Why did Adi Shankara promote idol worship?

Question

Today Adi Shankaracarya's Adavaitvaad is a prominent philosophy in Hinduism but if we go through his life, we see that he not only preserved the idol worship practices across India but actively promoted it through certain rituals like 'Panchayatan' pooja and composed numerous 'Stotras' for various deities. This probably could be the start of Polytheism or at-least the formal establishment of the Polytheism in Hindus.

As per my understanding Advait vedanta doesn't accept the notion of personal God/Godess. Then why didn't Shankara eliminate the idol worship?

Answer 1

Adi Shankaracharya came down to uplift humankind through different ways and one such way is idol worship. Unlike the yogic/tantric/karma paths, one can enjoy the fruits of this idol worship soon.

For a layman, to worship God who is; formless, nameless, and without any predominant character is very difficult. So, noble forms of Almighty with various names and forms are adopted for idol worship. Rituals like alankara, abhisheka etc. associated with each deity are specified in the holy scriptures.

Upon intense worship of these idols, one finds it easy to mediate on image of such deity. Out of love, devotion and affection the mind can be submerged with God in meditation. The personification of god makes devote develop strong relation with ease.

Answer 2

Why didn't Shankara eliminate the idol worship?

How could he? He was not just any scholar biased by his own views and prejudiced to others, he was a true knower of the Vedas and scriptures. From answers like this you can know that scriptures support both sakara(with-form) and nirakara (formless) Brahman. Adi Sankarachrya only preached one aspect of the whole truth as it was required for that time to win over the Buddhists.

During his time Buddhism was spreading widely in India. So by his scholarly work he created a doctrine that was easier for Buddhists to accept. The Advaita philosophy was pseudo-Buddhist in nature and hence it was a compromise that was easier for the Buddhists to accept. So by preaching the Advaita philosophy Shankaracharya blocked the widespread of Buddhism and by establishing various temples, chardham, etc. at the same time he revived Hinduism.

So at one hand he defeated Buddhist philosophers through his advaita philosophy converting them to Hinduism and at the other hand he promoted idol worship and established various dhams, monasteries etc. to strengthen Hinduism. So reviving Hinduism was the purpose why he also promoted idol worship.

From the scriptures it is known that Shankaracharya was actually an incarnation of Shiva and he had taken birth for that purpose only. Chapter 30 of Kurma Purana says

तदेव साधयेन्नृणां देवतानां च दैवतम्।
करिष्यत्यवताराणि शंकरो नीललोहितः॥ ३३॥
श्रीतस्मार्तप्रतिष्ठार्थ भक्तानां हितकाम्यया।
उपदेक्ष्यंति तज्ज्ञानं शिष्याणां ब्रह्मसंज्ञितम्॥ ३४॥
सर्ववेदान्तसारं हि धर्मान्वेदनिदर्शितान्।
सर्ववर्णान् समुद्दिश्य स्वधर्मा ये निदर्शिताः।। ३५।।

The people should adore lord Mahadeva, who happens to be the god of gods. The brown complexioned Siva, for the establishment of Srauta (Vedic) and Smarta dharmas (belonging to the Smritis), and for the welfare of the devotees shall incarnate on earth. He Will enlighten his devotees on the subjects of the gist of Vedantas, the knowledge relating to the Brahman, and all the dharmas enshrined in the Vedas, which have been narrated earlier.

Hence, even though he preached the theory of impersonal Brahman, he himself was a great devotee of Lord Krishna. This is evident from his numerous writings like Bhajagovindam, Achyutashtakam, Jagannathaastkam, etc. In Prabodh Sudhakar he writes:

bhuteṣvantaryāmī jñānamayaḥ sadcīdānandaḥ
prakruteḥ paraḥ parātmā yadukulatilakaḥ sa evāyam [195]

Meaning
The crown jewel of Yadu dynasty, Shri Krishna, is the all knowing supreme soul of the form of knowledge and eternal bliss who is beyond prakruti (material nature/maya) and resides in every being.

So his philosophy was for a special purpose, but internally he was a devotee. His devotion for Vishnu or Krishna is only but obvious because Shiva is the greatest of all Vaishnavas [SB - 12.13.16]. Hence, even though he preached theory of impersonal Brahman, didn't eliminate idol worship.

Answer 3

Adi Sankara did not promote idol worship. He accepted (not promoted) sakara upasana because according to him sakara upasana leads to chittasuddhi (purification of heart). He did not accept that sakara upasana would lead to moksha but that it is a preparatory step. He claimed that sakara upasana is for dull people and thus required since most people are dull and nirakara sadhana is for advanced seekers. He did this to unite several streams of Hindu thought. He is known as shanmatastapaka. It is another matter that Vasihnavas did not accept his position and obviously disliked being called dull people.

I question several of the assumptions of this question. Hindus do not worship idols. They worship God through murthi puja. A murthi is not an idol (a lifeless piece of stone) but an image of spirit because a special Divine presence is invoked in a murthi through the prana pratistha ceremony. A murthi properly worshipped is filled with spiritual energy.

Hinduism is also not polytheistic. Vaishnavas are of course monotheists. Those who follow kevala Advaita of Sankara regard sakara Brahman as ultimately unreal and nirguna Brahman to be undefinable. Thus they are also not polytheists. Those who follow the Vedanta of Ramakrishna which regards sakara and nirakara as two sides of the same coin are also not polytheists. Ramakrishna order Swamis used to tell us that Vaishnava call Brahman, Krishna and Saivites call Brahman, Siva and Saktas call Brahman, Devi.

Answer 4

Acceptance of Personal Deity in Maya vada

Advaita Vedanta does accept Notion of personal Gods/Godess commonly known as Ishta devta although the Ishta devta must be chosen from Panchayatan or Shanmata.

Why Did Adi Shankaracharya Promote Idol Worship

It's because Krishna tells arjuna that Human beings or jeevas find it difficult to associate with Avyakta Bramhan aka Formless Bramhan. Although Worshipping formless Bramhan leads to Moksha, but that path is dreadful.

क्लेशोऽधिकतरस्तेषाम् अव्यक्तास्क्तचेतसाम् ।

अव्यक्ताहिगतिर्दु:खमदेहवाद्भिरवाप्यते ॥१२.५॥

For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied.

Answer 5

I feel My reality is whatever I can perceive and comprehend. The state of the being determines the reality that it can perceive. I am a Hindu and I do visit the temples see the different forms as representations of the different properties of the infinite. As a child I was told to worship Ganesha first, Saraswathi for knowledge, Lakshmi for wealth and Parvathi for strength. As I grew up I had my own questions of what it is that I am worshiping. Do the idols have the power to grant what ever I ask for. I mean is the duality exist always or it is non-dual sometimes. May be I might get to know the real I ( which I can only comprehend logically now ) and someday internalize it and become that.

One question that humbled me is during a visit to Thirupathi, my son asked if we can see the real god during the Darshan. My son is only 10. I said yes if you have the true love to see god you will and showed the picture of how Hathiramji was playing dice with Balaji.

With my current understanding and perception I believe there is a transition from Dvaitha, Visista-Advaitha and finally Advaitha which I have observed based on how my thinking is moving. Going by the steps to find the real "I", The body conscious I that I am now do logically see that the "I" should be the infinite one that has taken the form of me to experience.

I believe, Until I realize the true I. Its the mind and interpretations.

Answer 6

Adi Shankara not only advocated idol worship but he was also responsible for streamlining the various sects of Hinduism as six major groups:

• Saivam
• Vaishnavam
• Saktam
• Sauryam
• Koumaram
• Ganapatyam

dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Surya, Karthikeya and Ganesh.

As to why the Advaita Acharya promoted idol worship and worship to personal Gods, it is because one cannot teach the advanced concepts of Advaita to an unfocused mind. It will be like trying to teach doctoral programs to a pre-k.g student; It simply is not possible. Even the Advaita approach, can be explained in terms of steps of increasing complexity:

1. There are many atmas and one paramatma (First step - Easy to understand; Many souls, One higher power)
2. There is one jivatma and one paramatma (Second step - The many souls are interlinked as a single soul - jivatma )
3. One supreme reality that pervades everything. Nothing is different from this reality.

Answer 7

The question is:

As per my understanding Advait vedanta doesn't accept a the notion of personal God/Godess. Then why didn't Shankara eliminate the idol worship?

Good question indeed. How can an Advaiti promote idol worship?

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Many scholars fixed and adopted the 788 A.D as Sri Sankara's year of birth and some others put it at 509 BCE. He met his end in his thirty-second year.

Sri Sankara ascended the seat of omniscience after inviting Vedic scholars from all parts of India and answering their numerous questions. Sri Sankara, by vanquishing all the religious opponents of his day-and they belonged to no less than seventy-two different schools-and establishing the superiority of the Vedic Dharma, had become the Jagadguru of all.

Sri Sankara's success over the other religious sects was so complete that none of them have since been able to raise their head in the land. Most of them have disappeared altogether. After Sri Sankara's time, although a few Acharyas have appeared, none of them have been able to vanquish those who differed from them as Sri Sankara did and establish unquestioned supremacy.

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Over 300 texts are attributed to his name, including commentaries (Bhāṣya), original philosophical expositions (Prakaraṇa grantha) and poetry (Stotra). However most of these are not authentic works of Adi Shankara and are likely to be works of his admirers or scholars whose name was also Shankaracharya.

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Similarly, the theory of establishing Shanmata by Sri Sankara might have been advocated by later day scholars, who might wanted to give strength to their theory of idol worship by attributing the same to Sri Sankara.

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Sri Sankara was an acknowledged Advaiti, and thus, his thoughts follow that of Vedic way of life.

It is a well known fact that in Vedic age, the Almighty God was eulogised in different epithets, depending upon the manifestation of the power of the God. He might have tried to direct the people towards Vedic way of life, had he lived further.

Unfortunately, he died at an early age, according to the DIVINE Plan.

So according to my assessment,another gigantic personality, like Sri Sankara, will appear on the horizon, to complete the task of Sri Sankara, in directing the people towards Vedic Way of life.

Answer 8

No doubt, God is formless Paramatma in its highest form, but worship of formless for a common jiva is very difficult. Even the minds of some of the advanced yogis engrossed in Tapas of Brahman like Vishvamitra were distracted by Apsaras or riches of heavens, while several like Buddha, sage Narayana etc., were put to test by nature and Indra, what to expect from the weak minds of a common Jiva. This was also explained in Geeta.

Geeta Chapter 12

Bhagavad Gita 12.1 Arjun inquired: Between those who are steadfastly devoted to Your personal form and those who worship the formless Brahman, who do You consider to be more perfect in Yog?

Bhagavad Gita 12.2 The Blessed Lord said: Those who fix their minds on Me and always engage in My devotion with steadfast faith, I consider them to be the best yogis.

Bhagavad Gita 12.3 – 12.4 But those who worship the formless aspect of the Absolute Truth—the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, the all-pervading, the unthinkable, the unchanging, the eternal, and the immoveable—by restraining their senses and being even-minded everywhere, such persons, engaged in the welfare of all beings, also attain Me.

Bhagavad Gita 12.5 For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifest, the path of realization is full of tribulations. Worship of the unmanifest is exceedingly difficult for embodied beings

If worship of formless Brahman as mentioned in Vedanta on whom Adi Shankara himself has given summaries, was a piece of cake, than why would even God spend time in creating this ever changing yet never-ending material world Maya. Omnipotent God could have shown theories on Vedanta to every jivatma in their dreams giving them Moksha their itself. Just like a mind-dominated child can easily understand through fantasies and images so does a mind-dominated jiva can easily understand through the world, its images and various Saguna avatars of Nirguna Brahman. Thats why Adi Shankaracharya who summarized Advaita Vedanta, himself composed several prayers for God worshipping like Bhaja Govindam, Saundaraya Lahiri, Bhavani Ashtakam etc.,

But worship of formless, unseen God leads to failure for a novice sadhaka especially in Kaliyuga, age of darkness. For example, Islam forbids from giving any image to God, but look at their mindless killings of innocent idol-worshippers and non-muslims in the name of Jihad. They fail to understand that creator/God is the creation/world, One/God cant be grasped without the help of other/world.

The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_2/Bhakti_or_Devotion

A man can be of gigantic intellect, yet spiritually he may be a baby. You can verify it this moment. All of you have been taught to believe in an Omnipresent God. Try to think of it. How few of you can have any idea of what omnipresence means! If you struggle hard, you will get something like the idea of the ocean, or of the sky, or of a vast stretch of green earth, or of a desert. All these are material images, and so long as you cannot conceive of the abstract as abstract, of the ideal as the ideal, you will have to resort to these forms, these material images. It does not make much difference whether these images are inside or outside the mind. We are all born idolaters, and idolatry is good, because it is in the nature of man. Who can get beyond it? Only the perfect man, the God-man. The rest are all idolaters. So long as we see this universe before us, with its forms and shapes, we are all idolaters. This is a gigantic symbol we are worshipping. He who says he is the body is a born idolater. We are spirit, spirit that has no form or shape, spirit that is infinite, and not matter. Therefore, anyone who cannot grasp the abstract, who cannot think of himself as he is, except in and through matter, as the body, is an idolater. And yet how people fight among themselves, calling one another idolaters! In other words, each says, his idol is right, and the others' are wrong. Therefore, we should get rid of these childish notions.

The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_4/Addresses_on_Bhakti-Yoga/The_Chief_Symbols

Two sorts of persons never require any image — the human animal who never thinks of any religion, and the perfected being who has passed through these stages. Between these two points all of us require some sort of ideal, outside and inside. It may be in the form of a departed human being, or of a living man or woman. This is clinging to personality and bodies, and is quite natural. We are prone to concretise. How could we be here if we did not concretise? We are concreted spirits, and so we find ourselves here on this earth. Concretisation has brought us here, and it will take us out.