Bhagavatam-daily 234 – 11.11.40 – Maintaining the sanctity of Deity worship protects our vision from sliding to the mundane

Thank you Krishna is continuing to describe to Uddhava the various characteristics and activities of a serious devotee so this can refer both to the characteristics of devotee seers, the characteristics that such advanced devotees naturally have or it can also refer to the characteristics of characteristics that devotee seekers strive to develop so either way so this description can be both descriptive and prescriptive Krishna says that a devotee is characterized by amanitvam and adamvitvam so amanitvam is not seeking honor and adamvitvam is not parading about one’s prestige although these two seem similar, the difference is that amanitvam usually refers to when one has some good qualities, one has done some praiseworthy activities still one does not delight in the honor that one gets for doing those activities and adamvitvam refers to the making a pretense of being religious of being endowed with qualities so that one can gain good results in terms of being praised by others being appreciated by others so that means one is one does not adamvitvam means that one dambha means to pretend to have power or virtue or devotion in order to gain respect and so that is dambha dambhitvam means one does not pretend to have the qualities that one actually does not have and amanitvam means that one does not even when one has qualities, one does not go about parading those qualities and demanding respect in this way a devotee stays carefully focused on the essential purpose of life the ultimate purpose of life that is to learn to love Krishna and in general external honor the searching of external honor is a major distractor on the spiritual path because it leaves us exasperated and frustrated unable to achieve what we could otherwise have achieved in terms of our inner focus, inner growth and then with the inner growth we can make tangible outer contributions which are motivated by the desire to benefit others, the desire to glorify Krishna, and not by the desire to delight in one’s own glories now api di pavalokam me nopayunjya niveditam api di pavalokam me Krishna goes on to say that that when candles are used or lamps are used for his worship which are offered to him they shouldn’t be used for worldly purposes those which are used to illuminate say the arati or the deity they should not be used for ordinary illumination api di pavalokam me and similarly nopayunjya niveditam and that which is niveditam if something has been offered to someone else that should not be offered to Krishna as the deity maintaining the sanctity of the standards of serving the deity is essential for protecting us from developing a mundane conception of the deity due to habitual perception and interaction with the deity so that means that when Krishna manifests in embodied manifestation as the deity that is a miracle of mercy because the lord who is transcendental or a completely transcendental matter is inaccessible to us and being inaccessible to us he is actually being inaccessible to us he is not something or someone whom we can perceive with our senses and yet we need to perceive him so that our senses sensory we can have spiritualized sensory engagements for ourselves so Krishna mercifully manifests in a form that we can perceive with our material senses as the deity and yet although this is such a great mercy and we can and we should gratefully and joyfully cherish and relish this mercy but still over time the tendency becomes to see the deity materially that means we start thinking oh this is stone or this is just we tend to forget that this is God actually Prabhupada would say that if you approach the deity as God as Krishna then this very deity will reciprocate with you Krishna will talk with you eventually but if you approach the deity as stone then the deity will remain stone forever now how do we maintain the spiritual perception one feature is of course repeated philosophical reminders where we re-immerse ourselves periodically in the philosophy of how Krishna manifests as a deity but along with that in our practical actions we need to offer due respect to the deity and offering due respect means that following rules and regulations for hearing and chanting for the Bhagavad Vidhi the number of rules are relatively lesser but for the Pancharatra Vidhi the number of rules are significantly more because there it is Krishna who is manifesting and we perceive Krishna as a person with form and that form is very similar to the eternal form of Krishna in the spiritual world so in order to develop a personal and reciprocal relationship with the absolute truth not just as an abstract concept but as a living loving person for us to have a personalized a personal conception of the deity that is important and that is maintained when we counter the repeated vision the repeated tendency of our vision to glide towards the mundane to glide and slide towards the mundane and we counter it by according due purity to the due respect and maintaining due purity to all the things associated with the lord so the paraphernalia which is to be used for his service should not be used for anything else that way we remind we remind this person Krishna is a special person the deity is not just a stone or a doll or anything like that the deity is Krishna himself and we show that respect by keeping for Krishna exclusively the things which are meant as offerings for him and of course in emergencies there is absolutely no light using the light from the lamps used for worshipping the deity can be used for illumination but that apad dharma the emergency injunction should not be made into an ordinary injunction because that will lead to backfire that will lead to deterioration of our vision towards the mundane similarly if something has been offered to someone else that we know that the lord is the supreme enjoyer and hence he is to be offered the best and he is to be offered first so therefore keeping that in mind we focus on loving on keeping the offerings to him of a strict devotional standard and practical purity

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.11.14 Amanitamadambitam kutasya parikeerthanam api deepavalokam me nupinjaniveditam Krishna is continuing to describe to Uddhava the various characteristics and activities of A Serious devotee So This can refer both to the characteristics of devotee seers the characteristic that devotee such advanced devotees are naturally have or it can also refer to the characteristics of characteristics that devotee seekers strive to develop Either Way So this description can be both descriptive and prescriptive Krishna says that a Devotee is characterized by Amanitam and Adambitam so Amanitam is not seeking honor and And Adambitam is not parading about one's prestige Although these two seem similar the difference is that Amanitam Usually refers to At when one one has some good qualities one has done some praiseworthy activities still one does not delight in the honor That one gets for doing those activities and Adambitam refers to The The Making a pretense of being religious of being endowed with qualities so that one can gain Good results also good results in terms of being praised by others being appreciated by others being loved so that means one is One does not Adambitam means that one Dambha means to pretend to have power or virtue or devotion in order to gain respect And So that is Adambitam means one does not pretend to have the qualities that one does not have and Amanitam means that one does not Even when one has quality one doesn't go about parading those qualities and demanding respect In this way a devotee Stays carefully focused on the Essential purpose of life When the ultimate purpose of life that is to Learn to love Krishna And in general external on the searching of external honor is a major distractor On the spiritual path Because it leaves us Exasperated and frustrated unable to Achieve What we could otherwise have achieved in terms of our inner focus in our growth and then with the inner growth we can make Tangible Outer contributions which are motivated by the desire to Benefit others desire to glorify Krishna and not by the desire to delight in one's own glories Now Api Deepavallokam me no payunjya niveditam api deepavallokam me Go on say that that when Candles are used or lamps are used for his worship which are offered to him They shouldn't be used for Worldly purposes for or those to use to illuminate say the RT or the DT. They should not be used for ordinary illumination in deepavallokam me and similarly No payunjya niveditam and that which is niveditam that if some something has been offered to someone else That should not be offered to Krishna as the deity This this maintaining the sanctity of the standards of serving the deity Is essential for protecting us from developing a Mundane conception of the deity due to habitual perception and interaction with the deity So that means that when Krishna manifests in embodied manifestation as the deity that is a miracle of mercy Because the Lord who is Transcendental at a completely transcendental matter is inaccessible to us and being inaccessible to us He is Actually Being inaccessible to us he is Not something or someone Whom we can perceive with our senses and yet we need to perceive him so that our senses sensory We can have spiritualized sensory engagements for ourselves so Krishna mercifully manifests in a form that we can perceive with our material senses as the deity and Yet although this is such a great mercy And we can and we should gratefully and joyfully cherish and relish this mercy but still Over time The tendency becomes to See The Deity materially that means we start thinking. Oh, this is this is stone or this is just We tend to forget that this is God.

Actually Prabhupada would say that now if you approach the deity as a God as Krishna and this very deity will reciprocate with you Krishna will talk with you eventually But if you approach the deity as stone, then the deity will remain stone forever Now How do we maintain the spiritual perception one of one of which is of course repeated philosophical reminders where we Immerse ourselves periodically in the philosophy of how the deity manifests as a deity but along with that in our practical actions, we need to Offer due respect to the deity and offering due respect means That following the rules and regulations For hearing and chanting for the Bhagavad Vidhi the number of rules are relatively lesser but for the Pancharatra Vidhi The number of rules are significantly more because there it is Krishna who is manifesting and mean and we Perceive Krishna as a person with form and that form is very similar To the eternal form of Krishna in the spiritual world. So in order to develop a personal and reciprocal Relationship with the absolute truth not just as an abstract concept But as a living loving person, you know for us to have a Personalized personal conception of the deity Let me end that is important and that is maintained when we Counter the repeated vision The repeated tendency of our vision to glide towards the mundane To glide and slide towards the mundane And we counter it by according due purity to the You respect and maintaining due purity to all the things associated with the Lord So the paraphernalia which is To be used for his service should not be used for anything else Now this that way we remind this is a we remind this person Krishna is a special person The deity is not just a stone or a doll or anything like that. The deity is Krishna himself and We show that respect by keeping for Krishna exclusively the thing which are meant as offerings for him and Of course In emergencies if there's absolutely no light using the light from the Lambs used for worshipping the deity can be used for illumination, but that Apad dharma the emergency Injunction should not be made into an ordinary injunction because that will lead to backfire that will lead to Deterioration of our vision towards the mundane Similarly if something has been offered to someone else that we know that the Lord is the supreme enjoyer and he needs to be offered the best and he needs to be offered first.

So therefore Keeping that in mind we focus on loving on on keeping the offerings to him of a strict devotional standard and practical purity. Thank you.