on man. It is the descent of God for the ascent of man, as Sri Gurudev put it.

Lord Rama is Maryada Purushottam, the superman who came to set an ideal for man. In Rama is the ideal of practice, and not teaching. Therefore, there is no necessity to preach about Rama Rajya. If each and everyone establishes that perfection of Rama in oneself, then Rama Rajya will come by itself.

Are Hindu Gods Real?

Swami Sivaya Subramaniyam, “Many people look at the gods as mere symbols, representations of forces or mind areas. Actually, they are beings, and down through the ages ordinary men and women, great saints and sages, prophets and mystics in all cultures, have inwardly seen, heard and been profoundly influenced by these superconscious inner plane beings. Lord Ganesha is such a being, He can think just as we can think. He can see, and understand and make decisions—decisions so vast in their implications and complexity that we could never comprehend them with our human faculties of understanding.

“…In recent history, missionaries and others from the West have told the Indian people over and over that the gods are not really beings, but merely symbols of spiritual matters, and unfortunately many have begun to believe in the gods in this way. 

“…When I approach the Deity, I believe that he is fully conscious of me. When you approach the Deity, you should believe that He feels your presence, that He sees you just as you see Him. In thus seeing Him in very human terms, you will get to know Him. It is especially important that you develop this relationship with Lord Ganesha.”

(pgs. 201-202, Satguru Speaks on Hindu Renaissance)