Idol worship (murti puja ) in Hinduism : right or wrong ?

Artistic depiction of Lord Krishna's cosmic form

Hinduism is a religion which cannot be described in words, which cannot be confined to any boundary and which cannot be kept stagnant. It comprises of the oldest scriptures of the world, which have been guiding and nurturing people since centuries, and which would continue to do so till the presence of the mankind, through their ever evolving philosophies.

Unfortunately, there are a set of people who criticise certain practises associated with Hinduism, under the influence of their prejudices and biased views, and also on the basis of their limited knowledge of Hinduism. Murti Puja, which is better known as idol worship (referred to as icon worship in this article) is one such Hindu practise, which is heavily criticised. The aim of this article is to explain the logic behind Murti Puja, and to counter the misinformation that is being spread against this beautiful Hindu concept.

Argument against Icon worship:

Many people argue that the scriptures of Hinduism do not support icon worship. They quote incomplete verses from Vedas, Upanishads and Bhagwad Gita to prove their point, and to infuse confusion in the minds of the Hindus. Therefore, I shall explain the verses that are most commonly used by such people to support their casual claims.

The most common verse used by the detractors of icon worship is :

"Andhatama pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste"

The twisted explanation of this verse, which they give is as follows :

"They enter darkness, those who worship the natural elements" (Air, Water, Fire, etc.). "They sink deeper in darkness, those who worship sambhuti."

'Sambhuti', according to them means created things. For example table, chair, icon, etc. And hence, they claim that when Hindus worship icons, they go against their own scripture. However, truth is far from it. This is neither the correct verse nor the complete verse. Needless to say, one must never get judgemental on the basis of incorrect & incomplete information.

The correct and the complete verse from Isha Upanishad is as follows:

andham tamah pravisanti ye' sambhut imupasate,

tato bhuya iva te tamo ya u sambhutyam ratah.

(Isa Upanishad, verse no 12)

And the correct translation of the above mentioned verse is as follows:

Into blinding darkness enter those who worship the unmanifest (meaning hidden self, the non being , imagination etc), and into greater darkness those who worship manifest alone(meaning visible world,illusion,icons, material wealth etc) . He who understands both unmanifest and manifest together, crosses death through unmanifest and attains immortality through manifest.

After reading the complete and the correct verse as well as its translation, one can safely say that, either the critics of icon worship have a very shallow knowledge of Hinduism or they are deliberately misinterpreting our scriptures, to prove their loose theories.

Some other verses quoted by the detractors of icon worship to prove that god does not have any form, hence, he should not be worshipped in the form of icons, is as follows:

"Na tasya pratima asti"
There is no likeness of Him.
[Svetasvatara Upanishad; chapter 4:19]

"Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam."
His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye.
[Svetasvatara Upanishad; chapter 4:20]

"na tasya pratima asti"
There is no image of Him.
[Yajurveda; chapter 32:3]

"shudhama poapvidham"
He is bodyless and pure.
[Yajurveda; chapter 40:8]

The answer of this argument is quite simple. The Hindus do believe that god has no form. He is Nirakar (formless). However, we also believe that being the almighty, he is capable of taking any form. And he blesses his devotees through the form, in which the devotees worship him (Bhagwad Gita, Chapter 11). That is why we worship him in the form of icons. Let me quote a couple of verses from Svetavatara Upanishad to support my point:

"Subtler than the subtlest, stable in the midst of great confusion, the creator of all, bearing many forms, holding the entire universe in his embrace, when one knows him as the auspicious, a great peace shall descend upon him."

(Svetavatara Upanishad; chapter 4:14)

"You are woman. You are man. You are the son and also the daughter. As an old man you walk with a stick. being born you assume faces in many directions."
(Svetavatara Upanishad; chapter 4:3)

Thus, from the above mentioned verses we can conclude that god has no specific form, but he is capable of taking any form. Hence, there is nothing wrong in worshipping him in the form of icons.

Significance of icon worship:-
1.The idea behind icon worship is to promote harmony and brotherhood. Icons (murtis) are normally made of stone/iron or other hard objects, which is a reminder of the fact that, Hindus have such high respect for every creation of the god, that they worship even the hard objects created by him (such as stone, iron etc ) as the god himself. So one can just imagine the respect, which a Hindu will have for a human being, which is the supreme creation of the almighty.

2. While praying, one needs to meditate and concentrate on the almighty. Concentrating on a particular icon helps the devotee remain focused, and prevents their thoughts from wandering off. After constant practice, if one reaches an advanced stage of concentration, then he does not need to worship icons. For example, the Brahmarshis or the Maharshis, who used to go to the forest for tapasya, needed no icons as they could focus on shunya(zero). But not every one on this planet has such high level of concentration, therefore, icon worship becomes necessary for such people.

PS: Many of you must be wondering as to why have I used the term 'icon worship' instead of 'idol worship'. Well, one of my friends, Chris, who is a U.K. based practising Hindu, once informed me that when we use the term 'idol worship', many a time, the native speakers of English (citizens of USA, England etc), end up getting the impression that we worship false god (as the word 'idol' also means false). Hence, the correct translation of murti puja is icon worship and not idol worship. Please pass down this message to all the Hindus.

References:

(1). Isa Upanishad, verse IX - XIV

(2). Svetavatara Upanishad, Chapter IV

(3). Bhagwad Gita, Chapter XI

Related reading:

(1). Translation of the 18 verses of Isa Upanishad by Jayaram V

(2). Translation of the 18 verses of Isa Upanishad by Swami Paramananda

(3). Sanskrit verses of Isha Upanishad, their translation and commentary by Sri Aurobindo

For more insights on Hinduism, please Visit Chris' blog:

Western Hindu