Na tasya pratimaa asti yasya nama mahad yashah.
Hiranyagarbha ityesha ma ma hinseet ityesha yasmat na jatah ityeshah.
(Yajur Ved 32-3)
Meaning:-
Na tasya pratima asti-->God can not be represented by an image or icon for God has no physical image,shape or form.
yasa nama mahad yashah-->His name is the Greatest Glory,ie.knowing him is Greatest Glory.
Hiranyagarbha ityesha-->God is the creator of the universe in this form I know ,praise and seek you.
yasmat na jatah ityesha-->God You are never born,in this form I praise and seek you.
ma ma hinseet ityeshah-->May you always protect me and may I never get hurt,in this form I know , praise and seek you.
Elaboration:-
This veda mantra clearly states that God has no physical image,shape or form,so it is not possible to make an image of God in a painting,icon,idol or a statue.Also,one can not represent Him as an earthborn deity or as a human being.God is not made of flesh and does not exist in any anthropomorphic form;at best He can only symbolically be described in such form.The mantra in second line further states that God was never born.Therefore,the Vedas disagree with the concept of God being incarnated in the human form.
ALTHOUGH , ALL HINDUS ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE VEDAS ARE THEIR ROOT SCRIPTURES , IN PRACTICE MOST HINDUS OFTEN IGNORE ITS TEACHINGS AND INSTEAD BELIEVE IN "PURAANAS" WHICH CONTAIN MANY MIRACULOUS STORIES OF VARIOUS DEITIES AND ANCIENT INDIAN KINGS AS WELL SOME DISTORTED VEDIC MESSAGES.
This may explain why most Hindus believe that God was born as Rama and later as Krishna and consider Rama and Krishna as God ,just the way Christians believe that Jesus is God.
Moreover,this mantra promotes direct prayer to God and indirectly discourages the practice of icon/idol worship in any form.Vedanta Darshan (4-1-4) also states ->Na Prateekay na he sah (an idol does not represent God--and one should not meditate on it) Contrary to the teachings of the vedas,however a large number of Hindus pray and worship before moortis--icons of various deities of God,devas--gods and goddesses.Most Hindus who pray before the deities consider them to be symbolic representations of the many facets of the One Almighty God or the ways to reach Him , BUT THIS IS INCORRECT PRACTICE AS PER THE VEDAS. This practice of Hindus , however is not very different from that of Christians especially Catholics who pray before statues or icons of Christ ,Mary and the various Christian saints.Hindus praying to various devas or Christians praying to saints are often trying to please a favorite deva (isht-deva)or saint respectively by an offering ,saying a prayer or doing a small penance. By such acts , they have the hope that one may be able to barter for forgiveness and also ask for fulfillment of some or all desires without necessarily having to make a real change in personal life.
IF ONE NEEDS HELP OR ASSISTANCE,WHY NOT PRAY TO GOD AND ASK GOD DIRECTLY,FOR HE IS ALWAYS WITH US AS OUR BENEFACTOR AND PROTECTOR ,RATHER THAN ASKING INTERMEDIARIES .GOD HAS NOT DIED , ONLY HIS ALLEGED INCARNATIONS ,DEVAS OR SAINTS DIED A LONG TIME AGO. THE SO CALLED INTERMEDIARIES WERE NEVER SUPERIOR TO GOD NOR WILL THEY EVER BE AND ARE NOT NECESSARY AS GO-BETWEEN BROKERS TO GOD.GIVING IS GOD'S JOB,BUT HE ONLY GIVES TO THE DESERVING BASED UPON OUR KARMA(EVEN WITHOUT ASKING) AND NOT BECAUSE OF OUR INDIRECT BRIBE TO HIM BY MAKING AN OFFERING TO THE ICON OR THE IDOL... Bribe is a deception and a sin. For good rewards God demands virtue and real penitence with a change in conduct of one's life, instead of superficial gestures.
The prayer rituals for many Hindus consist of one or more of the following:- going to the temple,prostrating before the moorti--icon of the deity ,saying a prayer,meditating.lighting an earthen oil lamp,making an offering of money or sweets,singing devotional songs.listening to a sermon. receiving "prasaad" (holy food)from the priest and perhaps ringing the prayer bell.
In my observations,Catholic Christians practice similar rituals by respectfully bowing or making a symbolic cross on their chest before a statue or picture of Christ or Mary (or other saints),singing devotional songs,listening to a sermon ,reading the bible.sometimes lighting a votive candle and receiving a communion with consecration of bread. WHILE THE RITUAL OF MAKING AN OFFERING AND/OR LIGHTING AN OIL LAMP OR CANDLE BEFORE THE MOORTIS OR ICONS OF DEITIES OR SAINTS MAY CONFIRM THE BELIEVER'S FAITH IN HIS/HER RELIGION AND MAY REMIND ONE OF GOD , DOES GOD WHO LIGHTS THE WHOLE UNIVERSE (AND ENLIGHTENS OUR SOULS) NEED THE LIGHT FROM AN OIL LAMP OR A CANDLE TO ILLUMINATE HIM ? DOES GOD , WHO FEEDS AND PROVIDES FOR THE WHOLE WORLD , NEED OUR OFFERINGS ? THE MOORTIS--IDOLS,ICONS OR STATUES ARE MADE OF STONE,CLAY,WOOD OR METAL AND ARE INCAPABLE OF HEARING OR SEEING ANYTHING , OR DELIVERING ANYTHING IN RETURN....In response to this statement,my Hindu friends who pray before a moorti--icon/idol (to them symbolic of God or His Powers) tell me that they are aware that the moorti-idol is made of stone or clay but the moorti is sanctified by the priests and they are praying to the Omnipresent God present in the idol and not the clay idol.the moorti helps them to focus on God rather than directly meditating on a formless God and bowing before the moorti shows their humility.
WHEN AND HOW DID THE PRIESTS ACQUIRE THE ABILITY TO TURN AN INERT MOORTI MADE OF STONE OR CLAY INTO A HOLY ENTITY AND MORE WORTHY OF WORSHIP THAN OMNIPRESENT AND OMNISCIENT GOD ?
ONE WILL NOT FIND OR ATTAIN GOD OUTSIDE ONE'S BODY IN THE MOORTIS--IDOLS,GOING TO A TEMPLE,CHURCH OR A MOSQUE,BUT INSTEAD WOULD FIND GOD INSIDE ONE'S BODY IN THE SOUL. THE MOORTI --ICON/IDOL,A STATUE OR A PICTURE OF A HINDU DEITY,CHRIST OR A CHRISTIAN SAINT IS A HUMAN CREATION AND NOT GOD'S CREATION. WHEN ONE MEDITATES IN FRONT OF THE MOORTI .A STATUE OR A PICTURE ,ONE MAY SEE A BEAUTIFUL AND / OR SERENE LOOKING CREATION OF AN ARTIST,BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT ALSO GLARINGLY SHOWS ITS LIMITATIONS IN REPRESENTING THE INFINITE GOD.
In addition ,priests to attract more donations to their temples or churches often attribute ridiculous "magical" powers to the moortis or icons e.g. moortis drinking milk in India (or icons shedding tears in the West) whereby fooling the gullible public into miracles and incredible beliefs. If one needed visible symbols of Infinite God it would be far better to find them in God's creations ,such as the universe , the sun , the moon ,the majestic snow-capped mountains and the vast ocean and these perhaps are better reminders of God and more worthy of worship than man's creations--the moortis,icons,statues of deities or saints.
TRUE WORSHIP OF GOD IS NOT A RITUALISTIC PRAYER ,REPEATING GOD'S NAME OVER AND OVER ,OR MAKING AN OFFERING IN A HOUSE OF WORSHIP BUT AN OPPORTUNITY TO CONTEMPLATE ON THE MEANING OF THE RECITED NAME OF GOD AND THE ATTRIBUTE(S) IT REPRESENTS. Further ,after one knows and understands the attribute of God ,the recited name reflects,then TRUE WORSHIP MEANS INCORPORATING AT LEAST A SMALL ELEMENT OF THE ATTRIBUTE INTO THE FABRIC OF ONE'S LIFE. AS GOD IS BENEVOLENT,BE BENEVOLENT AND HELPFUL TO OTHERS IN YOUR LIFE. AS GOD IS JUST ,BE JUST IN YOUR LIFE . AS GOD IS ULTIMATE TRUTH , BE TRUTHFUL AND HONEST IN YOUR LIFE...Also worship can mean incorporating life practices that do not pollute God's creations such as earth.
Therefore, as stated above it is a good policy to avoid worship before a moorti,an idol or an icon since God desires neither money nor gifts.The only thing God expects from human beings who are desirous of getting close to Him , is that they live virtuously ,be generous and be of service to their fellow humans. One must remember that nobody becomes learned by the company of an inert moorti or an icon.One acquires wisdom by learning from and interacting with the spiritually wise and learned persons as well as meditating upon Omnipresent and Omniscient God .Moreover if a moorti or an icon is the only thing that reminds one of God, a person is more likely to commit sinful acts in daily life when others are not watching because in other's absence the person is likely to forget God's Omnipresence.
If despite all what has been said above in the explanation of this mantra , a person finds that prayer before a moorti or an icon in a Hindu temple or Christian church or circling Kabba in Mecca is one of the most important things in his / her life and it alone makes him / her a better person , then......this is a personal choice .
(From the book--Who Is God? ..By--Sudhir Anand )
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