The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of the Vedas never worshiped idols because the Vedas bar idol worship.
Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jainism. There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘Self’ i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.
God in truth is without form, without time and without space, and without a name. Religious Gods are not God in truth. The seeker must never mix religion with spirituality. All the belief-based Gods have nothing to do with God in truth.
What is God like:~
Sage Sankara’s Supreme Brahman is impersonal, Nirguna (without Gunas or attributes), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable, eternal, and Akarta (non-agent). It is above all needs and desires. It is always the Witnessing Subject. It can never become an object as it is beyond the reach of the senses. Brahman is non-dual, one without a second.
If you repeat the name of the nameless God, you will remain in the prison of ignorance. Thus, it is necessary to realize what God is supposed to be in actuality. All religiously propagated prescription keeps one in the prison of ignorance.
Bhagavad Gita: ~ ‘Brahmano hi pratisthaham’ ~ Brahman (God) is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (14.27).
When the Bhagavad Gita says, God is considered the all-pervading consciousness, which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material, then nothing has to be accepted as God other than consciousness.
Lord Krishna says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know the Self in truth.". The last two words (tattvataha) are usually ignored by pundits, but they make all the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God.
Bhagavad Gita:~ All those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they worship many gods. (7- Verse -20)
The Vedas confirm God is Atman (Spirit), the Self.
Prohibition of idol worship in Yajurveda: ~
Yajur Veda – chapter- 32:~ God is the Supreme Spirit, has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions.
Yajurveda: ~ There is no image of God in truth. God in truth is unborn and eternal. (Chapter 32, Verse 3)
Yajurveda: ~ God in truth is nondual and pure."
Yajurveda: ~ "They are entering darkness, those who worship the natural things (like air, water, fire, etc.), they are sinking more in darkness who worship created things." (Chapter 40, Verse 9)
Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.
Yajur Veda – chapter- 32:~ God is the Supreme Spirit, has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions.
Yajurveda: ~ There is no image of God in truth. God in truth is unborn and eternal. (Chapter 32, Verse 3)
Yajurveda: ~ God in truth is nondual and pure."
Yajurveda: ~ "They are entering darkness, those who worship the natural things (like air, water, fire, etc.), they are sinking more in darkness who worship created things." (Chapter 40, Verse 9)
Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.
It indicates clearly that all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false self.
Yajur Veda indicates that: ~ “They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc. (Yajurveda 40:9).
Rig Veda: ~ 'Prajnanam Brahma'- Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.
Do not accept any other truth other than consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth. Nothing is real but consciousness. Nothing matters but to realize the ultimate truth.
Consciousness is everywhere and in everything. Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.
Rig Veda:~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman, the Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)
The Vedas talk about Brahman, which refers to the ultimate truth or ultimate reality. Consciousness is the ultimate truth; therefore, consciousness is Brahman or God in truth.
Vedas do not permit idol worship. All the idols are of the Puranic Gods. Priests are referring to the Puranic Brahma as God; they are ignorant of the God in the Vedas, even though they speak of the Vedas.
Priests do not know the meaning of the Brahman (God in truth), which is present in the form of consciousness.
The dualistic worship of "God” is only for the ignorant populace. God in truth is only Atman, the Self. In reality, there is no duality, no differentiation. Only Atman, the real, exists.
That is why Sage Sankara: ~ VC Let erudite scholars quote all the Scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity With the Self, there shall be no liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas put together (verses-6)
The mantra yoga, consisting of repeating the name of God, or even the AUM, thousands of times, yields nothing. It can appeal only to the ignorant, to those who cannot think deeper. It is merely a religious fable. The real exercise is to think of the meaning of the name or the AUM, and then only do you get something.
No mantras help to get rid of ignorance. All the mantras and rituals are meant for the ignorant populace, which strongly believes, the world in which they exist is a reality. For one who wants to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the mantras will not help to realize the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.
That is why Sage Sankara:~ VC~.61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae), and medicines to such a one?
VC- v6~ Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let Gods be invoked through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal Gods be propitiated---yet, without the realization of one‘s identity with the Self, there shall be no liberation for.
That is why Sage Sankara: ~ ‘VC- 63- Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.
The religion preaches that Gods have forms of attributes and the ways to God are many. It simply tries to lead them to darkness with its dogma and idea of many Gods, which is apart from the Self.
Humanity has to awaken to the reality of its true existence by realizing the world in which humanity exists is merely an illusion created out of the consciousness through Self-knowledge, or Brahma Gnana, or Atma Gnana.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:~ "He who worships the deities as entities entirely separate from the Self does not know the truth. For the Gods, he is like a pasu (beast)". (1. 4. 10)
Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana frees the invisible Soul, the Self, from the cage of the dualistic illusion. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar
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