The following is a short and succinct paragraph from the book " Super Science of Gayatri" explaining the use and purpose of Idols and pictures in worship. The book has been authored by Shriram Sharma Acharya and the enclosed excerpt is from page 159 of the enclosed text.
Quoted Text:
"Those who believe that God is
formless, pose a question why an idol or a picture should be installed to
worship? Such people should know that an important part of worship is meditation
and contemplation and name and form are very helpful for meditation. All the
paths of Sadhana and all religions have their own symbols in order to refine
their sentiments during worship.
Every nation has its own national
flag. Its citizens pay due regard to the national flag and protect it from
being dis-respected or defiled. Even communists who are known to be atheists
offer salutation to the red flag and when they go to USSR they pay a visit to
Leningrad to have a glimpse of the place where Lenin’s body has been preserved.
Muslims, who do not believe in idol worship offer prayers facing the Kaba. They
kiss the symbolic stone ‘Sange Asavad’ of Shah Moosa in Mecca. Arya Samaji
followers express divine faith in the
letter ‘Om’ and in performing Agnihotra.
The reason is obviously 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 in a symbolic manner. In Hindi we teach ka- sey kabutar, kha- sey khargosh, ga-sey gadha,
gha- sey ghadi, and so on. In English we teach A –is for apple, B –is for Boy
and C- is for Cat and so on ….The same principle applies to installation of
idols.''
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