The glory of India still lives on because of temples. Our civilization has acquired its culture from temples. Temples are a refuge of peace for those wearied by the strife of life. It is only in front of a temple that heads of proud and powerful kings, emperors, potentates bow in humility and worship. Since time immemorial, temples have always had pride of place in the history of India. Many sacrifices have been made in order to preserve and protect the prestige of temples; terrible wars have been waged against invaders.
Just take a look at the history of the Somnath temple. A staunch supporter of Islam, Mahmud Ghaznavi, wrought havoc and destruction upon this temple several times. Perhaps this was the reason that Islam gained a foothold in India. Muslim rulers attacked temples because they did not believe in statues. They wished to witness some miracles. Indians bravely faced the brunt of these assaults. In order to protect the glory of their temples, Indians sacrificed their lives without flinching because temples are symbols of pure feelings and we have always strived to maintain their unbroken purity. Muslim kings did not attack temples only for their wealth, but for their own glory and our ancestors also fought to protect their glory.
We may be able to grasp the importance of temples through this example. Once Sri Ganesha and Sri Kartikeya were asked to circumambulate the whole world. Kartikeya set off and completed this circumambulation; however, our Ganeshji simply performed a perambulation around a temple of Shiva and sat down. Even if this is a token or symbolic gesture, it is also a way for the heart to experience this sentiment. Our rishis and sages have tried to describe the divine by saying ‘Neti, Neti’, not this, not this, but this put a block in the understanding of the general public. People sought an image or a figure which they could contemplate upon, adore, worship so that the formless divine could be experienced through a form. Unless and until we see a form of any object or a feeling, we find is difficult to believe in it. Whenever man has tried to explore the esoteric and mysterious realms in order to experience the form of divinity, he has always thought that there must be something beyond it and then he began to experience that there is a force or power which controls all creation; but it is beyond the reach of mere mortals.
Our ancestors had their first glimpse of divine consciousness in the heavens; while witnessing the beauty of the dawn and sunset a stream of poetic expressions poured forth from their hearts. Filled with awe at the wonders of nature, they composed beautiful hymns of praise. Looking at the lives of man and animals, they began to think that there must be a creator who bestows life upon them. They felt the consciousness of divinity in plants and trees. Then they experienced the presence of divinity in the banyan, tulsi and other plants and in the whole world of vegetation.
In this manner, the feeling towards the existence of Brahma, the creator, developed even further. Gradually the tangible experience of divine presence in nature became stronger. The glory of God was seen as a living form in places of austerities. This feeling slowly developed and people began to see the divine within their homes. When it was difficult to go out and have first-hand experience of this divine form, people slowly brought the gods into their homes. Initially, this practice was happily accepted but over time it did fall into decline. On one hand people used to perform their daily rituals, meditation, worship, sing kirtans and so on, while on the other hand they also led indulgent lives.
Later there came a time when life was a struggle to obtain food, clothing and housing. There was widespread disturbance. The land was divided into smaller and smaller principalities. People became more and more engaged and occupied with business, trading and the accumulation of wealth. This lack of time and decreasing interest resulted in the practice of worship and rituals slowly dying out. People were satisfied with the bare minimum of daily practices. Then there was a revolution in the vedic period. The Brahmins thought, if not in each home, there should be a temple in each neighbourhood. Prior to this, there were no community temples. Slowly people got together and started building temples in cities and towns.
Over time, temples became centres of spiritual and social activities. Even those intoxicated with their own arrogance who refused to bow before anyone began to humbly offer their obeisance in temples. This is a psychological expression. The effect this had on society was that people started to accept that there is a great and all-powerful force enthroned in the world; this very feeling took root and became well established. The forms enshrined in temples were seen as the forces which dispensed the fruit of right and wrong, virtues and evils. It was believed that this was the force, the power, the consciousness and the glory which could purify the dross of the mind and clear the darkness from within the heart.
However, today people have started saying that they are atheists, they do not believe in idol worship or god. But can anyone be truly an atheist from the heart? We meet people who are atheists as well as non-atheists, people who believe and those who do not believe. It has been my experience that even an atheist is afraid of saying, ‘There is no god.’ This land of ours has been anointed with the blood of our ancestors. This is the reason why the feeling, devotion, faith and fear we have about god in our hearts cannot be erased by anyone. There is a power which bestows upon us the fruit of our good and bad actions, we cannot be disrespectful towards it.
Not everyone can go on pilgrimage and visit holy places; that is why we make a small temple within our homes. We place a statue of god there, we offer our worship, devotion, oblation and obeisance. We offer prasad and make a small gesture by placing some money there; this is all very well, it is a good feeling and attitude – to bow our heads before god. We receive the teaching and training of faith, trust, devotion, sadhana and regularity from temples.
When Islam began to spread in the land, the prestige and position of temples receded to the background and in the time of British rule, except in South India, almost all temples in the North suffered due to their indifferent attitude to Hindu religion. Today there is no attraction left in temples. But isn’t god omnipresent? Even science accepts this as a fact. But can stones catch fire? Can it be made into food? Stones cannot satisfy thirst. When the divine element is given an appropriate form in an appropriate manner, then we can experience it. That glory and that consciousness can be experienced by us.
It does not behove us to show disrespect to temples. If there was respect for temples today, we would pick up the stones which are falling down into disrepair and protect the temples; we would make the attempt to retain the temples as temples and not let them turn into ruins. Today those temple stones are falling down for which our ancestors sacrificed their lives. Consciousness pervades every stone; it is that awakened consciousness which we worship. Then where is the question of being limited by the narrow confines of communalism?
Witness the formless divine within the form, outside, within, above, below, within the temples outside and within the heart, in the idols and also within all humanity. Purify yourself and offer worship. Have a conscious understanding of each and every ritual which you perform in a temple. Along with the external actions, there also have to be internal observances. When you light the lamp filled with ghee in front of the temple in your home, light the lamp within your heart as well. May the rituals we perform on the external plane aid us to connect at the internal level and may we be purified.
This spiritual message from Sri Swami Sivanandaji was given by Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati during a satsang on 28 January 1956 at a public program in Lala-Tutwadi, Patan, North Gujarat. Reported by Shri Rasikbhai Suthar.