History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c37.33

v3.c37.33

One of the peculiar tenets of Hinduism is *adhikāra-bheda* (difference in rights, duties, ceremonies and worship dependent on difference in intellectual, emotional and spiritual equipment). Not every one was capable of the same discipline and regimen. Image worship was not absolutely necessary for everybody and the ancient writers never thought that when they worshipped an image they were simply paying homage to a material object. They believed that they contemplated the One Supreme Spirit in the form of the image or symbol before them, which helped ordinary people to concentrate their mind on the Godhead to the exclusion of other external and engrossing objects and pursuits.