Category:Worship of a Devotee of God
Theme Analysis
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that while worship of the Supreme Lord in His deity form is essential for spiritual advancement, there is an even higher principle revealed in the Vedic scriptures. Lord Śiva and Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself confirm that the worship of a pure devotee is greater than direct worship of the Lord. Without the presence and guidance of a pure devotee, so-called worship remains mere idol worship. Therefore, a sincere seeker must prioritize serving the Vaiṣṇavas, free from material motives, to truly please the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- The Necessity of Deity Worship: A sincere devotee does not rely on mental speculation or imagination but directly worships the authorized form of the Lord in the temple.
- The Original Form of Govinda: Although the Lord expands into innumerable incarnations, advanced devotees follow the footsteps of Lord Brahmā to worship the primeval Lord, Govinda.
- The Secret Revealed by Lord Śiva: Among all twelve mahājanas, Lord Śiva explicitly instructs that worshiping the Lord's devotee is superior to worshiping Lord Viṣṇu directly.
- Kṛṣṇa's Preference for Vaiṣṇava Worship: The Supreme Lord Himself declares that honoring and serving His pure devotees brings Him the greatest satisfaction, making it more effective than direct worship.
- Devotees Give Life to the Worship: Without a pure devotee to perform and guide the process, deity worship is lifeless. The presence of a Vaiṣṇava transforms a ritual into a loving exchange.
- Unalloyed Motivation: A pure devotee worships the Lord and His servants solely for their satisfaction, completely rejecting all desires for material opulence or liberation.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: The Supreme Value in the Worship of a Devotee of God.
Subcategories
This category has the following 26 subcategories, out of 26 total.
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Pages in category "Worship of a Devotee of God"
The following 104 pages are in this category, out of 104 total.
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- A devotee can worship Krsna anywhere, underneath a tree, because Krsna is in everyone's heart, isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati (BG 18.61). So if underneath a tree you think of Krsna and chant Hare Krsna, that is sufficient
- A devotee is attached to a particular form (God's Form), and it is that form which he worships
- A devotee is not at all interested in speculative activities. Instead of cultivating speculative knowledge or practicing mystic yoga, a devotee should worship the Deity in the temple and continuously engage in the Lord’s service
- A devotee should worship the Supreme Lord, be friendly to persons who are on the same level and be compassionate to the ignorant. One should exhibit his compassion for ignorant living entities by distributing prasada
- A pure devotee will not ask anything from the Lord. He simply offers the Lord his respectful obeisances, and the Lord is prepared to accept whatever the devotee can secure to worship Him, a leaf, flower, fruit or water
- A pure devotee, who worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead only, achieves the planets of Vaikuntha and Krsnaloka without a doubt. BG 1972 purports
- A Vaisnava wishes to worship God as He is and retain his separate individuality to serve Him, whereas the Mayavadi impersonal philosopher wishes to lose his individuality and merge into the existence of the Supreme
- Abhiseka function was especially observed at the house of Srivasa. All the devotees, according to their means, worshiped the Lord (Caitanya) with all kinds of paraphernalia, and the Lord gave benedictions to each devotee according to his desire
- According to Sridhara Svami, Maharaja Pariksit used to imitate the worship of the family Deity by elderly members. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti also confirms the viewpoint of Jiva Gosvami
- Akrura continued, "And let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You, who appeared as Lord Rama to kill demons like Ravana. You are worshiped by all devotees as the chief of the Raghu dynasty, Lord Ramacandra"
- All devotees are in the disciplic succession stemming from Narada Muni because they worship the Deity according to Narada Muni's direction, namely the Narada Pancaratra, or the pancaratrika-vidhi
- All the forms of the Lord are eternal. It is the devotee's inclination to worship a particular form, and he engages in devotional service to that form
- Although devotees who worship Krsna in opulence (His Vaikuntha aspect) may prefer to see Lord Krsna at Kuruksetra along with Subhadra and Balarama, the gopis want to see Krsna in Vrndavana, performing the rasa dance with Srimati Radharani
- Although the Lord sometimes assumes a fierce appearance to kill the duskrtis, the devotees worship Him. The devotee always takes pleasure in worshiping the Lord and glorifying the Lord in any form, either pleasing or fierce
- Although there may be a Radha-Krsna vigraha, or form, the worship of the neophyte devotees is acceptable as Laksmi-Narayana worship
- An expansion of this Vrndavana, which is the supreme abode of Krsna, is also present on this earth, and superior devotees worship it as the supreme abode
- As stated in the Brahma-samhita (BS 5.33): I (Brahma) worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, who is the original person - nondual, infallible, and without beginning. Although He expands into unlimited forms, He is still the original
- As stated in the Brahma-samhita (BS 5.52): I (Brahma) worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, under whose control even the sun, which is considered to be the eye of the Lord, rotates within the fixed orbit of eternal time
- As the son of Devaki, He first appeared as Visnu, and because Vasudeva was not in the position of pure affection for Krsna, Vasudeva worshiped his son as Lord Visnu
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- Demons are very much disturbed when devotees worship the Lord in the prescribed ways recommended in the scriptures
- Devotees in Krsna consciousness should be very careful to avoid such demons. One should strictly follow the vidhi-marga regulative principles in the worship of Laksmi-Narayana, although the Lord is present in the temple as Radha-Krsna
- Devotees who worship Krsna in opulence cannot understand the parental devotional feelings of the residents of Mathura and Vrndavana, who follow the path of spontaneous love
- Devotees worship Lord Sri Krsna by addressing Him as the well-wisher of the brahmanas and the cows. The most intelligent class of men, who have perfectly attained knowledge in spiritual values, are called the brahmanas
- Dhruva Maharaja was advised to worship a form made of earth and water because in the jungle, if it is not possible to have a form made of metal, wood or stone, the best process is to take earth mixed with water and make a form of the Lord and worship Him
- Dhruva Maharaja was advised to worship the Lord with the fruits and flowers available in the forest
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- Following the example of the gopis, the devotees sometimes worship the goddess Katyayani, but they understand that Katyayani is an incarnation of Yogamaya
- Foolish people who have no knowledge of Sri Isopanisad or any of the other sruti-mantras consider the arca-vigraha, which is worshiped by pure devotees, to be made of material elements
- For his bodily maintenance he (Haridasa Thakura) would go to a brahmana's house and beg some food. He was spiritually so influential that all the neighboring people worshiped him
- For the protection of the child, he (Nanda Maharaja) had worshiped various demigods and forefathers and given charity to everyone's satisfaction
- From the very beginning of his childhood, my younger brother Anupama was a great devotee of Raghunatha (Lord Ramacandra), and he worshiped Him with great determination
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- He (Siva ) simply advises his great wife (Parvati) that of all kinds of worship, the worship of Visnu is the highest, and greater than that is the worship of a great devotee or anything in relation with Visnu
- He (the Supreme Personality of Godhead) appears when pleased by the worship of a devotee. A devotee may ask the Lord to appear as her son
- He said "I want to give money" just to worship the lotus feet of all the great devotees, servants and subservants of Lord Nityananda Prabhu
- How they can worship? The worship is done by devotee. Unless you create devotee, where is the question of worshiping? Without devotee it is idol worship. There is no life. And without life, how can you pull on artificially?
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- I (Brahma) worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Syamasundara, Krsna Himself, with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love. - BS 5.38
- I (Brahma) worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Syamasundara, Krsna Himself, with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love - BS 5.37-38
- I (Brahma) worship the primeval Lord, Govinda, the original Personality of Godhead. By His partial plenary expansion as Maha-Visnu, He enters into material nature. Then He enters every universe as Garbhodakasayi Visnu
- I (Brahma) worship the SPG, Govinda (Krsna), who is always situated in various incarnations such as Rama, Nrsimha and many sub-incarnations as well, but who is the original PG known as Krsna, and who incarnates personally also - Bs 5.39. BG 1972 purports
- I (Brahma) worship the SPG, Govinda (Krsna), who is the original person-absolute, infallible, without beginning, although expanded into unlimited forms, still the same original, the oldest, & the person always appearing as a fresh youth. BG 1972 purports
- In Saptagrama there is still a temple with a six-armed Deity of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu that was personally worshiped by Srila Uddharana Datta Thakura
- In the Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya-khanda, Chapter Five, it is said that Uddharana Datta was an extremely elevated and liberal Vaisnava. He was born with the right to worship Nityananda Prabhu
- In the morning, when Srivasa Thakura saw all this paraphernalia (such as red flower, a pot of wine etc.) in front of his door, he called for the respectable gentlemen of the neighborhood and showed them that at night he was worshiping Bhavani
- In the Padma Purana, it is stated that the best mode of worship is to offer oblations to Visnu, but better than that is to worship the devotees of Krsna. Thus Daksa's determination to neglect Lord Siva in the sacrifices was not fitting
- In this way (by pranayama yoga, and by eating only air and dry leaves fallen from the trees cleansed your minds from all dirty things), desiring a benediction from Me (Krsna), you (Devaki and Vasudeva) worshiped Me with peaceful minds - SB 10.3.34-35
- Indeed, They (the Deities of Rama-Sita) were worshiped by the royal princes even before the appearance of Lord Ramacandra. Later, during Lord Ramacandra’s presence, the Deities were worshiped by Laksmana
- It is essential for a devotee to worship the form of the Lord and not only meditate upon the form of the Lord within his mind with the chanting of the mantra given by the spiritual master. The worship of the form must be present
- It is said that just three months before his disappearance, Sri Madhvacarya received these Deities (of Sita-Rama) and installed them in the Udupi temple. Since then the Deities have been worshiped by the Madhvacarya-sampradaya at that monastery
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- Lord Brahma himself said, “Let me worship that spiritual land where Krsna is present.” This transcendental Vrndavana is not appreciated by those who are not devotees or self-realized souls because this Vrndavana-dhama is all spiritual
- Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu sat down on the bed of Visnu, and all the devotees worshiped Him with the Vedic mantras of the Purusa-sukta, beginning with sahasra-sirsa purusah sahasraksah sahasra-pat
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- Mother Ganges is worshiped by the water of the Ganges: a devotee takes a little water from the Ganges and offers it back to the Ganges
- My dear Lord, I wish to see You exactly in the form that Your very dear devotees worship. You have many other forms, but I wish to see Your form that is especially liked by the devotees
- My devotees take great care and respect in rendering Me service. They offer obeisances to Me with all their bodily limbs. They worship other devotees and find all living entities related to Me. For Me they engage the entire energy of their bodies
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- Narottama dasa Thakura, a great devotee and acarya of the Gaudiya Vaisnava sect, has sung: "My Lord, I have simply wasted my life. Having obtained the human body, I have neglected to worship Your Lordship, and therefore I have willingly drunk poison
- Not only did he collect water from Godavari, but he collected from the Ganges, Yamuna, Narmada and Kaveri. Generally a Vaisnava, while worshiping the Lord, collects water from all these rivers by mantra chanting
- Not only is a devotee of the Lord more powerful than the Lord, but also worship of the devotee is considered more effective than direct worship of the Lord
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- O infallible one (Lord Kamadeva), Your lotus palm is the source of all benediction. Therefore Your pure devotees worship it, and You very mercifully place Your hand on their heads
- Of course, the name of Radharani is directly mentioned in other Puranas. This gopi’s worship of Krsna is topmost, and therefore Her name is Radha, or - the topmost worshiper
- One day in the house of Srivasa Thakura, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu sat down on the bed of Visnu, and all the devotees worshiped Him with the Vedic mantras of the Purusa-sukta, beginning with sahasra-sirsa purusah sahasraksah sahasra-pat
- One should follow in the footsteps of previous devotees regarding how to worship the Supreme Lord with the prescribed paraphernalia, or one should offer worship within the heart by reciting the mantra to the PG, who is nondifferent from the mantra
- One should not think that such devotees, who are in the lowest stage of devotional service, are worshiping an idol. They are factually worshiping the Lord, who has agreed to appear before them in an approachable way
- One should offer humble obeisances to the devotee who has undergone spiritual initiation (diksa) and is engaged in worshiping the Deity
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- Please be merciful upon me and show me that form, for only that form worshiped by the devotees can perfectly satisfy all the demands of the senses
- Pure devotees worship the transcendental activities of the Lord in Vrndavana, Dvaraka and Mathura as they are narrated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam and other puranas
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- Some devotees worship the original form of Krsna. When we say "Krsna" we refer to all forms of the Lord - not only Krsna, but Rama, Nrsimha, Varaha, Narayana, etc
- Sraddhayanvitah: with great devotion the devotees offer worshipful respects and paraphernalia to the Deity
- Sukadeva Gosvami describes every part of His (Krsna's) transcendental beauty, one after another, to teach impersonalists that the Personality of Godhead isn't imagination by the devotee for facility of worship but is the Supreme Person in fact and figure
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- The devotee of the Lord worships the transcendental form of the Lord, whereas the impersonalist meditates upon the glaring effulgence, or the bodily rays of the Lord, known as the brahma-jyotir
- The devotee who is neither a neophyte nor a maha-bhagavata but is within the middle status of devotional service is expected to love the S P of Godhead, make friends with the devotees, show favor to the ignorant and reject the jealous and demoniac
- The fruits and flowers are available from the body of the earth, and yet mother earth is worshiped by the sensible devotee with ingredients born from the earth
- The kanistha-adhikari is in the lowest stage of realization. He goes to a place of worship, such as a temple, church or mosque, according to his religious faith, and worships there according to scriptural injunctions
- The liberal mother Yasoda, absorbed in celebrating the utthana ceremony, was busy receiving guests, worshiping them with all respect and offering them clothing, cows, garlands & grains. Thus she could not hear the child (Krsna) crying - SB 10.7.6
- The Lord has innumerable forms (ramadi-murtisu kala-niyamena tisthan (BS 5.39)), and unless these forms, such as Lord Ramacandra, Nrsimhadeva, Krsna and Balarama, were transcendental, how could they be worshiped by devotees since time immemorial
- The Lord manifests Himself before the devotee in the form in which the devotee likes to worship Him indicates that the Lord becomes subordinate to the desire of the devotee
- The neophyte devotees are advised to worship the Lord in the form of His Deity incarnation in the temples, and to engage in various activities of Krsna consciousness to increase the number of godly persons for perfect peace in the world
- The Personality of Godhead is not an imagination by the devotee for facility of worship, but is the Supreme Person in fact and figure. The impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth is but His radiation, as the sun rays are but radiations from the sun
- The Vallabha-sampradaya, which belongs to the Visnu-svami sect of Vaisnava religion, worships Krsna in this pusti-marga. Generally devotees in Gujerat worship Bala-Krsna, under this heading of pusti-marga
- The words bhaktanam anurupatma-darsanam mean that the Lord is always pleased to favor the devotee in the particular form in which the devotee wants to worship and render service unto Him
- The worship is done by devotee. Unless you create devotee, where is the question of worshiping? Without devotee it is idol worship. There is no life. And without life, how can you pull on artificially?
- There are many demigods, but he (Lord Siva) recommended Visnu worship as the best. And better than Visnu worship is worship of a Vaisnava. Tadiyanam - His servants, or those who are in relation to Him
- There are twelve authorities. Lord Siva is one of the authorities. Svayambhur naradah sambhuh. (SB 6.3.20). Sambhu is authority. He says - Krsna worship, Visnu worship is good, but still better worship is to worship the krsna-bhaktas
- They (the paramahamsas devotees) are naturally qualified with all the good attributes, such as pridelessness, freedom from vanity, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, respectability, worship, devotion and sincerity
- They (Vaisnavas) worship the body by the yogic process of meditation on the different bodily parts, such as manipuraka, dahara and hrdaya, gradually rising to the brahma-randhra, on the top of the head
- Those who are distressed and those who desire wealth are called devotees with desires, whereas the other two, the inquisitive and the searcher for wisdom, are seekers of liberation. Because they worship Krsna, they are all considered to be very fortunate
- Thus the devotee who worships Me, gives up all aspirations to be promoted to heavenly planets or to become happy in this world with wealth, children, cattle, home or anything in relationship with the body. I take him to the other side of birth and death
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- Uddharana Datta Thakura, the eleventh among the twelve cowherd boys, was an exalted devotee of Lord Nityananda Prabhu. He worshiped the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda in all respects
- Unalloyed devotees, who have no desire other than to serve the Lord, worship Him in full surrender and always hear and chant about His activities, which are most wonderful and auspicious
- Upananda suggested - By the mercy of Lord Visnu, Krsna has always been saved from so many dangerous incidents. Now let us leave this place and go someplace where we may worship Lord Visnu undisturbed, before there is another cause of death from some demon
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- Vaisnavas all worship such Deities as Radha-Krsna, Sita-Rama, Laksmi-Narayana and Rukmini-Dvarakadhisa, whereas durga-saktas worship the material energy under different names
- Visnu wants His followers to be satisfied first. Lord Krsna says, mad-bhakta-pujabhyadhika: (SB 11.19.21) "The worship of My devotees is better than worship of Me
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- We worship Kisora-Krsna. We worship Bala-Krsna also the Gaudiya Vaisnava. They worship all kinds of pastimes of Krsna, but they specially stress on Bala-Krsna, child Krsna. That is spiritual variety. There is no difference
- What is to be said of a devotee who worships mother Ganges faithfully with a determined vow? One can only imagine the benefit that accrues to such a devotee
- When a devotee worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead and offers the results of his activities in order to free himself from the inebrieties of fruitive activities, his devotion is in the mode of goodness
- When devotees worship their beloved as the most venerable object, spontaneous loving sentiments are observed to be lacking
- When Maharaja Nabhi, who was a devotee, worshiped and offered prayers to the Lord with great faith and devotion and with a pure uncontaminated mind, superficially performing some yajna in the line of pravargya
- When the great sages accepted their reception, according to the instructions of the sastras, and finally took their seats offered by the King, the King, influenced by the glories of the sages, immediately bowed down. Thus he worshiped the four Kumaras
- When the Lord is worshiped with pure love, the various activities performed in the course of that worship awaken transcendental bliss in the heart of the devotee
- Whether one is a pure devotee and is free from all material desires, or is full of material desires, or desires liberation from material contamination, he should in all cases surrender to Vasudeva and worship Him
- Within this material universe, the devotees worship that transcendental abode as Goloka Vrndavana
- Without worshiping the demigods for particular powers, a devotee worships Lord Visnu, knowing that if he desires a particular power he can get that power while acting as Lord Visnu's devotee
- Worship of the demigods is discouraged, and worship of a Vaisnava is considered exalted. No respect is given to the nondevotees - in the Bhakti-sandarbha