Q. 241. HOW MANY VARIETIES DOES THE DEITY FORM OF THE LORD APPEAR
AND IN WHAT WAYS THE DEITY CAN BE ESTABLISHED ?
WHAT ARE THE WAYS TO WORSHIP THE DEITY FORM OF THE LORD ?
A. BY SRILA PRABHUPADA.
śailī dāru-mayī lauhīlepyā lekhyā ca saikatīmano-mayī maṇi-mayīpratimāṣṭa-vidhā smṛtāSYNONYMSśailī — made of stone; dāru-mayī — made of wood; lauhī — made of metal; lepyā — made of clay, sandalwood and other substances laid down as a paste;lekhyā — painted; ca — and; saikatī — made of sand; manaḥ-mayī — conceived of in the mind; maṇi-mayī — made of jewels; pratimā — the Deity;aṣṭa-vidhā — in eight varieties; smṛtā — it is remembered.TRANSLATIONThe Deity form of the Lord is said to appear in eight varieties — stone, wood, metal, earth, paint, sand, the mind or jewels.(Srimad Bhagavatam).PURPORTŚrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that certain Deity forms, such as those made of sand, are manifested for a brief time to fulfill a personal desire of the worshipper.Those, however, who desire to attain pure love of God should worship the permanent form of the Deity (made, for instance, of marble, gold or brass), and they should maintain continual worship.In Kṛṣṇa consciousness there is no scope for neglecting the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.calācaleti dvi-vidhāpratiṣṭhā jīva-mandiramudvāsāvāhane na staḥsthirāyām uddhavārcaneSYNONYMScalā — movable; acalā — immovable; iti — thus; dvi-vidhā — of two varieties; pratiṣṭā — the installation; jīva-mandiram — of the Deity, who is the shelter of all living entities; udvāsa — sending away; āvāhane — and calling forth; na staḥ — are not done; sthirāyām — for the permanently established Deity;uddhava — My dear Uddhava; arcane — in His worship.TRANSLATIONThe Deity form of the Lord, who is the shelter of all living entities, can be established in two ways: temporarily or permanently. But a permanent Deity, having been called, can never be sent away, My dear Uddhava. (Srimad Bhagavatam).PURPORTThe devotees of the Lord understand themselves to be the Lord's eternal servitors; recognizing the Deity to be the Lord Himself, they permanently install the Deity and engage in perpetual worship.The impersonalists, however, regard the eternal form of the Lord as a temporary manifestation of illusion. In fact, they regard the Deity form as a mere stepping-stone in their ambitious program to become God.Materialistic persons of whatever type consider the Lord to be their order supplier, and so they make temporary arrangements for religious ceremonies to achieve temporary material sense gratification.This temporary mode of worship is favoured by those desiring to exploit the Personality of Godhead for their personal ends, whereas the loving devotees in Kṛṣṇa consciousness eternally engage in worship of the Personality of Godhead.They install permanent Deities meant to be worshiped perpetually.asthirāyāḿ vikalpaḥ syātsthaṇḍile tu bhaved dvayamsnapanaḿ tv avilepyāyāmanyatra parimārjanamSYNONYMSasthirāyām — in the case of the temporarily installed Deity; vikalpaḥ — an option (as to whether the Deity is to be called and sent away); syāt — there is;sthaṇḍile — in the case of the Deity traced upon the ground; tu — but; bhavet — do occur; dvayam — these two rituals; snapanam — the bathing; tu — but;avilepyāyām — in the case when the Deity is not made out of clay (or paint or wood); anyatra — in the other cases; parimārjanam — thorough cleansing, but without water.TRANSLATIONThe Deity that is temporarily established can optionally be called forth and sent away, but these two rituals should always be performed when the Deity is traced upon the ground. Bathing should be done with water except if the Deity is made of clay, paint or wood, in which cases a thorough cleansing without water is enjoined. (Srimad Bhagavatam).PURPORTVarious classes of devotees worship the Deity of the Personality of Godhead according to their various stages of faith in the Lord.An advanced devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa understands his eternal loving relationship with the Lord and, seeing the Deity as the Lord Himself, establishes an eternal relationship with the Deity based on loving servitude to Him.Understanding Lord Kṛṣṇa to be the eternal form of bliss and knowledge, a faithful devotee makes a permanent arrangement for Deity worship, installing the Lord's form made of, for example, stone, wood or marble.The śālagrāma-śilā is considered to be automatically installed even without the formal ceremony, and so it is forbidden to call the Deity with mantras or ask the Deity to leave.On the other hand, if one prepares a Deity form by drawing on sanctified ground or by constructing a sand image, one must call the Deity with mantras and then ask the Deity to leave the external form, which will soon be demolished by the natural elements.The general principle is that a pure devotee of the Lord understands his relationship with the Deity to be eternal.The more one surrenders in loving devotion to the Deity, the more one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Kṛṣṇa is a person, but He is the Supreme Person, possessing His own unique feelings.One can easily please the Lord by devotional service offered to His Deity form.By pleasing the Lord one can gradually progress in the mission of human life and eventually go back home, back to Godhead, where the Deity personally appears before the devotee and welcomes the devotee to His personal abode, known throughout the world as the kingdom of God.dravyaiḥ prasiddhair mad-yāgaḥpratimādiṣv amāyinaḥbhaktasya ca yathā-labdhairhṛdi bhāvena caiva hiSYNONYMSdravyaiḥ — with items of paraphernalia; prasiddhaiḥ — excellent; mat-yāgaḥ — My worship; pratimā-ādiṣu — in the different Deity forms; amāyinaḥ — who has no material desire; bhaktasya — of a devotee; ca — and; yathā-labdhaiḥ — by whatever paraphernalia he can easily obtain; hṛdi — in the heart; bhāvena— by mental conception; ca — and; eva hi — certainly.TRANSLATIONOne should worship Me in My Deity forms by offering the most excellent paraphernalia. But a devotee completely freed from material desire may worship Me with whatever he is able to obtain, and may even worship Me within his heart with mental paraphernalia.(Srimad Bhagavatam).PURPORTA devotee still troubled by material desire tends to see the world as an object of sense gratification.Such a neophyte devotee may misunderstand the Lord's supreme position and may even consider the Lord an object of his own enjoyment.Hence the neophyte must offer opulent paraphernalia to the Deity so that he may constantly remember that the Deity is the supreme enjoyer and that he, the neophyte, is simply the worshipper and is actually meant for the Deity's pleasure.In contrast, an advanced devotee, one fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, never forgets that the Supreme Lord is the actual enjoyer and controller of everything.The pure devotee offers his unalloyed love to the Personality of Godhead along with whatever paraphernalia is easily obtained.A Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee does not waver in his devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa, and even with the simplest offering he completely satisfies the Personality of Godhead.
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2. ELEVEN OM PRAYERS FROM SHRIMAD BHAGAVATAM. 3. SHRI GURVASTAKAM. (eight prayers to the Spiritual Master). 4. TWO PRAYERS FROM SHRI VRINDAVANA MAHIMAMRTA. 5. TWO PRAYERS FROM MUKUNDA MALA STOTRA. 6. SIX PRAYERS FROM SHRI BRAHMA SAMHITA. 7. THE EIGHT YUGALASHTAKAM PRAYERS. Everyday read them.
But if you can spare more time,
then I highly recommend that you read all of them.
Pranam Dearest Devotee. Hare Krishna. 1. Select a question and answer. 2. Read it. Re-read it. 3. Little by little, memorize the verses and translations. 4. Learn also the word-for-word meaning. 5. When you have done this with one question and answer, do the same with the others. Take your time. 6. As you engage in this spiritual study daily, Lord Krishna showers blessings upon you. I wish you success in your studies. With love and best wishes. Take care. Bye.
Replies
harekrishna mathaji...
types of worship is very inspiring
3. SHRI GURVASTAKAM. (eight prayers to the Spiritual Master).
4. TWO PRAYERS FROM SHRI VRINDAVANA MAHIMAMRTA.
5. TWO PRAYERS FROM MUKUNDA MALA STOTRA.
6. SIX PRAYERS FROM SHRI BRAHMA SAMHITA.
7. THE EIGHT YUGALASHTAKAM PRAYERS.
Everyday read them.
1. Select a question and answer.
2. Read it. Re-read it.
3. Little by little, memorize the verses and translations.
4. Learn also the word-for-word meaning.
5. When you have done this with one question and answer,
do the same with the others. Take your time.
6. As you engage in this spiritual study daily,
Lord Krishna showers blessings upon you.
I wish you success in your studies.
With love and best wishes.
Take care. Bye.