prashna: murti-puja kyon?
uttara: upasna ki panchvin shreni murtipuja hai. chanchal man ko charon aur se rok kar ekagra karne ka ekmatra upay hai- murtipuja. vaidik kal se hi murti-puja ka vidhan hai. shastron men kaha hai- ‘‘manodhritirdharna syat, samadhibrrahmani sthitiah. amurton chetsthira n syattato murti vichintayet..’’ man ki dhriti ko dharan kahte hain. brahm men sthit ho jane ka nam samadhi hai, parantu yadi bina murti man sthir n ho to murti ki avashyakta parti hai. gyan ki koti men pahunchne ke liye sadhak man se jab tak susthir n ho sake, tab tak murtipuja ke atirikt anya koi marg hi nahin hai jiske dvara man ko vash men kiya ja sake. itna hi nahin, manovaigyanik kahte hain ki bhavna ko ubhrne ke liye chitra (murti) ki avashyakta parti hi hai.
man lijie ek vyakti ke hath men tin striyon ke chitra hain. ek uski mata ka, dusra bahan ka, tisra patni ka. vah vyakti jo-jo chitra dekhega vaisi-vaisi bhavna uske man men kramshah ubhregi. man ka chitra dekhakar usmen mamatva vatsalya daur uthega, bahan ko dekhakar uske prati kartavya ki bhavna, sneh ki bhavna ubhregi, patni ka chitra dekhakar prem-snehalingan ki bhavna pragarh ho uthegi. ekalavya ne bhi dronacharya ki mitti ki pratima banakar ukt bhav se uska pujan kiya jiske pratap se vah ban-vidya men arjun se adhik nipun ho gaya.
balak dhruv ne narad ji ke updesh se murti banakar puja ki, matra chah mah men murti ke madhyam se sakshat ishvar ke darshan ho gaye. sanatan hindu dharm hi nahin sansar ke pratyek dharm men murtipuja ka prachalan hai. isai log pavitra ‘kraes’ ki puja karte hain. muslman bhai makka sharif men ‘sange asbd’ ko chumte hain. kabra (dargah) par ful-malaen charhate hain. sikkh ‘gurugranth sahb’ ki puja karte hain. atah nirgun nirakar ka dhyan kiya jata hai tatha sagun sakar ki pratima dvara upasna karna nyaysangat hi hai.
prashna: shaligram aur shivling ke hath-panv kyon nahin hote?
uttara: ishvar ke pratik chihn (murtiyan) char prakar se prakat hote hain.
1. svayambhu-vigrah: apne ap prakat hone vale ishvar krit padarth svayambhu vigrah kahlate hain, jaise-surya, chandra, agni, prithvi, divya nadiyan ityadi.
2. nirgun nirakar vigrah: prakriti pradatt nirgun nirakar vigrah bhagvan ke nirakar nirlep niranjan rup ke pratinidhi mane jate hain. jaise-shaligram, shivling, narmadeshvar, shakti pind, mitti pind, rudraksh, supari virchit ganesh ityadi.
3. gun sakar vigrah: shankh-chakra chaturbhuj vishnu, panchmukh shiv, sinhvahini ashtabhuja durga, lakshasindur vadan ganpti, jatajut, gangaghat bhalchandra shankar ityadi.
4. avtar vigrah: dhanushdhari ram, vanshi vibhushit krishn, nrisinh rup vishnu, dattatrey adi. inmen shivling, shaligram, supari adi pratimaen nirgun nirakar ka hi pratik hain atah unmen hath-panv adi angon ke astitva ka prashn hi nirmul hai. shaligram samast brahmandbhut narayan (vishnu) ka pratik hai.
skand puran men ‘kartik mahatmya’ men svayan bhagvan shiv kahte hain-
1. shaligram shilayan tu taitrokya sachracharam. maya sah mahasen ! linan tishthati sarvada..
2. shaligraman herishchahnan pratyahan pujyennarah. -r.bh. ratnakr-hemadrau daivlah