I have a question..not exactly related to Yoga but to Hinduism..can anyone reply..Muslims ask me why do we worship idols when Gita says God is one(as said by Krishna) what is the significance of idol worship in Hinduism and how to reply to my muslim friends a perfect answer is needed
Chetankumar: Each and Every idol of Hindu Gods represent different forces of the nature and their Governors.Nothing in the universe is uncontrolled. The size ,shape n postures of the idol gives the idea of nature of that God.....The number of hands and heads are symbols of the powers,functions and works undertaken by that Gods/Goddess. It is because of these sturdy idols,we still know how a particular God looks even wen there is nobody left who can actually call them now.How wud we knew their appearance ,if idols and portraits were not there. The Idols were made of strong materials,like metals and stones so that even after 100s of generations one can actually make out the SWAROOP of Gods.
Gitanjali: Hello all ! Found this discussion very interesting .... rather intriguing ! :)) My views are very similar to that of Chetankumar Potdar with just a few additions. All say that god is one which the Hindu religious texts agree on. Its just li...ke we have one single body, but have different parts of the body and organs with specific functions working in conjunction and co-ordination with each other. Similarly, this wholistic cosmic energy of God has different functionalities and tasks working and interacting with each other. These sub-energies have been given names according to their specific functions like Ganesh - the obstacle remover/god of good luck, Vishnu - the one who helps run the world or the preserver. Each of these gods has a female counterpart which is his shakti that actually performs the God's specific task. For eg. Vishnu's counterpart is Goddess Lakshmi who basically provides all comforts (not only money) that are essential in running lives. Brahma's is Brahmi or Saraswati etc. The shakti of all the Gods sums up to Godess Durga who is the supreme cosmic energy representing all types of shakti/energy still retaining its form of a female energy. When we produce idols, we make them in such a way that represents them and their basic functionalities like huge ears, huge trunk and huge belly of Lord Ganesha represent sharp ability to sense and hear.His huge ears like that of an elephant are also symbolic of his ability to wag his ears like an elephant thereby, shoving away the bad things and inflow of only relevant good things. His huge belly represents how beautifully hecan hold things to himself.....all the traits that if a human imbibes, can lead to a successful life whether professional or domestic or spiritual. Lastly, idols also help us in focussing ourselves to that power of the supreme that helps us achieve our specific objective as it brings better results toward achievement of our goals ! :))))
Please do write if you'd like to add to the above or have different views.
Akshay: Thanx Geetanjali for the answer
Sumant: Well...We worship idols because that is the form through which we see god, the divine power!
Vishalliny: We,normal human are said to be simple people who need an item to focus our energy(mind) on.Therefore,an idol acts as an object for us to direct our thoughts and energy...
Maica: The concept of God is really very very far from the humans brain no matter how much we effort to try to understand the total concept of the Creator in this physical dimension... so we humans have tried to represented it in many forms
Munir: Idols are nothing but inanimate.....
Harte: As a Human being we have been civilized through ages of struggle.
Primarily let me back trace the answer, actually god is formless but can incarnate in any form...Suppose after Lacs years of evolution Lion get evolved as a Intellectual being.....There will have French revolution industrial revolution and so on.....they will visualize there GOD'S as one in the form of LION, they will thing that human being and rest of the Nature are made for them....Thus we can conclude this is a Channel of Realization..and when one is firmly established in OM sound he/she dont need IDOLS to visualize real god....
Example:+ sign says addition but how will u explain it to a naive...you will site an example: 2+3=5 once he understand what is 2 and what is 3 he will have no doubt in understanding what is 3+5=8....3,5,2,4 are forms to understand the real nature of operator '+'....
Shawna: Because God says in the Bible... Do not pray to idols.. you only pray to me.. you don't need an idol to pray to God.. God is there with you..
Tzetzka: have little knowledge about this matter but I think that there could be an answer to your question in the Gita, chapter 9, The Royal Path (“Those who worship other gods with faith and devotion also worship me…”).
Gayethre: idols help in forming a specific image. this might help in meditating on god. but for people who do not need a form, an idol is not important.
Praveena: if we take it from yoga point of view,Patanjali muni said in his sutras that initially you focus on objects to calm the chattering mind--say for eg Om where you chant om with attention on its meaning.next step focus on symbol.next will be the sound only.Then its vibrations.then become absorbed in it.Its like a cow tied to a peg going in circles.after some time the rope becomes so small the cow merges with the peg.
Chetankumar: Each and Every idol of Hindu Gods represent different forces of the nature and their Governors.Nothing in the universe is uncontrolled.
The size ,shape n postures of the idol gives the idea of nature of that God.
The number of hands and hea...ds are symbols of the powers,functions and works undertaken by that Gods/Goddess.
It is because of these sturdy idols,we still know how a particular God looks even wen there is nobody left who can actually call them now.How wud we knew their appearance ,if idols and portraits were not there.
The Idols were made of strong materials,like metals and stones so that even after 100s of generations one can actually make out the SWAROOP of Gods.
Lucy: Maharishi Patanjali said that samadhi is of the following kinds savitarka, nirvitarka, savichara, nirvichara, anand , asmita. the first step of course to concentrate on an external object. Having had many many lives everybody is at different stages so what is suitable for one person may not be for another. ultimately the journey is inside but scattered minds need to be able to focus outside then inside focus can be steady. this is why Patanjali recommended the 8 limbs of yoga as the way to samadhi. om
Keerthana: no one said NOT to idol worship.. so there is nothing wrong in doing this.
it is just like how you keep the photographs o your beloved one framed in your house. but when you keep god's photographs, we just keep it in a better place and feel... better to see everytime we want , so frame it hard and feel like giving flowers and all that. god is what we want it to be.. if we have idol or not, the Bhakthi is all the same and what matters. worshiping idol or not is not an issue to talk when things are just beyond everything. people have been following this so we do not wanna stop this as no one said it is wrong! if that s wrng, then i personally feel stop taking photographs of your loved one keep in with you. have in mind thats enough!
Ekodas: I think shri Chetankumar is closer to proper interpretation. Devitas are not Gods! They are dieties - each reflecting the 'bhavna' or feelings or desires or devotion of their devoties - acording to their 'understanding' - In Hiduism and Advaita God is One - not a person but Essence or Spirit.
Unfortunately, Hindus tend to be devotionally 'carried away' and call every praiseworthy being 'Bhagwan' - which others interprete as God!
Chetankumar: We have diff kinds of energies (Shakti) like heat,electric,mechanical,etc. ,each has diff characteristics.
Ancient hindu sages has identified 3.3 billion powerful conciousnesses of dis universe through meditation and named them accordingly. ...
Wen Krishna says god is 1 and hinduism has 3.3 billion gods,EVERYBODY IS CONFUSED.
But wen a scientist says each atom n molecule is made of same raw materials ,but look diff in size ,shape, n have diff chemical properties EVERYBODY IS SATISFIED.
Please Somebody make me understand dis Paradox or else start reading MURTIVIGYAN (idol science)
R we waiting for infant science to evolve into something called as . . . . . HinduismSee More
September 30 at 9:37pm · LikeUnlike · 2 people2 people like this. ·
Lakshmi: different forms of the same force vd different names...
You need to be a member of Yoga Vidya International - Yoga, Meditation and Spirituality to add comments!
Join Yoga Vidya International - Yoga, Meditation and Spirituality
Replies