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Description of:
TIRUPATI BALAJI
The temple of Tirupati
is situated in Andra Pradesh in Southern India. It is one of the most visited holy sites in India. The Deity of Balaji is
a form of Lord Vishnu and He holds the symbols of the Chakra (wheel) and conch shell. There is a difference between a Deity
and an idol. An idol is anthropomorphic (form imagined by man) and a Deity is an authorized form of God mentioned in the Vedic
scriptures. Since we cannot see God with our two eyes, He agrees to appear in His Deity form to accept service. By service
and meditation on the form of the Krishna or Vishnu Deity, at the time of death, one will not take birth again, as mentioned
in the Bhagavad-gita 4.9, "One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance
and activities, does not, upon leaving the body, take birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O
Arjuna." Only Lord Krishna can give liberation from birth and death, and therefore He is called Mukunda, the giver of
liberation. The demigods like Brahma, Shiva, Ganesh, Durga, Chandra, Indra, Murgon, and others cannot free the conditioned
soul from samsara, the wheel of birth and death. They can only bestow material benefits.
Therefore, the true spirituality of India is monotheistic, not polytheistic.
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