Bigger the Murti More Powerful the God?

Bigger the Murti More Powerful the God? April 26, 2016

I heard someone ask this question and I was intrigued because it had never occurred to me. Do we measure divinity by the physical space that something occupies? If God is in everything, is there more God in a boulder than in a pebble? If a pebble is one part divinity, is the boulder 500 parts divinity?

I don’t think so, personally, but it’s a very interesting idea.

I am reminded of a story I was told growing up. A poor man in a village is getting completely destitute. Some of his only possessions are a gold murti of Ganesha and his mouse. The mouse statue is larger so Ganesha can ride upon it. He reluctantly decides that he’s going to have to sell these precious possessions. But when he takes them to a shop, the owner offers him more for the mouse than for Ganesha himself. The man says to himself, “How can the mouse be worth more than the God?” He is so insulted at the idea that he doesn’t sell them after all.

This is a great example of how there are different ways to measure value. Size is one that we use a lot in day-to-day life but it isn’t necessarily the whole picture. I feel like using size to measure value is something that is very connected to maya and this limited world rather than reality.

It also reminds me of when I learned that there are infinities all over the place. A friend who is great at math showed me in middle school how there is an infinity in between every number. It’s rather mind-blowing.

What do you think? Does more divinity fit in a larger murti?


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