The Dice Game

It must be reiterated a thousand thousand times that Hinduism is a monotheistic religion! There is only One creator/Supporter/Destroyer! Hinduism does not prescribe worship of idols! A true Hindu can easily repeat the first half of the first Kalima—There is no God except God. In fact this monotheistic base so clearly brought out in the vedic mantra “Ekam Eva Advatiyam” (There is only One..No Two!) The vedic hymns are essentially in praise of a formless One. This formless one is praised in its manifold manifestations. It is here that the problem starts.

Even Visistadvita or Vaishnavism contemplates the following five secret stages of Sripathy Sriman Narayana: Paramapatha, Vyuha, Vibhava, Antharyamithva and Archroopa in the order of ease of access. In this sense the Archa Roopa or idol form is very simple and easy to reach for the devotee. But later he will slowly (depending on his ability and willingness and more importantly his vasanas from previous births) transcend each stage till he is always with the One in thought, speech and action. In this sense he will finally become immersed in the lord. But before reching this stage, it is necessary to have an object for focus and that is the idol. Around this idol worship both in Temples and at home a whole mountain of ritual and misconceptions have arisen, obliterating the true meaning and symbolism behind the actions and words. Be that as it may, here is Swami Chinmayananda on the Vibhootis of the Supreme Lord (The Divine Glories by which He exists, pervading all these worlds) as described in the tenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita:

“Verses 21 to 38 of the tenth chapter enumerate 75 vibhootis of the Lord. Herein, Lord Krsna provides 75 thoughts to help seekers who are on the path of knowledge to meditate upon and intensify their integration and sharpen their single-pointedness. These are 75 independent exercises in meditation. (The first person pronoun “I” herein refers to the Lord).”

The tenth chapter is a favorite of G Ramachandran who frequently quotes from the 75 Vibhootis. In his letter he refers to the line Sleight of hand I am in the Dice Game! (In all fairness this is a liberal transliteration of the actual line which is “I am the gambling of the fraudulent”(10:36). But the point is well made. The Lord is that which masks our rational thinking in the dice-game. This colossal fraud keeps us constantly “in the game”. The solution is to open our eyes with His help and see the game for what it is…a zero-sum Win/Lose game! Then the Lord will fulfill his final promise: “The Knowledge of the Knowers am I”. (10:38)