శిలలప్రతిమ దెచ్చి చీకటింటబెట్టి
మొక్కవద్దు వెర్రి మూఢులార
హృదయమందు దేవుడుండుట తెలియుడీ
విశ్వదాభిరామ వినుర వేమ
silala pratima decci cIkaTinTabeTTi
mokkavaddu verri mUDhulAra
hrudayamandu dEvuDunDuTa teliyuDI
శిలలప్రతిమ = A statue carved out of stone
తెచ్చి = Having brought
చీకటింటబెట్టి = keeping it in a dark room
మొక్కవద్దు = Do not salute
వెర్రి = mad
మూఢులార = Oh! The Unintelligent people!
హృదయమందు = In the Heart (Mind)
దేవుడుండుట = God being there
తెలియుడీ = Come to know of
People go to temples to see the God there. This God is made by the people by carving a stone. They establish this statue in dark room. There has to be a sense of suspense and aura around the so called God! If the God is placed in well-lit place, people may find the God and the place dull as any other place! It is really interesting that all the south Indian temples are built in places that are hard to reach. Once inside, the sanctorum is usually illuminated with only the oil lamps! That creates a feeling of mysticism perhaps!
Vemana was against such worship. He openly calls all such people who worship Gods in dark rooms as mad and foolish! No mincing words! He cautions that the God that is manifest in our hearts is to be identified first! If that is done, there is no need of going to the temple or a pooja place right within the house!
People very much tell that the God is everywhere and is manifest in everything! Then why is that they go all the way to one particular temple and one particular God? If there is a temple of the same God nearby, it does not command much respect! Mad are people who differentiate between Gods and say one of them is more powerful!
Do Gods compete in attracting people and their devotion? If so, the Gods must be crazy! Vemana hints very much that the idea of god is our own creation. It is there in our heart and hence the God is also there in our heart! Why then think that a particular statue is God?
