Subhashithaani-Quotable quotes

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28. archakasya prabhaavena Silaa bhavathi SamkaraH

 

aabhiroopyaath cha moortheenaam dhevaH saanniDhyam

rscchathi

 

Due to the involved and sincere worship by the priest the stone becomes deity like Siva or Vishnu to do good for the people. The divinity is invoked into the stone by the sculptor who makes the statue according to the respective procedure prescribed for the particular deity.

 

The word Samkara means one who does good , Sam, or gives blessing . Sam karothiithi SamkaraH. Thus it means all deiies not only Siva.

 

Even a wayside stone acquires the power to bless the devotees by the incantations of a devoted priest who chants the manthras and does the worship in a proper manner. Similarly when a stone is made into a statue of a deity according to the rules of Silpaagamasasthra it is infested with the power to grant the prayers of the devotees.

 

It means that both the sculptor and the priest are instrumental in infesting power into statue. But the action of the latter is more important because even an ordinary stone could become a powerful deity with the manthra and pooja of a dedicated priest whereas even a beautifully sculpted statue of deity following all the rules of the Silpasasthra loses its power if the priest is not dong his job properly and become like a museum piece in an art gallery.

 

The presence of divinity in a statue is called saanniDHyam and the archavatharas, as the idols in the temples are called , become powerful by chanting of the manthras and the sthothras with devotion and faith. If the worship is not done properly and if the priests are mere mercenaries doing it as a profession and not as a worship, there will be no sanctity in the sanctum sanctorum. But this could be prevented to certain extent if the devotees going to the temple have faith and devotion as in the reputed temples like Thirumala, Sriranngam , Kanchi, Madurai etc. But in the not so ancient and in the small temples loss of sanctity will be the result.

 

There is a story that illustrates this fact. There was a small road side temple of Hanuman and a great devotee of Hanuman came there waiting patently till the temple opened and the priest came in. But when he went in, he could not feel the presence of the Lord Hanuman there at all. He was worried about this and went to sleep that night with this thought foremost in mind. Hanuman appeared in his dream and said that he could not stand the priest who had no devotion whatsoever and did pooja just as a matter of routine without any faith or involvement. So Hanuman said that he used to go out as soon as the priest opens the door of the temple and would come in only at the time he was about to close it!