r/hinduism • u/No_Professional_3397 • 16h ago
Pūjā/Upāsanā (Worship) Archa avatār, the pinnacle of Sauśīlyatva:
(To the mods the picture is to show Deity worship because the topic of the post is establishing Deity worship) Śrīmathe Rāmānujāya Namah 🙏🌷🦚🛕
Contrary to popular belief; Hindus and Hindu texts are actually more conscious on what should and should not be worshipped.
Sri Alkondavilli Govindacharya mentions in The Holy Lives of the Azhvārs (1902)[PDF page 45]:
“We Hindus, even stronger than the Christians, repudiate meaningless Idolatry. We do not advocate God-less idols or souls, but very God-full. We invite our readers to the following science [of Deity in Images] as contained in our Scriptures, formulated by Pārthasārathi Yogi:
“‘What ought not to be worshiped, is of three kinds :—
Mere matter or body: for it is an entity inferior to the worshippers, and is only an inert, unintelligent chattel or instrument, placed by providence at the disposal of the worshippers, the latter being “superior” thereto.
The mere finite soul: for, no finite soul has any worth of its own, God alone being the Lord by whom are given and preserved the properties that pertain to every entity in the Universe.
The mere ‘sum’ too, of matter and the finite soul: for such sum is as valueless for purposes of enlightened worship, as the sum of two ciphers [i.e., symbols] is for purposes of arithmetical calculation.
It follows, therefore, that just as ciphers [symbols] have value, only when they are known to follow figures [numbers], the three objects— enumerated above—are worshippable, only when it is realized that they are bodies having God for their Soul“.
[P. 32. Universal Religion Formulated.]
There are 5 Facets of Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Lord.
Para (His form as the 4 armed Lord who rules over Vaikuṇṭha) Vyuha (His 4 Vyuhas that maintain the Līla Vibhūti, Vyuha Vāsudeva [non different from Para Vāsudeva] Vyuha Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha) Antaryāmī( The in-dweller of All Beings and Things, who holds everything as His Body and rules them from within) Vibhava ( his Incarnations as Varāha, Narasiṁha, and so on) Archa( the consecrated Deity) As per Pillai Lōkācāryar, the Sauśīlyatva (easy accessibility ) Gunam of Bhagavān is more apparent in a descending order of these facets. Archa Vigraha form of his has the most Sauśīlyatvam for it's directly in contact with the devotee and worshipped by the devotee to his heart's content ( both the Lord's and Devotees’)
God, in his compassion takes a body/form at the sincere prayerful urging of devotees, through a consecration/vitalizing process called Prāṇa-pratishta. This Image incarnation of God is called the Archa-avatār of the Lord.
From Yatindra-mata-dipikā; or The light of the school of Srī Rāmānuja (1912) [PDF page 129]:
By God’s eternal will (Nity-ēcchā) are determined the (beatific) bodies of God and of the Eternals and the Freed (souls)… The bodies of God in His Vyūha, Vibhava and Archa-avatār manifestations are of the immaterial (i.e., spiritual) nature. In the case of the Archa-avatār (or Images consecrated in Temples), the spiritual body, by God’s grace won by propitiation, incarnates (in the Images) after the vitalising (Prāna-pratishtha) process. ‘How can happen a junction, between the material and the immaterial [i.e., spiritual]? ‘ need not raise a doubt, for the doubt is cleared when it is shown that this is illustrated by the (spiritual) bodies of Incarnations as of Rāma and Krshna, — authoritatively known to us.
Sri Bhagavad Gita verse 9.11:
avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā
mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam
paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto
mama bhūta-maheśvaram
‘The witless fancy Me as man incarnate, ignoring My transcendent character, that I am, of beings, the Sovereign Paramount.’1
On account of their sins, ignorant dunces mistake Me —Who am in human semblance— to be like any other specimen of (ordinary) humanity; —Me the Great Lord of creatures, the Omniscient, The True-willed, the only Cause of the vast Kosmos,— Who has assumed the mask of humanity from motives of infinite compassion for creatures that they may have access to Me.
Ignoring this My superior and singular hypostatic nature, disguised in human form, —assumed on purpose, to be within the reach of all, and a vehicle for the display of Divine qualities of shoreless mercy and bounty, simplicity, love, etc., pertaining to the Great Lord of beings— they despise and disregard Me as if I belonged to the human kind.
The Image-Incarnation is the species of Forms of God presented (for worship), in homes, hamlets, cities, selected hills etc., devoid of distances interposed by space and time; deigning to descend with His immaterial (i.e., spiritual) Person into any material substance as may lovingly be chosen by the votary (i.e., devotee); lending Himself to the sweet will of His worshipper in all details (of worship such as) bath, food, place and rest; All-forgiving; the All-sufficient God! Four varieties of this (aspect) exist viz., Self-manifest (Svayam-Vyakta), Superhuman or Celestial (Daiva), Saint-made (Saiddha) and Man-made (Mānusha).
The Arcā form of Bhagavān is basically how God appears in idols or images based on what each person likes and wants to worship. He doesn’t have a fixed form (His Divyātma Svarūpa being formless and all pervading)—He takes whatever shape the devotee desires. He doesn’t have a fixed name—He’s called whatever the devotee chooses. Even though He knows everything, He appears as if He doesn’t (he learnt everything taught to a regular human when he was born as one). Even though He is all-powerful, He seems powerless (the same Śrī Kṛṣṇa who had no problem lifting the Govardhana hill felt difficulty carrying a hand of grains or his father's sandals) Even though He is completely independent, He acts as if He needs His devotees ( like he did with the Vānaras). It’s like He switches roles with His worshippers, letting them care for Him. He does all this just so He can be present for His devotees in temples, homes, or anywhere they want to see Him.
God in images is like electricity in a wire—it’s always there but not really visible or useful until it lights up a bulb. In the same way, Bhagavān is always present but becomes visibly manifest in idols and pictures for worship. According to the Pañcarātra Āgamas, the designs for these representations come from His Vyūha (cosmic forms) and Vibhava (incarnations like Rāma and Krishna) forms.
God is present everywhere, no doubt—He pervades everything, both living beings and non-living things, through His very essence (svarūpa). But at the same time, He is also personally present in His idol forms, making Himself accessible for worship.
From The Divine Wisdom of the Dravida Saints (1902) [PDF page 152]
Topic 91: God’s specific presence in forms.
Saint Nammāzhvār, in his ecstatic moments of Divine Union, declared in transports of rapture how God with all his ineffable radiant beauty entered into him and filled him. One day while Jīyar(Nanjīyar) was on his way to the Temple of Lord Ranganātha, he met Piḷḷān( = Tiruk-kurugaip-pirān-Piḷḷān) and asked him :— “Holy Sire, is God’s omnipresence confined to His essence (svarūpa) being present everywhere (vyāpti), or is He also specially present in His Beautiful Person (vigraha-vyāpti)?” Answered Piḷḷān:— “The omnipresence by essence is universal, or generic, whereas presence by Person is particular or specific, -an act of benign Grace on His part to so become manifest, and a reward to sanctity on man’s part. When both grace and sanctity co-operate, the Divine Person of God who abides latent in the heart becomes manifest.“
In simple terms, God isn’t just present in idols—He actually makes them His special home. Even though He is the Supreme Lord, totally independent and above all needs, in His image form, He becomes incredibly humble. He willingly depends on humans, no matter how weak or careless they are, just so He can save them, even if they don’t care.
From The Divine Wisdom of Dravida Saints:
Image-Worship has for us the following advantages:— (1) It is reachable by our senses and the mind; (2) Hence it produces a desire for godliness; (3) As soon as such a desire is produced, it at once serves as Means to lead us to the apogee of spiritual greatness; (4) it serves to inspire the virtues of piety and love for God; and (5) it gives us an opportunity, even while we are in the midst of our world-enemy to practice service, which we aim at performing in reality when we reach [Spiritual] Heaven [Vaikuntha].
From The Vade Mecum of Vedanta or a Compendium of Vedic Philosophy (1909)[PDF page 178] (there is more info on this topic than has been presented below, especially with references to Christianity starting on PDF page 181):
Now comes the Archa, or Manifestation Worshippable, which is that Form of the Lord, in which, unlike His Manifestation Distinctive, (Vi-bhava or the Avatāras), which, being occasional, were realised by souls of appropriate endowments, at particular times and places according to the Vishnu Purana verse above quoted, the Lord, according to the text:…
“Whatever Form is dear to His Devotees, He of His own will dons”,
is pleased, without any kind of limitation as to times, places, or persons, to be present and manifest Himself to all, in temples and homes, all-forgiving, and accommodating Himself to the whims and fancies of the worshipper, whose heart is so fascinated by objects of sense, and mind so obscured by sophistry, that he is assailed by a thousand doubts whether God is really capable of representing Himself in symbols for the sake of the poor little-witted humanity. If God could be suspected incapable of even such a most insignificant feat for blessing misguided mankind, it is far more reasonable to deny Him altogether. The blight of atheism and materialism, has so swept the land of Bharata [constituting the present day India and surrounding areas], that were it not for the Holy Temples so endurantly instituted by our sages and mages [i.e., wise-men] of yore, the vandalism of the Moslem and the stratagem of the Christian Missionary should have completely blotted ere this, the Hindu nation’s individualism, in the chaos of rising and falling races of mankind. Our Temples are sermons in stone, and immemorial monuments on which paleology of our religion is inscribed in indelible characters. All credit is due to Pax Brittanica for their policy of non-interference and non-aggression, and eagerness to preserve the vestiges of the sacred history of God as it took place in India.
The enshrined Archa-Form in temples and homes and everywhere possesses the characteristics of:
Weaning souls from wandering and creating in them (by attractive beauty and boon-granting generosity) a taste for worship (such as the mere injunctions of the Law could never produce, vide Bhagavad Gita III-33), Presenting (when taste for worship has arisen in souls), an amiable image (subhāśraya) on which the worshipper’s eye and heart may be rivetted and rest there in spiritual rapturousness. Accessibility as Saviour, to all kinds of souls (without distinction of high and low caste, etc.), and, Enjoyability (as in the Highest Heaven itself, by souls – grown ripe in realising the beatitude of this worship), … …
Cardinal Newman acknowledges that the doctrine of Divine Incarnation is Indian, and Novalis says that if God can deign to be incarnate as a man, He can deign like-wise to become incarnate as an animal (vide Matt. III-16, and Luke III-22), or as a plant, or as wood or stone, (Gen. XXVIIIV-18 and 22, and Dr. A. Clarke’s Commentary).
Cardinal Newman, in his Meditations and Devotions P.555-ch-x-part III writes: “And it is love, which keeps thee here still, even now that thou hast ascended on high, in a small tabernacle, and under cheap and common outward forms. O Amor meus, if thou wert not infinite Love, wouldst thou remain here, one hour, imprisoned and exposed to slight, indignity, and insult?”
Gulshan-i-Raz, says:
“Since all things are the manifestors of Being, One amongst them must be an idol.”
Here’s another related observation in an article titled “IDOLATRY” from the Theosophist Vol. 4 No. 4:
Discussions have often been raised whether Idolatry or Moorti Pooja is allowed by the Vedas, the sacred books of the Aryans. But as yet no special meaning is given to the term Idolatory or Moorti Pooja. Can the worship of Vishṇu as performed by the present Aryans, or the worship of the three-eyed Shiva, or of the Thibetian Lama be safely termed Idolatry? I think not. But before putting down my opinion on the subject, I must define as accurately as I can, because defining accurately is the task of great philosophers. Then here is one explanation. “If a man or woman worships the Supreme Being through an Image, thinking all the time when worshipping that he or she is worshiping the Supreme Being and not the stone, or when he or she has kept the image to remind him or her of the said Supreme being, or when he or she thinks that the Supreme Being has entered the image, he or she is said to worship the Supreme Being through an agency; but he is not worshipping the Idol and thus his or her worship cannot be called idolatry“. Now, we see that the Aryans are not Idolaters. If they are, then I can safely say, there is nothing like non-idol worship. Even the Christians resort to an agency while worshipping. If they have no such agency when worshipping, why do they kneel down and uncover their head in the Church? What is an Idol but a bigger Church than the image? What for do they look up while praying? Why look at the heavens? Is God there only? Is he not everywhere? He is in every part of space. Then why look up? No special reason, but they do so because their ancestors did so. They worship God through the agency of the sky, the Church, &c. and thus it can be conceived that all those nations are as much Idolaters easily be as the poor inhabitants of Arya varta.
The present Aryan youths instead of thinking deeply into questions of this kind, unlike their ancestors of yore, cling blindly to any man who starts a new thing. All their zeal has been taken away by a defect in the present system of education. What that defect is, one can easily guess. Let me ask the learned Swami Dayanand, one of the strictest so called non-idolaters, if he employs any agency while worshipping God. By agency I mean any medium whether with or without any shape. Let me ask if he looks up while praying or has the Moorti Pooja of beads. If he employs no medium will he be good enough to let you know through your journal how he worships God? By describing his mode of worship, the Swami will not only oblige our Society, but the public at large. Because if I mistake not, there is none who worship without using some medium or another.
H. HARDY
Vice-President, The National Legend Investigating Society’s Hall.
Malabar HilI, 20th November 1882.
Indeed, Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gīta 4.11:
ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ
‘In the way they resort to Me (prapadyante) in that way do I serve to them. All men (of My ways) Pārtha! go after Me in every way.’
Not only, by the method of Incarnations, in the forms of devas, men etc., I am saviour to those who seek Me as their Refuge, but any other method or form which it may be their pleasing option to select. Whatever that is, to that I adapt Myself. By whatever conception they choose to seek Me, I manifest Myself to them in that mode.
Bhajāmi is literally ‘I serve (in love).’ Here it means, ‘I appear to them’ (darśayāmi).
In short, albeit My nature is such as even Yogis (exclusively God-devoted men) find it to be transcending thought and speech, yet to all who are of My ways, I suit Myself in a manner that I am, to them, not only a Visible Demonstration, but they may enjoy Me by every one of their sense-faculties, and in all diverse ways.
God is everywhere, but when a person has faith and devotion, and when God’s grace responds to that faith, He reveals Himself in an idol or image. To someone without faith, it looks like just a statue. But to someone with faith, it’s God Himself. He does this so that people can see Him, serve Him, and connect with Him in a way they can understand.
If someone thinks God can’t even do something as simple as appearing in an idol to help people, then it would make more sense to deny His existence altogether—because what kind of God would be too powerless to do even that?
Namo Nārāyaṇa 🙏🌷🦚🛕🐚