Arca worship

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Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

 

Dear devotees,

Salutations to all. This post highlights the greatness

of "arca",one and the most important of the five forms of the

manifestation of God.

 

Arca is the incarnation of the infinite into the finite,

a reservoir of the redemptive mercy of the Lord/Ishwara,enters into

a formless form of His own without being affected by the changes of

Prakrti and PuruSha. Arca is a VaiShNava concept/idea and its worship

is as old as the vEdAs. In Arca concept Brahman is made to enter the

Idol by invoking certain mantras and definite rituals. As long as

these Idols are not neglected and preserved from the pollution of

destruction and worshiped regularly and continuously, the spiritual

energy of the Brahman is believed to reside in them.

 

When Sri Ramanuja lovingly called "vArAy en selva

piLLai",the Idol or the Utsava mUrthy(Ramapriyar/Selva PiLLai/

SampathkumAr) jumped from the couch and rushed towards Sri Ramanuja

as if He(Idol) could no longer endure the separation from Sri

Ramanuja. TiruNArAyaNapuram temple/MElkOte is SriRamanuja's ugandha

sThalam.

 

AzhvArs have extolled the Arca worship in their Divya Prabandham

hymns/pAsurams.

 

Arca form/worship is easily accessible/saulabhya to all at

all times and in all places. Refer to PoikaiAzhvAr's Mudhal

TiruvandhAdhi 44(or NDP 2125):"thamar ugandhadhu evvuruvam

avvuruvam...AzhiyAnAm". Sri Ramanuja refers to Arca worship in his

Gita BhASya 4.11. Also Sri PiLLai LOkAchArya's Mumukshuppadi ChUrNai

139: "ingu sonna saulabhyaththukku ellai nilam arcAvathAram". Sri

PiLLai LOkAchArya explains the five forms of manifestations of God

through an analogy.

 

The five forms are:Para,vyUha,vibhava,antharyAmi and arca

 

"AntharyAmi" can not be realized without the arduous eight

fold yOga practice. It is similar to the underground water which can

not be obtained without the hard labor of digging the ground.

"Para" form is like deluge water surrounding the cosmic space and it

is beyond speech and mind even for yOgins. "VyUha" form,is analogous

to the milky ocean and though within the cosmic realm,is still beyond

our senses and reach. "Vibhava" avathAra is like seasonal flood water

which only benefits people who live during that particular period and

place and is of no use to future generations. "Arca" form is like the

river water which is available to all at all times and in all places

(does not apply to states like TamilNadu!). Arca form is the best and

the easiest of all five forms for worship and salvation.

 

Arca idol is easily accessible to all irrespective of whether

one is morally perfect or not. Arca idol purifies the mind of the

person by elevating him/her from the materialistic plane to a higher

spiritual plane. Arca Idol is called shubhAshraya. Subha means

auspicious and Ashraya means support. He supports/protects people

through His auspicious qualities. He is also called AshrithavAtsalya

because He is the embodiment of tolerance towards the souls. He

accepts wholly and dearly whatever the devotee lovingly offers(a

leaf,or water,flower...) Him. Refer to Bhagavad Gita 9:26

 

As per SriVaiShNava sampradAyam,there are totally 108 Divya

Deshams out of which two(TiruppARkadal and Paramapadam/SriVaikuNTam)

are not in this world/bhUlOka and the Lord manifested in these

divya deshams falls under one of the categories swayamvyaktha,

daiva,caida and mAnusha. The Lord's posture/kOlam is in one of the

three forms kidandha(reclining),ninRa(standing) and irundha(sitting).

There is one more "rare" and beautiful posture that was witnessed by

Tirumazhisai AzhvAr(as he was not satisfied with the three postures

of the Lord).

 

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam

nappinnai