It is customary to install these images in temples which millions of Hindus visit to offer worship. What is the justification for this? Also, what is the significance of a temple??
God exists. He is the creator and controller. His grace gives us happiness and peace. His wrath brings about sorrow and suffering. Mankind all over the world has cherished this belief in some form or other. Once it is conceded that such a God exists, there must be an easy means of approaching Him and propitiating Him. That is the temple. The temple is the structure we put up with devotion for the residence of God when He descends to this world for our sake. It is something like the camping of the king of a State in a part of his territory.
The essential parts of a temple are: the Garbhagriha housing the icon of the deity, the Shukanasi and Antarala which are the adjoining passages, the Navaranga or Mantapa which serves as a multipurpose hall for religio cultural activities, the Dhvajastambha or flag post and the Balipitha or the pedestal for offerings. Bigger temples have smaller shrines for the minor deities associated with the chief deity. high walls surrounding the whole campus, places reserved for performing sacrificial rites and cooking, for housing the deity (taken in procession), sheds for the temple car, wells and tanks, as also gardens.
The structure of a temple is highly symbolical. Primarily it indicates God as the Cosmic Person. The Garbhagriha or sanctum sanctorum is His head, the Gopura (tower at the main entrance) is His feet, the Shukanasi His nose, the Antarala His neck, the Prakaras (the surrounding high walls) His hands and so on. Alternatively it represents the body of man, with God residing in his heart. The temple may also represent the whole creation.
In temples consecrated according to scriptural rites, the images are considered to be alive. Hence, formal worship is a must. This worship ranges from one to nine times per day, depending on the extent and resources of the temple. On special festival days, celebrations are conducted. lie biggest of such celebrations is termed Brahmotsava (brahma=big). The Rathotsava or temple car festival is also held during this period. The temple car is a moving symbol of the temple.
Those who want to visit the temple are expected to enter it physically clean and with the proper mood of faith and devotion. Walking silently straight to the sanctorum, and after offering, they should come out and then circumambulate the shrine. Formal obeisance should be done from a place outside the flag post. Then, they should visit the minor shrines and spend some time in meditation, sitting in a secluded spot on the north eastern side of the temple. it is incumbent on the visiting devotees to .maintain the purity and sanctity of the temple.
What is the significance of worship, whether at home or at the temple? Is there any prescribed method for doing it?
Puja or worship is a loving entertainment of God, even as we entertain our friends and relatives whom we love.
The several steps involved in such worship may be briefly stated as follows:
Avahana (invoking the presence of God in the image or symbol), Asana (offering a seat), Padya and Arghya (giving water for washing feet and hands), Snana or Abhisheka (ceremonial bath), Vastra (offering Clothes), Candana (smearing sandal paste and other unguents), Pushpa (offering of flowers and garlands), Dhupa (burning incense),Dipa (waving of light), Naivedya (food offering), and finally Visarjana (bidding goodbye).
In the temples, the Abhisheka (bathing) of the image and its decoration are done more elaborately. If worship is performed with faith and devotion, it generates peace and joy in our minds. It is to be stated here that , according to the Agamas, God manifests Himself in a subtle form in the image or symbol duly consecrated and accepts the worship thus offered.
1. BirthKrushna belonged to the royal dynasty while Radha to an ordinary milkman’s family. Like Sita, She too was born out of a resolve (sankalpa).
2. Special features
Radha is the manifest form of devotion unto Krushna. In response to the question ‘How devoted should one be ?’ the Naradbhaktisutra writes ‘Like the gopis (wives of the cowherds) of Vraj (यथा व्रजगोपिकानाम्)’. Krushna Himself sent His great friend Uddhav to the gopis to teach him what devotion meant. The incident goes as follows -
Once to display the devotion of the gopis to others Krushna pretended that He had intense headache which did not respond to any medicine. Then He pronounced, ‘Krushna’s pain will vanish with the application of mud beneath anyone’s feet. However the one giving the mud beneath his feet will die. Proclaim this and then bring the mud which someone gives.’ No one was prepared to give the mud from under his feet.
On entering Gokul when Uddhav asked this question to the first gopi that he met, she replied, “If the mud under my feet will relieve Krushna’s headache then I am even prepared to go to hell.”
The devotion of the gopis is an illustration of ultimate devotion. Radha among them was like a jewel in the crown.
3. Futility of misinterpretation of the Radha-Krushna relationship
Radha’s spiritual love (priti), that is devotion unto Krushna has been misinterpreted as love in the Radha-Krushna relationship. Its futility will be realised if one considers Krushna’s age at that time. When Krushna left Gokul permanently He was only seven years old; thus His relationship with Radha was only during the period when He was three to seven years old.
4. The flute
The sound of the flute means the anahat sound. That sound had maddened all the gopis (wives of the cowherds). So one will realise how highly spiritually evolved they were. When leaving Gokul, Krushna gave His flute to Radha and never played it again. Thus He made sure that She constantly got the spiritual experience of Absoluteness (Purnatva) which is superior to anahat sound.
5. Implied meaning
5.1. ‘Water flows from a higher to a lower level. It is called a stream (dhara). When the letters of the word dhara (धारा) are reversed the word becomes radha (राधा). That stream which flows from below upwards is called radhagati. When it reaches the origin, it gets a spiritual experience of being Radha Herself. Acquisition of this state itself is called “blending into zero” or “sainthood”. In other words Radha and Krushna were one and the same. Krushna had Himself assumed Radha’s form to love Himself. Hence although Radha had merged into Krushna, She continued to worship Him for the sake of guiding the other gopis, that is attitudes. One will think that once a gopi reaches the zenith she will see several Radhas. Those following Radha, that is those seekers following the Path of Devotion will see only one Radha because there is no duality in spiritual love, only non-duality.’ - H.H. Kane Maharaj, Narayangaon
5.2. According to the Tantrik and Vaishnavite sects Rukmini representing the Energy of opulence is one of the two Divine Energies (Shaktis) of Krushna while Radha is the Blissful Energy (Ahladini).
A. The Energy of opulence: ‘When Sudama came to meet Krushna he brought along four handfuls of puffed rice. Even that was borrowed by his wife, from a neighbour. After Krushna had eaten just a pinch of the puffed rice Rukmini snatched it from His hands and said, “We are 16,008 in number. Let us all partake of atleast one grain.” She did this because She knew that if Krushna ate even a pinch, Sudama’s city would turn into gold. So if He were to eat everything then the eight supernatural powers along with the entire wealth from the three regions - earth, nether world and heaven would have to serve Sudama all their lives. So great would be the opulence that he would acquire. Rukmini did this because She was the Energy of opulence rather the deity of wealth, Lakshmi. If a devotee of The Lord has devotion with expectation (sakam) then it is only the Energy of opulence which stops him from acquiring all types of opulence totally.’ - H.H. Kane Maharaj, Narayangaon. In short, the Energy of opulence helps in endowing a devotee having expectation with some opulence while the Blissful Energy imparts the spiritual experience of Bliss to the devotee without expectation (nishkam).
B. The Blissful Energy: Radha was the Blissful Energy. She never intervened when The Lord endowed someone with riches because Her incarnation was meant for spiritual emotion generated from devotion. Hence that spiritual emotion (bhav) is referred to as Radhabhav. The spiritual emotion of Radha (Radhabhav) or Radha refers to the Adnya chakra.The implied meaning behind this is when a worldly person or a Guru merges into Krushna when carrying out worldly transactions or preaching to disciples respectively they descend to the level of the Adnya chakra.
This stream of spiritual emotion progressing from below upwards in other words is the progress of the devotee towards Self-realisation. Radha being Krushna Himself was a devotee who remained absorbed in Bliss. She certainly does not obstruct someone from being gifted with opulence. Even if God were to endow someone with Bliss She would not stop Him because Her Bliss never declines. The moral behind this is that by giving opulence to others it decreases, Bliss does not.
In reality, internally were Rukmini and Radha distinct from each other? Certainly not. But They behaved according to the mission of Krushna’s incarnation. Though They were merged into Krushna They did not become separate because to become separate one needs to have ego. Since The Lord does not have ego His actions (karmas) are referred to as divine play (lila) and the play of man are called actions because of his ego.
5.3. ‘Radha was first created in the Go region (Golok) and then became Krushna’s lover. Later She was born in Vrundavan to the cowherd (gopa), Vrushbhanu and became the idol of the devotees in Vrajamandal. She married a Vaishya (businessman) youth named Shashan; actually it was only Her replica which married him. Keeping Her image in Her physical body Radha left that body and merged Herself into Krushna’s heart in Her primal form.’
6. The divine play of Lord Krushna (rasalila)
The word rasa (रस) has originated from two sources - (रसानां समूह:) means the collection of nine rasas and (रस: उत्पद्यते यस्मात्) means that from which ras is generated. The rasa dance (rasakrida) is a beautiful event in the lives of Krushna and the gopis (wives of the cowherds). During the dance Krushna endowed them with the spiritual experience of non-duality (advait).
Reference: 'Vishnu and His forms', Published by Sanatan Sanstha
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