Informal Worship

The Hindu worship or prayer does not accommodate sermons. The mantras or sayings in both cases are well-defined, and there is little room for any improvisation or deviation of any kind in uttering them. Chanting the name of a deity individually or in groups is encouraged for informal worship. Often, people may congregate in the evening at a friend’s place or in the temple, and sing devotional songs together, preferably in the proximity of the image of a deity specially decorated and garlanded for the occasion. Fruits and sweets may be placed in front of the image, and shared by the participants at the end of the worship. The informality of the occasion does not demand the presence of a priest.

Repeated uttering of the mantra that one received from the guru has to be done in absolute privacy, preferably silently. It is only in privacy that one can offer one’s individual prayers in words that come from the heart. Internal worship, which is the least formal, is always preferred to the external. Even the requirement of putting on washed clothing does not apply to it. Meditation in the sitting posture with eyes closed is a kind of internal worship.

Meaning of Icons

We have already touched upon the topic of the spiritual meaning of Hindu icons in the introductory section. In this section, we intend to deal with the meanings of the icons of four deities of Hinduism in some detail – Ganesha, Shiva, Durga and Krishna. We will not go into the historical question of how the icons came to take the present forms. Whatever value such a study would have in its own merit, it is irrelevant to the spiritual consciousness of the vast number of people who hold the icons in reverence.

Ganesha

It is customary to begin the special worship of any deity with the worship of Ganesha. The name means the Lord of the people. He has the huge head of an elephant, since He must contain all of spiritual wisdom. The elephant’s dexterous trunk is used to handle both big things like a tree, or small things like a pebble, signifying that a yogi has to be versatile and make decisions according to the specific nature of the situation, without being mechanical. It stands for a discreet and supple intellect that adjusts readily to a situation with the ability to discriminate truth from falsity. The big stomach signifies the unconditional satisfaction of mind, which, though questioning, is full of bliss irrespective of what happens. The body of Ganesha, with its curved trunk, resembles the shape of Om in the Devanagari script. 

Of the two tusks standing for the right and the wrong, one is broken. This means that the mystic mood transcends the duality of both. Thus, it is not in the acceptance of the one to the opposition of the other, but in their transcendence that spirituality lies. Problems of the moral dimension, that deal with right and wrong, are properly addressed at the higher level of spirituality where the duality has been broken. 

The deity has four hands of which the top left holds a rope which stands for our attachment to the pleasures of life that bind us, instead of allowing us the freedom which is our innate right. Lord Ganesha cuts it with the help of an axe He holds in His top right hand, once the individual is on the correct spiritual track the merits His blessings, indicated by the posture of the bottom right hand. The state of freedom is one of unconditional bliss which is signified by the sweet (modaka, literally, that which pleases) held in the fourth hand. He is both the protector from obstacles as well as the bestower of fulfillment. 

Ganesha’s vehicle is a mouse which is shown looking at the Lord in expectation, crouching in the midst of all the food that has been offered to Him. It represents the fickle mind in the thrall of its desires. Such a mind has to be surrendered to the total command of the deity. Then only can it serve the purpose for which it is intended, viz., leading the being to the state of spiritual freedom. Thus, mind, though apparently fickle, is the vehicle for man’s spirituality, with proper discipline. The difference in size of Ganesha and the mouse poses the contrast between the finite mind and infinite spiritual wisdom.

Shakti (Durga)

Shakti, literally force, stands for the primordial female principle of energy that is at the root of the changing world. It is female because femininity, to be equated with motherliness, is the sustaining teleological principle that heeds the basic needs of man which are spiritual. She is called Durga, for She is the destroyer of obstacles on one’s spiritual journey. In the image of the deity, She is shown as ready to kill a demon that has originated from a buffalo which stands for the animal nature in us. It is only with divine help that man can conquer his animal propensities. The lion, the mount of the Goddess, represents man’s virility. The animal nature is to be conquered and kept under rigid control, but never absolutely abolished, for everything has its part to play when placed in the right perspective. It is to be tamed to serve the purpose of creation as a proper vehicle of the divine.

The ten hands of the omnipotent Goddess stand for Her protection of all the ten directions – north, south, east, west, north-east, south-east, north-west, south-west, above and below. She is always satisfied, which is the distinctive condition of a yogi with the highest of spiritual wisdom, and is shown smiling. She has a fair complexion which signifies sattva or morality at its best. At the top of the image the face of Shiva is indicated. With Her blessings, one reaches the domain of Shiva (Shiva-loka), which is of absolute peace. Thus, the dynamic principle (Shakti) leads on to the attainment of the static principle (Shiva) which constitutes the goal of human life. 

Shakti assumes the form of Mother Kali standing on the prostrate body of Lord Shiva, and is extensively worshipped in that form in the eastern part of India. Here She is worshipped in direct conjunction with Shiva whose changeless state is depicted in His lying down posture. Shakti, the principle of change, is shown as standing on Shiva signifying that all the changes in the universe are rooted in the principle of changelessness. 

Both Shakti and Shiva, the dynamic and the static principles, can be viewed from the macro and micro points of view. At the macro level, She is the receptacle of the universe, its inner strength and energy, and the guiding force behind it. It is She who has planned human nature the way it is, with the potentiality of the individual self’s final release through the attainment of Shivahood, i.e., the state of Shiva. At the micro level, She is the dormant divine force in its latent state of sleep, numbed as it is by the pre-spiritual state of the individual’s attractions to pleasures, at the bottom of his spine. The task of the aspirant is to revive the force in the upward direction of Shiva who is on the other end of the spine, letting it pass through five spiritual centers on the way. Their union is marked by a divine ecstasy, a moment symbolized by the abstract icon of the Shiva lingam, where the snake coiling around the lingam (literally, the mark), symbolizes the upward movement of the latent force toward Shiva.

Shiva

The word ‘Shiva’ means propitious. The deity is depicted both as a static as well as a dynamic principle. In the Shiva-Shakti context, He is the principle of changelessness and a supreme state of peace and joy, attainment of which is the goal of human life, as we have already seen. In the dynamic aspect, He is the creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe. The Nataraja (King of dances) posture depicts the moment of His dynamicity. Here, the creator aspect is signified by the drum in the upper right hand, standing for the primordial sound. The preserver aspect is indicated by the posture of benevolence and fear not, of the lower right hand. Protection is granted consequent on the kindling of the fire of wisdom in the aspirant’s heart, the fire that is held in His upper left hand. The fire is lighted with one’s total surrender at the feet of the Lord as suggested by the lower left hand pointed to the feet. The dance itself and the fire encircling the image stand for the destruction of evil (asura) propensities once we open ourselves up to Him, for in destruction lie the seeds of regeneration toward the state of divinity. At the base of the image evil personified (asura) is shown as crouching under His feet. His trident (trishul) stands for the state of equilibrium that the primordial elements – sattva, rajah and tamah – are in, elements that point to the single spiritual principle at their base. The crescent moon on His forehead signifies the gradual awakening of divine consciousness in us. The snake means the awakening of the divine energy, as has already been indicated. The vehicle of Shiva is the bull which stands for our animal nature that has been brought under His total control. 

The most abstract depiction of Shiva is in the form of a linga (mark) which stands for the principle of absolute changelessness around which all changes occur. He is the culmination of all our activities, right or wrong, which have a natural direction toward Him.

Krishna

The word ‘Krishna’ means black. As we have seen in the first section, the colour signifies that the Lord is not a physical being, but has a transcendental nature instead, above all manifestations of colours. According to Sri Ramakrishna, the famous Hindu mystic of the nineteenth century. He is black so long as we view Him from a distance. He has a permanent place in our hearts, bearing a more intimate and direct relation than any object of visual perception has with us. 

The Lord keeps on sending His enchanting and beckoning notes to us on the flute even as we suffer, oblivious to His inner presence. The rhythm and beauty of life, however, are restored once we are aware of this sustaining presence. The awareness comes with the realization that we are ourselves the flute. He has chosen as His instrument for divine aesthetic expression. While playing the instruments that we human beings are, He exhales His breath into us which is the breath of life. According to Lahiri Mahashaya, another great Hindu mystic of the nineteenth century, the Lord’s playing on His flute signifies the yogic technique of breath control following which the aspirant attains divine realization, passing through six spiritual stages as indicated by the six holes in the flute. 

The standing posture of the Lord itself depicts a superb rhythm showing the body bent at three places with the ecstasy of love. His crown has a peacock feather on the top, the circle in the middle of which stands for the third eye, also known as the spiritual eye. It is with this spiritual eye that He casts His glance of divine love on us. The whole mood is of a friend we must strive to relate to in all trust in expectation of His pure and loving company. 

Another depiction of the deity is in the form of a little boy (the Bala Gopala) who is longing for our affection with His outstretched right hand. The asking is spontaneous, and the giving has to be spontaneous and unconditional too. Spiritual life consists either in the cultivation of friendship with, or affection for the deity, depending on the aspirant’s dominant psychological disposition. The devotee is expected to sublimate his feelings and emotions in building a relation with the deity through the veneration of the icon.

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