Swami Prakashanand Saraswati explains that Hindu temples serve as spiritual centers guiding devotees toward God realization. They are not just places for social or cultural gatherings but sanctuaries for divine teachings. There are two types of temples: those established by acharyas like Vallabhacharya or Ramanujacharya that represent a specific tradition, and those embodying Sanatan Dharm in general, potentially housing multiple deities. While the growth of Hindu temples worldwide is commendable, their true purpose lies in imparting authentic spiritual knowledge and fostering devotion, especially among future generations. Prakashanand Saraswati emphasizes that parents have an important role to play in the spiritual development of their children as well.
According to Swami Prakashanand Saraswati:
Temples are of two kinds: those established by or on the lines of the teachings of an acharya; for example Vallabhacharya, Ramanujacharya, or Nimbarkacharya. They represent the deity of that particular religion. The other kind of temple represents just the Sanatan Dharm, and they may have many deities: Shiv, Vishnu, Durga, Kali, Ram, Krishn etc. But the most important question is, what do temples truly represent and what is their role in society?
Temples represent the Divinity, and their role is to give enlightenment about God realization to those who come to the temple. They are not just social or cultural organizations, and they are not commercial institutions. They are the place of God and should give proper teachings and guidelines of how to find God.
Twenty years ago there were very few Hindu temples in America, now there are hundreds. Just having a Hindu temple is very good. At least the temples represent Hinduism. So a lot has been done, but that’s not enough. What any Hindu temple physically represents, that is all perfectly correct, but what we literally teach to our people, that has to be corrected.
One of the main points of the meeting regards youth. Why can’t parents teach their own kids to be religious? They expect kids to do everything and they themselves don’t do anything. You see, whatever you are, you reflect the image of your antahkaran to everyone around you. If parents are religious and are doing proper worship and going to temple, children will come without invitation because they follow the parents. A child learns his first lessons from his mother and father. Parents are the first gurus, the first teachers of our children. If all the parents do their duty, then there can’t be any problem.
You see in our Shree Raseshwari Radha Rani Temple we have established a system on the guidelines of the teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and we give right knowledge to people. We guide the souls who are really interested in the path of God realization, and we celebrate all the important functions: Shiv Ratri, Ram Navmi, Janmashtmi, Sharad Poornima, Radha Ashtmi, Holi, Diwali. At all of our functions there are thousands of people. We invite in general, and families come with small kids and teenagers. They all enjoy and go back home. So wherever the parents go, children have to go if they are getting proper training in their own house. So, we have to teach parents to improve the nature of the youngsters.
The most important question is, do we ourselves know the truth of Sanatan Dharm? You will say, “Yes, I have read many books. I know.” But there are many books on Hinduism that misrepresent Sanatan Dharm. In Sanskrit, Hindi and Bangla we have lots of books telling the true theme of Hinduism, but not in English. I discovered in India that all of the English books which are taught in B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. courses give misinformation about Hindu religion. For instance, some books say that our Rishis ate meat, and that during the anna prasayan ceremony a six-month old baby was fed meat. Many such false statements are made. Whatever you read you get the same image in your mind and form similar ideas, and that is not true Hinduism.
I thought it very imperative, so I devoted myself for the service of humanity and wrote, “The True History and the Religion of India,” an 800 page book that is a concise encyclopedia on Hinduism.
My suggestion is that whatever has happened in the past, we can forget it; but from now on, we should correct our mistakes and try to first learn ourselves, what is true Hinduism. That’s my suggestion, with blessings, because unless we understand the truth of Hinduism, we cannot teach others.
Conclusion: Swami Prakashanand Saraswati emphasizes that the essence of Hindu temples is to preserve and spread the true teachings of Sanatan Dharm. Parents play a crucial role in nurturing devotion in children by learning the truth of Sanatan Dharm and setting an example. Misinformation about Hinduism must be corrected to ensure the purity of its teachings. With this goal in mind, Prakashanand Saraswati dedicated himself to writing The True History and the Religion of India – an 800-page encyclopedia on the history of authentic Hinduism. By embracing true spiritual knowledge, temples can fulfill their role in guiding souls toward divine realization.