9 now comes the logical question on the origin of idol, devatha murthi, why how what when where of the murthi , and murthi pooja ? 9.1 parabrahm, the absolute, niraakaar, nirgun , unmaifest pure consciousness is the underlying basis, it is like the most elementary, fundamental raw material with which the entire sagun, saakaar, manifest levels of consciousness , the jada chethan to jeeva chaithanya are created with all variety and novelty, in various stratums of existence, the 14 lokas, from the subtlest to grossest , with different levels of beings like deva, gandharva, kinnera, kimpurusha, their existence is perceivable by the human if his level of purity is raised more the purity, the greater is the manifestation of devi devathas rishis and saints thru their tapasya did raise their purity levels and experienced the access to these stratums of existence, rather entered the relevant lokas and found certain truths 9.2 these truths they wanted to express with the best of their abilities thru different mediums of communication , scriptures, words, songs, literature, poetry, epics, romanticism, word pictures, and with the help of these descriptions of truths, word pictures, different artists created drawings, paintings, sculptures, murthis. Temples, ornaments, decorations, visuals, , music, dance , drama, movies, dolls, idols, icons, and these creations came out to be so charming that they were liked, loved, valued, respected, adored, emulated, preserved, carried forward down the generations 9.3 for example, peace is a potential quality , a law of nature, of the unmanifest absolute, which is the reservoir of all gunas, ie all the laws of nature cognizable by a rishi in the deepest samadhi so he says shanthi and he repeats shanthi shanthi shanthihi, to emphasize the profundity and he may say shaanthaakaram , an embodiment of peace, though there is not any body as such this is the origin of idol conception. now to communicate this abstract law of nature, he chooses a concrete . visible media he chooses his own body , human body as the media / icon he depicts a word picture of a person with a face, eyes half closed , expressing the calm , restful, posture, shayanam, this is how the law of nature, takes the visible identity now this hint is taken by an artist, and he creates a beautiful picture / colorful painting / graceful sculpture / a small or big murthi , idol this is how the idol gets created seeing its value, charm, utility, truth, beauty goodness one starts adoring it , calls a form of god, a devatha murthi , this is how a devatha murthi comes into existence and one would like to decorate it, offer food to it , like to bathe it , makes a shade over it , gives vasthra aabharana, mala, sindhoora , thus the origin of temples and idolatry starts and now the common man forgets that it is a law of nature blind worship continues and truth of idol is totally covered up and lost to vision, man misses the track , ignorance abounds , rebounds, that is how idol becomes a obstruction to see the truth, though all happening with the best of intentions, this continues till the man wakes up , by the call of a realized soul 9.4 and, birth, growth, decay is another set of laws of nature . so when the seer sees decay he says hara, the destructive / death principle and he also sees that it is part of total goodness, so he calls it shivam, and the principle is personified. metaphorized, as god shiva, and all his episodes are detailed in terms of a murthi, again in the human form with body limbs and features and further it is made into an idol and worshipped since there what was seen is the goodness in the process of decay and death so idol conveys not any human form with all mahimas but the laws of nature but man does not see the principle, sees only what is made visible , only an idol . the truth of any deva is the laws of nature they represent, not the nama roopa guna it is amply clear in vedic injunction , ie rigveda, richo akshare parame vyoman yasmin deva adhi visheve nishedhuhu 9.5 richo akshare parame vyoman yasmin deva adhi vishve nisheduhu. yasthannaveda kim richa karishyathi knowledge is stuctured in consciousness, the pure field of creative intelligence, beyond the subtlest thinking level, the pure awareness, the pure being , in which reside the impulses of creative intelligence, the laws of nature responsible for the whole creation he whose awareness is not open to this level of life, what can these accomplish for him it is clear that gods, devas, are laws of nature -----the laws of nature , ie, gods , devas, are existing for ever, ever alert, without a wink, animesha is their one description, the one who does not close the eyes system exists , entities come and go gods are system components, so eternally existing and they are no idol, none can see the laws of nature in the idol , as long as one is not going beyond the idol, to the field of akshara, the pure consciousness , , the reality of devas is they being , the principles / the laws of nature underlying the governance of the universe this is the limitation caused at idol worship level one has to necessarily go beyond hence remains ignorant since yasthannaveda kim richa karishyathi 10 truth of krishna is actually the krishna consciousness, also truth of any god is the relevant consciousness, the particular cluster/ package / bunch of a few relevant principles, nothing physical, nor mental, nor the feel aspect like reverence devotion etc , but it is an aspect of the transcendental reality in which infinite mahimas exist eternally , not only of a particular god so once , the experience of this ultimate truth, the pure consciousness is actually accessed the mahimas start getting downloaded on to the individual earthly life and once such mahimas are invoked, one is able to create that god in words, word pictures, messages songs pictures paintings , and he selects any medium, any symbol, mostly human selects own image and treats them with additional add ons like 4 hands, and all such glorifications in proportion to his ability to create and express. that is his privilege. so devotees did create a image of their liking, shankara too, in his shivananda lahari did describe elaborately though he declared neti neti, chidananda roopaha since he did experience the transcendental reality and is in aposition to sing any gods glory as he feels . so in conclusion, first the transcendental consciousness, means can be any, including idol worship , and then creation, and glorification of any god of ones choice and ability so for this guru guidance is vital to know how to go beyond
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 00:46:51 +0000
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