HINDU FASTS & FESTIVALS : 30-10.1.

-



30. Philosophy of Idol Worship -10.1.

10. Vedanta and Idol Worship.1.

    A pseudo-Vedantin feels ashamed to bow before an idol in the temple.

He feels that his Advaita (attitude of oneness) will evaporate if he prostrates himself.

Study the lives of the reputed Tamil saints—Appar, Sundarar, Sambandhar, and others.

They all had the highest Advaitic realisation.

They saw Lord Shiva everywhere.

Yet, they visited all temples of Shiva, prostrated before the idol and sang hymns which are on record till today.

The sixty-three Nayanar saints solely practised the worship of the idols of Shiva and attained God-consciousness thereby.

They swept the floor of the temple, collected flowers, made garlands for the Lord and put lights in the temple.

They were illiterate, but attained the highest realisation.

They were practical Yogis and their hearts were saturated with pure devotion.

They were embodiments of Karma Yoga.

All practised the Yoga of synthesis.

The idol was all consciousness to them, not a mere block of stone.


    Madhusudana Swami, who had Advaitic realisation, who beheld oneness of the Self and who had the feeling of oneness with all creation, was intensely attached to the form of Lord Krishna with flute in His hands.

Swami Sivananda
 To be continued  ....



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Speech by Swami Vivekananda - Delivered at the Shakespeare Club, Pasadena, California, February 1, 1900) :

-
Image
The Mahabharata -  Speech by Swami Vivekananda - Delivered at the Shakespeare Club, Pasadena, California, February 1, 1900)   The other epic about which I am going to speak to you this evening, is called the Mahâbhârata. It contains the story of a race descended from King Bharata, who was the son of Dushyanta and Shakuntalâ. Mahâ means great, and Bhârata means the descendants of Bharata, from whom India has derived its name, Bhârata. Mahabharata means Great India, or the story of the great descendants of Bharata. The scene of this epic is the ancient kingdom of the Kurus, and the story is based on the great war which took place between the Kurus and the Panchâlas. So the region of the quarrel is not very big. This epic is the most popular one in India; and it exercises the same authority in India as Homer's poems did over the Greeks. As ages went on, more and more matter was added to it, until it has become a huge book of about a hundred thousand couplets. All sorts of
Read more

"Ratha kalpana"

-
Image
1. We have the famous immortal metaphor of the chariot explaining the Atma and the Body.       2. In the chariot sits the Sarathi ( driver), and the Yodha ( warrior).       3. In the body stays the Paramatma, the Self and the Jeevatma, the Ego and the entire technique of the Adhyatma Yoga is explained.     4. Here the Ratham ( chariot) represents our body,       5. Five horses are our five sense-organs ( Panchendriya),     6. Lagan ( kadjnan/saddles) of the horses is our Buddhi(intelligence),     7.  The Sarathi is our Mind,     8. Yodha is our Atma.
Read more

All About Bharatiya Sanatana Dharmam otherwise known as Hinduism : 2.1.5

-
Image
CHAPTER 2. HINDU SCRIPTURES : 1.5     1.The Scriptures : 5 5. The Ramayana The Ramayana, the Adi-Kavya or the first epic poem, relates the story of Sri Rama, the ideal man. It is the history of the family of the solar race descended from Ikshvaku, in which was born Sri Ramachandra, the Avatara of Lord Vishnu, and his three brothers. The ideal characters like Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata and Sri Hanuman that we find in Ramayana firmly establish Hindu Dharma in our minds. The story of the birth of Rama and his brothers, their education and marriages, the exile of Sri Rama, the carrying off and recovery of Sita, his wife, the destruction of Ravana, the Rakshasa King of Lanka, and the reign of Sri Rama, are described in detail in Ramayana. How a man should behave towards his superiors, equals and inferiors, how a king ought to rule his kingdom, how a man should lead his life in this world, how he can obtain his release, freedom and perfection, may be learnt from this excellen
Read more