“The purport of these verses is that without worshiping the Deity of the Lord, one’s devotion cannot even

begin. If one rejects the personal Deity form and enters into argumentative debate in a futile attempt to
attain spiritual knowledge, then the heart becomes dry and hardened and the true goal of devotion is lost
in bewilderment. However, the worship of the Deity should be performed with ever-increasing çuddha-
cinmaya-buddhi, transcendental consciousness. Though living in this material world, the jéva is cinmaya-
vastu, a conscious spiritual entity, and amongst all the jévas, the kåñëa-bhaktas are endowed by the Lord
with çuddha-cinmaya-buddhi. Both Çré Kåñëa and His bhakta are purely spiritual beings and to properly
comprehend their transcendental position sambandha-jïana—knowledge of the interrelationships between
çakti, matter; jéva, the living entity; and Çré Kåñëa—is imperative. If Deity worship is conducted with
sambandha-jïana, then the consequent transcendental understanding will naturally stimulate both bhakta-
sevä, spiritual service to the Lord’s devotees, and the transcendental esoteric perception and service of the
Deity.
 
“When there is a perfect marriage of çraddhä with transcendental understanding, then this is called
çästréya-çraddhä, faith based on proper scriptural conclusions. In contrast, Deity worship bereft of a clear
and correct concept of sambandha-jïana is conducted on the level of mechanical, ritualistic laukika-
çraddhä. Hence, we deduce that although this is the initial stage of bhakti it is certainly not çuddha-bhakti.
This group of devotees has been described in the Hari-bhakti-viläsa, 1.55, as follows:
 
gåhéta-viñëu-dékñäko viñëu-püjä-paro naraù
vaiñëavo ‘bhihito ‘bhijïair itaro ‘smäd avaiñëavaù
 
“‘One who has been initiated with the viñëu-mantra in accordance with the regulations of scripture and is
worshiping the Deity of Çré Viñëu is considered a Vaiñëava by the learned scholars. All others are non-
Vaiñëavas.’
 
Mullah Sähib, “Our holy Koran-sharéf also states that the Supreme Being possesses an absolute spiritual
body—hence there is no cause for rebuttal. However, when one tries to make an image of that absolute
transcendental form of Allah, or Bhagavän, the image becomes a material replica—this we call byüt.
Worshiping byüt is not the same as worshiping the Supreme Lord. Now kindly explain your viewpoint on
this subject.”
Goräcända Bäbäjé, “The Vaiñëava scriptures espouse the worship of the pure and transcendental Deity
form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The elevated devotees are not permitted to worship material
objects. The Çrémad-Bhägavatam, 10.84.13, states:
 
yasyätma-buddhiù kuëape tri-dhätuke
sva-dhéù kalaträdiñu bhauma ijya-dhéù
yat-tértha-buddhiù salile na karhicij
janeñv abhijïeñu sa eva go-kharaù
 
“‘One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife
and family are permanently his own, who thinks that an earthen image or the land of his birth are
worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies
himself with, feels kinship with, worships, visits, or hears from those sädhus residing at the place of
pilgrimage who are wise in spiritual truth—such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.’
“Furthermore, in the Bhagavad-gétä, 9.25, we find: …bhütäni yänti bhütejyä…
 
“‘Those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth amongst such beings.’
 
“These statements clearly indicate that the worship of material objects and ghosts and spirits is strongly
censured. Yet, one fact must be noted: Human beings acquire varying degrees of eligibility in spiritual
activities according to their level of knowledge and saàskära, purification. Therefore, the devotee who has
realized çuddha-cinmaya-bhäva, pure transcendence, is alone worthy of worshiping the cinmaya,
transcendental, Deity form of the Supreme Godhead. Accordingly, lower eligibility is indicated by the
lower degrees of knowledge and purity.
 
“A neophyte kaniñöha-adhikäré, who is at the bottom of the scale of eligibility, is unable to perceive
çuddha-cinmaya-bhäva. If he meditates upon the Lord within his mind, the image of the Lord he
construes within his consciousness being a fabricated form is clearly endowed with mundane qualities. To
assume Divinity in a sculpted earthly Deity form is ultimately identical to the neophyte’s meditation upon
an image of the Supreme Lord created within his mind from his contaminated material consciousness.
This is not the pure form of Deity worship; nevertheless, for the neophyte such Deity worship is
beneficial. Indeed, the absence and prohibition of such Deity worship for the general ignorant mass of
people is inauspicious. For when spiritually neophyte people somehow become inspired to approach the
Supreme Lord, if they do not find a Deity form of Him, they may feel disappointed and disconsolate.
 
“The religions which have no provision for Deity worship face the danger that those children born into
the religion and those just beginning spiritual life—both of whom may have little or no understanding, or
deep faith in Godhead—may become overtly materialistic and even develop aversion towards the
Supreme Lord as a result of the absence of a Deity form upon which to fix their minds. Therefore, Deity
worship is the foundation of religion for general humanity.
 
“The mahäjanas, highly elevated, unalloyed devotees of the Lord, perceive the beautiful spiritual form of
the Supreme Lord by dint of their pure consciousness and perfect realization. These mahäjanas constantly
meditate upon and worship this sublime and transcendental form of the Lord, whom they see within their
hearts saturated with prema-bhakti. After long and deep meditation upon the transcendental form of the
Lord, eventually the consciousness of the pure devotee extends to see the Lord’s presence within all
objects of even the material world. Out of mercy, these pure devotees delineate the transcendental divine
form of the Lord both verbally and physically in the Deity form. Thus, on the basis of the instruction of
the realized pure devotees who are forever guided from within by the Lord Himself, the Deity form—an
exact replica of the spiritual form of the Lord—is portrayed externally in the material world as non-
different from the transcendental Supreme Lord.
 
“The self-realized uttama-adhikäré always perceives the Deity form as cinmaya, a transcendental and
direct manifestation of the Lord. The madhyama-adhikäré perceives the Deity form as manomaya,
conscious of his prayers, worship, and devotion; however, his perception of the wholly transcendental
nature of the Deity form is constricted by the immaturity of his spiritual consciousness. The präkåta-
bhakta sees the Deity form initially as jaòamaya, material, but as his consciousness and intelligence are
gradually cleansed by the awakening of prema he begins to worship the Deity form with increasingly
spiritual perception and understanding. Thus, we see that worship of the Deity is essential and beneficial
to all categories of devotees. Certainly, however, worshiping an imaginary and concocted idol of
Bhagavän as the Supreme Lord is forbidden in vaiñëava-dharma.
 
“The Deity image of the actual eternal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is all-auspicious.
Therefore, the Vaiñëava sampradäyas have recommended and established Deity worship for all the three
levels of devotees: uttama, madhyama, and kaniñöha. There is no fault in this process and by this
arrangement human beings benefit at every step, ushering in sublime sanctity. This is substantiated in the
Çrémad-Bhägavatam, 11.14.26:
 
yathä yathätmä parimåjyate ’sau
mat-puëya-gäthä-çravaëäbhidhänaiù
tathä tathä paçyati vastu sükñmaà
cakñur yathaiväïjana-samprayuktam
 
“‘Medicated salve, collyrium, when applied to the eye, helps one see even the finest of objects. Similarly,
when the heart of the jéva is cleansed of impurities by hearing and discussing transcendental topics about
Me, he perceives the most esoteric knowledge about My original spiritual form and the purport of My
pastimes.’
“Jévätmä is covered by material energy in the form of the material mind and senses. Therefore, he is
unable to understand properly his actual spiritual nature and thus serve the Paramätmä feature of the
Supreme Lord. Nevertheless, through sädhana-bhakti, the elevating devotional process of hearing and
chanting, the jéva gains spiritual strength, which concomitantly weakens the grip of material energy upon
him. With the decrease of material influence, the original nature of the jéva comes into brighter focus and
direct perception of Éçvara and activity in relationship to Éçvara become more distinct and natural.
 
“Some thinkers consider that one should endeavour to realize the Absolute Truth by the process of
discarding all that is not Truth. This phenomenon they describe as, ‘Discarding all objectives unrelated to
actual truth—the self,’ and ‘Endeavouring to realize the self.’ Speaking this kind of word-jugglery
indicates that one has adopted the impotent process of dry empirical knowledge. From where will the
captivated jéva acquire the strength and discrimination to remove the ultimately unreal illusion that
powerfully covers his very self? Can a prisoner confined to a cell be set free merely by desiring freedom?
The primary purpose of imprisonment is to evoke self-improvement in the offender. By nature, the jéva is
an eternal servant of Bhagavän and in disregarding and thus forgetting this eternal truth he has committed
a cardinal offence, thus causing his own imprisonment. Removal of this offence is therefore the
prerequisite for his release from the material imprisonment. Since time immemorial, the jéva has been
entangled in the birth and death, happiness and distress, of material life by the insurmountable pressure of
Mäyä as a result of maintaining this offence of disregard of Éçvara.
 
“Nevertheless, if he somehow or other cultivates even a slight interest in the spiritual activity of
devotional service to the Éçvara by regularly taking darçana of His Deity form and hearing lélä-kathä,
narrations of Éçvara’s pastimes, then he can very soon perceive the transcendental form of the Deity. The
devotional process of hearing and chanting steadily revives his original spiritual nature, which gradually
becomes firm and steady. The more the sädhaka grows in purity and spirituality, the more he progresses
along the path of realising his innate bhäva, true spiritual mood and identity in relationship to the Lord.
Consequently, the sole recourse open to the absolute novice and neophyte in spiritual life is to serve the
Deity with faith and to hear and chant the Deity’s transcendental glories and pastimes. This is the prime
reason why our mahäjanas have established the process of devotional service to the Deity.”
 
Mullah Sahéb, “Is it not better to meditate in the mind upon the Supreme Being rather than to model a
form from the inert material elements?”
Goräcända Bäbäjé, “Both are the same. The mind, albeit a subtle material element, is still a part of the
mundane nature. The thoughts of the materially engrossed mind are always contaminated by matter; thus,
every product of the mind is inert. For example, when we pronounce, ‘Brahman is all-pervasive,’ does
this indicate that we are actually able to fathom completely this quality of Brahman’s ubiquity? I think
not, the conditioned mind recoils from the infinite all-pervasiveness of transcendental Brahman and
grasps at the closest material comparison of our experience—the vast, yet still limited, material sky.
Again, if an ordinary person should say, ‘I am meditating upon Brahman,’ his perception of Brahman will
inevitably be limited by time and space, both mundane conditions. If the meditating mind cannot break
the bonds of material time and space and reach beyond them, how then can it perceive transcendence? By
rejecting a Deity formed of the gross elements such as earth or water and then creating a mental image of
Éçvara, we still find that we are worshipping an image of Éçvara composed of the material elements.
Therefore, both these forms of worship, internal or external, involve the material elements.
 
“Ultimately, no material element can act as a vehicle to bring us into contact with the transcendental
platform. The one indispensable element is bhäva, faith and devotional feeling for the Supreme
Personality of Godhead; such bhäva resides only within the spirit soul—the jéva. Hearing and chanting
harinäma and the pastimes of the Supreme Lord and worshiping His Deity form provide the jéva with the
inspiration to be steady in devotional practice and thus strengthen his bhäva. Eventually, this practice
ascends to true çuddha-bhakti. At this point, the purely spiritual form of the Supreme Godhead is revealed
to the sädhaka. Therefore, through this process of pure devotional service the transcendental form of the
Lord is revealed—an impossible task for the methods of karma or jïana.”
Mullah Sähib, “Matter is distinct from God. Our tradition proclaims that Satan has introduced the worship
of Deities formed of material elements just to enslave the jéva in material existence. In our opinion, it is
better to avoid such idol worship.”
 
Goräcända Bäbäjé, “Éçvara is one and unsurpassable; He has no rival. Everything in the entire cosmic
creation is created by Him and is subordinate to His will. Therefore, He can be satisfied by any object
when it is properly employed in His worship. In fact, none of the objects or persons that are other than
Éçvara that a jéva may worship in forgetfulness of Éçvara can make Éçvara jealous or envious in any way
for He is Bhagavän, the fully renounced, all-auspicious Supreme Benefactor and Well-wisher of
everyone. Even if there were a Satan, then certainly he could not possess even the slightest power to act
against the supreme will of Bhagavän. Ultimately, he could only be another jéva and subservient to the
Supreme Lord. However, according to our Vaiñëava understanding such a gargantuan monster as the
‘Devil’ or ‘Satan’ does not exist. Nothing can occur in this world contrary to the Lord’s plan, nor is it
possible for anyone to be independent of the Lord’s control.
 
“At this point one may pose the question, ‘If nothing is independent of the Éçvara, then how was sin
created?’ This is our answer: Jéva is the servant of the Supreme Lord. Acknowledgement of this truth is
called jïäna, or vidyä, but forgetfulness is known as avidyä, nescience. For whatever reasons, certain jévas
act in avidyä and thus sow the seed of sin in their hearts. However, the eternal associates of the Supreme
Lord, the nitya-pärñada jévas, do not sow the seed of sin in their hearts. Instead of inventing the
extraordinary myth of Satan and further imagining a certain object as him, it would be more fruitful to
recognize and understand the avidyä within our own hearts as the cause of our sinful activity.
 
“Therefore, to worship the çré-mürté of Éçvara in the material elements is not an offence. Actually, such
worship is most essential for those of low devotional qualification and particularly auspicious for those of
high spiritual eligibility. To consider Deity worship as unbeneficial is futile rhetoric and mere dogma—
scriptural evidence and logic cannot be found to support such a view.”
 
Mullah Sähib, “The worship of the Deity formed from matter cannot increase the spiritual perception
because the mind of the worshiper remains confined thus to the properties of matter.”
 
Goräcända Bäbäjé, “If we study the ancient historical accounts of those who became great devotees of the
transcendental Lord we can understand your proposal to be mistaken. It is a matter of record that many
neophyte devotees began their devotional practice by worship of the Deity form. As they continued their
Deity worship in the association of pure devotees their devotional mood gradually deepened, they
increasingly realized the transcendental and conscious nature of the Deity form, and eventually they
plunged deeply into the ocean of transcendental devotional love.
 
“Therefore, the unavoidable conclusion is that sat-saìga is the root of all devotional advancement. The
association of pure devotees intoxicated with kåñëa-prema naturally awakens one’s innate affection for
Çré Hari. As this affection gradually increases, one progressively discards the material conception of the
Deity. This unfolding of spiritual consciousness brings the greatest good fortune. In contrast, the
followers of non-Äryan religions generally oppose the worship of the Deity form. However, how many of
them have actually realized cinmaya-bhäva, the transcendental all-conscious nature of Bhagavän and His
spiritual creation. Instead they are spending their time in sophistry and malicious argumentation—when
can they expect to experience true devotion to the Lord?”
 
Mullah Sähib, “To perform Deity worship in divine devotional consciousness may be considered living
without aberration. However, how can the worship of dogs, cats, snakes, and even of promiscuous men be
permissible and considered as a devotional process? Our divine prophet has especially castigated such
byüt-parasta.”
Goräcända Bäbäjé, “Generally, human beings are by nature grateful to the Supreme Lord. They may
wallow in sinful life, yet on occasion they consider a Supreme Being as the actual ultimate controller of
everything and bow down in awe to the mighty and inexplicable wonders that occur in the world. Thus,
the ignorant and foolish—prodded by their innate gratitude to the Supreme Being—generally revere
rivers, mountains, the sun, giant and powerful beasts, etc. They confide their inner thoughts and feelings
to these objects and display surrender to them. Actually, cinmaya-bhakti, the divine process of devotion
to the transcendent Lord, on the one hand, and this type of worship of objects and spirits, on the other, are
irreconcilably different. Yet, the ignorant person’s acknowledgement of and grateful obeisance to the
Supreme Godhead through these material objects certainly give him much pious benefit, which gradually
bestows a positive spiritual effect. A little deliberation upon this topic will verify that these less intelligent
seekers cannot be condemned.
 
“Worshiping, meditating upon, and offering prayers—as the Muslims do in namäz—to the all-pervasive,
formless, impersonal feature of Godhead is also bereft of pure divine love of the transcendental Supreme
Person. Where then, ultimately, lies the distinction between such worship and the worship of, say, a cat or
a mountain? Our Vaiñëava view is that enhancing one’s attachment and affection for the Supreme Lord—
by whatever method—is crucial to one’s eventual realization of the transcendental Absolute Truth. If, on
the other hand, such less-enlightened seekers are simply ridiculed and repudiated this may close their
portal to gradual elevation.
“Those who become sectarian by obstinately locking themselves into dogmatic cults are soon diverted
from lofty idealism, munificence, and liberality. They deride and rail at anyone who does not follow their
particular methodology in religious practice. This is a serious aberration on their part.”
 
Mullah Sähib, “Are you suggesting then that everything is God and that all types of worship to any object
are tantamount to worshiping God? Is worshiping something sinful also worshiping God? Moreover, is
revering immoral proclivities equivalent to devotion to God? Is God pleased with all these things?”
Goräcända Bäbäjé, “We do not designate everything as God. Certainly, the Supreme Personality is
distinct from all things—all that exists is created by God and is under His divine sovereignty. However,
as everything is related with the Supreme Godhead, it is the natural prerogative of everyone to enquire
about the presence of God in all things. Repeated and sincere enquiry about the presence of the Supreme
in all things will gradually bestow increasing perception of the Supreme Transcendental Person, thus
leading to ultimate success according to the Vedic aphorism: …jijïäsäsvädanävadhi… ‘Inquiry leads to
experience.’ Therefore, even indirect enquiry about the Supreme Lord will one day result in the
realization of transcendence.
 
“You are all very learned theologians. If you kindly consider these points with a noble and open mind,
then you will understand. We are poor and simple Vaiñëavas and are not keen on participating in lengthy
debates. With your permission, may we return to hear the musical narration, Çré Caitanya-maìgala-gétä,
songs glorifying the all-auspicious pastimes of Çré Caitanya?”
 
Mullah Sähib’s reaction regarding the discussion was not discernible from his demeanour. He sat placidly
for a short time, then said, “I am pleased to hear your analysis and explanations. I will return another time
and ask more questions. It is late now and I desire to go back to my home.”
Mullah Sähib walked at the head of his small group of followers to their patiently waiting horses,
mounted, and rode off to Sätsäika Paraganä. The Vaiñëavas chanted kåñëa-näma in jubilant chorus and
rejoined the others, who were still engrossed in the kértana of Çré Caitanya-maìgala-gétä.
Thus ends the eleventh chapter of Jaiva-dharma, entitled: Nitya-dharma and Deity Worship
 
**********************
 
 
 
 
HK PAMHO AGTSP AGTGAG
Your servant
Radheshyam das
...