Daily Devotion -Apr 28, 2025 (English)

Benefits of Pilgrimage -

Question - What is the difference between the idols of God in pilgrimage places (līlā sthal - where God performed his divine pastimes) and the saints residing there?
Shri Maharaj Ji's answer -
First, understand the philosophy behind this -

• When Shri Krishna descended on earth, whoever recognized, accepted, and loved Him as God attained the fruit of devotion to God. This is understandable. But even those who did not recognize or accept Him as God and simply loved Him as a boy, father, husband, brother, etc., with any sentiment, also attained Golok. This is because you receive the benefit of whomever you love. The sentiment does not matter - whether you consider Him God, a human being, or even an enemy - only heartfelt love for Him is needed.
• One can attain the benefit of God by having divine sentiments of God in material objects (all inert objects like idols of God made of stone, mud, water, air, fire, ether, etc.). This is because God is -
  i) Omniscient,
  ii) Resides in every being's heart and hence knows all their thoughts, and
  iii) All-pervading, and thus pervades material objects as well.
  Therefore, we attain the fruit of our devotional feeling toward God. This is why idol worship has become prevalent in our country.
• However, if you create an idol of a worldly person (such as your mother, father, or husband) and imbue it with emotions, you will not attain worldly benefit from it because that person is neither omnipresent, nor omniscient, nor aware of our thoughts or the sentiments of our heart. If you love someone in the material world with a worldly sentiment, you will attain them after death.

Thus, you can get the benefit of God from His idol only when you have divine sentiments towards it. If you are merely attracted to the external appearance of the idol (such as the diamond necklace and colorful lights) and attach your mind to those aspects, you will only receive the benefit of a stone.

But those who establish divine sentiments for God in the idol are very rare. Most people just offer salutations to the idol made of stone.
Why is this so?
Because if you truly developed divine sentiments of God in the idol, you would experience infinite bliss. Even in worldly relations, you become extremely excited when someone you love is about to visit after a long time. However, you do not experience even as much happiness when you see the idol. And if you had truly developed such sentiments, observe how many tears you shed in intense longing, crying, "O Shyamsundar! When will You appear before me?" After offering food to God, you do not even check whether God has eaten anything or not - did the food offerings reduce? For if you did, you would feel, "Alas! I am such a great sinner that my Lord did not accept my offering!" But instead, we are firmly convinced that God will not eat. Then how can the food be considered the divine remnant of what God has partaken?

This is the reason we have been circumambulating idols and undertaking pilgrimages for innumerable lifetimes without achieving our goal.

There are ten types of idols:
śailī dārumayī lauhī lekhyā lepyā ca saikatī।
manomayī maṇimayī pratimāṣṭavidhā smr̥tā॥
Different kinds of idols are made of inert materials such as iron, gold, wood, stone, sand, etc. By establishing the sentiments of God in these, one can attain God-realization. But if one does not establish such a feeling and instead believes that the idol itself is miraculous, it is a delusion.

The idol itself is neither miraculous nor non-miraculous - it is made of stone. Crowds gather to see some idols due to propaganda and superstition. People say, "That temple is miraculous, as fifty crore rupees of offerings are made there in a year!" That is mere deception. God is miraculous everywhere - in the bathroom, in hell, in the demon who spews a hundred abuses, as well as in pilgrimages.

We should go on pilgrimages with the feeling that these are the places where God performed his divine pastimes. We should think - "Lord Ram had walked here (in Rameshwaram). His lotus feet touched this land. He had installed the idol of Shiv Ji here with His own lotus hands." How can we get the benefits of pilgrimage without having such feelings? Everyone must note this: No place inherently holds miraculous power, whether Golok, heaven, or hell. This is because 'prabhu vyāpaka sarvatra samānā' - God is equally present everywhere. But "prema te prakaṭa hoi mai jānā" - For one who loves Him, God manifests from that stone idol, comes out, talks, eats, etc. An example is the story of Dhanna Jaat.

If one embarks on a pilgrimage with divine sentiments for God, contemplates on the divine pastimes that occurred there, and finds a genuine saint there, then through association with that saint, one can attain the benefit of the pilgrimage. After returning from the four main pilgrimages, one should reflect -
How much did my worldly desires reduce? How much did my worldly attachment decrease?
These are the actual benefits of pilgrimage. If you cannot achieve such a benefit, you should instead sit alone at home and practice devotion, which is equivalent to going on millions of pilgrimages. If you cannot benefit from God who resides inside you, how can you get it from an idol made of stone?

So, the essence of the philosophy is -

1. God, His names, forms, qualities, pastimes, abodes, and saints are all pure. If your mind gets attached to any of these with any sentiment, you will attain Golok.
2. By attaching your mind to your relatives, such as your mother, father, children, etc., you will attain them after death.
3. By developing divine sentiments of God in a material object and loving it, you will attain Golok.
    
   Thus, you can get the direct benefit of the darshan of God through the association of saints. If you are not benefiting from a saint's association, it is only because of your own faults. The same is the reason why we could not benefit even during Shri Krishna's descension.

The benefit of Satsang is uncountable times more than going on a pilgrimage because, in Satsang -

1. You get to hear and understand philosophical knowledge.
2. Satsang has a profound impact on the mind and purifies it.
3. In Satsang, you engage in practical sadhana in the form of kirtan and Roopdhyan, which you cannot get from going on a pilgrimage.
   Merely focusing on externalities at a pilgrimage site does not bring such benefit.
   Thus, leave aside the Vedas and the scriptures — understand from your personal experience whether you received more benefit from satsang or from going on a pilgrimage.

In ancient times, some saints used to reside at pilgrimage sites. But now, many shops have opened up, and it is mostly a commercial setup. Moreover, there are thieves and pickpockets, instilling a constant sense of fear and making the place unsafe. Identifying real saints from the dozens visible there is also very difficult. Thus, the benefit once attainable from the association of saints in the pilgrimages is also lost today.

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Recommended books by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj related to this topic:

The Sacred Rules - English

Satsang - English

Prema Rasa Siddhanta - English