Idol Worship

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The statue or photo is the inert object. The form carved in a stone

or painted on a paper is also an imaginary form and not even a

direct photo. The statues and photos are only models representing

the concept, which is knowledge. The form of statues and photos is

mainly human form, which represents the concept that the Lord always

comes to this world in human form as said in Gita (Manusheem Tanu

Masritam). Please remember that Gita did not tell that the Lord

would come in any other form. The forms of fish, tortoise etc., were

only temporarily to kill the demons and nobody worshipped such forms

during their time. But Rama, Krishna etc were the human forms

worshipped by several devotees like Hanuman and Gopikas. The Lord

will come in every human generation; otherwise, He becomes partial

to a particular generation. If necessary the Lord can come whenever

there is necessity as said in Gita (Yedaa yedaahi).

 

Once this concept is realized, there is no need of temple and statue

for you. You should go from school to college and then to

university. This does not mean that when you leave the school, the

school should be destroyed. The school must exist for the future

batches. Therefore for you, the statue and the photo are not

necessary and this does not mean that the statues, photos and

temples should be broken. They should be protected and must be

respected as the models of divine knowledge for the future ignorant

devotees. Some devotees cannot accept the human form, which is

before their eyes as said in Veda (Pratyaksha dvishah).

 

For such devotees the statues and photos are necessary for

meditation since they are at the school level. The statues and

photos are useful for the meditation of such limited minds as said

in Sastra (Pratima svalpa buddhinam). Veda says that the Lord does

not exist in the inert objects (Natasya pratima, Nedamtat), but says

that the inert objects can stand as models representing the Lord

(Adityam brahmeti). Therefore seeing and meditation upon the statues

and photos are correct in the case of the ignorant devotees. But the

other rituals like offering food, burning camphor, fume sticks, oil

lamps and breaking coconuts, offering flowers etc. are not mentioned

in Vedas and there are unnecessary and are causing the air pollution

harming the humanity. All these unnecessary rituals should be

avoided.

 

Offering food should also be done to the human form of the Lord only

but not to the inert statues. Ijya or Yajna is cooking and offering

of the food. Gita says that such Ijya should not be done to the

inert objects. In the name of the statues, people are stealing the

food and money. The statue and photo is not taking the food or

Gurudakshina. The people behind the statue are taking those things

and most of them are either cheating or wasting the money with

ignorance. Whatever the Gurudakshina is given should go only to the

priest and not the managing devotees. The business of the merchants

by selling such materials in the temples should be stopped, because

such materials are not even heard in Veda. Of course, the priest

should be a Satguru and preach the divine knowledge to the devotees

and the devotees should give Gurudakshina to such Satguru only.

Thus, the temple should become a center of learning selfless

devotion and divine knowledge and the priest must do only `Jnana

Yajna' in the temple and not the `dravya yajna' as said in the Gita

(Sreyaan dravyamayat).

 

Gita condemned such Ijya before inert objects because such Ijya is

only cheating and business. Such a devotee will be born as inert

object (Bhutejya yanti). This business is connected to removal of

the fruits of sins and getting the fruits of good deeds, which are

not done. All this is false, because the theory of `karma' says

that one has to suffer for all his bad deeds and can never get the

result of any good deed without doing it (Avasyamanubhoktavyam…

kalpakotisatairapi). The spiritual path should be preached in the

temple, which must be `nishkama karma yoga' i.e., sacrifice of work

and sacrifice of fruit (money) of the work to the Lord without

aspiring any fruit in return. Remember, that only the Ijya is

condemned and not the temples or statues, which are the models of

the divine knowledge.

 

at the lotus feet of shri datta swami

surya

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