There are many who cavil at image worship but its basis is
really man's capacity to see the macrocosm in the microcosm. The
value of image worship is testified to by man's experience; it
does not depend on man's imaginative faculty. What is found in the
Virat Swarupa of the Lord is found, undiminished and unalloyed, in
the image Swarupa also. Images serve the same purpose as
metaphors, similies etc., in poetry. They illustrate, amplify and
make clear.
Joy comes to man, not through the shape of things but through
the relationship established with them. Not any child but her
child makes the mother happy. So also with each one and with all
things. With each and everything in the universe, if one
establishes the kinship, that Iswara Prema, verily, what an
overpowering joy can be experienced! Only those who have felt it
can understand.