Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.11.1

śrī-śuka uvāca

bhagavān ātmanātmānaḿ

rāma uttama-kalpakaiḥ

sarva-devamayaḿ devam

īje 'thācāryavān makhaiḥ

SYNONYMS

śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; ātmanā — by Himself; ātmānam — Himself; rāmaḥ — Lord Rāmacandra; uttama-kalpakaiḥ — with very opulent paraphernalia; sarva-deva-mayam — the heart and soul of all the demigods; devam — the Supreme Lord Himself; īje — worshiped; atha — thus; ācāryavān — under the guidance of an ācārya; makhaiḥ — by performing sacrifices.

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thereafter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Rāmacandra, accepted an ācārya and performed sacrifices [yajñas] with opulent paraphernalia. Thus He Himself worshiped Himself, for He is the Supreme Lord of all demigods.

PURPORT

Sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā. If Acyuta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is worshiped, then everyone is worshiped. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (4.31.14):

yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena

tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ

prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇāḿ

tathaiva sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā

"As pouring water on the root of a tree nourishes the trunk, branches, twigs and leaves, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead satisfies the demigods, who are part of that Supreme Personality." Performing yajña involves worshiping the Supreme Lord. Here the Supreme Lord worshiped the Supreme Lord. Therefore it is said, bhagavān ātmanātmānam īje: the Lord worshiped Himself by Himself. This does not, of course, justify the Māyāvāda philosophy, by which one thinks himself the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The jīva, the living entity, is always different from the Supreme Lord. The living entities (vibhinnāḿśa) never become one with the Lord, although Māyāvādīs sometimes imitate the Lord's worship of Himself. Lord Kṛṣṇa meditated upon Himself every morning as a gṛhastha, and similarly Lord Rāmacandra performed yajñas to satisfy Himself, but this does not mean that an ordinary living being should imitate the Lord by accepting the process of ahańgraha-upāsanā. Such unauthorized worship is not recommended herein.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness