What Does Hindu Scripture Say About Idol Worship?

Murti Puja is performed with the understanding that Murti is a manifestation of God, which aids in focusing on the supreme God. The two primary methods of worshipping God are Saguna and Nirguna, or form and formlessness, where saguna is represented as the worship of God with form, and nirguna represent the worship of God without any form.

Sometimes the question of why go to the temple or worship an idol of God arises because it seems as though God is everywhere. Lord really is everywhere, in every atom, and in each and every one of us. A person can worship Stone Parvati Durga and other material statues as mentioned in Yajurveda.

Hindu Vedas, and Puranas like the Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta there are many phrases and shlokas that state that if a person is not able to concentrate on God then he can use the idol of the deity to concentrate his mind.

As a result, Hindus do not worship idols since they do not consider them to be Gods. Instead, they use statues and pictures to assist them in concentrating on a particular area of prayer or meditation.

Idol Worshipping In Vedas:

क्लेशोऽधिकतरस्तेषामव्यक्तासक्तचेतसाम् ।

अव्यक्ता हि गतिर्दुःखं देहवद्भिरवाप्यते ॥ १२-५॥

Chapter 12, Verse 5 of the Bhagavad Geeta.

In this shloka, Shri Krishna again reiterates the priority of worship of His corporeal form by saying that the path of worship of the formless Brahman is full of suffering and extremely difficult challenges.

Why is it so difficult to worship the formless Brahman? The first and foremost reason for this is that we humans are flesh and have become accustomed to dealing with embodied forms from eternal births. Therefore, in an effort to love God, in the same way, if we attract our minds to the beautiful form of God, then It easily concentrates on God and increases our affection for God.

Rather, on the contrary, in the state of worship of the formless form, our intellect cannot accept the formless form because there is no physical substance before the mind and the senses on which they can focus their attention. Therefore, both the effort to meditate on God and to increase the love of God in the mind becomes difficult.

Bhagwan laments the difficulty of worshipping him in his unmanifest form as an embodied person like you and me. Every being, whether human or animal, living or inanimate, is seen as having divinity or God by the realized person, the sthitaprajna.

However, it is easier for regular people like you and me to direct our attention and commitment to something tangible, such as a piece of stone, wood, or clay. It doesn’t matter how big or small the statue is.

Even a Standing Lakshmi Bronze Statue can become the object of your devotion if you gaze at it with love and dedication day after day. This daily abhyasa (practice) can eventually help you see the Divinity inside you.

शैली दारुमयी लौही लेप्या लेख्या च सैकती ।

मनोमयी मणिमयी प्रतिमाष्टविधा स्मृता ॥ १२ ॥

Chapter 27 Bhagavad Geeta

In this shloka, it is stated that the divine form of the Lord manifests in eight different materials: stone, wood, metal, earth, paint, sand, mind, or diamonds.

In Yajurveda it is stated that Bhagavan is omnipresent, one can able to pray him without any materialistic thing, and the one who is not can manifest to God by doing pooja of Deity form of God.

Far back in ancient times, idol worship has been a significant component of Hindu tradition. Beyond our memory’s reach, there was no idolatry since there were no idols to worship and no forms to which idols had to be sacrificed.

Mantra, Japa, Kirtan, and silent meditation were used for prayer. This was a common practice throughout the Golden Ages when temples were devoted to a Universal Creator instead of a particular object of worship because of his or her omnipotent, and omnipresent might.

The ability to comprehend the vastness of the One Creator was lessened to such an extent that something more concrete was required as individuals dropped into density, or into lower and lower vibrations.

Conclusion:

Murti Puja is performed with the understanding that Murti is a manifestation of God, which aids in focusing on the supreme God. The two primary methods of worshipping God are Saguna and Nirguna, or form and formlessness. Hindu Vedas state that if a person is not able to concentrate on God then he can use the idol of a deity to concentrate his mind.

In Bhagavad Geeta, it is stated that the divine form of the Lord manifests in eight different materials: stone, wood, metal, earth, paint, sand, mind, or diamonds. In Yajurveda, it is also stated that one can able to pray him without any materialistic thing. This was a common practice throughout the Golden Ages when temples were devoted to a Universal Creator instead of a particular object of worship because of his or her omnipotent might.