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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00151 Jul 2004

 
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Dear Bhagavatas:
The sujbect has been dealt with in Chapter 10 "Descending God" in my book 
"Hinduism Rediscovered" and explains how we do not worship the image AS God but 
God IN the image.

The statement "simlarly idolatry is not something that even the shastras
approve of" is not correct. The very concept of "archaavataara" 
confirmed by Azhwars and Acharyas prove that it has the sanction of our 
Scriptures.

Dasoham
Anbil Ramaswamy
===========================================================================


dear members,
i just thought to share a few of my views on the subject. none of them are
quoted in the shastras, since every generation has to make their own
observations as well.

1. please do not use the word 'idol' to refer to statues of our divinities.
it is a derogatory word, selectively applied to hinduism, and implies 'blind
following', e.g. hritik roshan is a teen idol!

2. it is always christian icons, greek statues, islamic symbolism, but
hindu idols. simlarly idolatry is not something that even the shastras
approve of!

3. if it is just the granite that is important then why is the form, name
and stories of the lord attached to it? it is not just the material that is
important. the mental impact on the believer in the mental/physical
presence of his/her divine faith is the most powerful factor. this can be
achieved in the home puja room at sandhya or during meditation.

4. even a hindu of any denomination or group knows and should know that
statues are not worshipped for their material but for their symbolism. a
vishnu statue of gold, granite, wood, marble, sketch on paper are all
equally important.

5. while my aim is not at all to dampen the scientific discusison over the
topic of granite's importance in pH values, i request members to keep in
mind that spirituality and devotion don't work so much at the physical
level as much as at the mental level.

regards,
shashi joshi

Sudarshan K Madabushi worked magic with the keyboard on Tue, Jul 20, 2004 at 
01:22:22PM -0000:
> Dear Bhagavatas:
> As mentioned in aan earlier posting, it would be helpful if some PramaaNams 
> from our scriptures could be cited in support of the scientific explanations.
> Moderator
> ===============================================================================
> 
> 
> --- In SriRangaSri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Maya Iyengar <maya_s1717@xxxx> 
> wrote:
> > I wish to hear from fellow devotees their opinion about this and 
> the reasons for use of lime stone and wood in some temples. What do 
> aagamaas say about the choice of granite and other substances? 
> > Regards,
> > Maya.
> 
> 
> Dear member,
> 
> The forwarded article is very interesting. If the experiments 
> described are true, we now have at hand a sound (pun un-intended) 
> scientific justification for idolatry.
> 
> But it also makes one wonder about another thing.
> 
> If the granite inside the sanctum is so very important -- in terms 
> of 'pH factor', 'acoustic' and 'ionic' conductivity etc. etc. -- then 
> perhaps the time has come for us to  leave the 'moolavar-vigraham-s' 
> in our temples alone? Perhaps, we should no more 
> overburden 'moolavars' with all manner of "aabharaNam-s" (jewellery 
> of gold, diamond, precious gemstones, what not)? Surely, all the 
> heavy jewellery covering the idol (head-to-foot as in some of our 
> temples) must be negatively interfering with, why even diminishing, 
> all the positive energy the granite is said to generate?
> 
> Can scientific-minded members please throw some light?
> 
> Thanks and regards,
> 
> dAsan,
> Sudarshan 
> 



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