Bhaktivinoda Thakura on Sri Murti

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THE WORSHIP OF SRIMURTI

There are some who startle at the theory of worshiping Srimurti "Oh", they

say, "it is idolatry to worship Srimurti! Srimurti is an idol framed by an

artist and introduced by no other than Beelzebub himself. Worshiping such an

object

would rouse the jealousy of God and limit His omnipotence, omniscience and

omnipresence!" We would tell them, "Brethren, candidly understand the question

and do not allow yourself to be misled by sectarian dogmas. God is not jealous,

 

as he is without a second. Beelzebub or Satan is no other than an object of

imagination or the subject of an allegory. An allegorical or imaginary being

should not be allowed to act as an obstacle to bhakti. Those who believe God to

 

be impersonal, simply identify Him with some power or attribute in Nature,

though in fact He is above Nature, her laws and rules. His holy wish is law and

 

it will be sacrilege to confine His unlimited excellence by identifying Him

with such attributes as omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience - attributes

 

which may exist in created objects such as time and space, etc. His excellence

consists in having in Him mutually contradicting powers and attributes ruled

by His supernatural Self. He is identical with His all-beautiful person having

such powers as omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence, the like of which

cannot be found elsewhere. His holy and perfect person exists eternally in the

spiritual world and is at the same time existing in every created object and

place in all its fullness. This idea excels all other ideas of the Deity.

Mahaprabhu rejects idolatry as well, but considers Srimurti worship to be the

only

unexceptional means of spiritual culture. It has been shown that God is

personal and all-beautiful. Sages like Vyasa and others have seen that beauty

in

their soul's eye. They have left us descriptions. Of course word carries

grossness of matter. But Truth still is perceivable in those descriptions.

According

to those descriptions one delineates a Srimurti and sees the great God of our

heart there with intense pleasure! Brethren, is that wrong or sinful ? Those

who say that God has no form either material or spiritual and again imagine a

false form of worship are certainly idolatrous. But those who, seeing the

spiritual form of the Deity in their soul's eyes, carry that impression as far

as

possible to the mind and then frame an emblem for the satisfaction of the

material eye all meant for continual study of the higher feeling, are by no

means

idolatrous. While seeing a Srimurti do not even see the image itself but see

the

spiritual model of the image and you are a pure theist. Idolatry and Srimurti

worship are two different things, but my brethren, you simply confound one

with the other out of hastiness. To tell you the truth, Srimurti worship is the

 

only true form of worship of the Deity, without which you cannot sufficiently

cultivate your religious feelings. The world attracts you through your senses

and as long as you do not see God in the objects of your senses, you live in

an awkward position which scarcely helps you in securing your spiritual

elevation. Place a Srimurti in your house. Think that God almighty is the

guardian of

the house, the food that you take is His prasad, and the flowers and scents

are also His prasad. The eye, the ear, the nose, the touch and the tongue all

have a spiritual culture. You do it with a holy heart and God will know it and

judge you by your sincerity. Satan and Beelzebub will have nothing to do with

you in that matter! All sorts of worship are based on the principle of

Srimurti. Look into the history of religion and you will come to this noble

truth.

The Semitic idea of a patriarchal God both in the pre-Christian period of

Judaism and the post-Christian period of Mohamedanism is nothing but a limited

idea

of Srimurti. The monarchic idea of a Jove amongst the Greeks and of an lndra

amongst the Aryan karmakandis is also a distinct view of the same principle.

The idea of a force and Jyotirmaya brahma of the meditators and a formless

energy of the shaktas is also a very faint view of the Srimurti. In fact the

principle of Srimurti is the Truth itself differently exhibited in different

people

according to their different phases of thought. Even Jaimini and Comte who are

not prepared to accept a creating God, have prescribed certain phases of the

Srimurti, simply because they have been impelled by some inward action from

the soul! Then again we meet with people who have adopted the cross, the

shaligram shila, the lingam and such like emblems as indicators of the inward

ideas

of Srimurti.

 

Furthermore, if the Divine compassion, love and justice could be portrayed by

the pencil and expressed by the chisel, why should not the personal beauty of

the Deity embracing all other attributes be portrayed in poetry or in picture

expressed by the chisel for the benefit of man? If words could impress

thoughts, the watch could indicate time and sign could tell us a history, why

should

not the picture or figure bring associations of higher thoughts and feelings

with regard to the transcendental beauty of the divine Personage?