Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11 Chapter 27 Verse 18

Canto 11: General History | Chapter 27: Lord Kṛṣṇa's Instructions on the Process of Deity Worship

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.27.18

bhūry apy abhaktopāhṛtaḿ

na me toṣāya kalpate

gandho dhūpaḥ sumanaso

dīpo 'nnādyaḿ ca kiḿ punaḥ

SYNONYMS

bhūri — opulent; api — even; abhakta — by a nondevotee; upāhṛtam — offered; na — does not; me — My; toṣāya — satisfaction; kalpate — create; gandhaḥ — fragrance; dhūpaḥ — incense; sumanasaḥ — flowers; dīpaḥ — lamps; anna-ādyam — foodstuffs; ca — and; kim punaḥ — what to speak of.

TRANSLATION

Even very opulent presentations do not satisfy Me if they are offered by nondevotees. But I am pleased by any insignificant offering made by My loving devotees, and I am certainly most pleased when nice presentations of fragrant oil, incense, flowers and palatable foods are offered with love.

PURPORT

The Lord has stated in the previous verse that even a little water offered with love and devotion gives Him great pleasure. Therefore the words kiḿ punaḥ indicate the Lord's complete happiness when a suitably opulent offering is made with love and devotion. But an opulent offering made by a nondevotee cannot please the Lord. As Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains, the rules and regulations concerning Deity worship and the listing of offenses against the Deities are all meant for helping one avoid precisely this kind of disrespectful or neglectful attitude toward the Personality of Godhead in His Deity form. In fact, all offenses against the Deity are based upon irreverence and disregard for the Lord's position as master, and thus upon disobedience to His orders. Since one must worship the Deity with reverence, one should offer opulent presentations to the Deity with love, for such presentations both enhance the respectfulness of the worshiper and help him avoid offenses in his worship.

<<< >>>

Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari