renuka
Well-known member
[video=youtube_share;D5bjycdVfXw]https://youtu.be/D5bjycdVfXw[/video]
This video totally broke my heart.
Rajiv Malhotra talks about God concept in Hinduism and idols are not mere symbols but a living deity invited to reside in the idol by Prana Prastishta.
He first says that in Hinduism ..God is capable of taking various forms hence we have deities.
Then he says..each deity has likes and dislikes and their distinct personality hence if a deity is male or female it has its own prescribed rules to be followed.
Ok..this is what that broke my heart cos nothing jived with Vedanta.
Going by everything is in Brahman...I always viewed an Idol as a symbol for focus..i never viewed it as a symbol for God cos I know we cant actually know anything about God.
But then Malhotra makes it sound as if deity too is a from God but then goes on to say the deities have their likes and dislikes.
How can this be?
If at all a deity is a Prana Prasthisfied form of Brahman..shouldnt rules of oḿ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaḿ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate
pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate
apply?
That is the deity too should reflect Brahman and not come with whims and fancies and with a gender and not allowing females into a temple cos the deity is a Brahmacarin?
How can this be ever connected to Brahman when everything is created by Brahman?
Malhotra talks of God and then deity as if he makes it sound the same yet gives it a distinct flavor by saying there is no one rule to fit all deities.
So its clear that what is in a temple isnt really the Supreme.
Its as if we humans have created deities according to what we desire.
In Geeta Krishna clearly says that in mode of Tamas other beings are worshiped and one goes to their loka upon death.
Coming to Prana Prastistha...how accurate is it?
How are we so sure we invited a deity and not some other entity?
I will post another video where a Shankaracharya says in Hindi that if rules of a temple is broken the devata /devi will leave and a ghost will occupy the idol!
BTW I teach Sanskrit too now and some of my students are priests who do all these poojas yet they do not know Sanskrit as a language...so when a person doing all these poojas have no idea of the meaning of what they chant..does the Prana Prasthista really work?
So what is it inside a temple?
We humans create "God"?
How can the created(humans) create a Creator?
Logically we cant create our parents...we can only create children but we can kill our parents.
So have we Hindus killed God?
This video totally broke my heart.
Rajiv Malhotra talks about God concept in Hinduism and idols are not mere symbols but a living deity invited to reside in the idol by Prana Prastishta.
He first says that in Hinduism ..God is capable of taking various forms hence we have deities.
Then he says..each deity has likes and dislikes and their distinct personality hence if a deity is male or female it has its own prescribed rules to be followed.
Ok..this is what that broke my heart cos nothing jived with Vedanta.
Going by everything is in Brahman...I always viewed an Idol as a symbol for focus..i never viewed it as a symbol for God cos I know we cant actually know anything about God.
But then Malhotra makes it sound as if deity too is a from God but then goes on to say the deities have their likes and dislikes.
How can this be?
If at all a deity is a Prana Prasthisfied form of Brahman..shouldnt rules of oḿ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaḿ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate
pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate
apply?
That is the deity too should reflect Brahman and not come with whims and fancies and with a gender and not allowing females into a temple cos the deity is a Brahmacarin?
How can this be ever connected to Brahman when everything is created by Brahman?
Malhotra talks of God and then deity as if he makes it sound the same yet gives it a distinct flavor by saying there is no one rule to fit all deities.
So its clear that what is in a temple isnt really the Supreme.
Its as if we humans have created deities according to what we desire.
In Geeta Krishna clearly says that in mode of Tamas other beings are worshiped and one goes to their loka upon death.
Coming to Prana Prastistha...how accurate is it?
How are we so sure we invited a deity and not some other entity?
I will post another video where a Shankaracharya says in Hindi that if rules of a temple is broken the devata /devi will leave and a ghost will occupy the idol!
BTW I teach Sanskrit too now and some of my students are priests who do all these poojas yet they do not know Sanskrit as a language...so when a person doing all these poojas have no idea of the meaning of what they chant..does the Prana Prasthista really work?
So what is it inside a temple?
We humans create "God"?
How can the created(humans) create a Creator?
Logically we cant create our parents...we can only create children but we can kill our parents.
So have we Hindus killed God?
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