CC Madhya 24.335 – Supporting Our Devotees in Ukraine—Deity Worship

Giriraj Swami: So today, we will again try to support our devotees in Ukraine during these difficult times. In particular, we will speak about deity worship because our devotees in Ukraine are still worshiping their deities but under difficult circumstances. Deity worship is one of the five most potent items in devotional service. Srila Rupa Gosvami mentions sixty-four items of devotional service in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. And he said, out of sixty-four, five are the most potent. And by even a slight association of one of them, one can awaken dormant love for Krishna. And the five are, sādhu-saṅga, nāma-kīrtana, bhāgavata-śravaṇa, mathurā-vāsa, and mūrtira śraddhāya sevana. One of the five is to worship the deity with faith and veneration.

In 1974, the first booklet on deity worship in ISKCON called The Perfection of Deity Worship was published. The book consisted of verses Three Thirty to Three Forty with purports of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Chapter Twenty-four. That Chapter describe Lord Chaitanya’s instruction to Sanatana Gosvami, and what he should include in his book, Hari-bhakti-Vilas. So in 1974, Srila Prabhupada had devotees distribute the booklet The Perfection of Deity Worship to all temples and he requested that the principles be implemented in the daily worship in all ISKCON temples. So, one of those verses from Caitanya-caritāmṛta, which was included in the deity worship booklet is significant. I will read that verse.

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda

jayādvaitacandra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

TEXT 335

śrī-mūrti-lakṣaṇa, āra śālagrāma-lakṣaṇa
kṛṣṇa-kṣetra-yātrā, kṛṣṇa-mūrti-daraśana

TRANSLATION

“The characteristics of the Deities should be discussed, as well as the characteristics of the śālagrāma-śilā. You should also discuss visiting the Deities in the temple and touring holy places like Vṛndāvana, Mathurā and Dvārakā.

TEXT 336

nāma-mahimā, nāmāparādha dūre varjana
vaiṣṇava-lakṣaṇa, sevāparādha-khaṇḍana

TRANSLATION

 “You should glorify the holy name and explain that one must carefully give up offenses when chanting the holy name. You should also describe the symptoms of a Vaiṣṇava and explain that one must give up or nullify all kinds of sevā-aparādha, offenses in Deity worship.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The devotee should always be very careful not to commit the ten offenses when chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. If a devotee very strictly follows the methods of Deity worship, he will naturally and quickly become a pure Vaiṣṇava. A pure Vaiṣṇava has unflinching faith in the Lord, and he does not deviate at all. He is always engaged in perfect Deity worship.

One should also note the specific offenses against Deity worship. These are mentioned in the Skanda Purāṇa (Avantī-khaṇḍa), spoken by Vyāsadeva himself. One should liquidate all kinds of offenses.

There are thirty-two offenses to the Deity that should be avoided.

(1) One should not enter the temple in a vehicle. Shoes and slippers should be removed before entering the temple. 

(2) One should offer obeisances as soon as he sees the Deity.

(3) One should enter the temple after taking a bath. In other words, one should be very clean.

(4) One should not offer obeisances to the Lord with one hand.

COMMENT

There are others. For the sake of time, I won’t read all of them. But I will read a few more.

PURPORT (continued)

(8) One should not lie down before the Deity.

(9) One should not eat before the Deity.

(10) One should not speak lies before the Deity.

(12) One should not talk nonsense before the Deity.

(15) One should not utter harsh words before the Deity.

(18) One should not praise others before the Deity. 

COMMENT

Now, on this point, there was an incident that took place in Srila Prabhupada’s presence. His disciple, Guru dasa, was praising another devotee in front of Prabhupada’s deities. Then He stopped himself from glorifying that devotee on the basis of this injunction that one should not praise others in front of the deities. And Srila Prabhupada replied that, “Krishna is already glorified but he takes more please when his devotees are glorified.” So yes, one should not glorify others before the deity, one should not praise mundane people in front of the deity, but one can praise devotees for the pleasure of the deities.

PURPORT (continued)

(21) One should not neglect the sixty-four items of Deity worship.

(22) One should not eat anything not offered to the Deity.

(25) One should not sit with his back toward the Deity.

(30) One should not be unkind to others before the Deities.

(31) One should observe all festivals in the temple.

(32) One should not fight or quarrel before the Deity.

COMMENT

So, my dear devotees, we should be aware of these offenses in deity worship and avoid them. And mūrtira śraddhāya sevana, we should serve the deity with faith and veneration. Understanding that the deity is non-different from the Lord. If we understand that the deity is the Lord Himself, then naturally we will treat the deity with respect and attention. Srila Prabhupada said, the two most important factors in deity worship are cleanliness and punctuality.

So think, we have few minutes left. And during this time, we can entertain questions and comments. Okay. I can see two hands up.

Devotee: First question is while sitting back to deities in the kirtan and devotees and openly sitting in circle. Is that correct way to sit in front of the deities?

Giriraj Swami: If devotees are sitting in the circle?

Giriraj Swami: I would say no; it is not correct. They should sit in a semi-circle or half-circle so that no one’s back is towards the deities. We should not have our back towards the deities. That was a good question.

Devotee: Second question. We should bow down as soon as see the deities but often or sometimes, we offer obeisances to devotees then to Srila Prabhupada and then to the deities. Is that correct way to do that?

Giriraj Swami: Well, strictly speaking, one should not offer obeisances to devotees in front of the deities. But the same time, we should not offend the devotees. If we can avoid offering obeisances to them in front of the deities without offending them, it is better not to offer obeisances in front of deities. As far as offering obeisances to the deity of Srila Prabhupada, we can do that. In fact, it would be offensive not to offer obeisances to Srila Prabhupada. And depending on the situation of the temple, the arrangements within the temple, we can offer obeisances to the deities first or to Srila Prabhupada first. For example, in Juhu temple, when I enter the temple, Srila Prabhupada deity comes first. So in Juhu, I offer my obeisances to Srila Prabhupada first. In the Vrindavan temple, Srila Prabhupada’s vyāsāsana to the side. So in Vrindavan, I offer my obeisances deities first and then I come around and offer my obeisances to Srila Prabhupada. Offering obeisances is very good.

Devotee: In our temple, very often we hear that we have to follow certain standards which was promised to the deities of the temple when they were installed. I wanted to know if in every case of installation, some different standards were offered to the deities or the deity standard is the same but with some variations. For example, in our temple, garlands for the deities can be made only in the clean outer clean dress fully Suchi dress. But in other temples, for example, in Radhadesh, garlands can be made just in the pure dress but not fully Suchi brahminical sushi dress. How different are the standards? And how does it follow at the installation? I am not trying to make somebody uncomfortable at just trying to understand how it works

Giriraj Swami: Different places may have slightly different standards and we should at least follow the standard in our temple where we are. And it sounds like your standard for devotees making garlands is higher than in other places, so that is good. So I was saying that the standards may vary slightly from place to place. Your standard in your temple in relation to women making garlands is higher, so that is very good.

Any other questions or comments?

Devotee: One more question yes. The question is like this. You mentioned that there are five main aṅgas of bhakti and one of them is worshiping deities with faith. And also, we hear in another place that kaniṣṭhādhikārī will be the person who will worship the deity with faith. Is that the same faith or is it some kind of quality of the faith that is important.

Giriraj Swami: Yes. the quality of the faith is important. The kaniṣṭhādhikārī by definition, appreciates the deity but does not properly appreciate the devotees. And as we discussed, the deity is more pleased when the devotees are glorified and appreciated. Srila Prabhupada wants us to act on the platform of madhyam-bhaktas. And as described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the madhyam-bhaktas deal differently with four categories—prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā. Prema means he should give his love to the Supreme Personality of Godhead; maitrī means he should make a friendship with devotees; kṛpā—he should show mercy to the innocent by preaching to them; and upekṣā—one should neglect the envious. If one tries to preach to the envious, the envious will become more offensive. But Srila Bhatisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura comments that although we do not preach to the envious, we can still pray for them.

Devotee: There is a question, what about the deity, offering obeisances to the deity, what about the case when the deity altar is closed, the curtains are closed, is this the same thing that applies to what you said or is it different?

Giriraj Swami: I would say that we should still offer obeisances. Although the door to the deity room may be closed or the curtains may be close, still the deity is there. In general, I would say we should offer obeisances.

Devotee: Thank you so much. I heard that there was a story when the booklet was published, or discussed; the booklet of deity worship, the instructions on deity worship was published. And then somebody came to Srila Prabhupada and something Prabhupada says that it should not be too complicated or something like that.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, yes. I was in Srila Prabhupada’s room in Mayapur, when two devotees came in the room to speak with him about the deity worship book. Srila Prabhupada told them, “Keep it simple. We should always remember that in Kali-yuga, our main process is hari-nāma.”

Devotee: Thank you very much. That is really nice closing inspiration.

Giriraj Swami: All right

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Thank you so much and to Srila Prabhupada. Thank you so much for supporting our Ukrainian devotees.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, I am grateful.

Devotee: It means a lot.

Giriraj Swami: What to say, I visited Ukraine a few times and I really love the devotees there and the mission there. And of course, His Holiness Niranjana Swami Maharaja.

Devotee: Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: So if we are going to end now, I suggest we conclude with Vaishnava praṇāma.

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca 

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

Ananta-koṭi Vaishnava Vrinda ki jaya!

Devotee: His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!