Once Maharaja of Alwar Prince Mangal Singh was sitting in his darbar and told Swami Vivekananda that he doesn’t believe in ‘worshipping an idol/murti’. To explain his point better Swamiji asked for a portrait of the Raja and when it was brought Swamiji asked the Raja’s minister to spit on it. The minister refused to do so even when Swamiji insisted. Swamiji said the portrait even if just an image of the Raja to the ministers it represents him in person. Similarly a vigraha installed in a temple through the process of pran pratishtha is representative of Bhagwan to the devotees.
Pran pratishtha is not merely a process or ritual. It has great significance because it is a process through which we give form to the formless and establish the formless parmatma into the form of a murti/vigraha we desire. Pran pratishtha is done through the chanting of mantras which; as we all know, have immense powers. It is all about concentration and creating the right vibrations through proper pronunciation. There are some tribes in India that can make a tree fall dead by simply making a mud image on it and concentrating all their energy which is then channelled into the mud image. Chants are uttered which ultimately dry the tree up and it falls dead. This little digression was simply to bring home the point about the power of mantras, words and vibrations. It is not the tree itself that they are focussed on but merely a mud image of the same.
Mantras are very potent when said in the right tone. Taksha, the king of serpents, took the form of a Brahmin and was on his way to bring about the end of Raja Parikshit who was cursed by a Rishi’s son that since the king placed a dead snake around his father’s neck he would die due to the bite of the Serpent King. On his way to the Raja’s palace Taksha met a Brahmin and asked the latter where he was going. The Brahmin explained that he was going to save Raja Parikshit from Taksha using the power of his Mantras. Taksha revealed his true form and refused to believe the Brahmin unless he gave proof. Taksha then bit a tree which was burnt and reduced to ashes. The Brahmin gathered the ashes, sprinkled some water and chanted a mantra using all his energy and concentration. Soon the tree began to sprout anew. This shows how mantras can be used both destructively (as in the first case) and constructively (as in the second instance) when chanted in the right manner and with utmost concentration.
A vigraha or murti is a symbol much like flags and emblems are. Let us say a little child is fascinated by some wild animal he/she has seen on TV and wants to have one as his/her pet; what would we do? Obviously we are not going to dash off to the forest and bring a lion or elephant or cheetah home, isn’t it? We would instead give the child a stuffed toy miniature of the animal. The child would happily play with the same but he/she is not going to carry on playing with the toy and think that the toy is the animal itself. As the child grows and begins to understand things, he will learn to differentiate between what is real and what is not. Similarly, Vigraha Pooja is merely the starting point. When we learn to swim we don’t directly jump into the ocean. We first learn to negotiate the smaller pools or ponds as the case may be. We gradually then progress to higher levels; possibly deeper pools or rivers etc. Any learning is a step by step process and so is devotion or Bhakti.
Each of us is different just like the fingers on our hand. Similarly our capacity to understand things is also different. Parmatma is both Nirgun (formless) and Sagun (with form). If we attempt to directly undertake Nirgun-upasana it will be like putting a student directly into graduation. Just like a student has to go through various classes (upwards from KG) before graduation so also a devotee has to start with Sagun-Upasana. We, with our limited understanding and knowledge, do not have the capacity to undertake Nirgun-Upasana but with a Vigraha as our starting point we can slowly work our way up until we reach a stage where we will realise Parmatma all around and will no longer need a murti/Vigraha. Meditation is a similar exercise where individuals are first asked to concentrate on some point like a candle light etc because the mind is never still and keeps jumping about like a monkey. Numerous thoughts flash in our minds just when we ask it to focus on one thing. This is the reason why an object of focus is needed. As the days go by and one continues to practice meditation properly there will be no need for an object to focus on. The person can simply turn his/her gaze inwards and control the mind better. Similarly, a Bhakt cannot concentrate on an abstract form right in the beginning, a vigraha of his ishtadevata will help him to channel his energies and focus towards the deity being worshipped.
Like Kanchi Guru Shankaracharya His Holiness Param Pujya Chandrashekara Saraswati Swamiji says “Water has no colour or any particular shape. But it assumes the colour and shape of the vessel which contains it. Even so, God by Himself may have no form; but the mind which thinks of Him is the conditioning medium”. In the worship of any deity we have the Pratima (vigraha or image) which we worship, a Yantra which is a geometrical representation of that deity and a Mantra- Sanskrit prayer, repetition of which invokes the deity associated with the said Mantra. All the three together form the basis of what we call Vigraha Pooja.
Just like the child who outgrows the toy we as devotees are to use the vigraha as a beginning point in our quest for the divine. Some of us may outgrow the vigraha fairly quickly and others may take longer. However, we must remember that when we offer pooja and archana to a vigraha we are not simply doing so to a mere image but to the divinity within and all the attributes of our chosen deity. Hinduism is liberal enough to allow us to choose a deity we feel most comfortable worshipping to; for some it could be Mahadev for yet other Mahavishnu, for some Devi and for some Sri Krishna. Here too some could choose bal Krishna or bal Ganesha, others may opt for Durga or Maa Kali; depending on their frame of mind and what they feel most happy with. It is all about celebrating the Nirgun all pervading parmatma in a form we feel most closely associated with. At the end of the day, vigraha pooja is merely the first step in the long climb on the ladder of spirituality.
References:
1) Advaitam and idol worship- demystified by R. Vasudevan
2) Mahaswami 100 Selected speeches Volume 1
3) http://www.tantra-essence.com/2015/09/osho-quote-on-worship-and-idols/
4) A short life of Swami Vivekananda by Swami Tejasananda
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