Dear Devotee Readers,
We hope you found comfort and clarity in last week’s post of Divine Talk series “Sai Baba Answers About Human Suffering”. We also hope that for many of you, it have stirred silent questions, heartfelt emotions, and a newer longing to understand life’s mysteries.
This week, we bring you a thought that may have whispered through your mind during a quiet prayer, a moment of doubt, or simply while trying to make sense of the many faces of faith around us
Why is God worshipped in different forms?
In this busy, often overwhelming world filled with countless beliefs, images, and ideas of God… is there really One truth behind it all? This week, let’s sit by the river with Shirdi Sai Baba, listen to His tender wisdom, and open our hearts to a truth that flows beyond form.
Why Is God Worshipped in Different Forms?
The traveller stood at the banks of the Godavari River, watching the golden reflections of the setting sun dance upon the water. The river was vast, flowing endlessly, yet it took on different shapes, narrowing in places, widening in others, splitting into tributaries, and merging back again.
Lost in thought, the traveller turned as he heard the familiar rustling of robes. Shirdi Sai Baba stood nearby, His eyes twinkling with silent wisdom.
“You look deep in thought, child,” Baba said.
The traveller folded his hands. “Baba, people worship God in so many different forms. Some see Him as Krishna, some as Shiva, and some as the Divine Mother. Even in other lands, they have different images of the divine. If God is one, why do people worship in so many ways?”
Baba smiled and gestured toward the flowing river.
“Do you see this water?” He asked.
The traveller nodded.
“Tell Me, child, does the river remain the same everywhere?”
The traveller shook his head. “No, Baba. Here it is wide and calm, but upstream, it rushes fiercely through narrow passages. And further ahead, it splits into smaller streams before meeting the ocean.”
Baba chuckled.
“Yet, is it not the same river?”
The traveller’s eyes widened.
The Mind’s Need for Form
Baba sat on a stone by the riverbank, and waved His hand for the traveller to sit beside Him.
“Child, the human mind struggles to grasp the infinite. That which has no shape, no beginning, no end, how can the mind, which itself is limited, hold onto such a vast truth?”
The traveller listened intently.
“When a child learns about the sky, do we tell him first about the vastness of the universe? No! We point to the blue expanse above and say, ‘This is the sky.’ Only later does the child realize that the sky has no real boundary, that it stretches beyond the clouds, beyond the stars.”
The traveller nodded.
“In the same way,”Baba continued, “the formless divine is too vast for most to comprehend. So, the mind creates forms, and symbols, to grasp different aspects of the divine. Some seek a mother’s love, so they see God as the Divine Mother. Some seek strength, so they see God in the form of Shiva or Hanuman. Some seek wisdom, so they turn to Krishna or Buddha. Each form is not God itself, but a doorway leading to God.”
The Elephant and the Blind Men
Baba leaned back, watching the river flow.
“There is an old story, child. Perhaps you have heard it before.”
The traveller shook his head.
“Once, several blind men came upon an elephant for the first time. Each touched a different part. One touched its leg and said, ‘The elephant is like a pillar.’ Another touched its trunk and said, ‘No, the elephant is like a thick rope.’ Another felt its ears and argued, ‘You are both wrong! The elephant is like a large fan.’”
Baba chuckled.
“Each of them was right, but each of them was also wrong. They mistook the part for the whole.”
The traveller’s heart pounded with realization.
“So, Baba, when people say ‘My God is the only God,’ they are like the blind men believing the elephant is only what they have touched?”
Baba nodded.
“Yes, child. People hold onto what they know and reject what they do not. But truth is vast, like the full elephant, like the flowing river, like the infinite sky. The wise do not cling to one form; they seek the essence behind the form.”
The Answer
People worship God in different forms because the human mind cannot grasp the infinite directly. Different forms of God are like different doorways leading to the same truth. Just as a sculptor carves according to the needs of the people, different forms of worship arise based on what the seeker seeks, love, strength, wisdom, or guidance.
But just as all rivers eventually merge into the ocean, all forms of worship lead to the same divine truth.
A Final Thought
If the sky has no shape, will you argue over the form of the clouds?
If the river changes its course, will you say it is not the same water?
Perhaps the real question is not which form of God is true… but whether we are ready to go beyond form and experience the formless.
Source: Sai Tatva E-Magazine Authored by Murali P K
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We would also love to hear your reflections, share your thoughts with us, so we may continue this beautiful exchange of wisdom and devotion.
