Category:God As Wood
Theme Analysis
To the mundane observer, worshiping a form made of wood appears to be ordinary idolatry. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda completely shatters this misconception by explaining the absolute nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because Kṛṣṇa is currently invisible (alakṣya) to our blunt material senses, He exhibits His causeless mercy by accepting a form made of material elements like wood, stone, or metal. This allows conditioned souls the facility to see Him and render loving service.
A prominent theme in this category is the specific manifestation of Lord Jagannātha. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that in this age, the Supreme Lord Himself has mercifully manifested through wood as Lord Jagannātha (just as He manifests through water as the river Ganges). To think of Lord Jagannātha as a mere wooden idol is a severe offense. Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly cites the Padma Purāṇa, warning that anyone who considers the worshipable Deity to be ordinary wood or stone is harboring atheistic ideas and is condemned to a hellish condition (nārakī). Through the philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda (inconceivable oneness and difference), Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that because all material elements are separated energies of the Lord, He can effortlessly transform and spiritualize them. Thus, while the Deity may appear as wood to a neophyte, advanced devotees understand that the wooden form is directly and absolutely Kṛṣṇa.
- Mercy for Blunt Eyes: Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that because we cannot see Kṛṣṇa's spiritual identity at present, He mercifully becomes visible to us through the arcā-vigraha made of wood or stone.
- Lord Jagannātha: The quotes specifically highlight Lord Jagannātha of Purī as the Supreme Lord Himself appearing in the form of wood for the benefit of humanity in this age.
- The Danger of Mundane Vision: Śrīla Prabhupāda strongly warns that considering the Deity to be an ordinary piece of wood is an atheistic mentality that brings ill fortune and condemns one to hell.
- Acintya-Bhedābheda: Through His spiritual energy, the Lord can change His body into anything. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that because wood is an expansion of God's energy, when it is shaped into His original form, it is no longer material; it is nondifferent from the Lord.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: God As Wood - The Transcendental Form of Lord Jagannātha.
Pages in category "God As Wood"
The following 20 pages are in this category, out of 20 total.
A
- According to the direction of the Padma Purana, Anyone who considers the Deity in the temple to be made of stone or wood is a resident of hell
- Antara may mean - greed, greed to acquire more money or enjoy more sense gratification. Finally, the word antara may also mean - atheistic ideas, by which one considers the temple Deity to be made of stone, wood or gold. All of these are impediments
- As clearly said in Bhagavad-gita (BG 7.4), bhinna prakrtir astadha: the material elements are separated energies of the Supreme Lord. If He transforms Himself into the arca-murti, the worshipable Deity, which we see as stone or wood, He is still Krsna
B
- Because we cannot see Krsna with our present eyes, Krsna therefore appears before us as a painting, as made of stone, as made of wood. And Krsna is not different from these paintings and wood because everything is Krsna
- Because you cannot see at the present moment Krsna in spiritual identity, therefore Krsna comes before you as stone, as wood. But He is not stone; He is not wood
- By spiritual energy, the Lord can appear in a body made of wood or stone. He can change His body into anything because everything is His energy (parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate) - CC Madhya 13.65, purport
- By worshiping stone or wood we get no result, but when the stone and wood are represented in the Lord's original form, by worshiping the Deity we get the desired result. This is supported by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's philosophy, acintya-bhedabheda
I
- If one thinks that the form of Lord Jagannatha is an idol made of wood, he immediately brings ill fortune into his life
- If we choose to see the image merely as a piece of wood or stone, Krsna will always remain wood or stone for us. Krsna is everywhere, but as we advance in spiritual consciousness we can begin to see Him as He is
- In this age, the Lord is manifest through wood as Lord Jagannatha, and He is manifest through water as the river Ganges. Therefore Caitanya ordered the 2 brothers - Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya & Vidya-vacaspati - to worship Lord Jagannatha & the river Ganges
T
- The form of the Lord, though represented by material qualities such as stone, wood, or oil paint, is not actually material. That is the absolute nature of the Supreme Lord. BG 1972 purports
- The injunctions of the Padma Purana state, That person is a resident of hell who considers the Deity worshiped in the temple to be stone or wood
- The Pankajanabhi Lord (Krsna) accepts the arca-vigraha in different elements, namely a form within the mind, a form made of wood, a form made of earth, a form made of metal, a form made of jewel, a form made of paint, a form drawn on sand, etc
- The sastra warns, arcye visnau sila-dhir gurusu nara-matih. One who thinks that the worshipable Deity in the temple is made of wood or stone, one who sees a Vaisnava guru as an ordinary human being is naraki, a resident of hell
- The sastras warn, arcye visnau sila-dhih . . . naraki sah: one should never think of the arca-murti, the Deity within the temple, as stone, wood or any other material element
- The vigraha, the Deity of Krsna, appears by Krsna's mercy. Because Krsna is alaksya, invisible, He becomes visible to give us the facility to see Him. It is not that Krsna is stone, wood, or metal
- To an ordinary person the Deity will appear to be made of stone, wood or some other material. In the higher sense, since all material elements ultimately emanate from the supreme spiritual entity, nothing is really material
W
- We can only see material things like stone and wood, and He (God) accepts a form of stone and wood and thus accepts our service in the temple. This is an exhibition of the Lord's causeless mercy
- When we worship the Deity of the Lord in the temple, the Deity appears to be stone or wood. Now, because the Supreme Lord does not have a material body, He is not stone or wood, yet stone and wood are not different from Him