Dear Sriman Krishna, I will try to answer with whatever I know. 1. Firstly the word "idol" is the word used by westerners to degrade our religion. So we should not use that. The right word would be "icon". 2. Secondly we need to understand the concept of symbolism. For example: a nation will have its flag, a corporation will have its own logo etc.. Now the flag itself is not a country, but it represents that country, similarly the logo will only represent the company. But for these symbols, it is difficult to visualize and deal with the big entities like country and company. 3. When we need symbols to identify physical entities like mentioned above, imagine visualizing and understanding the biggest entity i.e the "Paramathman" without a symbol. It is going to be very tough for majority of us. So the "icon" or the "image" of the God is requried. 4. Also, we need the forms say of Rama, Krishna etc.. to fix up our concentration on the God in order to attain spiritual advancement. (Ofcourse, there could be some individuals who may not need it.) So, by worshipping the image of God, we are not limiting him to one thing. I hope that answers your 1st question. Some body better knowledgeble could answer your 2nd question. Regards Mohan.R On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 Krishna Iyengar wrote : > >Dear All, >I want to introduce myself as krishna. I am currently studying engineering >in chennai. I have joined this group recently as I wanted to learn about >my religion. Having lived all my life in north, I have been unfortunate >enough to miss out learning these things during my childhood. But I look >forward to my education in the days to come. > >I have a few queries. I apologize if my questions are misplaced in this >group. Please tell me if it is so. > >If god is beyond any description capable by the human mind then why do we >resort to idol worship. Arent we limiting god to something which we can >describe when he much much more than that? > >I wanted to learn the meaning of the veda mantras here. I approached some >people here in chennai and everybody insisted that I first memorise them >and only then would they be willing to explain. Why is it so important for >me first memorise them before trying to understand? Can I really being to >understand them without a guru? > >Again, please excuse me if I have offended anybody. It is out of ignorance >that I am asking these questions. > >Sincerely, >Krishna > > > > > >azhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyAr thiruvadigalE saranam > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/.itolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> azhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyAr thiruvadigalE saranam Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ramanuja/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: ramanuja-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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