Srila prabhupada writes Teaching of Queen kunti chapter seventeen Before speaking Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sukadeva Gosvami offered his obeisances to Krsna with this verse. He said, I offer my obeisances unto Him, for simply hearing of Him is subhadra, auspicious. The entire Bhagavatam is glorification of Krsna, and this is glorification by Sukadeva Gosvami. He says that one can be perfectly purified if one either glorifies Krsna, meditates upon Him, or simply sits before the Deity of Krsna and sees Him, thinking, How nicely dressed is Krsna. How nicely dressed is Radharani. If one has no ability to chant or if ones mind is so disturbed that one cannot fix it upon Krsna, one is given this chance: Here is the Deity. Simply see Him. If one is engaged in the service of the Deity, there is a good chance of always seeing Him, twenty-four hours a day. While cleansing the floor of the temple, while dressing the Deity, while bathing the Deity, or while offering Him food, one will always see Him. This is the process of devotional service, but people are such fallen rascals that they do not even go see the Deity. Oh, they think, what is this Deity worship? It is idol worship. They may worship the statue of Gandhi or someone else, but when asked to come see the worship of the Deity they will say, No, this is idol worship. I have seen that in Calcutta in Chaurangi Square there is a statue of Sir Asutosa Mukherji. Throughout the year the crows pass stool on his face, and the stool becomes caked on. So on one day a year the ordinary sweepers cleanse the statue with their brush in the moming, and in the evening some big men come and garland him with flowers. Then after that evening they go away, and again the next morning the crows come to pass stool on his face. So this kind of worship is accepted--sweeping the face of Sir Asutosa Mukherji with the municipal brush--but if we install the Deity of Krsna and worship Him nicely, people will say that this is idol worship. So people are embarrassed by being entangled in avidya, ignorance, and the method by which to educate them and rescue them from the clutches of this ignorance is devotional service. As explained by Sukadeva Gosvami, one may chant the name of Krsna or meditate upon Krsna, or if one cannot meditate one may simply sit down and see Krsna. Even a child can see, Here is Krsna. Here is Radharani. Even a small child or even an animal can do this and benefit, or if one is more intelligent one may offer prayers, and if one is expert and has been trained by a spiritual master one may perform appropriate worship.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 08:44:01 +0000
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