Is Worship of Idols Right?
Question
God's form is divine. He cannot be casted into a material objects. Why then, do people worship idols made of stone, or pictures?
Answer
The word idol is translation of Sanskrit word moorti. To really answer this question three things have to be understood. First understand the definitions then in the end understand the real purpose of using the idols.
- Real meaning of the Sanskrit word moorti
- Common usage of word moorti
- Why people worship moortis of deities?
Real meaning of the Sanskrit word moorti
In Sanskrit, every word is derived from a root word. The Sanskrit word for idol is moorti (Devanagari: मूर्ती ISO15919: mūrtī), which means likeness within the inner and the outer form of the entity. For example, when we say, “he is the moorti of mercy”, it means each and every part of his being is made of mercy.
Just like, the sugar figurines sold on Diwali. Each and every particle of a sugar figurine is made of sugar. Likewise, each and every part of a stone idol is made of stone, both inside and outside.
In English, the word for moorti is idols, sculpture, statue, or painting of a deity etc. Let us reflect on the real meaning of moorti as per the eternal Vedic philosophy.
There is a most intimate part of power of God, called the purest substance or vishuddha satva (Devanagari: विशुद्ध सत्व ISO15919: viśuddha satva). It is divine.
There is a material substance also, which is a part of Maya and that is satva (Devanagari: सत्व ISO15919: satva). We are not talking about that.
God has three internal powers
1. sandhini shakti (Devanagari: संधिनी शक्ति ISO15919: saṁdhinī śakti) - His potency of eternal existence
2. samvita shakti (Devanagari: संवित शक्ति ISO15919: saṁvita śakti) - His potency of knowledge
3. hladini shakti (Devanagari: ह्लादिनी शक्ति ISO15919: hlādinī śakti) - His potency of bliss
When the vishuddha satva (purest substance) gets endowed with these powers it manifests various aspects
1. When sandhini shakti becomes predominant in vishuddha satva, it is called adhara shakti (Devanagari: आधार शक्ति ISO15919: ādhāra śakti) or base. All the abodes (loka) exist there.
2. When samvita shakti becomes predominant in vishuddha satva, it is called atma vidya (Devanagari: आत्म विद्या ISO15919: ātma vidyā) or science of self. Then it is provides knowledge of self.
3. When hladini shakti becomes predominant in vishuddha satva, it is called guhya vidya (Devanagari: गुह्य विद्या ISO15919: guhya vidyā) which means the most confidential knowledge.
This knowledge is bestowed only upon bhakt devotees of Bhagavan-Shri Krishna.
4. But when all of these three personal powers of God becomes dominant in vishuddha satva, then it is called moorti (Devanagari: मूर्ति ISO15919: mūrti) and that is the body of God.
In simple words, the body of God is God Himself. For more on this topic read What is so special about His Divine Form?
Indra says,
स्वच्छन्दोपात्तदेहाय विशुद्धज्ञानमूर्तये ।
सर्वस्मै सर्वबीजाय सर्वभूतात्मने नम: ॥
10.27.11
svacchandopāttadehāya viśuddhajñānamūrtaye ।
sarvasmai sarvabījāya sarvabhūtātmane nama: ॥
10.27.11
“You are a veritable mūrti of purest knowledge. Your body is non-different from You. You are Your body as well [4]”.
When Kubja embraced Shri Krishna, she felt
आनंदमात्रमजहादतिवीर्यतापम् ॥
10.48.7
ānaṁdamātramajahādativīryatāpam ॥
10.48.7
“I embraced personified bliss”.
This is a scriptural definition of idol.
Now let us consider it from a worldly point of view.
We also worship idols. What is the true concept of worshipping idols and what is the outcome of doing so?
Common usage of word moorti
न वस्तुशक्तिर्बुद्धिमतेक्षते ।
na vastuśaktirbuddhimatekṣate ।
“This is a commonly known truth that a good or bad intention or feeling about an object, does not (and cannot) have an impact on the nature of that object”.
In other words, if someone ingests lethal poison, that person is bound to die. It matters not, how and why that person ingested the poison. Whether you jump into the river with an intent to commit suicide or your foot accidently slipped into a deep river and you do not know how to swim, you will drown either way.
What was the idol’s original form before it was transformed into its present form? It was a rock from a mountain. Someone brought it and carved it into a form and named it Ram, Krishna, Hanuman, Shiva etc. There is no specialty in that rock. It was and continues to be an inert stone that cannot see, hear, smell, taste, touch, think or know anything. Hence the result of worshipping an idol made of that rock will be the same as worshipping the un-sculpted stone.
So the question arises - Why do people worship moortis of deities?
Why do people worship moortis?
Those moorti are made of clay, metal, stone, paint, sketch etc.
Did the practice of worship of moorti start out of ignorance? Was there an underlying reason for worshipping idols?
No this practice is NOT rooted in ignorance. There is a very practical and scientific reason behind the use of murti in worship of God.
Worshipping divine while knowing their divinity
1. When Lord Krishna descended on earth whosoever loved Him, knowing Him as God, realized Him and attained His divine bliss. This is straightforward and simple to understand.
Worshipping divine without knowing their divinity
2. When Lord Krishna descended on earth some loved Him as a charming young boy. They had no knowledge of His divinity. They too achieved the same result. Some of them loved Him whole-heartedly as a son, others as a friend and yet others as their beloved. All of them went to His divine abode Golok.
Even those whose minds were attached to Him with negative feelings of fear, jealousy, hatred or enmity also went to Golok e.g. Shishupal constantly remembered Shri Krishna as an enemy, Kansa was forever fearful of Him, yet both of them went to Golok.
This all goes back to the principle stated earlier “the power of an object is not impacted by the intention”. Someone brings a piece of iron in contact with touchstone (paras), with utmost care, the iron will turn into gold. Someone else hits the touchstone with an iron axe out of anger; the axe would also turn into gold. As soon as the two objects come in contact with each other, the power of the object manifests itself. Someone touches a live wire by mistake or to commit suicide, both will die.
In Srimad Bhagavatam, king Parikshit asked this question to Shukdev Paramhans -
कृष्णं विदु: परं कान्तं न तु ब्रह्मतया मुने । गुणप्रवाहोपरमस्तासां गुणधियां कथम् ॥
10.29.12
kr̥ṣṇaṁ vidu: paraṁ kāntaṁ na tu brahmatayā mune । guṇapravāhoparamastāsāṁ guṇadhiyāṁ katham ॥
10.29.12
“The gopis didn’t consider Shri Krishna as God. They took Him to be an ordinary boy and referred to Him as Chaur – Jaar (thief and adulterer). It proves that they loved Him as nothing but an ordinary material boy.”
Shukdev Paramhans said, “So, what is your question?”
Parikshit continued on saying, “That means, Guru Ji, that the gopis love was worldly love. Then how were those gopis delivered from the clutches of Maya”.
Shukdev Paramhans answered, saying -
उक्तं पुरस्तादेतत्ते चैद्य: सिद्धिं यथा गत: । द्विषन्नपि हृषीकेशं किमुताधोक्षजप्रिया: ॥
10.29.13
uktaṁ purastādetatte caidya: siddhiṁ yathā gata: । dviṣannapi hr̥ṣīkeśaṁ kimutādhokṣajapriyā: ॥
10.29.13
“O dim-witted! I already told you, Shishupal, who verbally abused Shri Krishna 100 times in an august assembly, also went to Golok, because His mind was fully attached to Shri Krishna but with the feeling of animosity. Since Shri Krishna is a divine personality, Shishupal received a divine result. The object gives its result, this is the law”.
If your mind gets totally attached to anyone with the feeling of passion, anger, fear, or love etc. you will get the result of that personality for sure.
कामं क्रोधं भयं स्नेहमैक्यं सौहृदमेव च । नित्यं हरौ विदधतो यान्ति तन्मयतां हि ते ॥
10.29.15
kāmaṁ krodhaṁ bhayaṁ snehamaikyaṁ sauhr̥dameva ca । nityaṁ harau vidadhato yānti tanmayatāṁ hi te ॥
10.29.15
Reflect,
a. Ganges - Ganges is a sacred personality. No matter what flows in into the Ganges, it becomes Ganges. But river Ganges never becomes impure.
b. Fire - Putting any filth in the fire doesn’t make the fire filthy, instead whatever goes into the fire, becomes fire.
c. Sun - The rays of the Sun fall on everything alike - clean or dirty. But the refuse of things leave no effect on the sun.
d. God - God is omnipresent. He lives everywhere even in the filthiest objects. Yet, He never becomes dirty. Whoever goes to Him becomes pure. Hence the attachment of mind with the All Pure and Divine Shri Krishna with anger, passion, greed, jealousy or enmity will result only in the attainment of His Divine abode Golok.
In the same manner, the result of attachment of the mind with God or a God-realized saint, is also attainment of divine bliss
Worshipping material object knowing them to be divine
3. It has been clarified that intention does not have an impact on the result of the object. The object delivers the results as per its inherent power. So worshipping an idol made of stone should not deliver a desirable result, as there is no divine power in stone? The answer is No. A devotee will attain divine bliss by worshipping an idol made of any material object. Why?
a. God is omnipresent - Since God resides in material objects (viz; soil, water, fire, air, and space etc. inert things), worshipping a material object with a Godly feeling also gives the benefit of worshipping God. So, an unflinching faith that God resides within His statue, will result in Divine benefit.
b. God is Omniscient - Hence he understands a devotees feeling and rewards them accordingly. On the flip side, if someone creates the feeling of a human being in the statue (e.g. of our father, mother, brother, husband or wife), it is impossible to attain the benefit of their presence. Because neither is that material person present in the statue nor are they omniscient. The person cannot know your feelings. But God is all-knowing, Omniscient. So when we create a feeling of God in a statue, He knows. He gives the result of our intent and that is why we attain the divine bliss. This was the reason behind the prevalence of idol-worship in our country. If we lack the feeling that there is God within that idol, we will get the benefit of a stone only
Pay attention please! If you are not convinced of God’s presence in a moorti, instead you are just attracted towards the looks, adornment or beauty of the idol, you will only receive a temporary pleasure by seeing the idol. If however, you are convinced that God resides within the moorti, you will surely attain spiritual benefit. Please note that the bliss you attain will be proportionate to the extent of your faith in God’s presence in that moorti.
It is extremely rare to find a person who visits a temple to see God in those idols. Most of the visitors bow down to the stone statues. This is the reason why the general public enjoys meeting their relatives and friends more than they enjoy the darshan of God in a temple.
Worshipping material objects knowing them to be material
4. This is self-evident that the person would not attain divine bliss. And yet most of us are in this category. In a nutshell, the 3rd point above is why idol worship is done. But be smart about it. Use a sculpture, painting or sketch to create an image in your mind. You can start off with a mental form also. Then animate that form and endow that with countless divine virtues [4]. Then strengthen your Roopadhyan - Devotional Remembrance by mentally engaging in service of the God. Increase your love for Them[5]. Yearn to meet Them and fuel that fire of separation to cleanse your mind.
With the firm faith that this is God you could worship the idol. Just like Dhanna Jat did [5]. With that firm unflinching faith you can bathe your deity, offer bhog [6] or serve Him in which ever way suits your fancy. This firm faith will make God appear in front of you [7][8].
REMEMBER
In the material world you ONLY get the fruit of the object. Your intention has no value. But in the divine world, you get fruit of both the divine object and your intention of divine sentiments.
Due to this divine law, if you worship mere stones then you will get the fruit of worshipping a stone. Instead, if you worship your Lord God whose form is depicted by that idol then idol worship will entitle you to enjoy the bliss of divine-love.