“One time, that wicked king of the Daityas saw his son of lotus-like face and beautiful eyes, surrounded by women, having returned from the home of the guru. In his hand, that boy was holding a slate which had the mark of a chakra at the top and the name of Krishna written with great adoration.” (Narasimha Purana, 41.35-36)

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तं पद्मवक्त्रं दैत्येन्द्रः कदाचित् स्त्रीवृतः खलः
बालं गुरुगृहायातं ददर्श स्वायतेक्षणम्
गृहीत्वा तु करे पुत्रं पट्टिका या सुशोभना
मूर्ध्नि चक्राङ्किता पट्टी कृष्णनामाङ्कितादरात्

taṃ padmavaktraṃ daityendraḥ kadācit strīvṛtaḥ khalaḥ
bālaṃ gurugṛhāyātaṃ dadarśa svāyatekṣaṇam
gṛhītvā tu kare putraṃ paṭṭikā yā suśobhanā
mūrdhni cakrāṅkitā paṭṭī kṛṣṇanāmāṅkitādarāt

“Just hear me out on this one. Take religion out of the picture, for the moment. Pretend that we are involved in a completely different activity. You can call it secular, if it makes you feel better. In this activity, you and I are visiting a certain building. We walk inside. The place is nice. The atmosphere is calm and peaceful. The floors are made of marble. The scents are refreshing. Flowers everywhere and beautiful paintings on the wall.

“There is a cadence to follow. We walk up to something like a main exhibit. We fold our hands, hold them up, and lower our heads. You could call it a reverent pose. We are facing a large statue. There might be an accompanying statue to the side. We continue this for a few moments and then move on. We walk out the door. That’s it! That was the entire purpose to the visit. We vow to do the same in about a week. We might even follow the same procedures in different parts of the world. We visit buildings that were established hundreds of years ago. The popularity is such that there might be a waiting list to put our names in. Only after waiting in the queue can we get the wonderful benediction of walking inside and looking at a statue for a few moments.

“You likely can tell that I am describing deity worship known to the Vedic tradition. Do you see what the issue might be? Don’t you find it a little strange to be looking at statues for a few moments and then moving along? Why do we have to go so far? Why is there a building to begin with? Shouldn’t we be allowed to worship at home? Is worship in isolation not sufficient?”

The same argument can be made about practically any activity that takes place in a formal, public setting. Several decades ago, the primary way to listen to music was to visit the local record store and purchase physical items, such as vinyl records, CDs, or tapes. You then went home and listened to the music using a large device like a turntable or boombox. Today, practically the entirety of published music is available instantly, to add to something like a digital, personal library.

At the same time, people still attend concert performances. They pay hundreds of dollars, travel far and wide, put up with long lines for parking and entry, pay inflated prices at the concession stand, all to listen to very loud and blurry renditions of their favorite songs. They then return home, ringing ears and all, to keep a memory of the experience.

Why does anyone go anywhere? Why does anyone do anything? The Sanskrit word is ananda. The living being always has ananda; it is part of their very constitution. It, therefore, makes sense that in the condition state, while suffering between dualities such as life and death, the same living being would always seek out ananda. Basically, we living beings look for ways to remove impediments to our bliss. That bliss is already there; we simply have to extract it.

The less intelligent and the unknowing, ajnana, reduce the object of worship in the temple to a statue or a painting, but the truth is that the system is an authorized way to facilitate worship. As His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains, the deity is the archa-vigraha, or the worshipable form, that represents the unlimited mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We are not capable of worshiping properly, and so God facilitates worship by meeting us where we are. We have yet to realize that God is everywhere. We should be worshiping Him everywhere and always, sarvatra and sarvada.

तस्मात् सर्वात्मना राजन् हरि: सर्वत्र सर्वदा
श्रोतव्य: कीर्तितव्यश्च स्मर्तव्यो भगवान्नृणाम्

tasmāt sarvātmanā rājan
hariḥ sarvatra sarvadā
śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca
smartavyo bhagavān nṛṇām

“O King, it is therefore essential that every human being hear about, glorify and remember the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, always and everywhere.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.2.36)

If someone is so inclined, they should certainly worship outside of the temple. There is full encouragement in this matter. There is the endorsement from the highest authority figure in Shri Krishna, where He recommends turning the entire life experience into yajna. We should sacrifice everything to God, whether we are sitting in front of a fire and chanting hymns or simply lounging at home, holding a slate.

यत् करोषि यद् अश्नासि
यज् जुहोषि ददासि यत्
यत् तपस्यसि कौन्तेय
तत् कुरुष्व मद्-अर्पणम्

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

“O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.27)

This was the case with Prahlada Maharaja, the five-year old son of the Daitya king named Hiranyakashipu. Prahlada worshiped in his spare time and also in his time in school. Prahlada worshiped by drawing the chakra on his slate and writing the name of Krishna. Hiranyakashipu disapproved. The father was stuck in the foolish mentality of thinking that God was not real and that showing such allegiance was a waste of time. There was no God to see, after all. A statue is not a person. The name written on a chalkboard does not come to life.

Or does it? This was the destiny for the doubting father. His was a special case, as the amazing devotion of Prahlada, steadfast and strong amidst the greatest interference imaginable, triggered the never-before-seen appearance of the avatara known as Narasimha.

In Closing:

Foolishly as statue to reduce,
From material elements to produce.

Through line at museum to visit,
Perhaps in a week to revisit.

Truth that mercy at hand,
At our position to land.

The Supreme Lord opportunity giving,
For real ananda again living.

Categories: prahlada and his slate, questions

Tags: dailyprompt, hinduism, life, poem, poems, poetry, worship