For a brahmin or Varni Hindu, mantras and prayers in Sanskrit, even if the worshiper does not understand the meaning, makes him feel more comfortable..
For a Christian Latin or Aramese or Hebrew or Syrian may mean the same, and for a follower of Islam Arabic gives confidence..
If that is so, no harm in using those languages..
Form often takes precedence over content..
There was great murmur when Tamil was introduced as a medium for archanas in temples all over Tamilnadu..
Our own minds have different strata of thinking..
The same mind conceives things differently at different levels,,
The ordinary day to day affairs like physical routines, interaction with family and friends etc are dealt with in an easy state of mind.. No strings attached
When it comes to religion, most of us cannot think of religion without ritualistic and traditional methods..
For example, just now, I have collected a lot of flowers for pooja, and I would be performing pooja to various deities at home using Sanskrit as the medium with parts from Vedas and agamas as the means of communication with God.. The God, in this case is symbolically represented some small statuettes or metallic pieces, worshiped over decades, and the rational in me knows that they are just metal and stone pieces..
But I give them bath, anoint them with sandal paste, decorate them with flowers offer dhoopam, deepam, Naivedyam, Karpoora Harati and so on and prostrate before the idols in ultimate supplication, and even apologize to them for any defects that could have occurred during pooja..
I worship the water in a Kalasham and Shankam praising the waters as ganga, yamuna, godavari, Saraswathi, narmada, sindhu and kavery, all the seven Ocean, rigveda, yajus, sama and atharvana and so on..
Is there any rational basis for it.. ? No.
But then that is a means of communication and thanksgiving from me to my Maker..
The ordinary day to day affairs like physical routines, interaction with family and friends etc are dealt with in an easy state of mind.. No strings attached
When it comes to religion, most of us cannot think of religion without ritualistic and traditional methods..
For example, just now, I have collected a lot of flowers for pooja, and I would be performing pooja to various deities at home using Sanskrit as the medium with parts from Vedas and agamas as the means of communication with God.. The God, in this case is symbolically represented some small statuettes or metallic pieces, worshiped over decades, and the rational in me knows that they are just metal and stone pieces..
But I give them bath, anoint them with sandal paste, decorate them with flowers offer dhoopam, deepam, Naivedyam, Karpoora Harati and so on and prostrate before the idols in ultimate supplication, and even apologize to them for any defects that could have occurred during pooja..
I worship the water in a Kalasham and Shankam praising the waters as ganga, yamuna, godavari, Saraswathi, narmada, sindhu and kavery, all the seven Ocean, rigveda, yajus, sama and atharvana and so on..
Is there any rational basis for it.. ? No.
But then that is a means of communication and thanksgiving from me to my Maker..
Basically there is nothing wrong in it.
Then there is the third stage, where we are having intellectual discussions.. For an intellectual, many rituals are of little importance.. We are not wrong in feeling that way too
Our minds are complex, and our faith is still more complex.. There can be contradictions.. that is okay.. We need not be apologetic about it..
But then we need not be assertive and say that rituals are the be all and end all..
Then there is the third stage, where we are having intellectual discussions.. For an intellectual, many rituals are of little importance.. We are not wrong in feeling that way too
Our minds are complex, and our faith is still more complex.. There can be contradictions.. that is okay.. We need not be apologetic about it..
But then we need not be assertive and say that rituals are the be all and end all..
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