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Hare krsna 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Question

Why should we offer worship to Bhagavan  by austerities like *Nama-japam* , *Pooja* , etc ? . Isn't it sufficient just to remember Him always ?.

Answer

Srimad Ramayanam's *Aranyakandam*  section, contains *Lakshmanopadesam* ( Advice to Lakshmana) . Sri Rama, Sita-devi and Lakshmana were living in the forest . One day, Lakshmana requested Sri Rama to advise about the universal principle.

Sri Rama first describes the *Yoga-Maya* ( Bhagavan's illusionary potency) that operates the universe. Then He says:

·         " Bhakti is the best option to attain *Mukti* ( ultimate liberation from birth and death).

·         Though we have eyes, we still need light to see at night . So to see with the inner-eye, Bhakti is necessary . How do we attain Bhakti ? . By associating with the Bhaktas.

·         What we hear from others,  grows in our mind as worldly desires . When we associate with Bhaktas, most our talks are about Bhakti related matters. So our mind will be thinking more about Bhakti  . To consolidate this thought in mind, we need to perform austerities like Deity-worship involving,  fasting,  Puja, Nama-japam, etc .

·         Puja, bowing down, thinking about Bhagavan, becoming a servant to Bhagavan, etc followed by enjoying of His tasty *Prasadam*  result in the blossoming of Bhakti . Such efforts should come from Bhakta.  Then *Jnanam* ( knowledge) and *Vijnanam* ( practical applications of such  knowledge) automatically manifest in the mind . This will enable the Bhakta to attain *Mukti* ( ultimate liberation from birth and death) .

Bhagavan Sri Rama advises  Lakshmana to teach the above principle to other all Bhaktas even without being asked .

Bhagavan Sri Krishna says this in Bhagavad Gita ( 12.5-9) :

·         "Those people  meditating the Brahman   (formless Brahman) , experience great difficulty because it  is very troublesome for the embodied Men to concentrate on the formless un-manifested Brahman .

·         But, to Krishna-bhaktas  who worship Me as `Personal God' , surrendering  all actions to Me ; setting Me as their supreme goal, and meditating on Me with single minded devotion ;  I give swift deliverance from this ocean of birth and death.

·         So,  fix your mind on Me, and establish your intelligence in Me alone. Then you will abide solely in Me. There is no doubt about it."

·         To  steadily fix the mind on Me, then seek to attain Me through the yoga of repeated Spiritual practice (such as a repetitive  `ritual' like Nama-japam)."