Significance of Idol Consecration

There are criticisms levelled against the Hindus that they worship too many Gods and that they worship even stones as God. The more we hear such objections, the more we start silently questioning ourselves - "did our ancestors practise idol worship more out of superstition than out of any real meaning?" At this juncture, when many idols are being consecrated in one temple complex, it is worthwhile to understand about this.

'Because the Almighty is only one, the practice of worshipping Him in different forms is a superstition and those who practise this form of worship do not have a clear understanding'- is the essence of the first objection. Good.

Before beginning any discussion, it is important to understand the meanings of the key words involved in the subject. Because the present discussion is related to God, let us first try to understand who God is.

The universe we see is indeed very vast. It extends even beyond our visual field. There is another universe which is visible only to the mind. It consists of experiences like love, hatred, desires, wishes etc.. The combination of these two universes constitutes creation. A close observation of this creation will reveal that it is not permanent and that it constantly undergoes creation and destruction.

Anything created will have its basic ingredient. For example, a necklace will have gold as its basic ingredient. It comes from solid gold. When we melt the necklace, we can get solid gold.

Let us assume that the entire creation is like a necklace. It must have its basic ingredient too. It must come from this basic ingredient, stay with the help of this basic ingredient and should eventually merge in the same basic ingredient. The name given to this basic ingredient is God. This is what is stated in the Upanishad. (Yasmaad vaa imaani bhootaani jaayante. Yat prayantyabhisamvishanteeti)

'Is this basic ingredient one or two in number?' is the next question. If it is two in number, then one will have to be the ingredient for the other. Because we have set out to know about the fundamental substance responsible for creation, if one is not the basic ingredient for the other, it can not be the basic ingredient for the whole creation at all! Therefore it is not possible that one is the cause for the other, and therefore, it can not be two in number. Therefore God is only one. The Upanishads have declared - "Ekamevaadviteeyam Brahma". (God is only one; not two).

The next question is 'how to experience God'. It is a very important question indeed.

To understand anything, concentration of mind is essential. If we fix our concentration on the sky, we will understand about heavenly bodies and their movements. If we concentrate on an atom, we will understand about the behaviour of sub-atomic particles. Similarly, to know who God is, we must concentrate our mind on Him. There is nothing which can be understood without the help of concentration.

According to our definition, because God is the primordial factor responsible for creation, it follows that anything which we can see or comprehend is not God. How can that which is responsible for the mind itself be understood by the mind? If the mind can not comprehend IT, how can the mind be made to concentrate on IT?

This is a tricky question. Even if this question were to be answered, because it comes frp, the human mind, which is again a part of the creation, it cannot be the ultimate answer because it can not go to the cause of creation. Thus, answer, if any, should come from God alone, and not from any domain within the creation.

In order to make Himself conceivable to human beings, the Almighty Himself devised certain means. First, He assumed the form of effulgence which only the mind can comprehend. Only a few accomplished persons can envision this form. Subsequently, the Almighty also took the forms of visible light and audible sound. The visible light form is called as Jyotirlingas and the sound form is the Omkara.

Gradually men found it difficult to concentrate on these forms also. Thus, the Almighty took forms resembling human beings so that they could concentrate on a form which was familiar to them. Why is worshipping of this form necessary? It is only to concentrate on the formless Almighty. In order to establish that the human like form is meant for the convenience of human beings and that in reality He is the primordial factor alone, the Almighty caused some modifications in the forms he took. For example, in place of two arms, He, out of His own volition, put on four arms. If He does not have the power of own volition, He can not be God at all!

When the Almighty started sporting human forms, even He had to face problems.

There are only two aspects which makes men to achieve concentration of mind on any object. 1.Love and 2. Fear. (Hatred is another factor, but it can be included under affinity itself).

When the Almighty assumes forms, He may do so through either of these two (namely love and fear)aspects to induce concentration in human beings. But most of the times, He assumes forms with the aspect of Love. He takes the other form only on rare occasions. When He assumes the forms which has predominance of Love, He will take different forms because, human love differs from place to place and time to time. The same person will love different things in different situations. Therefore, when the Almighty decides to take human like forms to uplift them (human beings), it becomes inevitable for Him to take different forms to suit different tastes of human beings.

Some like the form in which Lord Shiva has three eyes. Some others like the form in which Lord Vishnu sports different weapons. Still others like the form in which the Almighty is of the form of Divine Mother. It means that the Almighty has taken different forms to match the taste of different people. But He who has assumed different forms is only one. Only forms are many. Whom does one experience irrespective of the form in which one worships? It is the same Almighty. Therefore, the Upanishads have declared "Ekam sat vipraa bahudhaa vadanti" (That which exists is only one; men of knowledge see it in diverse forms).

Assume a room which has several mirrors of different shapes and colours on its interior walls. A person standing in the centre of the room sees himself in different shapes and colours depending upon the mirror in which the reflection is seen. Similarly, the different forms of god are in fact the reflections of one Almighty. Those forms are not subsidiary deities or offshoots of the Almighty as some think. Let us not bother about those who think that way. According to the Vedas, the forms which we refer to as Devatas are all different forms of the same God. Different forms are for our convenience only. Worshipping any form amounts to worshipping the same Almighty.

The Vedic tradition has mentioned different forms of worship. There is mention of the worship of formless aspect of the Almighty and there is the tradition of worshipping the Almighty in the form of subtle effulgence. There is also the tradition of Nadopasana (worship through sound/music) and lastly, there is also the mention of worshipping the Almighty with form. Sadguru initiates the disciples in different ways depending upon their capabilities.

Which is more scientific and practicable? Not even knowing the meaning of the word Bhagavanta (God), but still trying to concentrate on His primordial form, or, accepting a form of our liking and concentrating on that form to know the original form?- this is the question we must ask ourselves. When we pose this question to ourselves, we will realise that the practice of worshipping the Almighty in different forms is not based on superstition. We will also realise that trying to worship the formless aspect even without the faintest knowledge of the Almighty is ridiculous.

When we have decided to worship the Almighty with form, the next question will be as to which path to tread. Should we follow the path of love or fear? It is possible to achieve concentration through fear also. There are examples in the scriptures of those who followed this path. But it is not a pleasurable path. It is more sensible to achieve it in the path of love.

If we really love a form, we will try to keep it with us or near us as much as possible. A lover keeps the photograph of his loved one in his wallet. A child which loves its mother, will try to draw her image on a paper as best as it can. Similarly, if we love any form of the Almighty, we will try to keep the idol or photo of that form with us all the time. It is not because the scriptures have ordained to do so. It is basically because of our love for that form. Even those who claim that they do not practise idol worship decorate the interiors of their homes or places of worship with beautifully painted or sculpted images of various characters mentioned in their sacred books. They respect and love those paintings or the sculpted articles. Is this not a form of idol worship? They practise it out of their own feeling of love and not because their scriptures ordain them to do so.

This natural tendency is regularised and made orderly by our shastras. The shastras ordain us to select a sacred place to worship the form we like, instead of worshipping it in any place we want and in any manner we want.

In some forms of athletics, after the athlete reaches a certain stage, the coach will not take him to the fields every day. In fact, due to extreme enthusiasm, the athlete will perform better on the fifth day if he rests for four days. Similarly, if one spends the whole day in a temple, then one will be prone to develop indifference towards the temple. Therefore, the scriptures have ordained a specific time, specific place and specific method to worship the Almighty.

The shastras have therefore laid down elaborate procedures to install the idol which we wish to worship. When we want to hang the photographs of our parents in our homes, we will look for a suitable place where it will not be disturbed. We will also ensure that the photographs are not vulnerable to fall off. If the installation of an idol of God were also to be as simple as this, there is no necessity of elaborate procedures.

What we should first achieve by worshipping an idol is the essence of the form of God we are worshipping through that idol. After this is achieved, we should try to experience the Almighty which is the primordial aspect (Bhagavanta). With this in mind, the all pervading consciousness, which is responsible for creation and sustenance of the universe, should be invoked in to the idol with the help of special mantras contemplation which results from clear imagination and deep concentration.. This has necessitated such elaborate consecration ceremonies. Therefore, this procedure is also called as Prana Pratishta (instilling life). Life force permeates the entire cosmos. The same force assumes the form of solar energy, gravitational energy, kinetic energy, potential energy etc. When this energy enters in to a body, it comes to life. The life energy, which rushes like flood water is distributed by the almighty in to innumerable creatures. He in whom the entire flood of energy is present is the Almighty whom we invoke in the idol we consecrate. He is therefore infinitely powerful. The process by which we mentally invoke and establish that energy in the idol is called as Prana Pratishta.To remind that the primordial force which we seek to experience in the idol is many times more powerful than us, the Almighty assumes the forms in which He sports more heads, more arms etc., than the human beings. For example, Lord Dattatreya has six arms and holds Mala, Kamandalu, Damaru, Trishula, Shankha and Chakra in those six hands. All these have different symbolic meanings in different contexts. Let us not go in to those details. It suffices to say that the weapons denote the different powers possessed by the deity. Some people say that because the deities hold weapons in their hands, it means that they are either cruel or afraid of something. The mother who has just delivered a baby will express fear if any one comes near her baby. If a stranger comes near, she will even express anger. This tendency is seen even in animals. This tendency is indicative of the love and attachment of the mother towards her baby and not of fear or anger. Similarly, the weapons in the hands of the deities should be understood as a symbol of compassion expressed by the deity towards us and not as fear or cruelty. Also, when we want protection, we should take refuge in those who are powerful. What is the use of taking shelter in a person who is weak and can not protect himself? The weapons held by the deities represent their power and their affection for us. In order to fecilitate understanding of the primordial aspect of the Almighty through idol worship, Sadguru Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji decided to conduct the consecration ceremonies in an elaborate manner. Let us understand the real significance of the consecration ceremonies and the real nature of the Almighty and prepare ourselves to receive the blessings of our Sadguru.