CHAPTER V.
Worship.
THE performance of the five daily sacrifices by man as an inter-dependent part of a universe, does not, however, completely satisfy the longings of the truly religious man. He longs to come into conscious relations with the Lord of the Universe, with Ishvara, with the great Life of which his own is a part. This need of man finds its satisfaction in worship.
When Vyasa, master of the final truth of Para-Brahma and ever working for the good of all beings, after he had written even the Mahabharatam and the Brahma-sutras for the instruction of men, still found not peace of mind, Narada counselled him to sing the praise of Ishvara ; and this he did in the Vishnu-Bhagavata, winning thereby the peace he did not gain before.*(विष्णु भागवत १/४ )
Worship is the expression of love to the Supreme, of reverence towards Him, of aspiration to reach Him in conscious communion, of longing to be united with him, to feel the unity of the individual self with the supreme self . It may take the form of praise of His Perfection, of prayer rooted in a sense of imperfection, of appeal to His Love, of recognition of His Power, of meditation on His Nature, of intense longing for His Unveiling and many another, according to the temperament and the stage of evolution of the worshipper.
But whether in the peasant or in the philosopher, it is the expression of the longing after Brahman ; the expression differs with the emotional and intellectual evolution, but the root-longing is the same. The All, the Unconditioned, is never an Object of worship. Attributes are needed for worship, on which the mind can be fixed, by which the emotions can be stirred.
The Saguna Brahman, Ishvara, is the Object of worship, whom all prayers and praises reach, to whom all contemplation is directed. He may be adored as Shiva or Vishnu, as Mahadeva or Narayana, as Durga or Lakshmi, as Ganesha, Indra, Agni, Sarasvatf, or as an Avatara Sri Rama, or Sri Krishna, or Buddha ; but under whatever name and form, it is Ishvara who is worshipped.
This explains a matter that often puzzles boys, why sometimes Shiva, sometimes Vishnu, is spoken of as the Supreme Being, why one Purana exalts One and another exalts Another ? All these are Forms ; and Ishvara is One. The worshipper is worshipping ishvara, and is thinking of Ishvara, under the Form which he loves best. He is not worshipping the Form, but the Lord in the Form as a wife loves her husband, not the clothes he wears, though even those may be dear for the sake of the wearer. The worshipper worships the Love the Beauty, the Power of Ishvara, as revealed in some one of His Divine Forms. We can only grasp a little, being small, but we grasp in our worship parts of the one Lord.
This is why the quarrels of different religions, and of different sects in the same religion, are so foolish and so ignorant. All are worshipping the same Ishvara, and the differences are only differences of names, due to differences in the worshippers, not in the Object of worship.
Puja is the general simple form of worship. A picture or image is used, mantras are recited, flowers are offered, water is poured out, and in these outer forms the inner love finds expression, and then rises beyond the forms to the Object thus served. The Form selected as representing the Object is sometimes the family Deva or Devi, and sometimes is the lshtadeva, the Form chosen by the worshipper himself, or by his Guru for him.
Upasana is a term that includes many forms of worship, including meditation, and the daily Sandhya, which should be performed by all followers of the Sanatana Dharma. There are two forms of Sandhya, the Vaidika and the Tantrika, and a boy should perform the Sandhya according to his caste and family customs. He learns it from a properly qualified instructor, and should then practise it daily. Meditation, in its definite stages, belongs to manhood rather than to boyhood.
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नैष्कर्म्यमप्यच्युतभाववर्जितं
न शोभते ज्ञानमलं निरञ्जनम् ।
कुतः पुनः शश्वदभद्रमीश्वरे
न चार्पितं कर्म यदप्यकारणम् ॥
(श्रीमद्भागवतपुराण १/ ५/ १२)
"Even the highest and most stainless knowledge, even perfect unselfishness in actions, shine not if uninspired by devotion to the Imperishable. How then shall acts (bring peace) which (aim at fruit and) are not pure, or even those that are performed without desire, if they are not offered up to Ishvara ?
"वह निर्मल ज्ञान (चार महावाक्य ) भी, जो मोक्ष की प्राप्ति का साक्षात् साधन है, यदि भगवान् की भक्ति से रहित हो तो उसकी उतनी शोभा नहीं होती। फिर जो साधन और सिद्धि दोनों ही दशाओं में सदा ही अमंगलरूप है, वह काम्य कर्म और जो भगवान् को अर्पण नहीं किया गया है, ऐसा अहैतुक (निष्काम) कर्म भी कैसे सुशोभित हो सकता है ।।12।।
ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते।।12.3।।
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