Idolatry - Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism grants equal status to all forms of worship and therefore it neither prescribes nor proscribes worship of images (murti) or "idols".

'Allegory' is a key element of Hindu religion and modern day experts in Communications and Business Communications recognise how superior it is as a concept to represent abstract ideas. Each attribute of the God as imagined by the devotee is depicted in form of a deity such as purity and potency in Linga, fierce ruthlessness towards evil in Durga, cosmic force in Vishnu, amenable kindness and auspiciousness in Ganesha, extreme and indomitable power and pride in Kumara, 100% victory in Hanuman (Hanuman was the flag symbol of Arjuna and was sitting atop Arjuna's chariot throughout the 18 days of the Kurukshetra war). The multiple heads or limbs of Lord Vishnu or Goddess Durga often seen in Hindu art, for example, would be intended to represent divine omniscience and omnipotence, whereas the use of an animal icons for vehicle would seek to allegorically represent particular abstract qualities associated with that animal/bird such as astuteness, agility or power. Gestures (mudra) the hand or the holding of a certain object are also heavily weighted with meaning. Certain tenets such as non-violence and search for God in all beings living and non-living led to depiction of several other forms.

Each individual icon thus becomes to the Hindu worshiper a complex statement of faith and every detail may be a focus of meditation and spiritual insight. To fully equate the divine with its icons or murtis would be a misinterpretation of the Hindu concept of divine reality. The argument of scholars of Abrahamic faiths is that any attempt to represent Him will only fall short since there is nothing equal to him and that such representations should not be worshipped. Further they opine that it is He that gives a certain creation / creature a certain set of qualities and making gods out of them is insulting the Creator. In the same way, Veda-centric Hindu reformist movements in the 18th - 19th centuries such as the Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj, were also highly critical of image worship like the Semitic religions and called for a return to the ancient Vedic and Upanishadic teachings.

Modern academic view is that in the Vedic period that preceded this, worship was primarily centred around the open-air fire altar (yajna-kunda) and no physical representations of the divine were used. 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 by the time of Bhagavata Purana, meditation was recommended along with and worship of pratima (murti) with the understanding that it is not an ordinary material object.

The Hindu sages closed their eyes and meditated silently (forms of Skt. tapasya and Skt. sadhana) - they did not need enclosures/buildings, nor even words or mental images for their meditation. But these sages did not abuse any one's murtis or call its worship a sin. They recognized it as an approach/stage in an individual's sincere spiritual progress guided by the principles of Dharma. As Swami Vivekananda said, "Would it be right for an old man to say that childhood is sin or youth is sin? .... Just because a few have passed by ignorance and attained knowledge, they cannot ignore that there are innumerable who haven’t tried at all. It is to be noted that in a man's journey of life, he is ever learning, some men are more literate, some are less; so is the case with some communities of our society against others (this dichotomy is common to all countries). The bottom line is: -

If Vedanta truly epitomises the state of learnedness, in achieving this spiritual progress "the first stage for a layman is the external/material worship; struggling to rise high, mental prayer is the next stage, but the highest stage is when the divine has been realized" Unity in variety is the scheme of nature, and the Hindu has recognized it and practised ever since the yore through his equanimity to all and universal tolerance". This conscious Hindu recognition and the respect for different approaches to sincere worship proved useful to Jews who migrated to India (for trading or fleeing persecution by other anti-idolatrous Abrahamical religions) and thrived for many hundreds of years before moving back to Israel in 1948. Thus for the common masses,

Now that Vedanta is recognised as the summit of spirituality, one should learn what the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad discusses on the essence of Vedanta. The dialogue between Rishi Yajnavalkya and his wife, Maitreyi, elaborates the essence of Vedanta. The three recognized states to the path of Self-realization are: Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana. 'Sravana' is the discourse of scriptures from a qualified Guru. 'Manana' means constant reflection upon what has been learnt so that intellectual conviction may be produced in the mind. Finally, 'Nididhyasana' implies meditation that helps to cause a direct realization of the unity of things in God. Knowledge should lead to experience; intellectual conviction should result in perception (pravritti). That is why meditation comes in the last stage of the spiritual journey. Again the scriptures insist that successful completion of the states is neither necessary nor sufficient for Self-realization.

Striving for Moksha (salvation) i.e. one-ness with the universal soul (Brahman) is the ultimate goal of Impersonalist. One should try to understand supreme person through worship (Bhakti yoga) or meditation (Raja Yoga), or by performing one's duties well (Karma Yoga) or pursuing the intellectual path (Jnana Yoga) is the goal of (Devotees) or (Personalist).

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada translates Lord Krishna's divine words from Bhagavad Gita, "Be steadfast in yoga (yoga-sthaḥ), O Arjuna, perform your duty (kuru karmani) and abandon all attachment (sangam) to success or failure (siddhy-asiddhyoḥ). Such evenness of mind (samatvam) is called yoga."

The Hindus believe with regard to God that he is one, eternal, without beginning and end, acting by free-will, almighty, all-wise, living, giving life, ruling, preserving; one who in his sovereignty is unique, beyond all likeness and unlikeness, and that he does not resemble anything nor does anything resemble.

Although Vedas describe God as a power beyond imagination and that individuals should pursue a path of enlightenment / Vedanta, the truth however is, they do not reject Idol Worship. In Puja Vidhaan/Prakriya, there is a host of procedures such as (1).Suchi i.e. cleanliness, use of silks, (2). Muhurat i.e. Auspicious Timing (3).Guru vandanam(4).Symbols such as wearing preferably silks, donning tilak or decoration of the pooja griha and mandir with lights, flowers & rangoli (5). Solemnising the deity - avaahana (invitation), sthaapan (installation) and puja (worship). (3). Use of 'puja dravya' such as ganga jal, akshata, kumkum, turmeric, panchamrita et., (6).Invocation through mantras or dhyanam i.e. silent meditation (7).'kirtans / bhajans' i.e. transcendental experience (7). Gifts to friends & relatives and Charity to the poor. Inter alia, the idol becomes an interface with the God - although He is formless the devotee can conjure the Lord of his definition in all his grandeur, power and divine attributes like karuna and kripa. That 'He' is formless is known to every Hindu but idol worship is one of the several ingredients of Bhakti to enable mortal beings of different backgrounds and limitations to approach and experience Him the one Supreme Being.

Thus as Christopher John Fuller, Professor of anthropology at London School of Economics notes that an image cannot be equated with a deity and the object of worship is the deity whose power is inside the image, and the image is not the object of worship itself.

The misleading notion that Hinduism is fundamentally idolatrous was addressed in the context of Abrahamic religions by the 11th century Muslim scholar Al-Biruni. Al-Biruni rejected the notion and established that Hindus do not necessarily need anthropomorphisms, but the crowd and the members of the single sects use them most extensively. Al-Biruni wrote that the Hindus believe with regard to God that He is one, eternal, without beginning and end, acting by free-will, almighty, all-wise, living, giving life, ruling, preserving; one who in his sovereignty is unique, beyond all likeness and unlikeness, and that he does not resemble anything nor does anything resemble Him.

From a historical perspective, image worship (Murti-PujA) is an ancient tradition as a small part within the overall Hindu tradition, with the oldest extant images of the classical Pauranik deities allegedly dating to Ramayana when Rama worshipped Lord Shiva at Rameswaram. Other early archaeological finds include idols of the Gupta period (c. 3rd to 7th centuries CE).

Although Hinduism is commonly represented by such anthropomorphic religious icons such as murtis, aniconism is equally represented with such abstract symbols of God such as the Shiva linga and the saligrama. Furthermore, Hindus have found it easier to focus on anthropomorphic icons, as Lord Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 12, Verse 5