Worship of Govinda is worship of all

It is said in Skaì da Purä ë a:

arcite deva-deveç a

abja-ç aï kha-gadä dhare

arcitä ù pitaro devä

yataù sarvamayo hariù

“Upon worshipping Lord Hari the God of Gods who is holding a lotus, conchshell and club in His hands, all the forefathers and demigods are worshipped because Lord Hari includes everything.”

Indra, the king of heaven, is the controller of all the thirty-three million demigods, and Brahmä, the creator of the universe, is to be praised even by Indra. But Lord Ç ré Hari is the master of Brahmä and all the ancestors. Therefore when Vä sudeva, who holds a lotus, conchshell, disc and club, is worshipped, all those demigods and forefathers who are supposed to be worshipped in all the activities of nitya, naimittika etc. to remove obstacles, are automatically worshipped; as He is the cause of all the demigods and ancestors, and is the controller and master of all. Because the Lord removes the three kinds of miseries of His devotees, who are engaged in His service constantly, He is called Hari.

In the age of Kali, those who are situated in varë a and ä ç rama and are always engaged in worship of Lord Ç ré Hari and in the chanting of His names, are considered to have already performed all nitya and naimittika actions. As is mentioned in Bå han-Nä radiya Purä ë a:

hari-nä ma-parä ye ca

hari-ké rtana tat parä ù

hari-pü jä -parä ye ca

te kå tä rthä ù kalau-yuge

“Those who engage in chanting the holy name of Lord Hari (japa), are addicted to congregational chanting (ké rtana) and engage in the worship of Lord Hari, have accomplished their desires in the age of Kali.”

Those who have accepted the name of the Lord from a bona fide spiritual master and by the association and teachings of Bhagavata-dharma have purified their hearts by the chanting of Harinä ma, and with their body, mind and speech are addicted to the Lord and His holy name, are thus freed from the activities which are the cause of material bondage and false doership. They follow activities such as remembering, pleasing, meditating, attending saì ké rtana festivals and hearing and discussing the scriptures like Ç ré mad-Bhä gavatam, Bhagavad-Gé tä, Kå ñ ë opaniñ ad, Nä rä yaë opaniñ ad and other scriptures like Vedas, Purä ë as, Upa-Purä ë as, Ä gamas, Små tis, Mahä bhä rata and other Vaiñ ë ava ç ä stras.

'Hari-pü jä -parä ' means those who engage only in devotional service to the Lord, avoiding the worship of demigods, forefathers and other fruitive activities. By doing this they satisfy all living entities.

In the previous ages of Satya, Tretä and Dvä para, people attained their goals after a long time by the processes of austerity, sacrifice, charity and worship; but in Kali Yuga, whatever is performed everyday in the service of Lord Govinda is blissful and that bliss is unattainable even by Brahmä. Devotees perform service to Govinda such as sacrifice, penance, charity, digging wells or lakes, making flower garlands, resting places, bridges, construction of the best temples, whole year travelling festivals, offering juicy fruits, cakes, rice prepared with milk, many kinds of ornaments, fragrant flowers, candana from Malaya, fragrant aguru, camphor, betelnut, incense, lamps, blowing a conchshell, ringing a bell and chanting congregationally before the Lord every morning and evening.

Those who are fixed in such devotional service, being surrendered to the Lord, accomplish their desires simply by worshipping and chanting the names of the Lord. In other words, they fulfill their ultimate desire by constantly remembering and worshipping Lord Hari with discrimination, without committing any nä ma or sevä parä dhas. They will certainly be freed from the fetters of worldly existence.

In Padma Purä ë a, Lord Ç iva says to Durgä:

ghore kali-yuga prä pte

sarva-dharma-vivarjitä ù

vä sudeva parä martyä s

te kå tä rthä na ç aà ç ayaù

“In the dangerous age of Kali only those who have abandoned all kinds of religious activities and engage in the service of Lord Vä sudeva, are really successful (kå tä rtha). Of this there is no doubt.”

The word 'ghore' means very dangeorus, subject to the unavoidable network of dangers which bind one in worldly existence. Such a Kali-Yuga arrives after the age of Dvä para, and has a duration of 432, 000 years. 'Sarva-dharma-vivarjita' means those who have avoided all kinds of religious activities of varë a and ä ç rama, and only engage in the service of Lord Vä sudeva, not even worshipping demigods and forefathers to achieve fruitive result. They are doubtlessly successful in their purpose. It has already been explained that both service to Vä sudeva and the fulfillment of one's desire is achieved by chanting the name of Lord Hari and other devotional activities.

As well it is stated in Skaë da Purä ë a:

sa kartä sarva-dharmä ë ä à

bhakto yas tava keç ava

sa kartä sarva-pä pä nä à

yo na bhaktas tavä cyuta

“O Keç ava, one who is Your devotee has performed all auspicious activities, while one who is not Your devotee is the committer of all sinful activities.”

Lord Brahmä himself says, “Simply because he is Your devotee, O Keç ava, whoever adores only You, is the performer of all religious activities. That means the pure and steady-minded devotee has certainly already performed all fruitive activities (which he is supposed to perform in his so-called religion according to varë a and ä ç rama, such as worshipping demigods and honouring forefathers) because he worships You, the infallible Godhead. But, O Acyuta, one who is not Your devotee or one who has not accepted Your holy name from a bona fide guru and has neglected to follow the regulative principles, being under the control of the external energy of the Lord, desiring to get material results, he is certainly a committer of all sinful activities.”

How is this possible? Having avoided dedication to devotional service and rejecting the worship of the Lord who is always in pure goodness, one who acts like a prostitute by following activities prescribed in Ç ruti, Små ti, and Purä ë ic texts (that are in the modes of passion and ignorance) performs many kinds of yoga, sacrifice, oblations, charity, penance and worship of demigods. According to the statement, 'svakarma-phala-bhuk pumä m', one has to enjoy or suffer according to all of his deeds. One has to revolve in the cycle of birth and death through 8, 400, 000 species of life, as an enjoyer of his own deeds after leaving his body. After wandering through all these species, when one finally gets a human life, that person again acts sinfully by the influence of his previous activities -- because of not having lived according to the principles of devotional life.

Again, in the same scripture it is stated:

pä paà bhavati dharmo' pi

tava bhaktaiù kå taà hare

niù ç eñ a-karma kartä vä -

’py abhakto narake patet

“O Lord Hari, even the sinful actions commited by Your devotees are considered a religious action, but a nondevotee who performs all kinds of religous activities, is still thrown into hell.”

The meaning of 'bhakta' and 'abhakta' have been explained already. “O Lord, the apparent sin of not performing demigod and ancestor worship by Your devotees is certainly considered correct according to the principles of Bhagavata-dharma, because they have undeviated devotion to the Lord. On the other hand, a nondevotee may perform all kinds of religious actions, but as a result he has to fall down to hell. This refers to all the actions mentioned in the Vedas and Purä ë as which are in the modes of passion and ignorance, such as Soma-Yaga, Vä japeya-Yaga, Ñ aò -Aì ga-Yaga, atonement, Paï cä gni Sä dhana (the process in which one has to sit down lighting five fires around himself), Vä yu-Bhojana (or eating only air), Aç vamedha Yajï a, penance and sacrifice which involves killing animals, and worshipping demigods. After quitting his body such a person sometimes goes to the heavenly planets and enjoys the results of his actions; sometimes he stays on this planet; and sometimes falls down to hell. I, Lord Brahmä, servant of Your servants, being afraid of Kali, pray to You, O Lord Hari, by the two vocative words “he hare! ”

(This section proves that in any varë a, the Vaiñ ë ava, exclusively worshipping Viñ ë u, is the best, and amongst all the Vaiñ ë avas- the brä hmaë a-sannyä sé is the best.)

In the same text it is mentioned:

brä hmaë aù kñ atriyo vaiç yaù

ç ü dro vä yadi vetaraù

viñ ë u-bhakti-samä yukto

jï eyaù sarvottamottamaù

“A brä hmaë a, kñ atriya, vaiç ya, ç ü dra or whoever one may be, if he is dedicated to Viñ ë u, he is considered the best of people.”

It was mentioned earlier that a person who has taken up the devotional service of Lord Viñ ë u is superior to all others inside or outside the varë ä ç rama system. He has completely rejected fruitive activities like worship of demigods and forefathers, and nitya, naimittika and kä mya rites mentioned in the Vedas and Purä nas which are in the modes of passion and ignorance. 'Vä ' means applicable to any of the varë as and 'yadi' means if. Even those born in low families, if they give up all kinds of activities causing further entanglement in material existence and take up serving the devotees, they are considered the best. The ç ü dra who is servant of a devotee is superior to the ç ü dra serving a brä hmaë a, kñ atriya or vaiç ya. There are eleven kinds of ç ü dras according to Haré ta Saà hitä:

palagaë ò as tantravä yo

mä lä kä raç ca tailikaù

karmakä ras tä mbuliko

modako thä liko naraù

tä mbü lé kå t tathä ç ü drä ù

sat ç ü drau gopa-nä pitau

palagaë ò a - a stone worker or claypot maker

tantravä ya - a weaver

mä lakä ra - a gardener