3. WORSHIP OF ĪŚVARA WITH FORM

F (Foreigner): Do Hindus worship many Gods?

A: We believe that there is only one Supreme Lord who has no form and who is responsible for the creation, sustenance and annihilation of the entire universe. However, He assumes many forms for the sake of His devotees. With whatever name and in whichever form His devotees seek Him, accordingly do they worship Him. You might have heard of Indra, etc. These terms refer to divine positions held at different times by the souls that have acquired adequate virtue. You should not confuse the occupants of such posts with the previously mentioned Supreme Being.

F: Will Acharyal kindly say something about worship of images?

A: We do not worship mere stones. If we did, then, on seeing a stone idol, we would have addressed it as, “O Stone” and not as “O Lord.” We use idols as aids to our worship, realising that it is He who resides in them. In the temple deities, divine presence is installed through the kumbhābhiṣeka performed to consecrate the idols. This is strengthened by the sincerity and tapas (austerity) of the priests performing the pūjā and by the special characteristics of certain idols. Though without form, Īśvara is capable of giving darśana to His devotees. He indeed does so.

F: During pūjā I saw Acharyal pour water, milk, etc., on the Śiva-liṅga. What do these acts signify?

A: During pūjā, we ceremonially worship Īśvara. In its course, we give Him a bath and that was the abhiṣeka that you saw. We wipe Him with a cloth and then offer Him food. Though the limitless and formless Īśvara is not in need of anything, our devotion makes us perceive and worship Him in idols. In terms familiar to you, abhiṣeka is a ‘shower-bath’ that we give Īśvara.

★★★★

❑ Parables of Acharyal

God is formless but, for the sake of His devotees, He assumes different forms.

A person was on his way to his place of work, wearing a shirt, trousers and a tie. A friend tapped him on the shoulder and said, “I am really glad to see that you are dressy. This is the type of dress that is needed for you to be successful as a sales representative.” The man came home in the evening, changed into a dhoti and sat down to chant the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma. A friend who dropped in just then remarked, “It is true that while going to work, you have to dress like an Englishman. But it is this dress that suits you. I prefer to see you like this.” The story reveals that a person, when attired differently, pleases different people. The purāṇa-s describe numerous manifestations of the Lord. The scripturally-described forms of Śiva, Viṣṇu, etc., do have implicit meanings.

For instance, Śiva has ten hands. The ten hands denote the ten directions, inclusive of top and bottom, and convey the omnipresence of God. Śiva is well known as the three-eyed One. The sun, moon and fire constitute these eyes. He has the crescent moon in His crest. This moon stands for knowledge. Śiva’s wearing it in His matted locks is a pointer to the Lord being endowed with pure knowledge. “God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent and there is naught but Him”, is a common inner meaning of the Purānic descriptions.

★ ★ ★ ★

A person purchased a mud idol of Vināyaka and began worshipping it on Vināyaka-caturthī. At the end of three days of pūjā, he carried the idol and immersed it in a river. This was seen by a friend of his who had hardly any knowledge of idol worship and was puzzled by what he saw.

Friend : You were worshipping the idol with great faith. Yet, now, you have thrown it into the river. Why?

Worshipper: Originally, the idol had no sanctity and was just a beautifully-shaped piece of mud. Then, at the commencement of worship on Vināyaka-caturthī day, I duly invoked Lord Gaṇeśa into it. Thereafter, it became sacred. Treating it as the Lord Himself, I performed pūjā to it. At the end of the stipulated period of worship, I requested the Lord to withdraw His special presence in it. The idol lost its sanctity and became just a piece of mud. It was that mud piece which I immersed into the river.

Friend : How is it possible for a mere piece of mud to become holy and then revert to its original state? Further, how can a devotee have the capacity to effect such transformations?

Worshipper: Consider an example. There is an ordinary man with whom we are all familiar. We are able to meet him whenever we wish. If he desires to see a high-ranking government official, he has to struggle to get an appointment. At the suggestion of people like us, he contests an election and, because of our votes, wins. He then gets appointed as a minister. Thereafter, if we want to see him, we have to fix up an appointment. The very officials whom he had difficulty in meeting, now come to him and carry out his orders. He is provided with security and good accommodation. After his tenure as minister, he contests an election again. This time, the people do not vote for him as before and hence he loses. Thereafter, as before, he becomes a common man. The special privileges and the authority of a minister are not his any longer.

People like us, by our votes, cause this ordinary man to become a minister and then we revert him to his earlier state. Likewise, in response to the devotee’s āvāhana, invocation, the Lord specially graces an idol and the idol then becomes holy. Having accepted the devotee’s worship, the Lord withdraws His special presence in response to the devotee’s request; the idol loses its sanctity.

An idol in a temple may have originally been a part of a rock on a hill; people might have walked over that rock and may have even urinated on it. A sculptor fashions what is an ordinary rock into a beautiful idol by chiselling it. Even then it does not become holy. It, however, becomes sanctified when it is duly consecrated in a temple. Thereafter, people worship it. The very sculptor, who earlier delivered hammer blows to it, prostrates before it and does not so much as touch it.

Friend : Why did you make reverential offerings to the idol during your worship? After all, it did not even move a millimeter to accept anything.

Worshipper: When a venerable guest comes to our house, it is in our holy tradition to receive him with honour. He is offered a seat and his feet are washed. He is fed. Devotees see in the idol not just mud or stone but the living presence of God. They hold that God does accept what is offered to Him, though the idol itself does not stretch out its hand to take what is given. That is why, in the course of my worship, I offered God a seat, just as I would, to a holy one who comes to my house. Then I offered pādya, water to wash His feet. Subsequently, I fed Him; this was my offering of naivedya.

Suppose a guest proves unworthy of the respect that is shown to him by misbehaving with a female in the host’s house or by pilfering costly items. It is likely that the host will hand him over to the police. In the case of God, there is no possibility of His ever proving unworthy of the devotee’s worship. Hence, devotees never discard the idol they worship in the middle of the pūjā.

Friend : On Vināyaka-caturthī day, Gaṇeśa is worshipped in many places at the same time. Which idol does He choose to specially abide in? What influences His choice?

Worshipper: All idols wherein God is properly invoked become sanctified. Wherever there is a drop in pressure, air rushes there. Likewise, God who is everywhere, specially occupies all the idols where He is worshipped, regardless of the number and the location of such idols.

Friend : In some places, the food that is offered is very small in quantity and in others, it is very large. Is not the former insufficient for a deity and the latter excessive?

Worshipper: No. In the Veda-s, it is said that the offering gets modified in accordance with the wishes of the devatā to whom it is offered. What is important is that if a devotee were to resolve to offer a certain number of modaka, say 1000, in a Gaṇapati-homa, that is the number he must offer. He should not think, “This is too much for Gaṇeśa to eat”, and offer less. Actually, the Lord needs nothing but accepts and becomes sated with whatever is offered by a worshipper with devotion.

★ ★ ★ ★

❑ Discourses of Acharyal

Though actually devoid of birth and immutable, God manifests for the good of the world. He thereby makes it easy for people to see Him outside themselves. For instance, numerous people had the good fortune of beholding Rāma and Kṛṣṇa in the Tretā and Dvāpara yuga-s. Now, people can take advantage of idols and pictures. When one sees a picture, such as of Kṛṣṇa or Śiva, the concerned form easily comes to his mind.

However, such visualisation, does not, by itself, constitute deep meditation and the clear apprehension of God within oneself. When one observes a picture briefly, closes one’s eyes and tries to hold the form steady in one’s mind, one is usually unsuccessful. On visualising the divinity’s head, one fails to see the deity’s feet; when the feet are seen, the hands do not come to mind; when a hand is apprehended, some other part is not visible. This is a common problem.

What is a remedy for such inability to meditate on a form of God? If one were to see a picture for long and to close one’s eyes, the form would get imprinted rather clearly in the mind. Then one could meditate upon the form that has got impressed upon the mind. With adequate practice, one succeeds.

Some ask, “What is the need for temples?” It is true that they are not necessary. But for whom? If a person can behold God wherever he happens to be seated, a temple is superfluous for him. On the other hand, consider the case of a man who is unable to focus on God even when he goes to a temple. What would his condition be if there were no temples at all? Thus, for a person of this kind, a temple is essential.

Bhagavatpāda recognised this. His explanation of the Truth is lovely. He avers, “Intrinsically, God has no form. But He can take on any form.” God comes to some in the guise of a friend. He came to Vasudeva and Devakī not as the Supreme but as their son. To Kaṁsa, he appeared in the role of an enemy. We cannot know in what form He will come to us.

The best course for us is to recognise that everything has got God for its essence. We should contemplate on God as immanent and as possessed of a form and make it our aim in life to experience Him. Alternatively, we should strive to make this our last birth by directly realising that we are intrinsically God, the non-dual absolute reality, devoid of attributes. Only then will our lives, as humans, become truly significant.

★ ★ ★ ★

❑ Incidents from Acharyal's Life

In 1976, in the course of His evening walk, Acharyal casually chanted the dhyāna-śloka of Śrī Narasiṁha-mantra and told a disciple, “God who is formless and of the nature of absolute existence, consciousness and bliss (Saccidānanda- svarūpa) appears as Śiva, Viṣṇu, Ambā and so on for the sake of devotees. The form of Narasiṁha described in this dhyana-sloka is itself suggestive of the actual non-difference between Śiva and Viṣṇu. That Narasiṁha is an incarnation of Viṣṇu is well known. Here, He is spoken of as being with Lakṣmī, the consort of Viṣṇu, as bearing the cakra, the weapon of Viṣṇu, and as having the hoods of Śeṣa as His umbrella, like Viṣṇu. Further, He is said to be in the middle of the ocean of milk. This too fits Viṣṇu. However, Narasiṁha is presented here, like Śiva, as three-eyed. He bears the pināka, the bow of Śiva. Further, like Śiva, and unlike Viṣṇu, Narasiṁha is described as very fair.”

❑ Experiences of Devotees

Some years ago, when I accompanied Acharyal from Narasimhavanam to the Śāradāmbā temple I learnt a great deal. Acharyal prostrated before Ambā and sat down. I could clearly see His lips moving. Next He was silent and nodded His head slightly. He paused a while as if He was listening and then continued to move His lips. People who saw Him would have been left with no doubt that He was engaged in actual conversation with Ambā.

After some time, I saw in the place of Śāradāmbā’s deity, a beautiful live form of Lord Narasiṁha. It appeared as if the sacred man-lion had made its actual manifestation. I was in no state of meditation as my eyes were quite open. I repositioned myself and again had the same vision. I did move myself to two or three positions but the results were the same. It was only later that I learnt that Acharyal’s iṣṭa-devatā is Lord Narasiṁha. Perhaps this replacement of Ambā by Lord Narasiṁha, as far as I was concerned, was to make known Acharyal’s iṣṭa-devatā to me. [A disciple]

★★★★

A pious lady, an ardent devotee of Acharyal, had lost her husband and she had no children. She once dreamt that Lord Kṛṣṇa, in the form of child Mukunda, came and slept on her lap. However, she did not add much importance to this dream. Subsequently, when she went to Sringeri and had Acharyal’s darśana, she expressed her mental agony that she was not blessed with a child to support her in her old age. Acharyal said, “What is this! The Lord Himself has chosen to become your child and you are talking like this in spite of His having made it known to you!” Only then did she realise the significance of that dream. Then, as advised by His Holiness, she started worshipping an idol of the Lord (as child Mukunda) with vātsalya-bhāva. Subsequently, by Acharyal’s grace, her mental agony completely vanished and her mind was filled with the joy derived from the worship. [Smt. Narayani Ammal]

Once during a pūjā session, I noticed that it took longer than usual to pull back the curtain which had been drawn to enable Acharyal offer naivedya to the Lord in private as per tradition. Later, when I had the darśana of His Holiness, I was curious to find out what caused the unusual delay in opening the curtain during the pūjā. Straightaway, I posed my question to Acharyal. He said, “The naivedya was very hot. How could I offer it to the Lord? So, I had to wait for some time for it to cool down before I offered it to Him.” Acharyal’s devotion to God was unparalleled. To see Him perform pūjā was a bewitching sight. He never thought of the idols as mere images of God. He always felt the living presence of God in them. Naturally, He did not wish to offer a naivedya which was hot and would hurt the Lord.

[Sri A.Ramaswamy]

★★★★

Once Acharyal visited Madurai and stayed there for some days. On a particular day, when Acharyal was returning to His place of stay after paying a visit to a devotee’s house, He asked His driver to stop the car in front of my house. Then His Holiness got down from the car and walked into my house. I was not there at home and only my mother and my wife were there. They could not believe their eyes when they saw Acharyal entering the house. Both of them were panicky, and they were at their wit’s end. Acharyal posed kind enquiries to them and went around the house. He entered the pūjā room and noticed the Mahāmeru kept there. He then understood from my wife that I was a śrīvidyā-upāsaka. His Holiness then blessed my pūjā room and left.

When I returned home, my wife informed me of His Holiness’ sudden visit to our house. I rushed to the Math and was fortunate enough to have His darśana. Acharyal said, “I happened to go through your street today and I felt that I could visit you. You were not there. I saw your pūjā room. Are you a performer of the navāvaraṇa-pūjā?” I answered in the affirmative. Then His Holiness asked me if I could chant the mantra-s and describe the procedures involved. I politely submitted to His Holiness that I would like to obtain a formal permission from my Guru, Sri Kalyanarama Sastrigal, who taught the mantra-s to me. Acharyal was pleased and said that it was only appropriate on my part to seek the Guru’s permission.

Unfortunately, Sri Sastrigal was, at that time, hospitalized and in a state of coma. Nevertheless, I paid a visit to the hospital and was by his side when he suddenly came out of that state and recognised my presence! I presented the matter to him. He was very happy and told me that I was fortunate to have got this opportunity to chant the mantra-s in the presence of His Holiness. He insisted that I do so at the earliest opportunity. Soon after uttering these words, he again lost his consciousness and slipped into coma. I realised that it was God’s will that he came out of it and gave his permission!

On a day fixed by Acharyal, I chanted the mantra-s. His Holiness was very happy and blessed me. I sought His blessings for the early recovery of Sri Sastrigal from his illness. Acharyal asked me in detail about the illness and then gave me prasāda saying, “I wish to see him one day.” I took the vibhūti-prasāda to the hospital and applied it on Sastrigal’s forehead. By His Holiness’ grace, he recovered fully in a week’s time!

Subsequently, I took him for Acharyal’s darśana. On seeing him, Acharyal asked him with affection, “How do you feel now? Have you fully recovered?” Sri Sastrigal was moved by the genuine affection and with tears flowing down his cheeks, said, “It is only due to Acharyal’s grace that I am standing before Your Holiness.” Acharyal, with His characteristic humility, said, “What have I done? It was Śrī Candramoulīśvara who saved you!”

[Sri G.S.Mani Iyer]

★★★★