The Sastras teach man that all his actions and activities must lead ultimately to non-attachment, for this is the best qualification for the development of the Brahmajnana. Of the three, Bhakthi, Jnana and Vairagya, Bhakthi is the Queen. The rules and rites are the Maids-in-waiting; the Queen treats her maids with kind consideration and favour, no doubt, but, if the ceremonies, which are but 'servants' and 'aides', disregard the Queen, they should be mercilessly dismissed; all the formalities and rituals in the temples must therefore subserve the glorification of the Queen, Bhakthi; this is the sum and substance of the Dharma which must direct and govern all temples. It is only then that man can reach the Goal.

Bhakthi helps most easily the attainment of the Bliss of Merger with the basic Brahmam, by canalising towards the Lord the mental agitations, the sensory reaching out, and the emotional urges of man. It is in this direction that all the details of the worship of the Lord in temples took shape. In the temple, all the various ceremonies from the "Awakening of God in early dawn to the Laying-in-bed' late at night, are all intended to heighten and promote the devotional trends of the mind. Each incident in its turn helps the sublimation of the appropriate emotion in a peculiarly charming manner. In the sublimity of that experience, the agitation of the lower emotions declines and disappears. The vulgar feelings of ordinary life become elevated to the status of Worship and Dedication to the Almighty Presence.

The Lord will evoke in each the emotion which that person associates with Him; if He is conceived as a Monster or Bhutha, He will terrify as a Monster. If He is pictured and believed as Bhuthanatha (the Master of the Five Elements), He will manifest Himself likewise. Perhaps, you might ask, how?

It has now become a fashion to distribute advice, a fashion which is indulged in by those who know, and those who don't. They do not care whether the advice is followed or not. People jump into this superior attitude of giving advice just to feel important and show off their status. They are blinded by their own conceit; these have to be pitied, more than condemned. For, no one can lay down "thus and thus only", so far as the Lord is concerned.