SB 3.29.25-Performing his prescribed duties, one should worship the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead until one realizes My presence in his own heart and in the hearts of other living entities as well.
PURPORT-Worship of the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is prescribed herewith even for persons who are simply discharging their prescribed duties. There are prescribed duties for the different social classes of men—the brāhmaṇas, the vaiśyas, the kṣatriyas and the śūdras—and for the different āśramas—brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa. One should worship the Deity of the Lord until one appreciates the presence of the Lord in every living entity. In other words, one should not be satisfied simply by discharging his duties properly; he must realize his relationship and the relationship of all other living entities with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If he does not understand this, then even though he discharges his prescribed duties properly, it is to be understood that he is simply laboring without profit.
The word sva-karma-kṛt in this verse is very significant. Sva-karma-kṛt is one who engages in discharging his prescribed duties. It is not that one who has become a devotee of the Lord or who engages in devotional service should give up his prescribed duties. No one should be lazy under the plea of devotional service. One has to execute devotional service according to his prescribed duties. Sva-karma-kṛt means that one should discharge the duties prescribed for him without neglect.
SB 3.29.26-As the blazing fire of death, I cause great fear to whoever makes the least discrimination between himself and other living entities because of a differential outlook.
PURPORT-There are bodily differentiations among all varieties of living entities, but a devotee should not distinguish between one living entity and another on such a basis; a devotee’s outlook should be that both the soul and Supersoul are equally present in all varieties of living entities.
Some Conclusions-–WOW-what can you say after you read the above two verses and purports? Just chant Hare Krsna and that’s all I have to do? One verse is like giving the carrot and next verse is giving us the stick ! Do this He says, and we will enjoy the Lords presence in the heart, and if we dont, He will give us “great fear.”
Or as Srila Prabhupada once portrayed a typical devotee mentality–he said to some devotees while,tossing his bead bag down, ” there I have now chanted my 16 rounds and now I can do any damn thing I want”.. When a person comes to this movement of Mahaprabhu, he is told, just chant Hare Krsna, and that is a good instruction and will stay one, forever, but along that way, we pick up many understandings.
Some devotees simply do not do any Deity worship, and I am not sure what they think they are gaining from this, even though they may chant 16 rounds and every once in a while read the books. Prabhupada said, if you do this- but don’t perform Deity worship, you will never understand what you read in those books. He also told us there are two paths-bhagavat viddhi and pancaratriki viddhi-and that both these paths must be performed by his disciples. We are not Hari das Thakur who can sit anywhere and chant laks of rounds and never be bothered by Maya. For the most part we are always bothered by Maya, and the Deity worship process is meant to quell our disturbed minds, and give us a real connection to the Supreme Lord. Bhaktivinode Thakur once said, according to Prabhupada, that the letters of the sanskrit alphabet (K,R,S,N,A) may be coming out of our mouths when we chant Hare Krsna mantra, but unless the consciousness is correct,that is not Krsna nama.
So just chanting Hare Krsna maha mantra is good, but that is just the beginning of the process of purification. Some think that they will be able to remember Krsna at the time of death because all they have to do is just chant once His Holy Name. But Srila Prabhupada tells us also, if we are not 100%pure- we wont be able to remember Krsna at that disturbing time of death.
This whole business is very personal and Krsna will not interfere with our material lives while we pursue them enthusiastically. For the materialistic devotee He easily gives dharma, artha, and kama, but He will never give us Himself or access to the spiritual worlds in an unpurified state of mind. If we want to attain that goal in this human form of life, then we must follow strictly the instructions of the Supreme Lords bona fide representative-Srila Prabhupada.
Hare Krsna
damaghosa das