If we worship inert statues will we become stones, as told in the Gita?

[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on October 24, 2020, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]

[Śrī Sattireddy asked: Is it true that, as per the Gītā, the worshippers of stones will become stones (Bhūtejyā yānti bhūtāni…)?]

Swāmi replied: It is certainly possible for sinners to get inert births such as becoming stones. This happens when God wants to put them in a coma for some time to reduce their excessive tendency of doing sins. Devotees worshipping statues can also become stones, in case they feel that the inert statue itself is God. The inert statue is only a representative model for God and is used for developing theoretical devotion to God. That theoretical devotion developed can be transformed into practical devotion at a later stage, on recognizing the Human Incarnation. This is the reason why statues of God are carved in human form. But if you think that all worshippers of inert statues become stones, then a person looking at the photographs of his kith and kin in the photo album of a family function must also become a stone in the next birth!

In the initial stage of the spiritual path, the worship of statues is inevitable. A person who thinks that the inert fire itself is God, while performing a fire sacrifice, will become a stone in the future. This is because his thinking is wrong. The physical fire is lit only to cook the food and not to offer food into it and burn the food. The verse from the Gītā quoted by you only refers to such people and not to the devotees worshipping statues in the intial stage of their spiritual journey. Fire is one of the five elements (bhūta) and worshipping the fire in this foolish way, by burning precious food, due to the wrong thinking that the fire consumes that food, is the inert worship (bhūtejyā) referred to by that verse.

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