Talk:Saguṇa Brahmaṇ As Mūrti:When Mūrti Pūjā becomes a Fetish
By Sri Vishal Agarwal
The foregoing discussion demonstrates that from a theological perspective, mūrti-pūjā is quite defensible. The drawbacks arise, as with every other mode of worship, when people mistake the wood for trees, by making it a fetish. The following stories show how some ignorant people can make a mockery of mūrti-pūjā.
Story 1: Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahaṃsa scolds Māthur Bābu
Once a thief broke into the temple of Viṣṇu and robbed the image of its jewels. Māthur Bābu and I went to the temple to see what was the matter. Addressing the image, Māthur said bitterly: 'What a shame, Bhagavān! You are so worthless! The thief took all the ornaments from your body, and You couldn’t do a thing about it?' Thereupon I said to Māthur: 'Shame on you! How improper your words are! To Bhagavān, the jewels you talk so much about are only lumps of clay. Lakṣmī, the Devī of Fortune, is His consort. Do you mean to say that He should spend sleepless nights because a thief has taken your few rupees? You must not say such things.[1]
Story 2: Worshipping mūrtis but ignoring the living Divine
One bright morning, the Guru [= Śrī Nārāyaṇa Guru] was standing under a mango tree at Śivagiri. A young brahmacārī disciple had got up in the morning as usual. He gathered flowers. He went from temple to temple and was busy prostrating before the idols and offering flowers. In one of the temples, there was a beautiful portrait of the Guru. The brahmacārī placed flowers before the portrait, lighted camphor, and with folded hands, recited the Saṃskṛta stanza which sings the glory of the Guru:
Guru is Brahmā, Guru is Viṣṇu, Guru is Maheśvara. At that time a number of devotees were standing around the Guru. He said to them: 'Look at this strange thing! I am standing here in flesh and blood. I have not had my breakfast yet. My portrait is more fortunate than I am! It has camphor light, floral offering and song recital before it.' In this humorous way, the Guru taught that such is the way of thoughtless custom.[2]
Story 3: Bhagavān resides in an Unconsecrated Mūrti if there is Faith
Perhaps an antidote to these excesses of mūrti-pūjā is this beautiful story from the life of Śrī Rāmānujācārya:
Once, some street urchins were playing a game on a sandy stretch of a sidewalk. They fashioned a mandira on the sand, and crafted a mūrti of Bhagavān Viṣṇu inside it. Then, the kids conducted a pūjā with great faith and love. After the pūjā was over, the kids picked small amounts of sand and offered it as prasāda to passersby. But most passers-by merely laughed at the kids’ game, and threw the sand offered to them mockingly. However, when Śrī Rāmānuja walked by and saw the kids’ mandira and their devotion, he prostrated down on the street and bowed to the sand mūrti and the mandira. His disciples were amused and asked him, "They were just playing a game. Why did you take the trouble to prostrate to their sculpture?" Rāmānuja said, "Bhagavān dwells wherever there is innocence, faith and devotion. Did you not see these qualities in the eyes of the kids? They genuinely believed and saw Bhagavān in their own sand mūrti. And therefore, Viṣṇu indeed exists in the mūrti and I bowed to Him."
The extremely popular Śāstra Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa has Bhagavān warning against ignoring living human beings in our midst while expending great energy, resources and time in the worship of mūrtis because in a way, all living beings are themselves walking embodiments of the Divine:
"I abide in all beings as their innermost soul. Disregarding My Presence within them, men often make a show of worshipping Me through images." Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.29.21
"If one disregards Me present in all as their foundation and the Bhagavān but ignorantly offers worship only to images, such worship is as ineffective as sacrificial offerings made in ashes." Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.29.22
"A man who persecutes Me residing in others, who is proud and haughty, who looks upon Bhagavān as someone different from fellow humans – such a person will never attain to peace of mind." Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.29.23
"If a man disregards and persecutes fellow beings but worships Me in images with numerous rituals and rich offerings, I am not at all pleased with him for proffering such worship." Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.29.24
"A man should, however, worship Me in images, side by side with discharging his duties, which include the love of all beings, until he actually realizes My Presence in himself and in all beings." Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.29.25
"As long as man is self-centered and makes an absolute distinction between himself and others (without recognizing the unity of all in Me, the Inner Pervader), he will be subject to the great fear of Death (including every form of deprivation of self-interest)." Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.29.26
"So overcoming a self-centered life in which one separates himself from others, he should serve all beings with charity, honor and love, recognizing that such service is really being rendered to Me who reside in all beings as their innermost soul." Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.29.27