8/6/2019 What is the Deity

1/3

What is the Deity?

The Deity is Gods manifestation of His divine mercy, just as sacred books are His

written manifestation.

If God did not have the power to manifest Himself in a visible form in front of theconditioned souls of this world it would be impossible to have some form to adore

Him with adoration.

Deities are not idols or images which come from some type of mental speculation;

they are a manifestation of the infinite mercy of God Himself for His devotees.

The Vaisnava tradition belongs to the purest line of theism, which is now generally

known as being part of the vastness of Hinduism. There exists a great variety of

deities which allow the devotee to be connected with divinity through a physical

relationship. Deities represent the infinite Lord of the Universe, who is omnipotent

and omnipresent. The deities are not idols or images which come from some type of

mental speculation; they are a manifestation of the infinite mercy of God Himself for

His devotees. The deities adored on the altars in the temples, and the deity in sound

form of the sacred mantras from the Holy Scriptures, bring the purifying presence of

the Lord to our daily lives, permitting the devotees to be in continual contact with the

sweet Will of the Lord. The deity is also represented in the form of the spiritual

master and the devotees. Therefore, it is said that contact with a pure devotee of the

Lord is a truly divine contact. It is also considered sacred and greatly merciful to visit

sacred sites where the deity can be worshiped amongst devotees.

Deities on the altar are worshiped according to very strict standards as described in

the scriptures, and the artists who construct them follow ancient traditions. But still,

when the artist finishes his work it is not yet considered that the full potency of the

Lord is resident. That requires the touch of a pure devotee, who invites the Divine to

bring His presence into the deity in a ceremony called pran pratista, the descent of the

mercy of the Lord. The deity is then attended personally to a very high standard. With

the deity now officially installed, very happy devotees can be seen helping to make

flower arrangements and decorating the deity, singing sacred mantras and songs,

performing fire sacrifices, cooking meals to offer to the deity, which are then

distributed to everyone in the form of maha prasadam (offered food), and so manyother activities.

Vaisnavism is a day-in day-out relationship with God. Deities animate us to the

rhythm of a regulated lifestyle called sadhana, or daily spiritual practice. Srila

Prabhupada once said: If I would not have established deity worship in the temples

then no-one would have woken up early. Spiritual sadhana instructs us to participate

in spiritual activities, principles of purity and spiritual culture. It is highly beneficial

for devotees who by adoring the deity with much faith feel the divine presence. This

allows them to live a sane life in following strict regulative principles of no

intoxication, no meat eating, no illicit sexual activity and no gambling; representing

the principles of cleanliness, mercy, chastity and honesty. The deity generates

8/6/2019 What is the Deity

2/3

community development, as it is its central focus; it is also called the Istadev, the

Lord of the Heart of the members of the congregation.

Throughout history many deities are linked to the stories of great teachers of the

devotional (bhakti) tradition, such as Ramanuya acarya, Madhva acarya, Rupa

Goswami, Sanatana Goswami, and many more. The deity of Lord Jaganatha hasexisted for thousands of years and attracts millions of pilgrims, especially at the time

of the Ratha Yatra festival of the chariots. The significance of this festival is so that

the devotees participate in pulling the chariots of the Lord, which symbolises bringing

the Lord into ones heart.

The different deities follow the teachings given in the Vedic scriptures; for example

Lord Nishimhadeva, the half-man half-lion incarnation of the Lord who appeared

thousands of years ago to protect the great devotee Prahlad. This story is quite

marvellous showing how the Lord fulfils His promises: Prahlads evil father,

Hiranyakashipu, had attained benedictions from Lord Brahma, the creator of the

universe, not to be killed in so many ways, thus he considered himself to be immortal.Yet when he tried to kill his son Prahlad, the Lord manifested Himself in a form that

did not break Lord Brahmas promises, yet killed Hiranyakashipu to protect Prahlad.

That is why the deity of Nishimhadeva is seen as the deity of protection for the

devotees. Another deity is of Sita Rama, an incarnation of the Lord who represents the

perfect governor, the pure king who is the well wisher of all his subjects. The deity of

Radha Krsna combines both the divine masculine and feminine qualities of the divine

couple of Sri Sri Radha Govinda. This deity brings to light the spirit of the sacred site

of Vrindavan where the Lord resided when on the planet over five thousand years ago

as a simple rural cowherd boy.

One of the most important deities in recent times is of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and

Sri Nityananda, whom appeared in Bengal over five hundred years ago. Lord

Nityananda is the representation of the eternal spiritual master present in everyones

heart. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the yuga avatar, the apparition of God who

introduced the congregational chanting of Gods names in this era of Kali Yuga.

Some times, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is worshiped together with Radha Krsna, as the

scriptures show that Caitanya is the combination of Rhada and Krsna; and he is the

most merciful as he is giving the purist form to worship the Lord.

Each deity has its own story, and the Vedic scriptures are full of miraculous stories

that such deities have performed. The presence of the deities can be invoked on seeingtheir photograph or picture, visualising their form in the mind, or by chanting their

names. The concept of the deity is not a limitation on the Supreme Lord, but an

appreciation of His unlimited powers. It must be made quite clear to members of other

religions that the deity is not an idol, but the manifestation of God by His divine

mercy, just as His mercy is manifest in book form as the sacred literatures such as the

Bible, Koran, Vedic literature, etc. If God did not have the power to manifest Himself

in a visible form in front of the conditioned souls of this world it would be impossible

to have some form to adore Him with adoration. God contains both form and

formless; He is the origin of all forms. In all religious traditions of the world there is

the declaration that God can be revealed, communicating messages in to the hearts of

the surrendered devotee. Such revelations in the Vedic Scriptures are called apauroceja, revelation through divine contact, not through mental speculation. Devotees in

8/6/2019 What is the Deity

3/3

the world of faith, accept the deity as a manifestation of the revelation and mercy of

God. As such, if for any reason a deity disappears or is destroyed, the devotee does

not think that the Lord has disappeared, as the Lord is the Supreme Spirit, Who is

within and without of everything that exists. Yet, the devotee feels that only through

devotion can one have a relationship with the deity. Lord Krsna tells us that we can

only understand Him through love, not through reason or speculative empiricalenquiry.

Deities are worshiped with different motivations and forms according to the

worshipers purity of intent. In India, are found deities of Devas, Demigods, who are

not full expansions of God, but only part expansions of a particular quality and form.

For example: Durga is worshipped to obtain material pleasures; Siva to be liberated

from material sufferings; Ganesh to obtain material wealth. These Demigods allow

the devotee to have a link with the Supreme Lord as all of the aforementioned devas

are all devotees of Lord Krsna. But in the devotees worship of devas, their sole

purpose is to obtain some material selfish benediction. Such worship is for people of

small intelligence who can not understand the purpose of the descent of divine mercy.One can compare them to the story of the pauper who when on meeting the King is

asked by the King what can be done for him, and he replies that he would like the

King to tie him his shoe laces. In a similar way, those who worship the Demigods

asking them for temporary material benedictions, as in a relationship between

merchant and customer, are losing the opportunity to establish an eternal loving

relationship with the Supreme Lord.

The instructions of the Spiritual Master, accompanied by chanting of the sacred

mantras (hymns) and surrendered service, help the devotees, as they worship the

deity, to gain much force and mercy. One must give a lot of respect to the deities and

all spiritual symbols. We should not be closed minded and egoistical in thinking that

God is only manifested in only one religious order and only in one way; as He loves

all his children and manifests Himself according to time, place and circumstance. The

deity should always be adored under the instructions of a genuine spiritual master and

genuine devotees in order to learn the true tradition of deity worship and to be

protected from mental speculation which would turn pure deity worship into idolatry.

Vedic wisdom is ample and this pamphlet has only been an introduction so that it can

be understood how genuine the tradition of deity worship is. The materialists on many

occasions try to establish their own images as deities, imposing their own limited

speculations and egotistical motivations onto the mind of their followers; such images

are idols and we must be very careful of these false imitations.

Srila Guru Maharaj

Translation and interpretation by Gopananda dasa