It was really a simple way of educating people like me who could not otherwise know the true meaning of Sanatan Dharma. Very beautifully explained & provoking to learn more!¡! My sincere thanks to Sri Iyer and Sri Narasimha Raoji for touching this subject in its primary stage. 🎉🎉🎉❤
Thank you so much for this wonderful new series that you are collaborating on with PVR Narasimha Rao ji. These videos are a treasure and must be seen by everyone for clarity on Hindu Dharma 🙏🕉
Thank you. Please spread the good word about this channel, *@lajwantishahani1225* . Also, tell your family and friends to *Subscribe* and *Like* this channel.
Please remember, we state three times a day during SANDYAVANDANAM, 'Akashata patitam toyam, Yatha gachchati sagaram. Sarva Deva Namasharam, Sri Keshavam pratigachchati.' ie Just like myriad drops of water descend from the skies to merge with the Ocean, Salutations to all the Devas, who go onto merge (with the Supreme Being) KESHAVA
This is PURE GOLD! I understand ADVAITA very well and am an ardent follower & proponent of the same. The issue I had was with all the different texts - shiva purana will talk about shiva’s greatness, Vishnu will talk about Vishnu’s Durga saptaah shati will eulogise goddess Durga and Lalitha SAHASRANAMAM says all Shakti is the main power and all the other gods descended from Shakti. This was slightly confusing for me as to I couldn’t understand why the contradiction. But what PVR JI said - it was all about it he Rishi’s personal perspective of perception. Wow! What a thought. Also, another thing I keep telling people is that people take birth on earth to experience & learn and the universe provides you the experience through people around you / close to you. They are all manifestations of para-Brahmam. PVR ji told the same thing. I am quite thrilled that my ideas sync with someone as enlightened as PVRji. Koti koti Pranam to PVR ji & you Sree Iyer ji.
Shiva/Vishnu/Brahma are just cosmic allegories for the same conscious, immortal, immutable, immanent (athma), transcendent and omnipresent Brahman. Their wives Shakthi/Lakshmi/Saraswathi are also cosmic allegories for intelligent energy. Husband and wife cannot exist without each other. So, they always exist together for the perpetual duality cycles of nature to happen. eg Birth/decay, wave/particle, energy/matter, Rajas/Tamas, summer/winter etc. Duality cycles are "mediated" by the conscious field but sustained by Sathvik guna (Vishnu+ Lakshmi). So, to understand the difference between the 3 gunas which control matter, Shiva + Shakthi (Rajas orTamas), Vishnu + Lakshmi (Sathvik) and Brahman + Sarawathi (Rajas or Tamas) are used. This is Sankhya Vedic metaphysics (around which Hindu temple, yoga and tantra traditions were built) which can be validated by logic, double slit quantum experiment and embodied experience. Sankhya (mentioned by Sri Krishna in Bhagavad Gita) combines Advaitha (non dual Brahman) and Dvaitha (duality capable Prakriti or Shakthi)
🙏👍❤️🌎 thank you, gentlemen, for today 🙏. I am a believer, seeker of the unknown. My experience and faith keep me going. I enjoyed this video. Thank you for a wonderful Sunday morning.
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Thank you PVR Narasimha Rao ji! for such an insightful story. I have heard this analogy (story) from you on a different platform previously, but listening to it again clarifies the concept further - as our Dharmic Philosophy is very nuanced. Looking forward to upcoming episodes in this series.
Salutations to Shri PVR Narasimha Rao garu for his illuminating,lucid, authoritative and fine elucidation on God, the various forms of God. Every spoken word is reflective of his scholarship and is comprehensive. In Absolute conformity to the pathway practiced by yearning souls of Sanatana Dharma.🙏🤲🪔🪔🪔🕉️🌹
As my Guru says, teaching one genuine seeker is enough. How many people one's voice should reach is decided by Divine Mother. Also, there is a right time for everything. The beauty of internet and public domain is that these videos will remain. Time may come in future for more people to discover and benefit.
Great information especially for youngsters to understand these concepts and not to fall in the trap of religious conversions. Thank you PVR Narasimha Rao garu and Sree Iyer garu 🙏
🙏🏼Thank you both for sharing your knowledge and wisdom. Please keep doing such videos on various aspects of santana dharma … the analogies given by Narasimhara rao Garu are so good ..thanks again for such a great video
You are most welcome. Thank you. Please spread the good word about this channel, *@bjayyy* . Also, tell your family and friends to *Subscribe* and *Like* this channel.
He truly is a blessed personality and his talks make my understanding of Gurbani and Sikhi so much better. I apologize to everyone here if you've ever heard a Sikh (actually someone in garb of Sikh) say hurtful things about Sanatan Dharma because to me, Sikh mat, disconnected from Sanatan Dharma is simply a tree that's just a tree in appearance and may be a tree for decorative purposes only but internally it's shrivelled and dead due to being deracinated and disconnected from its source and deepest roots that provide it nourishment.
My late father, a great scholar of Sanatana Dharma and a great bhakta of Mother Mahalakshmi, was a great admirer of Sikhs. He visited Punjab many times. He simply loved the patriotism, simplicity, honesty and the spirit of selfless service of Sikhs as a community. He took me to Golden Temple in Amritsar just 5 months before his death. BTW, many people don't know it, but the Shani temple just outside Golden Temple is a very powerful one! To me, Sikh dharma falls under the _larger umbrella_ of Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana Dharma is larger than any specific school of thought within Hinduism and accommodates so many schools in a coherent fashion!
@@pvr108 honoured and blessed to receive your reply sir. I completely agree sir and that's the reason why I used the words Sikh Mat/Panth and not Sikh Dharma because Dharma, by definition, is Sanatan, that is, timeless and eternal.
I just loved this session. There was so much of insight. Mr Rao explained in such a simple and easy to understand manner. Kudos to both of you for this brilliant topic.
Our pleasure! Hinduism is *polymorphic, @vijayakumari811* - hence so many Gods. It needs in-depth study to understand how scientific *Sanatana Dharma* (that is the correct name for *Hinduism* ) is. BTW the world was *Sanatani* before the *Abrahamic religions* came along.
Thank you. The key thing to me for the revival of Sanatana Dharma is making it _accessible_ rather than something too complex and difficult to understand. In fact, our rishis always strived to make things accessible.
Namaskar to both of you sirs , God has inspired you to do what you are doing, I am grateful to the Almighty that he makes me understand this Truth. I haven't much to ask for except that , i am able to experience the essence of vedas and upanishad, when Mr Narasimha Garu speaks. I pray to God may he bless you both to continue this Dissemination of TRUTH. Regards, Mehar kanhai N ,Bangalore
Sanatana Vedic Dharma concept succinctly put by Narasimha Rao garuji and Shree Iyerji. The Supreme Almighty Consciousness is manifested in all his creations and beyond the 3 dimensions known and understanding of selfish human beings. Only the pure noble humans / souls are offered keys to follow for realisation of his Ananta manifestations and his Leela in the Hiranyagarba that abounds around us. Idam na mama. Maryada Leela Purush Siyaram Shri Shyam Bhakt sahit Bhagwan ko baram baar pranaam ji.🙏.
CHAPTER 6 verse 8.7 of SAMA VEDA "Tat Tvam Asi" - means - you (immortal, immanent and conscious athma) are (already) that (immortal, conscious, omnipresent and transcendent Brahman) without which nothing can exist or nothing can be perceived in its current form or no duality cycles of nature can happen. Identification with thoughts and body is just an illusion created by lack of knowledge, wrong assumption that the body is the experiencer of 5 senses (instead of the immanent athma which is NOT the doer) and ego (false sense of I). “Not the doer” means the omnipresent conscious self or the athma can neither act nor react even though the experiencer of everything including humans and non humans (including both animate and inanimate). Only its intelligent energy is the doer. Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent experience - Through focus and meditation and in higher states of consciousness, the “all pervading” “all knowing” “all powerful” experience can be attained by anyone while still being alive because you (conscious and immanent athma) are (already) that (conscious, omnipresent and transcendent Brahman) and due to interdependence of athma/brahman and its intelligent energy. But in Abrahamic religions, only their transcendent god can be omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.
Nirankar Niranjan is also said by many Rishi.Sir in Srimad Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna showed Viswarupa to Arjun.sir in our sannatan dharama para Brahma.
Thank you sir for the way you have explained. I am now clear when I am doing puja to a certain deity on certain festivals. The purpose is explained clearly.
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Hari Om!! Namaste...!! In homa they put particular mandalas different for each Deity, how it came to practice? What is the significance of it? Please enlighten about the daily Agni karya/ simple homa , how is it to be observed ? Dhanyavad...
Thank you for attempting to explain the concept of ONE vs many. My questions are - 1. What is the difference between just accepting the fact that there is only one paraBrahma, to actually experiencing it? One can live a detached life, from both thought and action, by accepting that is only one parabrahma. Infact, while living in the material world, the former is more plausible than latter. Please share your thoughts. 2. Along the same lines, what is the difference between complacency and contentment? 3. Finally, should we think of the supreme beings shiva, vishnu, durga as energies of the parabrahma or thoughts of the parabrahma?
Absolutely! Instead of asking "is X correct or Y", we should always try to understand what X is trying to say and what Y is. Sometimes, there is no contradiction even if it may seem so!
In shrimad bhagwadgita as well as dnyaneshwari in 18 th adhyaya shrikrishna himself describes him as parabramha and based on that description I have written a poem which I am quoting here. Almighty I am birth less I am everyoung I am imperishable I am unprecedented I am infinite I am blissful I am steady I am immovable I am endless I am non dual I am the original I am unmanifest I am manifest too I am all powerful I am the Almighty I am eternal I am immortal I am fearless I am the foundation I am without support I am the support myself I am the master forever I am spontaneous I am omniscient I am omnipresent I am ultramundane I am ancient I am recent too I am void I am complete I am physical I am subtle I am everything I am non doer I am detached I am sorrowless I am all pervasive I am expansive I am the best I am wordless I am soundless I am formless I am without lineage I am constant I am independent I am the ultimate I am in me I am in everything of the universe (Based on few verses from Dnyneshwari/Bhagavatgeeta Adhyay 18)
Jnaneshwari is an enlightened version of Bhagavad Gita! Jnaneswar Maharaj was truly an enlightened master - probably the greatest guru of last millennium. Like some, I too believe his Shakti is still present in Alandi under the temple. It is a great place to meditate.
A topic request: Worshipping different Devatas vs focussing on a single Devata upasana Some people just stick to one Devata upasana. Whereas others worship different devatas on different days or in different phases e.g. an anushthana of one Devata followed by an anushthana of another Devata, etc. Why this difference in approach? Are they pursuing different goals? What is the best approach (if any) for worship / upasana? Oh and also, this video was truly excellent! Learnt so much! Thank you!
These Western countries need so many people to work for 1 company,to serve 1 Boss who is responsible for the company but still decentralised powers, but find it very difficult to understand our Bhagvan….. The Abrahamic God/ Allah is all powerful but funny that it can’t even enter a murti.😳
"enter a murti" nothing can "enter" a murthi. Without the conscious, immortal, immutable, self luminous, immanent (athma), transcendent and omnipresent Brahman nothing can exist or nothing can be perceived in its current form or no duality cycles of nature can happen. It also means, TAT TVAM ASI meaning you (athma) are already that (Brahman). It also means, Stone deities in Hindu temples are neither for worship nor prayer. Stone deities are used for 2 reasons. a. They are used as objects of attraction (so given bath, food and decorated with makeup, dress, jewels etc) for focus and meditation in the presence of Sanskrit mantra vibrations, augmented by temple architecture, sanctum Sanctorum (space where deities are kept) and shape/ posture of deities. So, hindu temples are seen as powerful energy centers. This technique is for reaching samadhi state which is nothing but the disappearance of perception of subject (ego self) and object (external world or the deity focused upon) split momentarily (temple tradition) or temporarily and permanently (in Yoga tradition) to remove past karma or cause and effect (stored in the subtle body Chitta) and stop reincarnation (birth/death duality cycle) or to fulfill desires with reduced karmic burden b. Stone deities are also symbolic representations of the well validated Vedic metaphysics Sankhya, nature (surya (sun), chandra (moon), rain, thunder devatas etc), laws of nature (Karma, Dharma devatas etc), consciousness (Ganesh) of omnipresent self (Shiva/Vishnu/brahma) which mediates also dualities of nature, dharma or natural law or their followers (Ram/Krishna). Devatas maintain cosmic order. c. Some of the rituals are also symbolic like offering flowers (to give up memories), bananas (for giving up attachments to anything achieved) and breaking coconuts (to give up ego). As far as "ritual powder" or Vibhuti is concerned, it is nothing, but ash applied on the forehead. It is interpreted either as a symbolic reminder that this body is temporary and will be eventually cremated or just to show that in expanded states of consciousness (so called opening of third eye) one can get cosmic experience.(which is equivalent to manifesting matter) d. In the same way, the tradition also gives importance to the concept of dharma or natural law when it comes to both animate and inanimate which contribute to stability and harmony of the universe..(it is not just about humanity). It is the reason why cows/snakes/monkeys/plants/trees are not worshiped but revered for doing their dharmic duty. Always remember, except human species (which violate dharma or the natural law due to ego and free will) non human species (animate and inanimate) are pre-programmed to follow the natural law or dharma.
@@pvr108 Nice to hear from you. I enjoy all your videos. It seems almost certain world may go through a lot of turmoil in next few years, as you also predict. Actually I am also a scientist researching in mathematics and computer science at TIFR . Now retired. Used to visit USA often earlier. Not much idea of jyotisha but I am also quite interested in our ancient darshana ( philosophies).
Excellent speech that made me speechless. On one face taittiriya upanishad talks of koshas, (annamaya, pranamaya, gnanamaya, vijgnanamaya and anandamaya kosam) Mandukya talks of jagrata, swapna and sushupti states, Somewhere else they talk of sthula, sukshma and karana shareer. Then comes aham brahmasmi, tat tvam ASI, And finally universal consciousness. People talking of life and death, hell and heaven have their consciousness centered at the basic level of sthula shareera, or annamaya kosha.
Thanks to PVRN Rao and also p-Guru channel. Sanatana dharma is facing several opposing problems at religious, social and political levels mainly because of the caste system particularly in TN. It has become a root cause for emergence of Nastikas, conversions, craze for materialism etc etc. Will Rao ji address to this issue in forthcoming programmes with the permission of Iyer ji ?
Thanks Pgurus for the wonderful series. Hope my request reaches to you. I am ekalavya shishya to Narasimha rao guruji, I am learning the Astrology and the way of looking at our sastras from guruji online resources. I am 32 currently living in US ,after December for good i am moving to india to work full time on my life mission of vedicrevive. i have 3 promising approaches. My question is I want to understand Vedangas approach in general ( why vedangas focussed more on scientific approach, systematic approach to vedas.). I feel like when other cultures or the people from our land questioning the authority of vedic wisdom, few rishis and scholors tried to come up with the systematic approach to prove the Vedic concepts to common people. Apparently Narasimha rao guruji doing the same thing in modren times and i am following his footsteps. I am interested in the vedangas timelines , what might have caused vedas and puranas to get opposed. Vedangas actually did a fantastic job in sustaining our culture
Nice thoughts. It is my expectation that a renaissance in Arsha Vidya (teachings of rishis - in various fields) started and will continue over the next several decades. I may explain my astrological rationale in a future video on my channel, based on charts covering roughly 1,200 years.
IMHO, our education system needs a big reform. We blindly copied the British. While modern world needs some modern education, it needs to be balanced with some traditional learning.
Not easy. Some astrologers use thumb rules to guide, but there is much corruption in that knowledge and also most astrologers are commercial and fake, i.e. you can't rely on them. Best is to listen to guru if one has a guru. If not, listen to heart. Everyone has a guru in one's heart..
Kannadasan explained : one man is brother to his elder, son to parents, husband to wife, father to daughter, uncle to someone, friend to someone. God is what you perceive
The Lotus emanating from the navel of Mahavishnu on top of which the Chaturmukha Brahma sits and Creates our four dimensional Universe is the key to all Hindu philosophy. The stem of that Lotus holds our 14 worlds.
I would refrain from using the word "god" for the non translatable Sanskrit word Brahman which is NOT the same as "god". In the same way, Athma is also not the same as soul. It also means, there is no concept of god or heaven or hell in Hindu tradition. The word god and its definition are based on Abrahamic religions based on monotheism which simply says that there is just a transcendent god who can “create” the universe and its laws of nature out of thin air and also override them whenever wanted by just using a magic wand😊. Monotheism cannot be validated by logic or experiment or embodied experience. It also means, monotheism wrongly assumes that after 'creation" their transcendent god is totally disconnected from it . In other words, it says that the universe and everything in it can exist or function on its own without the immanence of their "transcendent" god as the omnipresent soul and its consciousness ( an attribute just like heat is an attribute of fire and the sun) which is needed to “mediate” all dualities of nature to happen eg manifestation/concealment duality cycle of the universe (not creation or destruction), birth/decay (including human reincarnation cycle), energy/matter, summer/winter etc. In other words, none of the Abrahamic religions were built around any well validated metaphysics..It led to needless prophets/middlemen/son of god/messiah, angels, blind belief in a book. rigid commandments,, nonexistent heaven/hell, fantasy stories (propagated as history), one life, proselytization, half-baked responsibilities and discrimination/violence against non-believers and nature (including meat consumption) due to lack of understanding of dharma (one should abide by natural law by following ethics, duty, virtue to sustain the balance and harmony of the world), law of Karma or cause and effect (created by memories, likes/dislikes and violation of dharma or the natural law), reincarnation (birth/death duality cycle of humans triggered by karma or cause and effect) and Moksha (microcosm to macrocosm) 2. Polytheism believes in the existence of many independent and distinct gods, completely unrelated to each other. The polytheists lacked any understanding of the inherent unity of every manifest thing, including their multiple gods. So, polytheism also cannot be validated by logic or experiment or embodied experience
It's not God but only God's virtues & subtle powers or souls' virtues & powers. HE is param athma & HE is Suyambu, Ajanmaa,Aboiktha&Avektha.Also the liberator of souls' from karmic bondage!
Fantastic, would love to see more! I have a controversial opinion that you should discuss the reason and purpose of destruction of Hindu civilization by Bri**sh/Isl**ic conquest. By the age of Kali being that of enormous karmic exchanges (which have built up), there must be some action for which this is the fruit. Have my own theories, would love to hear yours!
These karmic actions however old, dark, will just need only a trigger of bright light to vanish the long darkness. Kali is an age described as one where the dharma stands in just one leg out of 4 that is simply the leg of Sathya and irrespective of the bad influences of this epoch it has greatness that people can just do simple bakthi and sing bhagavan name to get realised from this samsara. 🙏✌️.
I don't know the "reason" per se, but I can see which karmas play out in which time period, when I see 1,200-year charts of India. In my assessment, India has a glorious period ahead, after some final shocks and troubles.
I feel there are different forms of God's to fulfill different/various requirements. It the like a work assigned to a particular form.of God. It is like a division of labour what we do
SreeIyer +PGurus please bring in the expertise of such scholars as PVRgaru to explain the ancient and modern day importance of TrikalaSandhyavandanam; many ppl realise that 5 times loudspeaker calls are extension in a way of sanatanadharma practice of 3 times sandhya which hindus hv forgotten~ 5000 yrs into kaliyuga. how madarasa brainwashing regd conservative tribal way of existance is being promoted by govt. over gurukul education which actually inculcated life values of sanatanadharma. best wishes for this wonderful channel
Study in detail Sankhya Vedic metaphysics mentioned by Sri Krishna in Bhagavad Gita. Hindu temple, yoga and tantra traditions were built around Sankhya which combines Advaitha and Dvaitha which are incomplete without each other. Sankhya can be validated by logic, double slit quantum experiment and embodied experience. There is no question of ifs and buts or multiple opinions. It is the truth
This topic is a need of the hour. Youngsters who are ignorant of sanatana Dharma should see this video and get some knowledge so that when christians and muslims try to make fun of sanatana Dharma and try to seduce them to convert, they will be able to defend themselves
Simple. As a beginner, practice Jnana yoga (focus on your breath to calm your manas) or kriya yoga (subtle release and control of breath to transition to higher states of consciousness) and while dealing with everyday issues practice Karma yoga (in action in action or despite action no karma is created or dharmic action which is in sync with non doer state of conscious, immortal, immanent (athma) and transcendent Brahman despite being the experiencer of everything). Advanced practitioners (like Buddha, Adishankara) due to years of continuous practice of Jnana yoga end up becoming Jivan Mukth (experience of cosmos 24/7 or macrocosm) and Karma yoga (dharmic action) will be the natural outcome for such people without thinking or analyzing with limited microcosmic experience.
Secularismkasecurityguard As an intellectual Kshatriya inform ABRAHAMIC religion followers and hedonists about correct knowledge of well validated Vedic metaphysics, law of karma (cause and effect), dharma (abide by natural law), reincarnation (transmigration of subtle body to gross body) and Moksha (microcosm to macrocosm) and also expose why the monotheistic assumptions of ABRAHAMIC religions like god, heaven and hell cannot be validated by logic or experiment or embodied experience.
Chandi homa done regularly (with Durga Saptashati) by a few simple, humble and honest people with selfless sankalpa just for dharma, can make a difference.
Thank you both for this wonderful video. I had a question for Rao sir - Sir, you were talking about praying to specific gods to sort of imbibe their qualities and make progress in life. I pray to quite a few gods and goddesses every day, and ask for each of their blessings according to their powers and qualities - am I doing it incorrectly? Because when Bhishma was dying, he said to do only one thing for a blessed life, which was chanting Vishnu Sahasranama. My father is a great devotee of Krishna and has brought us up asking us to pray to him, although Krishna is also Vishnu's incarnation. And finally, my ishta devata is lord Shiva, so should I be doing more about that? Ultimately, all gods are one and are beyond names or personifications, but please share your thoughts on this, so I can get the most divine blessings and progress towards achieving my goals in this lifetime...thank you! 🙏🏻
Kindly understand that there is no concept of god or heaven or hell in Hindu tradition. Non translatable Sanskrit word Brahman is not the same as god. A CHAPTER 1 and verse 2 of ATHARVA VEDA “Ayam Atma Brahma" - "This Self or athma (immortal, conscious, immanent and omnipresent ) is Brahman (immortal, conscious and transcendent )". In Islam or Christianity or Judaism, soul is neither omnipresent nor conscious and it is definitely not equated with “Allah” or “God” B. CHAPTER 6 verse 8.7 of SAMA VEDA "Tat Tvam Asi" - means - you (immortal, immanent and conscious athma) are (already) that (immortal, conscious, omnipresent and transcendent Brahman) without which nothing can exist or nothing can be perceived in its current form or no duality cycles of nature can happen. Identification with thoughts and body is just an illusion created by lack of knowledge, wrong assumption that the body is the experiencer of 5 senses (instead of the immanent athma which is NOT the doer) and ego (false sense of I). “Not the doer” means the omnipresent conscious self or the athma can neither act nor react even though the experiencer of everything including humans and non humans (including both animate and inanimate). Only its intelligent energy is the doer. Single Sanskrit mantra is enough to validate Vedic metaphysics around which the whole Hindu tradition was built including its temple, yoga and tantra traditions. Sanskrit mantras help to transcend 5 senses and ego which confirms that we are neither mind nor body but the conscious, immortal, immutable, self luminous, immanent (athma), omnipresent and transcendent Brahman. Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent experience - Through focus and meditation and in higher states of consciousness, the “all pervading” “all knowing” “all powerful” experience can be attained by anyone while still being alive because you (conscious and immanent athma) are (already) that (conscious, omnipresent and transcendent Brahman) and due to interdependence of athma/brahman and its intelligent energy. But in Abrahamic religions, only their transcendent god can be omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. It is the reason why there is no concept of god in Hindu tradition. It also means, the impassive experiencer (athma/brahman) of everything is just one but experience (inanimate and animate including humans) is multiple. So, there is nothing other than the nondual athma/brahman and its duality capable intelligent energy. They always exist together for the perpetual duality cycles of nature to happen.
2. It also means, stone deities in Hindu temples are not for worship or prayer. They are used as objects of attraction (so given bath, food and decorated with makeup, dress, jewels etc) for focus and meditation in the presence of Sanskrit mantra vibrations, augmented by temple architecture, sanctum Sanctorum (space where deities are kept) and shape/ posture of deities. So, hindu temples are seen as powerful energy centers. This technique is for reaching samadhi state which is nothing but the disappearance of perception of subject (ego self) and object (external world or the deity focused upon) split momentarily (temple tradition) or temporarily and permanently (in Yoga tradition) to remove past karma or cause and effect (stored in the subtle body Chitta) and stop reincarnation (birth/death duality cycle) or to fulfill desires with reduced karmic burden Stone deities are also symbolic representations of the well validated Vedic metaphysics Sankhya, nature (surya (sun), chandra (moon), rain, thunder devatas etc), laws of nature (Karma, Dharma devatas etc), consciousness (Ganesh) of omnipresent self (Shiva/Vishnu/brahma) which mediates also dualities of nature, dharma or natural law or their followers (Ram/Krishna). Devatas maintain cosmic order. Some of the rituals are also symbolic like offering flowers (to give up memories), bananas (for giving up attachments to anything achieved) and breaking coconuts (to give up ego). As far as "ritual powder" or Vibhuti is concerned, it is nothing, but ash applied on the forehead. It is interpreted either as a symbolic reminder that this body is temporary and will be eventually cremated or just to show that in expanded states of consciousness (so called opening of third eye) one can get cosmic experience.(which is equivalent to manifesting matter) There is also concept of dharma for both animate and inanimate which sustains the balance of duality cycles of nature for stability and harmony of the universe. It is the reason why, Hindus 'revere" animate and inanimate not worship or pray.
It is fine to pray to multiple Devatas everyday. It is finer to pick and stick to one Devata and pray to Him/Her. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa gave a wonderful analogy: If you want water, dig a _deep_ well in _one_ place instead of digging shallow wells in 100 places!! 😃
