Canto 11: General HistoryChapter 27: Lord Kṛṣṇa's Instructions on the Process of Deity Worship

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.27.15

dravyaiḥ prasiddhair mad-yāgaḥ

pratimādiṣv amāyinaḥ

bhaktasya ca yathā-labdhair

hṛdi bhāvena caiva hi

SYNONYMS

dravyaiḥ — with items of paraphernalia; prasiddhaiḥ — excellent; mat-yāgaḥ — My worship; pratimā-ādiṣuin the different Deity forms; amāyinaḥ — who has no material desire; bhaktasya — of a devotee; ca — and; yathā-labdhaiḥ — by whatever paraphernalia he can easily obtain; hṛdiin the heart; bhāvena — by mental conception; ca — and; eva hi — certainly.

TRANSLATION

One should worship Me in My Deity forms by offering the most excellent paraphernalia. But a devotee completely freed from material desire may worship Me with whatever he is able to obtain, and may even worship Me within his heart with mental paraphernalia.

PURPORT

A devotee still troubled by material desire tends to see the world as an object of sense gratification. Such a neophyte devotee may misunderstand the Lord's supreme position and may even consider the Lord an object of his own enjoyment. Hence the neophyte must offer opulent paraphernalia to the Deity so that he may constantly remember that the Deity is the supreme enjoyer and that he, the neophyte, is simply the worshiper and is actually meant for the Deity's pleasure. In contrast, an advanced devotee, one fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, never forgets that the Supreme Lord is the actual enjoyer and controller of everything. The pure devotee offers his unalloyed love to the Personality of Godhead along with whatever paraphernalia is easily obtained. A Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee does not waver in his devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa, and even with the simplest offering he completely satisfies the Personality of Godhead.

<<< >>>

Buy Online Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari