| You are here: Sri Vaishnava Home Page : Bhakti List : Archives : July 2001 |
From: TCA Venkatesan (vtca_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Jul 06 2001 - 12:31:33 PDT
Dear Sri Srimahavishnu,
Thanks for your message about vEdap pramaaNam
for archaa worhsip. I would like to share with
you and other bhaagavataas, the following
article by Sri Sudarshan posted in another
e-forum, regarding adiyEn's question.
adiyEn madhurakavi daasan
TCA Venkatesan
--- "Sudarshan M.K." <sampathkumar_2000@yahoo.com>
wrote:
> Dear Sri.TCA,
>
> This is a very important question. All of us must
> take note of this
> and be aware of the 'veda-pramANa' for 'archA'
> worship.
>
> Sri.S.M.S.Chari in his book "Vaishnavism: Its
> Philosophy, Theology and
> Religious Practices" has dealt with this question in
> a very succint
> and convincing manner and I share it here below for
> the benefit of all
> members of the group.
>
> On Page 222 of the book he writes:
>
> "Idol worship... in Hindu religion can be traced
> back to the Vedas.
> One of the hymns of the Rgveda refers to the worship
> of Vishnu.
>
> "pravah pAntam-andhaso dhiyAyate; mahe sUrAya
> vishnavE cha archatE"
> (Rg.Veda
> I.155.1)
>
> "On the authority of this hymn Sage Marichi, one of
> the exponents of
> the Vaikhanasa Agama enjoins that Vaishnavas should
> worship Vishnu
> daily. On the basis of this Vedic authority Sage
> Saunaka also extols
> the worship of Vishnu...
>
> "One other hymn of the Rgveda makes an explicit
> mention of the worship
> of the idol as a means of God-realization:
>
> ado yad-dAru plavate sindhOh pAre apUrusham;
> tadArabhasva durhaNo tena gaccha parastaram.
> (Rgveda X.155.3)
>
> "The hymn states that that the 'purushOttaman' who
> resides in the
> farthest place manifests Himself in the form of a
> log floating in the
> ocean of Sindhu (Indian Ocean); it is a divine form
> and not made by
> any human being (apaurusheya) and by offering
> worship to this wooden
> image, one will attain the Supreme Being.
>
> "That this hymn refers to idol worship is proved by
> the fact that
> 'skanda purAna', while speaking of the greatness of
> Jagannath (deity
> at Puri, Orissa, which is wooden) elucidates this
> hymn... (We should
> also not forget that in Kanchi-puram, under the
> waters of
> the temple-tank at the SriVaradaraja temple, there
> is preserved a
> beautiful wooden idol of Varadarajan, taken out for
> public worship
> once in 40 years!).
>
> "It is not therefore correct to say that Vedic
> religion is primarily
> concerned with the worship of deities in the form of
> 'yagnya' or
> sacrificial rites in the consecrated fire and that
> it does not allow
> the worship of idols. The word 'yaj' etymologically
> means worship of a
> deity ('yaj devatA pUjyAm'). Worship is done in 4
> ways: 'japa' or
> recitation of mantras, 'huta' or offering oblations
> through the
> sacrificial fire, 'archana' or offering worship to
> an image of God and
> 'dhyANa' or meditation. All the 4 ways have been
> observed in the Vedic
> times, according to the capacity of the individual
> devotee, though
> more emphasis seems to have been given to 'yagnya'
> or 'huta'. Even in
> the performance of 'yagnya', the individual divine
> beings have to be
> invoked by reciting appropriate Vedic hymns in a
> media such as 'kusa'
> or blade of grass, 'kumbha' or a water-pot, 'agni'
> or the sacred fire.
> The consecration of God in an idol prescribed by
> 'pAncharAtra agama'
> through certain religious rites is similar to it..."
>
> Trust the above clarifies your question.
>
> Regards,
> dAsan,
> Sudarshan
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail
http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------
- SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
To Post a message, send it to: bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/