VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
11.3.46
vedoktam eva kurvāṇo
niḥsańgo 'rpitam īśvare
(46) Certainly will one, when one according to what the Vedas prescribe without attachment performs and sacrifices for the sake of the Supreme Controller, achieve the perfection that, to raise the interest, is put in terms of fruitive results [karma-kânda & B.G. 4: 17-23].
śrotavyādīni rājendra
"Those persons who are materially engrossed, being blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth, have many subject matters for hearing in human society, O Emperor." (Bhāg. 2.1.2)
It is stated, parama-kāruṇiko vedaḥ — "Vedic knowledge is supremely merciful" — because it engages the animalistic human beings in a gradual process of purification that culminates in full consciousness of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ [Bg. 15.15]). The majority of human beings are not able to suddenly give up material sense gratification, even though they understand from Vedic literature that such sense gratification causes a pernicious future effect. We have practical experience in the Western countries that when the government informed the citizens that smoking cigarettes causes lung cancer, most people were unable to give up their smoking habit. Therefore, the Vedic literature prescribes a gradual process of purification in which the conditioned soul learns to offer the results of his material activities to the Supreme Lord, thus spiritualizing those activities. Material sense gratification is based on two organs, namely the tongue for tasting and the genitals for sex life. By offering palatable food to the Deity of Kṛṣṇa and then enjoying the remnants as kṛṣṇa-prasādam and by accepting the rules and regulations for Vedic householder life and begetting of Kṛṣṇa conscious children, one can gradually bring the full range of material activities to the platform of pure devotional service. By offering the fruits of one's ordinary activities to the Supreme Lord, one gradually understands that the Lord Himself, and not material sense gratification, is the actual goal of life. Lord Kṛṣṇa warns in Bhagavad-gītā that if people are prematurely encouraged to give up householder life or the sumptuous remnants of the Lord's prasādam, such artificial renunciation will have the opposite effect.
There is a class of duplicitous men who misunderstand the transcendental purpose of the Vedas and falsely claim that material fruitive results such as promotion to heaven, which is offered in the agniṣṭoma sacrifice, constitute the ultimate goal of the Vedas. Such foolish men have been described by Lord Kṛṣṇa:
yām imāḿ puṣpitāḿ vācaḿ
pravadanty avipaścitaḥ
nānyad astīti vādinaḥ
"Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this." (Bg. 2.42-43) To refute such a foolish understanding of the Vedic purpose, this verse uses the word niḥsańgaḥ, which means "without attachment to material results." The actual purpose of the Vedas is arpitam īśvare, to offer everything to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The result is siddhim, or the perfection of life, Kṛṣṇa consciousness.11.3.47
vidhinopacared devaḿ
(47) One who swiftly wants to cut through the knot [of attachment] in the heart should worship Lord Kes'ava and as well study the divinity as described in the supplementary vedic literatures [the tantra's, see also B.G. 12: 6-7].
The Vedic literatures contain mysterious descriptions of the Absolute Truth that stimulate philosophical speculation. The Vedas also offer heavenly rewards for the performance of ritualistic ceremonies. But as stated in verse 44 of this chapter such jñāna-kāṇḍa and karma-kāṇḍa sections of the Vedas are bālānām anuśāsanam; that is, because less intelligent or childish persons are addicted to mental speculation and fruitive activity, these sections of the Vedas are meant to attract such persons to take shelter of the Vedic injunctions for gradual promotion to the perfect stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Now that the path for those who are materialistic has been described in several verses, this verse describes the process for those who are vijñaḥ, or learned transcendentalists. Such learned transcendentalists are advised to follow the regulated worship described in such Vaiṣṇava tantras as Śrī Nārada-pañcarātra for pleasing the Supreme Lord directly. The words upacared devaḿ tantroktena ca keśavam indicate that one should directly worship Keśava, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who appears in many different incarnations to please His devotees. Śrīla Jayadeva Gosvāmī has described the pastimes of the Lord in his song describing ten prominent incarnations of the Personality of Godhead, Keśava: Lord Fish, Lord Tortoise, Lord Boar, Lord Nṛsiḿhadeva, Lord Vāmana, Lord Paraśurāma, Lord Rāmacandra, Lord Balarāma, Lord Buddha and Lord Kalki. The words upacared devam indicate devotional service to the Personality of Godhead. And therefore the word tantroktena, or "injunctions of the tantras," should be understood to indicate vaiṣṇava-tantras such as Śrī Nārada-pañcarātra, which give explicit and detailed instructions for worshiping Keśava. The Vedas are referred to by the term nigama. And the elaborate explanation of these nigamas is called āgama, or tantra. When the transcendental living entity becomes perturbed by the obnoxious harassment of material bodily dualities, he becomes eager to hear from the Vedas about his transcendental situation. The word āśu in this verse indicates that those who are eager to put a quick end to material existence and situate themselves in the eternal blissful life of perfect knowledge should directly worship Lord Kṛṣṇa, bypassing the preliminary Vedic rituals described in the previous verses.
11.3.48
labdhvānugraha ācāryāt
tena sandarśitāgamaḥ
mūrtyābhimatayātmanaḥ
(48) Having obtained the mercy [the initiation] of the teacher of example who shows him what is handed down by tradition, should the devotee be of worship for the Supreme Personality in the particular form he prefers [see also B.G. 3: 35, 7: 20].
11.3.49
prāṇa-saḿyamanādibhiḥ
kṛta-rakṣo 'rcayed dharim
(49) Clean in front of it seated controlling the breath and so on [see ashthânga-yoga] should he, purifying the body with the in renunciation invoked protection, worship the Lord [assigning the different parts of his body to Him by marking them with mantras, see also B.G. 5: 27-28 and 6.8: 4-6].
Prāṇāyāma is the authorized Vedic process for controlling the air within the body. Similarly, bhūta-śuddhi is a process for purifying the body. The word śuciḥ means that one should be internally and externally clean. Śuciḥ means that one should perform activities only for the pleasure of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If somehow or other one can remember the Supreme Lord constantly by chanting and hearing His holy name, one will come to the pure stage of life, as described in this Vedic mantra:
oḿ apavitraḥ pavitro vā
sarvāvasthāḿ gato 'pi vā
11.3.50-51
yathā-labdhopacārakaiḥ
pādyādīn upakalpyātha
(50-51) With preparing oneself in one's mind and heart with all available ingredients, with the deity and everything belonging to it, the items to be offered, and with sprinkling the floor and the place to sit, should one, preparing the water for the sacrifice, with a concentrated mind put the deity in its proper place having drawn sacred marks on its heart and other parts and next be of worship with the appropriate mantra [4*].
ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau
[BRS. 1.2.234]
(Padma Purāṇa)The Absolute Truth can never be understood by ordinary material sense perception. The conditioned souls engrossed in the vain pursuit of material sense gratification are completely indifferent to the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Their materially conditioned minds are always impure and disturbed by the endless flow of material dualities, such as prosperity and poverty, winter and summer, fame and infamy, youth and old age. Such disturbed conditioned souls cannot recognize the personal presence of the Absolute Truth in the form of the Deity.
The Lord's incarnation as arcā-avatāra, the Deity form, is a special manifestation of the Lord's mercy toward the materialistic or neophyte devotees who are still under the influence of material designations. They are unable to perceive the Lord in His eternal abode, and therefore the Lord descends as the Deity form, manifesting the prakāśa incarnations and even the svayaḿ-prakāśa, or the original form of the Lord. The prakāśa incarnations exhibit various pastimes within this world, whereas svayaḿ-prakāśa, the Lord's original form, is the source of all avatāras.
To one who sincerely worships the Deity, the Deity manifests Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Those who are most unfortunate cannot even recognize the Supreme Lord in His merciful Deity expansion. They consider the Deity an ordinary material object. But by surrendering at the lotus feet of a bona fide spiritual master, who is a pure devotee of the Lord, one can learn to worship the Deity, as mentioned in this verse, and thus revive one's lost relationship with the Lord. One who considers such transcendental Deity worship to be equivalent to idol worship is grossly covered by the three modes of material nature. A person wearing rose-colored glasses sees the entire world to be rose colored. Similarly, those unfortunate living entities who are thickly covered by the material modes of nature see everything, including the Supreme Lord, as material due to their polluted vision.
11.3.52-53
sāńgopāńgāḿ sa-pārṣadāḿ
pādyārghyācamanīyādyaiḥ
gandha-mālyākṣata-sragbhir
dhūpa-dīpopahārakaiḥ
(52-53) With the mantras belonging to Him should one be of worship for each particular deity and its limbs, His special features [like His cakra] and His associates [like the pañca-tattva, see the S'is'umâra-mantra or the Ambaris'a prayers for the cakra mentioned in 5.23: 8 and 9.5]. With all respect complementing the worship as enjoined with water for its feet, scented water to welcome, fine clothing, ornaments, fragrances, necklaces, unbroken barleycorns [meant for applying tilaka] and with garlands, incense, lamps and such offerings, should one with reverence and prayer bow down to the Lord.
11.3.54
mūrtiḿ sampūjayed dhareḥ
(54) Absorbing oneself in that [as a servant and not falsely identifying oneself] should one thus meditating fully be of worship for the mûrti of the Lord and, taking the remnants on one's head, put Him respectfully back where He belongs.
The word tan-mayam in this verse is significant. One who is purified by worshiping the Deity form of the Lord can understand that he, the worshiper, is an eternal servant of the Lord and is qualitatively one with the Lord, being like a tiny spark of the original fire, the Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Madhvācārya has stated in this regard,
viṣṇor bhṛtyo 'ham ity eva
naivāhaḿ viṣṇur asmīti
"One should think, 'I am an eternal servant of Viṣṇu, and therefore, because I am His eternal part and parcel, I am eternally one with Him. But I am not Viṣṇu Himself, because Viṣṇu is the supreme controller of everything.' "The basic principle of Deity worship is that one must understand oneself to be an eternal servant of the Supreme Lord. One who is addicted to sexual gratification, foolishly identifying himself with the external material body, cannot change his conception of himself from that of an enjoyer to that of the enjoyed. Such a person interprets the word tan-mayam to mean that the worshiper is himself also the worshipable object. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhupāda has written in his Durga-sańgamanī, his commentary on Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhu's Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, that ahańgrahopāsanā, or the process of worshiping oneself as the Supreme, is a gross misidentification of one's own self with the Supreme, who is actually one's eternal shelter. The six Gosvāmīs have repeatedly clarified this point. But unintelligent persons within the prākṛta-sahajiyā community become influenced by the bogus ideas of the Māyāvādī philosophers and thus display the deluded misconception that the worshiper becomes the supreme shelter. Such a hallucination is an aparādha, an offense against the Lord. Therefore the word tan-maya in this verse should not be offensively understood to mean that the worshiper becomes equal to his eternal worshipable object.
11.3.55
yajatīśvaram ātmānam
(55) He who thus worships the Controller, the Supreme Soul, present in the fire, the sun, the water and so on, as also in the guest and in one's own heart [see also 2.2: 8], becomes without delay liberated indeed.'
Thus end of the Eleventh Canto, Third Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Liberation from the Illusory Energy."
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