The Philosophy of Idol Worship in Hinduism

ഓം സർവഭവന്തുസുഖിനോ    സർവസന്തുനിരാമയ സർവഭദ്രാണിപശ്യന്തു      മാ കശ്ചിദ്ദുഖ് ഭാഗ്ഭവേത്    ഓം ശാന്തിശാന്തിശാന്തി

Ohm may all be happy May all be free from illness May all see auspicious May no one feel grief Ohm peace peace peace

Generally, there is the misconception that Hindus have many Gods and that idols are their Gods. In reality both are incorrect and myths. This notion is especially exaggerated by western missionaries claiming polytheism and idol worship as pagan ritual, either due to lack of understanding or deliberate attempt to discredit Hinduism. Very many times religious conversions of the gullible are made on these false, misleading and incorrect arguments. Unfortunately, even many Hindus too are not educated enough on these subjects, and are unaware of the purpose and intend of idol worship as prescribed in its sacred texts. This article is my attempt to give a brief overview of the concept of ‘idol worship’ in Hinduism and the scientific basis for it. 

What is ‘idol’, and ‘worship’?

First let us clarify the meaning of the words ‘worship’ and ‘idol’ as used in the context of Hinduism. These labels are coined by westerners from their religious perspective, are incorrect and led to misunderstanding of Hinduism.  Unfortunately, there is also a lack of equivalent English words for Sanskrit original word.

In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), where worship of God is paramount, blind faith and belief are warranted without questions decreeing that the information provided in their holy book is the word of God. God is independent of themselves somewhere in the haven and worship involves praising god. In contrast, ancient Hindu way calls it variously as japa, upasana, yagna,pooja, etc. depending on type of practice, are done for self-improvement and self-knowledge or yoga. Practitioners should question the information provided in the religious texts or by their gurus until they are convinced of the facts. In Bhagavat Gita(one of the thousands of sacred text of Hindus) Krishna says to Arjuna to use knowledge to remove doubts (Gita 4:41) and have shraddhaand not blind faith (Gita 4:39). 

The word ‘Idol’ is also misrepresenting what Hindus call ‘vigraha’. In Sanskrit ‘vigraha’ means that which helps to understand, and has a clearly different connotation than commonly used meaning.  The misrepresentation is the propaganda that idols itself are the Hindu Gods. 

The philosophy of idol worship in Hinduism

According to Vedanta(Hindu philosophy) the whole universe is or encompassed by a single supreme consciousness (other poor translations are god, sprit or being), the Brahman.God is omnipresent and everything in the universe (Isavasya Upanishad-1), there is nothing else in the universe other than God (Gita 7.7). God is within you and without you (Gita13.16, Isavasya Upanishad5). Thus, unlike the God of the Abrahamic religions, Hindus believe that God is not separate from oneself or the universe (the subject and object are the same). Thus, to know and understand God is to know oneself at first, not our physical body but the eternal consciousness in all of us, the atman(or soul, or sprit). Unlike the body, the atmanis eternal and indestructible (Gita2:30).

In contrast to Abrahamic religions, God realization is not a one-size-fits-all according to Vedanta. For example, some people have talents in sports, while others in music, and so on. Similarly, God realization also varies from person to person and is personal. Our ancient Rishishave recognized this universal fact and developed many scientific and well-founded practical ways for God realization according to one’s abilities and interest. These includes Samkhya yoga, Raja yoga, Karma yogaand Bhakti yoga,which are described inGitaand other texts. 

Just like everything else in life, Hindus believe, God realization also requires constant practice and dedication (Gita 6.35), but possible. As an example, if it takes ten hits with a hammer to break a stone did the first nine hits go waste? Those are the ones which led you to the final goal of breaking the stone. Similarly, a dedicated practitioner should strive to convert his knowledge or jnanainto a practical and personal experience or vigjnana. This is like the butter coming out with repeated churning of milk. Or the knowledge that fire is hot is jnana, and you feel the heat when you place your hand in fire is vigjnana.Unlike most other religions, in Hinduism faith and belief are personal and to be experienced by dedicated devotees. Bhakti yogaoffers a simple and practical way for all to follow for God realization, converting jnanainto vigjnana. This can be divided into Sagunopasana and Nirgunopasana.

Sagunopasanais a scientific, but practical and simple approach to focus your mind (cit) during the practice on an image, vigraha, or ‘idol’. The idol itself is not the God but an imagery to help one to focus the mind. It can be considered as a personal God (due to lack of right word). In Hinduism one do not worship God in the same sense as Abrahamic religions, but do upasana, which are mostly meant for self-development. Upasanaincludes many techniques or rituals or practices aimed at focusing our mind for self-realization. As mentioned before, the purpose is to know yourself at first, the atmanin you, not your physical body. These techniques help take your mind off mundane matters on to the absolute. Once the practitioner has achieved his goal he can discard the imagery and move on to Nirgunopsana, where no images are used. This is similar to a pole vault jumper who uses a long stick to jump, but discard the stick after crossing the bar. Nirgunopasanais difficult for practitioners who has not attained detachment about ones’ body and the mundane (Gita 12:5).

Sri Sankaracharya once said to have prayed to God to forgive him for 3 mistakes. 1) that he prayed to God with idols who cannot be described by images; 2) praised God with words, who cannot be explained or described in words; and 3) searched for God by going to sacred places on pilgrimage, while God is omnipresent. Similarly, in Upanishadit says that whatever you are worshiping as Brahmanis not really Brahman, they should be discarded once it is understood.

            To conclude according to Vedanta, God realization requires lot of practice. Like a ball player throwing a ball to the wall which bounce back it to him, and he keep doing it to practice. Like wise a yogiuses a vigrahaor Idol to practice. You can’t graduate college if you don’t complete high school first.  The first step in god realization to know one self-first. 

This is Dr. Sudhirdas Prayaga, with my humble effort to explain this concept in Hinduism. None of this information are mine, I am just carrier destined to expound this concept.  I take full responsibility for any errors in this article.  Some of these are already published in the past years in various local publications. If you liked this article, please read my upcoming topic on the ‘the Biology of Idol Worship in Hinduism’, and ‘the Physics and Mathematics of Idol Worship in Hinduism’ in coming weeks.