Gayatri Mahima

[Guest guest]

Q.1. Why is an idol or picture used for worship of God, who is formless? Are

there more than one Gayatri?

 

Ans. It is an oft-repeated question. It should be understood that basic purpose

of worship is meditation and contemplation; and name and form are essential for

meditation. Everywhere people coordinate feelings and symbols in order to refine

their sentiments. Every nation has its own national flag. Its citizens pay

reverence to the national flag and get infuriated when it is insulted. Even

communists, who consider themselves atheists offer salutation to the red flag

and when they go to Russia they pay a visit to Leningrad to have a glimpse of

the place where Lenin's embalmed body has been kept. Muslims who do not believe

in idol worship offer their prayers facing Kaba. They kiss the symbolic stone

`Sang Asavad' of Syah Moosa in Mecca. Arya Samajists express divine faith in the

letter `Om' and in performing Agnihotra. The obvious reason is that it is

convenient to concentrate the mind with the help of symbols. The work of

teaching the alphabet to children becomes easy when it is done through pictorial

symbols as Ka- Kabutar, Kha-Khargosh, Ga- Gamla, Gha- Ghadi, and so on in Hindi.

The same principle applies to installation of idols of gods and goddesses. The

Gayatri mahamantra does not have any other form or variant. Its authentic

classical form comprises a syntax of just twenty-four letters encompassing three

verses of eight letters each, three Vyahritis and one Onkar (o-o-o- m). It is

this ancient Mantra which is used during the traditional Sandhyavandan and for

Gurudeekcha during Yagyopaveet ceremony. It is also known as the Guru Mantra. It

appears that the other variants of Gayatri had been fabricated during the dark

Middle Ages by founders of various sects to propagate their own pre-eminence.