Worship?

This is a small reflection on one of the posts by my friend.

Questions in the minds of most of the young Hindus today, about God and allied practises, are rather fundamental and need immediate attention.

Addressing these questions are simple and yet they look more daunting than what they really are.

Why Worship? How? and more so... What is Worship?

His key statement was (not verbatim) "God created the universe and all of us, the beings in the universe and expects us to spend a significant time in our short life praising Him"

Well, analogies are pretty simple - take for example, one's parents. It is written in Sastras that a basic duty of man (read human) is to respect, support and worship his parents. Every parent would expect their son to honour the sastra. In that case will that mean that they gave birth to the child to get themselves served or to subject the child to their servitude?

Continuing with the same example, I am not sure if Sriman Narayanan has actually been able to design a hell for Sin against one's mother. I am still to find a hell mentioned in Garudapuranam for abusing the parents, mother in particular. But if someone is really thrilled to try it out, then consider doing this - Go to your mother, and say, "Mom!, I have cleaned the garden, I will also sweep the floor and dust the windows. But I am also hungry, will you feed me in exchange to all the chores I do/did today ?".

I am not sure what hell I will get to, for even typing that down, but on the flip side, every other Hindu today is committing this very sin. It is understandable that people do body-paining penances to all Demi-Gods to seek their blessings to achieve some material gains, which are again well permitted in Sastras, but to even getting that, the "Super-Motive" should be to walk closer to the Ultimate Goal (Purushartha). For example, even Andal worshipped Lord Manmadhan to bless her with love towards Kannan, the ultimate purpose in life. But doing the same to the Jagath Karanam is rather insulting, and is the sorry state of affairs today. Even more painful is this.

Enough of cribbing; Coming back to the question - Why Worship ?

Well.. He is the Creator, you are the created. So love, respect and worship Him as you mother.

He is the Lord, you are his servant(slave acc. to vishishtadvaita). Respect Him as your master

He is the Protector, and you are the protected. show your gratitude towards Him.

He did not prefer high scholars to mingle with. He chose to hug a hunter, a monkey and a demon in a birth and playing around and sharing food with a bunch of cowherds in the next. Treat Him as your friend, He is more reachable than you could have ever imagined.

You will not gain any (tangible)benifits by Worshipping Him, but it is our duty as a part of the rulebook (Sastra) and following the instruction manual will help you get through the process of living and more so - to get out of it peacefully. Else, from today, start driving your vehicle as you please... why worry about rules ?

As I begun, this is only a 'small' reflection, and more serious discussions on how to worship? modes of worship, difference between temple worship, to that at home and meditation, etc., are likely in near future in my other blog .