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The question often arises on the need to worship Ishvara in saguna-sakara way or with name and form/attributes. Why is it that we do not directly worship Brahman who is nameless and formless or nirguna-nirakara?
Pujyapad Puri Shankaracharyaji, explains – When we are awake, how do we consider ourselves to be? With name and form or without it? We are attached to our body or we can say that the jiva identifies with the form (of the physical body) with a sense of “mine” and “I” (the ego) in our waking state. Hence, the jiva can be called saguna-sakara .
Saguṇa means that which has qualities pertaining to form, taste, fragrance, sound, emotions, etc. Nirakara means formless and sakara means with form. Saguna-sakara means that which can be seen and has all the attributes of a physical form, as described. There is a sense of ego and attachment with reference to our own saguna-sakara existence. Antahkarana (mind, intellect, consciousness, ego), prana (life force), and sukshma sharira (subtle body) are saguna-nirakara or formless but having various attributes. The gross body has organs of senses and actions located at various places, these are saguna-sakara .
In our dream state, based on our dominant desires, we are given a body that is saguna-sakara . In deep sleep we do not have any such body and due to ignorance, are in a state of saguna-nirakara (formless body with attributes).
If we remove the gross, subtle and causal body, we are then nirguna-nirakara.
We can say the physical or gross physical body is like a coat, the subtle body is like a kurta/shirt, the vest is the causal body. When we remove all, we remain naked. Similarly, if we evolve into a state of attainment of detachment from these three bodies, what remains is the nirguna-nirakara.
When we, ourselves, can be described as saguna-sakara , saguna-nirakara as well as nirguna-nirakara, Bhagavan too can be described in these three ways.
The difference is that Bhagavan manifests through his lila in the saguna-sakara form as Krishna, Rama etc. On just operating through maya Shakti, Bhagavan is described as saguna-nirakara, antaryami. If He discards maya Shakti, then He remains nirguna-nirakara.
Verse from Ramcharitmanas:
भरि लोचन बिलोकि अवधेसा। तब सुनिहउँ निर्गुन उपदेसा॥
Implying: I will first satisfy myself (fill my eyes) with the site of Ayodhya, and only later, shall I listen to the discourse on the Nirguṇa.
If we worship and do the bhajan (japa) of saguaa-sakara Bhagavan with determination and full faith, the mind develops that strength and energy to focus on the antaryami or saguṇa-nirakara Bhagavan. Then, when we engage in the upasana or worship of saguna-nirakara Paramatma, on maturing in terms of spiritual evolution, we are able dissolve our mind in the nirguna-nirakara.
As per the Yogavashishtha, we must perfect yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, and dharana to be able to do dhyana or smarana (remembering name of Bhagavan). In the same way, all methods to attain Ishvara, have a certain order for us to follow. As we keep engaging in external worship, our mind, senses and body get filled with divinity. This makes a person capable of remembering Bhagavan and meditating on Him without external objects.
One example: When we chant Hanuman Chalisa out loud, our mind doesn’t wander all over. However, if we decide to recite it mentally, we shall need a very silent and focussed mind. We will need to have strong control over the mind to mentally pray to Bhagavan. Hence, external worship is done as per our authority, to images of Bhagavan or murtis. This slowly help us gain the ability and capacity to directly concentrate our mind on our Ishta devata and meditate. Pujyapad explains that the act of worship and smarana, both have their own respective place in our spiritual journey.
To state another example: There is potential energy in the form of electricity in water, earth and the sky. However, it is nirguna-nirakara (we cannot see or feel it). The electricity that is functioning through the microphone, fan, etc, is saguna-nirakara in form (we can feel it but not see it). The light from a bulb or lightning in the sky can be called saguna-sakara (we can feel and see it).
Taking the support of saguna-sakara we must reach saguna-nirakara and further, taking the support of saguna-nirakara, we reach the nirguna-nirakara. With the help of nirguna-nirakara we can attain the knowledge of the atma and Brahman tattva, recognising them as one, and attain mukti.
However, the first step is to start with the worship of saguna-sakara Bhagavan with full dedication.