Idol worship or not- which is a better option?

The practice of idol worship has been dealt with negatively especially by the abrahamical religions like Islam, Christianity and judasism. This form of religious worship has been termed as pagan religious beliefs and people have been advised to abstain from such acts. Although; what actually is meant by idol, is a matter of debate among the three religions. However if we turn our heads towards Hinduism we see the rampant practice of not only idol worship but also polytheism. It is said that there are 33 crores of gods in Hindu religions. So the question that arises is which is the true path?

Although the different religions talk of different things... i.e one preaches idol worship while other talk against it, one concept is core to every one of them- “GOD IS ONE AND ONLY”. People following Hindu religion may find this fact disturbing but it is true as evident from following lines that I use from Wikipedia.

“A text in the Shukla Yajur-veda (32.3) reads, “Of Him there is no likeness (pratima), whose glory is infinite”. The Upanishads, which form the philosophical ‘conclusions’ (vedanta) of the Vedas, repeatedly stress the formlessness (nirākāra, no material form) and unimaginable nature of God, and advise the aspirant to realise the divine presence inwardly.”

However, it was evident to the Indian mystics from very early on that it is very difficult to focus on a all pervading but a formless, unimaginable god (especially for beginners) for the purpose of worship and meditation. So they preached idol worship but didn’t in any way recommend idol as god. They only recommended visualization of the single god or ‘eka bramho’ through idol. This idea is also stated by lord Krishna in ‘Bhagabat Gita’ Chapter 12, Verse 5, -

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It is much difficult to focus on God as the unmanifested than God with form, due to human beings having the need to perceive via the senses.

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In another context if we look at the other religions, the Islam has shunned the practice of idol worship and considered it as a great sin. This may have arisen due to the fact that Prophet Muhammad emphasized on the fact that he is only messenger of God and that people should worship only that true god ”allah”. This is the reason why there is no image, statue or even tomb of Muhammad. Muhammad and the Christians likewise emphasized on the practice of worship without an idol form because they believed that people would in time begin to associate the idol to be the true god and forget that it is only an image (a representation or a means to imagine the unimaginable). But if we look at the recent historical findings it is to be seen that at the time bible was being written and before that time in israel people widely practiced idol worship and polytheism. The bible in a bid to overthrow this polytheistic view emphasized again and again on the worship of single god.

The problem with idol worship is that people over time tend to associate over time the image or sculptor or any other inanimate or animate objects over time to be god. While the essence of this philosophy is that they should only be considered as a medium. The situation is best explained by these lines from a poet…

Rathyatra lokaranya, maha dhum dham.

Bhaktora lutaye pore, korichey pronam.

RATH bhabhe ami deb PATH bhave ami,

MURTI bhabhe ami deb hasey ANTARYAMI

Explanation--The poet explains a situation in which the rath (chariot of the god laden with image of deities)is taken through the streets. The devotees are rolling in ecstasy at the sight of the chariot to pay their homage.The chariot thinks itself to be the god, the road things it is the god, the images think that they are god but the true god or brahmo is only laughing at the plight…..

Let me fall asleep

 I have running all my life,

After false respect, money and pride;

In the process I found myself loneliness,

But alas! I thought money will buy me all the happiness;

I have searched for happiness hither and thither,

But couldn’t find the happiness that I truly desire;

Now I am weary under my own burden,

Burden of false respect, pride and money;

Now I have up to you o dear,

Take me home; don’t close the door on my rear;

Let me sleep in your lap, while you comb your fingers through my hair;

Take me to a land so rosy, while you sing your beautiful lullaby;

Where there is no hatred and joy is distributed free,

Where all falsehood has ended under the glowing presence of truth,

Destroy my selfhood and bring out the I hence forth,

Let the cacophony end and silence fall,

And while your cold soothing touch takes off my weariness,

As the evening breeze does to the fuming earth;

Let me become one with you forever………

-Debabrata Banerjee  

MOTHER

I dedicate this poem of mine as a humble tribute to one of the two living gods I have seen every day from my child hood

MOTHER

Many made promises of staying forever with me,

But during my tough times I found only thee…

I didn’t care for you when my pastures were greener,

When my eyes saw the world through gold tinted glasses of pleasure;

Then you stood at one corner,

Wiping silently your tears, but I didn’t bother.

But when tough times came upon me,

All my fair-weather friends started to flee

I cried for a helping hand,

But they were too busy to help me stand;

When all others had fled,

You ran towards me instead.

You yourself fell in the process,

But made sure I stand up and make progress.

You protected me from rough weather,

You are none but my sweet mother…..

                       -Debabrata Banerjee  

Two old questions

For days I have travelled on the face of earth,

With two questions plaguing my mind;

On a beautiful day in my youthful guilessness,

When the dawn of knowledge,

had still not removed the veil of ignorance;

I had asked it to his omniscience.

who am I? and for what purpose I am here?

‘Seek and ye shall find’ was his only answer.

So as days become months and months turned to years

I kept searching for the answer everywhere

I played the role of child, husband and father

Each time trying to find the true answer

I assumed my duty was to perform those roles

But when I looked around, I found everybody doing those

And so I have kept searching over the years…

To find answers to the questions I asked in my tender years.

Even now as the curtain on my life is about to descent;

I ask the same questions again to the omniscient…

Who am I? and for what purpose I am here?

Who knows if I will get my answer before my act is over……

 -Debabrata Banerjee

Dance of cosmic harmony

See how the cosmic rhythm is flooding the universe,

To the great symphony dances the sun moon and stars.

All creatures are drinking to their stomach full,

The elixir of selfless love, so wonderful.

O ignorant! Why are you sitting in the corner of your home?

Have bound yourself by shackles of insatiable desire for more?

Can’t you see the world is calling you with arms open?

Come out of your prison and break the chain.

Stop fighting complaining and hankering for power and money,

Listen and dance to the cosmic harmony….

-Debabrata Banerjee

The true nature of atma as described by Gita and upanishad..

In chapter 2 of Gita lord krishna tells about atman for the first time. But before that he tells
   nasato vidyate bhavo,nabhavo vidyate satah
   ubhayor api drsto ’ntas,tv anayos tattva-darshibhih
                                                         .......B.g.chap2..sloka..16
English translation-"Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent  there is no endurance and of the eternal  there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both."
Who is this destructible? Lord krishna says
             antavanta ime deha,nityasyoktah saririnah
          anasino ’prameyasya,tasmad yudhyasva bharata
                                                                        .......B.g.chap2..sloka..18
English translation-"The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity (soul or atman) is sure to come to an end; therefore, fight, O descendant of Bharata."
So it is clear that soul is undestrucible..it is the only truth, and this living body is untruth.
Describing characterstics of atman lord krishna says..
na jayate mriyate va kadacin,nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah
ajo nityah sasvato ’yam purano,na hanyate hanyamane sarire 
                                                        .......B.g.chap2..sloka..20
English translation-"For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain."
 vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya,navani grhnati naro ’parani
 tatha sarirani vihaya jirnany,anyani samyati navani dehi
                                                 .......B.g.chap2..sloka..22
English Translation:-"As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones."
       nainam chindanti shastrani,nainam dahati pavaka
     na cainam kledayanty apo,na sosayati marutah
                                                .......B.g.chap2..sloka..23

English Translation-"The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind."

  acchedyo ’yam adahyo ’yam,akledyo ’sosya eva ca
  nityah sarva-gatah sthanur,acalo ’yam sanatanah
                                          .......B.g.chap2..sloka..24

English Translation:-"This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same."

avyakto ’yam acintyo ’yam,avikaryo ’yam ucyate
tasmad evam viditvainam,nanusocitum arhasi
                                     .......B.g.chap2..sloka..25

English Translation:-"It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body."

The fact that atma is indestructible and all powerful is also expressed in Isha Upanishad..



It is motionless, one, faster than mind ; and the Devas (the senses) could not overtake it which ran before.Sitting;, it goes faster than those who run after it. By it, the all-pervading air (Sutratnum) supports the activity of all living beings.
                                         .....isha upanishad..sloka 4

It moves, it is motionless. It is distant, it is near. It is within all, it is without all this.
                                         .....isha upanishad..sloka 5
This concept is explained by lord krishna in Gita where he refers to one who knows and sees atman as tatvadarshi and refers to the rarity of such an individual in chap2 sloka 29.
ascarya-vat pasyati kascid enam,
ascarya-vad vadati tathaiva canyah
ascarya-vac cainam anyah srnoti,
srutvapy enam veda na caiva kascit
                        .......B.g.chap2..sloka..23
English Translation:-"Some look on the soul as amazing, some describe him as amazing, and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all."
The upanishad also goes on to add that.....
Who sees everything in his Atman and his Atman in everything, by that he feels no revulsion.                   .....isha upanishad..sloka 4
This concept is also pointed out by lord krishna..
   vidya-vinaya-sampanne,brahmane gavi hastini
   suni caiva sva-pake ca,panditah sama-darsinah
                             .......B.g.chap5..sloka..18
English Translation:-"The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste]."                                          

So, till now we have seen that atman is pure atman is the only truth, atman is indestructible. But lord krishan doesnot stop here in his description of atman and continues his discussion in later chapter over the topic of atman....

Management concepts from bhagbat Gita

Most of us consider and look up to Gita as Spiritual book. For the Hindus it holds the same position as Bible is for Christians. Although there is not an iota of doubt of Gita as a spiritual guide of very high order, but looking towards Gita only as a spiritual guide will be underestimating its other dimensions. Gita can also be viewed as agreat management guide where the great management Guru Krishna advices today’s managers on how to deal with difficult situations.

In this view point Arjuna can be considered as a highly skilled worker who is overwhelmed by seeing the task at hand and begins to doubt his own abilities. How Lord Krishna re-motivates Arjuna to do his job gives us a glimpse of his leadership qualities. The concepts of management that we get from Gita are;-

Utilization of available resources

The first lesson of management science is to choose wisely and utilize scarce resources optimally. During the curtain raiser before the Mahabharata War, Duryodhana chose Sri Krishna's large army for his help while Arjuna selected Sri Krishna's wisdom for his support. This episode gives us a clue as to the nature of the effective manager ‐ the former chose numbers, the latter, wisdom.

Work commitment

A popular verse of the Gita advises "detachment" from the fruits or results of actions performed in the course of one's duty. Being dedicated work has to mean "working for the sake of work, generating excellence for its own sake." If we are always calculating the date of promotion or the rate of commission before putting in our efforts, then such work is not detached. It is not "generating excellence for its own sake" but working only for the extrinsic reward that may (or may not) result.

Work culture

An effective work culture is about vigorous and arduous efforts in pursuit of given or chosen tasks.

Sri Krishna elaborates on two types of work culture – "daivi sampat" or divine work culture and "asuri sampat" or demonic work culture.

Daivi work culture ‐ involves fearlessness, purity, self‐control, sacrifice, straightforwardness, self denial, calmness, absence of fault‐finding, absence of greed, gentleness, modesty, absence of envy and pride.

Asuri work culture ‐ involves egoism, delusion, personal desires, improper performance, work not oriented towards service.

Mere work ethic is not enough. The hardened criminal exhibits an excellent work ethic. What is needed is a work ethic conditioned by ethics in work.

It is in this light that the counsel, "yogah karmasu kausalam" should be understood. "Kausalam" means skill or technique of work which is an indispensable component of a work ethic. “Yogah" isdefined in the Gita itself as "samatvam yogah uchyate" meaning an unchanging equipoise of mind (detachment.) Tilak tells us that acting with an equable mind is Yoga.

Manager should not look at the background of workers but only at their skill

Lord Krishna advices in chapter 5 verse 18 that the “sage look evenly at a Brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and even the most despicable of men are blessed with the highest degree of knowledge.” Here the sage can be a taken as a synonym for perfect manager.

Manager always helps the workers focus on their strong points to overcome their weakness

Lord Krishna motivates Arjuna in Gita by telling him that all your weakness are result of your sensory attachments and you shouldnot forget that “Above senses there is the mind and above mind there is the intellect, and the one which lies above all of them is the Soul within, supremely powerful and yet subtle.’’(ch3 verse 43)

The manager should Practice what he preaches

"Whatever the excellent and best ones do, the commoners follow," says Sri Krishna in the Gita. So he says “Although, O Parth, there is no task in all the three worlds which I have to do, and neither is there any worthwhile object which I have not achieved, I am yet engaged in action.’’(chapter 3 verse 22).....