Form

Ritualistic worship

Dhyanartham Bhrantabuddheenam Kriyadambaravarthinam

Kevalam Varnitam Pumsam Vikalpamihataathmanam

Can the supreme be realised through idol worship and rituals? Shiva's answer initially was "No," when he pointed out that the outer world of name and form was just an illusion. But there is a purpose for ritualistic worship. A person of deluded intellect, with a restless mind urging him to do some work or the other, idol worship and ostentatious rituals involving much action, pomp and display have been described. Such people who find it difficult to sit still and meditate on the supreme reality of consciousness can apply their mind to go through ritualistic worship with flowers, fruits, mantras, dressing up deities in the form of idols, bathing them and decorating them, carrying them around the streets in processions, offering them with food and celebrating their birthdays as festivals, among other ways.

For such people, these actions prescribed will help to channelise and divert their energies and quieten the mind to make it ready for approaching the truth later. - Swahilya Shambhavi

(Maha Shivaratri, Patanjali Yoga Sutra, Bhagavad Gita, Tirumandiram, Himalayas, Satsang in Chicago, swahilya.soulmate@gmail.com)