TAKEN FROM CHAITANYA BHAGAVATA, ADI KHANDA.

TEXT 8

That same Supreme Personality of Godhead has declared in the Vedas and Shrimad Bhagavatam, “Worship of My devotees is superior to worship of Me.”

COMMENTARY

 As stated in the Padma Purana:

aradhananam sarvesham      vishnor aradhanam param

tasmat parataram devi      tadiyanam samarcanam

arcayitva tu govindam      tadiyan narcayet tu yah

na sa bhagavato jneyah      kevalam dambhikah smritah

“Of all types of worship, worship of Lord Vishnu is best, and better than the worship of Lord Vishnu is the worship of His devotee, the Vaishnava. One who performs worship of Lord Govinda but fails to worship His devotees should be understood to be not a devotee of the Lord but simply a victim of false pride.”

 The superiority of worshiping the Lord’s devotees is celebrated in the Vedas. Some examples are found in the following statements.

The Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.10) states: tasmad atma-jnam hy arcayed bhuti-kamah-“By worshiping the devotees of the Lord, all one’s desires will be fulfilled.” Baladeva Vidyabhushana has written in his Govinda-bhashya commentary on the Vedanta-sutras (3.3.51): atma-jnam bhagavat-tattva-jnam tad bhaktam ity arthah; bhuti-kamo moksha-paryanta-sampatti-lipsur ity arthah. In other words, if one wants the highest benediction, he should serve the devotees of the Lord.

In Madhvacarya’s commentary on the Vedanta-sutras (3.3.47), he quotes the following from the Poshayana-shrutis: tanupasva tanupacarasva tebhyah shrinu hi te tamavantu-“Worship the devotees of the Lord, serve the devotees of the Lord, and hear from the devotees of the Lord, for they will protect you.”

In the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6.23) it is stated:

yasya deve para bhaktir      yatha deve tatha gurau

tasyaite kathita hy arthah      prakashante mahatmanah

“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.”  There are many similar statements found in the Vedas.

In the Itihasa-samuccaya it is stated:

tasmad vishnu-prasadaya      vaishnavan paritoshayet

prasada-sumukho vishnus      tenaiva syan na samshayah

“In order to attain the mercy of Lord Vishnu, one should satisfy the Vaishnavas. There is no doubt that by their mercy, Vishnu will be pleased.” There are many similar statements in the Vaishnava literatures.

TEXT 10

I have therefore offered my prayers first to the devotees, as this is the secret for attaining perfection.

COMMENTARY

In the Adi Purana, it is stated:

ye me bhakta-janah partha      na me bhaktash ca te janah

mad bhaktanam ca ye bhaktas      te me bhaktatamah matah

“My dear Partha, those who claim to be My devotees are not My devotees, but those who claim to be devotees of My devotees are actually My devotees.”

Also in the Shrimad Bhagavatam (3.17.2) it is said:

durapa hy alpa-tapasah      seva vaikuntha-vartmasu

yatropagiyate nityam      deva-devo janardanah

“Persons whose austerity is meager can hardly obtain the service of the pure devotees who are progressing on the path back to the kingdom of Godhead, the Vaikunthas. Pure devotees engage one hundred percent in glorifying the Supreme Lord, who is the Lord of the demigods and the controller of all living entities.”

In the Padma Purana, Uttara-khanda, it is stated:

arcayitva tu govindam      tadiyan narcayet tu yah

na sa bhagavato jneyah      kevalam dambhikah smritah

tasmad sarva-prayatnena      vaishnavan pujayet sada

sarvam tarati duhkhaugham       mahabhagavatarcanat

“One who performs worship of Lord Govinda but fails to worship His devotees should be understood to be not a devotee of the Lord but simply a victim of false pride. One should always worship the Vaishnavas by all means, for by worshiping the great devotees one is freed from all miseries.”

In this way various other statements glorifying the worship of pure devotees are found in the scriptures.

The word karya-siddhi is explained by Baladeva Vidyabhushana in his Govinda-bhashya commentary on the Vedanta-sutras (3.3.51), wherein he quotes from the Shandilya-smriti as follows:

siddhir bhavati va neti      samshayo ‘cyuta sevinam

nihsamshayas tu tad bhakta      paricaryaratatmanam

kevalam bhagavat-pada-      sevaya vimalam manah

na jayate yatha nityam      tad bhakta-caranarcanat

“One may doubt whether the servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead will attain perfection, but there is absolutely no doubt that those who are attached to serving His devotees will attain perfection. One’s mind is not as fully purified by serving the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord as it is by serving the feet of His devotees.”

Shrila Kaviraja Gosvami has written in the Chaitanya-caritamrita (Adi 1.20-21) as follows: “In the beginning of this narration, simply by remembering the spiritual master, the devotees of the Lord, and the Personality of Godhead, I have invoked their benedictions. Such remembrance destroys all difficulties and very easily enables one to fulfill his own desires.”