It’s been a long-drawn debate about whether one should worship the Divine with a form or without a form. This ideological difference has led to several disagreements amongst scholars as well as simple folk who subscribe to sanātana dharma. Today, let’s find out what is professed by the scriptures of sanātana dharma.
All of us, who are endowed with a name and a form, are naturally inclined to accept anything with a name and form, for the ease of understanding. It is therefore difficult to comprehend the idea of an abstract formless and nameless divinity by those who are bound by names and forms. We have already seen in various articles as to how sanātana dharma is the most pragmatic and flexible way of life with inclusivity at its core; and in this case too, sanātana dharma guides the seeker to choose between a form or formless worship.
In the twelfth chapter of bhakti yoga in bhagavadgītā, a confused Arjuna asks Sri Krishna as to who is superior, the one who worships a form or the one who worships the formless divinity. Sri Krishna replies, “Those who fix their minds on Me and always engage in My devotion with steadfast faith, I consider them to be the best yogins. But those who worship the formless aspect of the Absolute Truth – the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, the all-pervading, the unthinkable, the unchanging, the eternal, and the immoveable – by restraining their senses and being even-minded everywhere, such persons, engaged in the welfare of all beings, also attain Me.” (Chapter 12, bhakti yoga, Verses 2-4)
However, Sri Krishna acknowledges that those who have a form or a body, find it very difficult to worship the Divine as the one without any form or attributes. (Chapter 12, bhakti yoga, Verse 5) Elsewhere in the bhagavadgītā, Sri Krishna assures devotees that whichever name and form they would like to worship according to their preferences, faith shall be granted to the sincere seeker in that name and form. (Chapter 7, jñāna-vijñāna yoga, Verse 21).
Therefore, in sanātana dharma while everyone is encouraged to worship the formless aspect of Divinity, one is allowed to worship a chosen form to begin this journey on the spiritual path. Think of a baby which is just learning to walk and needs support to even stand on two feet; the same baby does not need any support to walk when he or she grows up. Likewise, forms and names support the seeker to finally attain the understanding of the formless. Most of the bhakti mārga saints who began with the worship of a form, ultimately declared to the world that their deity is truly the formless brahman only. In modern times, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who was devoted to the form of Mother Kali, when confronted and questioned by a worshipper of the formless – Totapuri about his idol worship, without mincing any words said that the Mother is simply the manifestation of the ultimate formless Divinity. Pointing to a snake, he said, the moving and crawling as well as the stationary and coiled, both are snakes only, indicating that the immovable reality of the formless as well as the moving and changing forms are both but the same divinity and can be worshipped either way.
Totapuri about his idol worship, without mincing any words said that the Mother is simply the manifestation of the ultimate formless Divinity. Pointing to a snake, he said, the moving and crawling as well as the stationary and coiled, both are snakes only, indicating that the immovable reality of the formless as well as the moving and changing forms are both but the same divinity and can be worshipped either way.
On the other hand, a staunch proponent of the formless aspect of divinity, Sri Adi Shankaracharya, who wrote the highest treatise of non-dualistic philosophy of advaita vedānta also composed many poems in the worship of several deities of different names and forms without any prejudice.
Humans, born with a strong sense of attachment to their bodies naturally need to overcome this attachment (dehābhimāna); this needs to be done progressively by shifting attention from their own forms to a divine form and subsequently reach the formless aspect. It’s like removing one thorn stuck in the foot using another one, but eventually discarding both. The worship of divine forms helps the seeker overcome ego and attachments arising out of body consciousness, and thereby transcend even the form of the divine, to attain the formless truth.
Many have ridiculed this approach but that is only because they haven’t understood the depth of sanātana dharma. Once, Swami Vivekananda was questioned by a king who did not believe in idol worship. Swami Vivekananda replied in the most practical way. He asked the minister to spit on the portrait of the king that hung on the wall. The minister refused and the king too was enraged considering it as a personal insult. Witnessing this frenzy, Swami Vivekananda replied that he had only asked the minister to spit on a piece of canvas on the wall and not on the real king who was seated on the throne and questioned the reason for their outburst and anger. This way, he proved that while the canvas carrying the picture of the king, though was not the real king, it did symbolise and represent the king and therefore it was equally respected. The same is the case with worship of the Divine in a form which is simply a representation of the formless, thus ought to be respected. The concept of pratikopāsanā – ‘worship of symbols’ is seen in the most ancient cultures of the world; when the seeker could not comprehend the formless Divine, he created a symbol of worship which he believed to be a representation of the Divine. This is comparable to the national flag or the national emblem that represents the entire nation and any disrespect to these symbols of the nation, is equal to disregarding the entire nation.
Statues of Gods and goddesses installed in various temples undergo an elaborate ritual called prāṇapratiṣṭhā, to turn them into living representations of the formless reality. Several processes called upacāras are followed by the appointed worshippers trained to discharge them. These temples which serve as abodes to the idols of deities thus aid as symbols which help the devotee connect with the divine within. They are more like cues or direction sign boards to undertake the journey within. It’s unfortunate that over a period these deep concepts have been reduced to mere superficial exercises of external worship, which is like getting both the thorns stuck in the foot now! Places of worship have been morphed into a mere courtroom where the supreme judge, God, would pronounce verdicts of rewards and punishments with the appointed high priests as the court men. But all this is far from the truth that sanātana dharma preaches that while a stone is also God manifested in that piece of matter, God is not stone alone. The photo of one’s departed father is also considered as his representation, but the father is not just the photo printed on a piece of photo paper! Isn’t it?
Sri Adi Shankaracharya, who wrote the highest treatise of non-dualistic philosophy of advaita vedānta also composed many poems in the worship of several deities of different names and forms without any prejudice.
Just because someone has never travelled out of his village, the existence of other places which he has not seen cannot be denied. In the same manner, someone who has not experienced the truth cannot deny its existence. There are those who have experienced the truth of worshipping a form as well as the formless and have thus proclaimed that both are acceptable.
Therefore, it’s undeniable that in the initial journey we need help with certain objects, symbols, names, and forms for worship, but eventually we grow out of it to embrace the formless and nameless. The millennial old traditions of sanātana dharma are thus carefully designed by the seers to help the common man also experience the highest spiritual connect. That being so, there is nothing wrong in worshiping the forms, but the problem is when we end up only worshipping the forms and do not make effort to transcend to the formless.
It’s undeniable that in the initial journey we need help with certain objects, symbols, names, and forms for worship, but eventually we grow out of it to embrace the formless and nameless.
īśopaniṣad declares in the very opening verse that all that there is, both moving as well as stationary, is pervaded by the same iśā – or divinity. The upaniṣad also explains through its verses 9-11 that there are two paths namely that of vidyā – the knowledge of the supreme formless aspect of the Divine, and avidyā – the ignorance of the supreme formless aspect, and thus, devotion to the manifested aspect. It further elaborates and cautions that those who adore the forms are subsumed by darkness, as that is not the ultimate reality of brahman who has no specific name and form. But those who adore the unknown formless aspect enter an even greater darkness, and apparently so because of their limited thinking that the Supreme Divinity can only be formless! However, the upaniṣad subsequently reconciles that by using the path of worship of the manifested divinity one crosses over death, and through the knowledge of the formless aspect one attains immortality. In essence, whichever path is taken by a seeker – worship of the form or the formless – if one is unable to appreciate that the same Supreme Divine which does not have any precise form, name, or aspects, is capable enough to manifest as a form with names and aspects too, one has not understood the truth in its entirety.
After all, can anyone question the ability, authority, or the choice of the Supreme Divine to be formless or take an explicit form?
We shall discuss this in the next article.
The very opening verse of īśopaniṣad declares that all is pervaded by the same iśā – or divinity.
ईशावास्यमिदं सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् ।
तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्य स्विद्धनम् ॥ १ ॥
īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ yatkiñca jagatyāṃ jagat |
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasya sviddhanam || 1 ||
All this-whatsoever moves in this universe (and those that move not) is covered (indwelt or pervaded or enveloped or clothed) by the Lord. That renounced, enjoy. Do not covet anybody’s wealth (Or – Do not covet, for whose is wealth?)
Ishavasya Upanishad – Verse 1
vidyā
the knowledge of the supreme formless aspect of the Divine
avidyā
the ignorance of the supreme formless aspect, and thus, devotion to the manifested aspect.