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Diana L. Eck “seeing the divine” and pilgrimage

Darshan or Darśana is a term from the Sanskrit language that means having sight, seeing or beholding. Darśana is most commonly used in Hindu worship as the vision of the divine, for example, in a deity, a sacred person or relic. Many worshippers travel to these shrines to receive darśana or blessings of the gods, from saints or gurus. When one performs darśana in the proper way, the disciple develops a strong love for God and God likewise develops love for that worshipper. The full definition of darśana is very difficult in that it is an abstract phenomenon. It is also difficult to conceptualize as it involves a communication between follower and spiritual leader. However, the intended effect is to intensify the spirituality.

Diana L. Eck is one of the numerous religious scholars who made extensive studies. In her book Darshan: Seeing the Divine Image in India, she discussed different aspects of the Hindu religion such as Hindu worship or pujas, the reverence of images, yantras and mantras as well as Hindu ceremonies. Chapter 3 focused on pilgrimage, darshan and the relationship between these two factors and the role they played in the Hindu religion (Eck 27)

Pilgrimage

The term pilgrimage refers to a journey in search of ethical and religious purification or uplifting. Ordinary pilgrimages involve pilgrims making journeys to shrines and other sacred scenes that are of importance to a person’s faith. Many religions append spiritual importance to places of birth or death of saints, where miracles were witnessed, places where deities live and any site that is believed to have spiritual powers (Eck 78). These religious sites are usually visited by worshippers for their own spiritual gain. At the shrines, they ask for healing and other personal questions. Within the Hindu religion, pilgrimage plays an important role among the worshippers (Eck 79).

Hindus observe sacred events using festivals and celebrations that are seasonal in nature. The great festival of Yatra is specifically set aside for the pilgrimage or journey to holy shrines such as sacred rivers, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata as well as other shrines. The Tīrtha-yātrā refers to a group pilgrimage to a holy ground. For the more traditional Hindus, the hardships and experience on the journey to the holy site is as important as the pilgrimage itself as they believe these obstacles serve to increase their devotion in themselves and their god. The reasons for visiting shrines vary and people visit them to comply with the festival whereas others seek good karma from the sacred shrines (Hays 29).

Relationship between Darshan and pilgrimage

            The link between darśana and pilgrimage can be best explained by understanding the teachings of Baba Rampuri (Hays 89). He discusses at length about the importance and relationship between darshan and pilgrimage. For a change to occur within an individual, it is important that they can have the ability to suspend themselves between the ordinary world and the extraordinary world or between humanity and God. Tirthas crossing over locations that assists in the transcending to a higher level (Hays 29). According to Baba Rampuri, the rationale for going on pilgrimage is for the purposes of darshan, the inner viewing and the resulting blessings. Pilgrimage is therefore a means to an end, the end being darshan. Pilgrims are also expected to benefit the rest of the world after returning from the journey and so having received darshan, the pilgrim brings memories, prosperity and a good heart back to the society (Eck 19).

According to Hindu worshippers, pilgrimage was first endorsed by Buddha who instructed all people to return to holy places on a regular basis to remember where the great gods laid. Buddha also instructed the people to commemorate certain days with festivals and reverence. The purpose of the pilgrimages was to cleanse their previously amassed Karmas or deeds. According to the Dhammapada, a pilgrim can be defined as a person who has dissociated himself from the world. Within Buddhist circles, pilgrims are often wanderers that were freed from any worldly commitments such as education, employment and other obligations.

This wandering was however not aimless but was guided by a purpose to constantly seek out scared shrines. This journey was also explicitly mentioned in various Buddhist literatures such as Mahavagga where it is written that pilgrims should separate themselves from communities and seek the face of their gods. This wandering habit was largely responsible for the spread of Buddhism in India. The four locations that most pilgrims make journeys to include Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Lumbini and Kusinara mainly because these were the area where Buddha’s presence was most dominant (Kumar 109).

Diane Eck also mentioned the different aspects that influence pilgrimage and the receiving of darshan as one of the concerns involved the quality of darshan that pilgrims got in certain parts of India. This concern was also shared by Arun Kumar, a top editor at The Times of India. Kumar presented the case of pilgrims who were not satisfied with visiting Tirumala that has led to an overpopulation of similar visitors. There was an aspect of some individuals getting free darshan of the Lord while others missed the opportunity. This notion brings up new discussions on the nature of darshan and it was received. Pilgrims swarmed from all over India to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams which hard a difficult time providing “…faster and quality darshans to pilgrims” (Kumar 36).

The method through which thousands of pilgrims visit temples and shrines to receive darshan points out to a unique aspect of the relationship between pilgrimage and darshan. While it is obvious to assume that due to the nature of pilgrims, they require peaceful, quiet and controlled environments to ensure they fully connect with the gods and receive darshan. However, in reality, the process is hastened such that pilgrims spend a maximum of a minute in the presence of the deities before exiting their presence having been filled with darshan. In understanding this phenomenon, it is pertinent to use Eck’s analysis that described Hindu as being a religion where the individual is defined by the type of lifestyle that he or she follows and not the god they worship.

From the previous discussions, darshan can be singled out as being important when compared to pilgrimage as the latter is used to seek the former. In essence, Hindus do not go to temples for worship but for darshan. The receiving of darshan is usually done by exchanging sight with the deity or “viewing”. This helps in explaining the bizarre architecture surrounding the sculpturing of these deities that always includes eyes as the dominant and unique part of the deity. Some gods have two eyes, some four and even others have eyes all over their body. These images undergo various rituals and attention that shows their level of importance. They can be washed, garnished with flowers and entertained with music daily. The religious significance of looking at people in the eye explains why individuals do not look each other in the eye (Lochtefeld 189).

Conclusion

            From the discussion, we can conclude that the significance of pilgrimage is to achieve a higher sense of life, a clearer heart, soul, mind, and receiving blessings from gods. Among the communities that follow the Hindu religion, darshan becomes the ultimate goal that all people seek to achieve whenever they are on a spiritual journey. Pilgrimage may have significantly more activities, rituals, traditions and individuals involved. Pilgrimage is also sufficiently concrete and easily interpreted according to human standards. However, darshan, which is more important, is abstract and cannot be easily measured or understood as it involves a communication with a higher being that happens within an individual. 

Work cited

Eck, Diana L. Darśan: Seeing the Divine Image in India. New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press, 1998. Print

Hays J. Hindu worship, rituals and practices. Facts and Details. 2011. Accessed on 26 October 2012. Retrieved from http://factsanddetails.com/world.php?itemid=1350&catid=55&subcatid=354

Kumar A. For lakhs of pilgrims, quality darshan still a mirage in Tirumala. The Times of India 2012. Accessed on 26 October 2012. Retrieved from http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-05/hyderabad/31293800_1_pratyeka-pravesha-pilgrims-darshan-time

Lochtefeld, James G. God’s Gateway: Identity and Meaning in a Hindu Pilgrimage Place. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 2010. Print