Is Idol Worship Only For Beginners?

Some people have this opinion that doing puja is something inferior.
They think that idol worship is for beginners.
They also say that idol worship is only until you acquire concentration and focus.
Once you acquire focus, you don’t need it anymore.

Does it mean that the trillions of hours spent by sadhakas and devotees doing puja, japa, homa, parayana, chanting of stotras and shlokas are simply a waste of precious time?
They, that too a few of them, just acquire concentration and focus out of all these and then throw all these away?
These are all views of people who have never done puja themselves, or never bothered to learn and do it the right way from the right source, and did not gain anything out of it.

Is it possible to worship the formless? No.
Is it possible to meditate upon the formless? No.
The highest state in yoga called asamprajnata samadhi comes only after samprajnata samadhi is perfected.
Samprajnata samadhi involves samadhi achieved by focusing on a single object or concept.

People who talk against idol worship and puja have got no experience in idol worship and puja.
Take medicine for example.
Whom will you trust?
A doctor who has studied the subject and has got actual experience treating patients, or someone who has read on the internet something and wants to treat you?
Obviously, the doctor.

Puja is shastra.
You should trust only someone who has learned and has got experience in it.
Someone who professes that the world is an illusion is not the authority to judge something which he doesn’t understand.
For him, everything — even you and he and everything else — is an illusion.

You take a European who has come to India for the first time to a sweet shop.
Ask him to describe what he sees there.
He may be able to describe the color and shape of all the sweets.
But can he know the taste?
Only a person who has put the sweet in his mouth and actually tasted it will know its taste.
Not just one sweet — there are so many varieties, of different tastes.
Will he be able to tell the difference?

Today we are going to look at some aspects of puja and idol worship in Mantra Shastra.
You should understand that this is particularly about puja as per Mantra Shastra.
Puja according to other paths of sadhana such as bhakti marga could be different.

In puja as per Mantra Shastra, results are derived from the combined effects of two forces: the power of faith and power of mantra.
Four factors are important here:

1. The idol or the image such as yantra should be strictly according to shastra.

2. The materials of worship should be of the right kind and good quality.

3. The sadhaka should have obtained mantra deeksha in the prescribed way and should be practicing it promptly.

4. The sadhaka should have complete faith in what he is doing — that he will get success in what he is doing.

When all these four come together, the Devata will definitely enter and be present in the idol or the image.

The first point: there are very strict and well-laid-down rules for making of idols and images.
Like someone who recently asked me — we are starting an Ayurvedic resort and planning to have a temple.
Can the idol be made in a reclining and relaxing posture, maybe because that is the service they offer in the resort?
That won’t work in Mantra Shastra.
All those cartoon-like Ganesha and Krishna images, all those modern art images, the graphic images — are of no use in Mantra Shastra.

In Mantra Shastra, the proportion of every organ of the Devata is important.
Where he sits, how he sits, how many hands, what he is holding in each hand, the dress, the ornaments — everything is important.
For example, the 24 forms of Vishnu such as Keshava, Narayana...
The four hands of the Lord are holding shankha, chakra, gada, and padma.
The only difference between these 24 forms is in the sequence in which shankha, chakra, gada, and padma are held.
Keshava holds shankha, chakra, gada, and padma from the upper right hand onwards in the clockwise direction.
Vasudeva holds shankha, chakra, padma, and gada.
So if you intend to worship Vasudeva with the mantra 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya', the idol should hold the weapons in the order shankha, chakra, padma, gada — not any other.

In idols, a rule of measurement and proportion called tala is used.
For Ganapathy, it is panchatala.
For Vishnu and Devi, it is navatala.
So if you intend to have an idol of Ganapathy and want to do serious sadhana, it better be in the panchatala proportion — then only you will be able to infuse prana into it.

The material with which the idol is made is important.
For yantras also there are very clear rules of measurements and proportions.
You will never be able to invoke Ganesha into a Devi yantra or vice versa.

Now, the materials used.
They should be of the best quality.
They are meant for the most important entity in the entire universe.
No compromise on quality or quantity.

There are materials prescribed for each Devata.
Akshata itself — there are many types: plain white rice, rice mixed with turmeric powder, rice mixed with kumkum, rice and paddy mixed.
Each one has a different purpose.
You have to use the right combination depending on the context.
Same for abhisheka, arghya, ashtagandha...

You should never use tulasi to worship Ganesha or durva to worship Durga.

When it comes to mantras, you have to be careful that you are using the right mantra.
There is a defect called anya mantrairyajanam — worshiping one Devata with the mantra of another Devata.
This is a big defect and can have serious consequences.

Obtain proper deeksha from an eligible Guru — then only undertake mantra sadhana.
Kularnava Tantra gives some very good examples about such factors.

The proper method is very important.
We know milk is derived from the blood of the cow.
But only when it comes out from the udder it is milk.
Anywhere else, it is just milk.

But see how the quality changes.
The cream, butter, ghee is there in the body of the cow.
It is there in the milk.
But does it nourish the cow?
Cow needs grass to nourish itself.
The cow is milked, then the milk is processed in the right way, cream is extracted — then it works.

There is no point saying: God is everywhere.
But that is of no use — like the cream inside the cow.
The Devata is inside the sadhaka always.
Why only sadhaka — the Devata is inside the nonbeliever also.
But progress and realization come through worship alone.

And finally — faith.
Without faith, nothing works.
Experiments do not yield any result in spirituality.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi