why the necessity of going to others for knowledge when we can search it ourselves?.

Usually, the scriptures and saints stress the importance of guidance from authority but ordinary people like to hear it differently and the above question is the favourite caption they rebut against such good advice.To illustrate ,Srila Prahupad quotes this story ,a man wanted to execute fierce austerities on a mountain.He climbed the mountain and managed to locate a small cave for his austerities.After that he selected a big rock by which he was able to block the mouth of the cave .He did this for fear of wild animals that may disturb his spiritual practices.However,he did consider the the fact that after some time of austerities he may become so weak ,so much so that he will not be able to move the heavy stone to get out from the cave.
Our contemplation of acquiring enlightening knowledge by ourselves is a similar situation where by such endeavours generally result bringing pain ,toil,frustration or even death to the foolish individual.Notwithstanding,the knowledge which one receives from the spiritual master is not mundane or ordinary knowledge it is transcendental knowledge.That type of knowledge is above all speculation and even that of the great works of geniuses that we sometimes hear, for it is above the purview of this material world.This is the Knowledge relating to the Supreme Lord of the Universe ,SriKrishna who is the Transcendental Autocrat,the Predominating Moiety,completely independent and replete with all the six opulence's by which He is eulogised as 'Bhagavan' in the sacred Scriptures.He is above the jurisdiction of the wayward and impermanent senses including the mind as the mind can never reach Him nor contemplate Him without an iota of His Divine mercy .Still, those saints who are dear to Him being engaged in unalloyed devotional service constantly have access to Him.There is no way for divine knowledge except by the way of the mahajanas or realized saints who are perfected in devotional service to the Supreme Lord.

The relation of Gauranga and Gadhadhar- is it similiar to that of RadhaKrishna?

Lord GauraSundar is the embodiment of bothRadha and Krishna together.He is in fact SriKrishna Himself who has taken the mood and complexion of SriRadhika.So much so, that the golden complexion of Srimati assumes itself strikingly in His demeanour.In fact, both internally and externally the personality of Srimati Radhika is dominent in His personality. In contrast, Gadhadhar Pandit exhibits solely the loving moods of Srimati Radhika.This evidence is in the Gauraganodhesa Dipika(sankhya 157 ) by Kavikaranapur;
athava bhagavan gaura svachhaya gatrirupatam---By his independent and omnipotent will ,Sri GauraSundar has manifested in three different forms ,first as Krishna Himself, next in the form of SriRadhika and and lastly also in the form of Lalita.Srimati Radhika has manifested again as Gadhadhar Pandit to exhibit her various moods and loving reciprocation.However,in this context, there is no question of conjugal love etween SriGauranga and GadhadharPandit.They are close associates as Lord Gauranga also becomes also overwhelmed with the mood of Radhika and similiarly,He is always in the apparent search for Krishna.Gadhadhar likewise is the most helpful associate in fulfilling that search for the beloved as those types of loving moods of separation of Gauranga indicate.Still,sometimes we may tend to view the worship of Gaura-Gadhadhar as that of the Supreme Lord with His internal energy. The best way to look at it is simply Lord Sriman Mahaprabhu is Lord Krishna himself with the internal mood and complexion of Srimati Radhika while Sri Gadhadhar Pandit only appeared to illustrate the loving moods of Radhika but not in complexion or form.Unfortunately, due to overlapping of mellows(rasabhasa) in this issue, many non bonafida sampradayas(disciplic lines) have come into existence like the GauraNagaris and others.

why the necessity of worshipping SriKrishna when Lord Gauranga is Krishna Himself?

There exists many a time, a fallacious reasoning that goes to justify that the worship of Lord Gauranga as all in all and does not entail the worship of Krishna since they are identical truths.It is a fact that those without the proper service attitude to the Supreme Lord will sometimes differentiate Sriman Mahaprabhu and the Supreme Lord SriKrishna. In his own composition, 'Manah Siksha' ,Srila Raghunath Das Goswami has written a verse beginning with - Sachisunumnandiswarapatisutve--which means, O mind !,Please remember always Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu in the form of SriKrishna and the spiritual master as the dear most servant of Lord Mukunda .In this context, Srila Das Goswami has urged all to remember the son of Sachi as Lord SriKrishna,but at no point does he not minimize the importance of worshipping Lord Krishna. If he had that notion then there would be no possibility that he would have insisted further on viewing the spiritual master as the dear most servant of Lord Mukunda.The Spiritual master shows the way of performance of pure devotional service by his exemplary conduct and he is always entrenched in the devotional service of Lord Krishna.

The devotee who is conducting devotional service in practice(sadhana-bhakti) has to worship Gauranga initially leading to worship of Lord Krishna but the perfected soul simply worships Lord Gauranga which in that elevated state is equivalent to Krishna .However,the neophyte who has material contamination and impurities cannot expect to approach Krishna directly for such a foolish attempt will make him suffer the same dire fate as Agha,Baka,Putana and will surely meet his death prematurely.

The magnanimous incarnation ,Lord Gauranga gave the highest devotion in loving mellows to Ramananda Raya who was a Governor and a materialistic man in the eyes of the public,also to Sarvabhauma who was previously a hardcore impersonalist ,what to speak! he even removed all material contamination and awarded the highest devotion and divine service to the most hardened criminals like Jagai and Madhai.Srila Krishna das Kaviraj has elucidated the method of devotion to Krishna as firstly worshipping the spiritual master ,followed by Lord Gauranga and finally SriGandhirvakka Giridhari(Radha-Krishna).He never in the least tolerated those who try to worship the spiritual master as the form of Gauranga.

wherever the devotee stays that is transcendental

At one time ,Srila Bhativinod Thakur appeared to be very sickly whilst in Calcutta ,Srila Gaurakishore Das told a Goswami who had come to see him to carry Srila Thakur on His head and bring him from the kingdom of Maya (illusory energy)to the spiritual land of Navadvipa.This was only to test and cheat like minded, externally orientated devotees.The Lord is always residing in the heart of the devotee irrespective of wherever he is.In fact, wherever the pure devotee is, that place becomes Vrndavan for he is always engaged in serving the Supreme Lord in an unalloyed manner.This Gosai went to see Srila Thakur in Calcutta and conveyed to him the message of Babaji Maharaj . Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur ,smilingly replied that he had a prayer and that he needed blessings from Babaji Maharaj to perform his devotional service which would be all in all.However,Srila Prahupada who was there at that time took this bewildered Gosai to one side and explained to him gravely, that the pure devotee actually fulfills the mental inclinations of all those who come to see him with material motives.He is able to understand the mood of all those who approach him and he rewards them accordingly while being engaged in his devotions in an unflinching manner.Thus,there were many insincere people who heard enough hints from devotees which are enough to drown themselves further in the whirlpool of sense gratification.In short,it is disastrous to have a hypocritical and enjoying mentality when approaching a pure devotee for they may, unwittingly, not obtain the actual benefit of the association of the holy saints.We are reminded here that those devotees who are surrendered to the pure devotee and are performing devotional service in a favorable manner have all truths revealed to them in a short time.In conclusion,I the author ask all those saintly readers to give me their blessings so that I too can be free from all sorts of hypocrisy in my relation with the pure saints.

the meaning of compassion to all people according to our acaryas

Often times especially in this age of Kali,there are many who reason that by getting enough donations from the Public and then using these funds to mitigate the necessities of the impoverished lot amongst society while at the same time helping themselves to further their own spiritual practices is the best way of service both ethically and morally.In one point of view we do not say this is wrong but let us look on this issue practically.How much and how long can we carry out this type of service effectually.Let us say a rich person is providing food for ten thousand people in a month.Do you think that will completely satisfy all the ten thousand people, well what about their clothing which they are in need?All right assuming that even if that is taken care off ,what about their medical necessities for the month?Notwithstanding,if by a miracle that problem too is solved, can you ensure that all these people on the charity dole are mentally happy and peaceful?Such type of charity simply to artificially and temporally mitigate a person's depressed situation will never bring real happiness to an individual.The real answer as our spiritual leaders advice, is to bring an individual to his original constitutional position as a servant of the Lord and by doing so not only ALL his necessities and wants will be fulfilled but he will become a peaceful,happy person who will be able to contribute to society in the best way possible.This is the real solution and actual compassion exhibited for the suffering masses and the best relief work for society.Factually,the living entity is the servant of the Supreme Lord but he has forgotten this and has become the slave of the external energy from time immemorial for so long time and for many births having gone through the same activities of eating ,sleeping ,mating and defending which are not new for the eternal soul.

The time has come for us to wake the spiritual consciousness of all sleeping souls including ours .Both the hearers and speakers of the divine pastimes of the Lord are benefited while the one who simply receives aid loses out.In short ,the pure devotees does not take much interest in relief works and charities just for some temporary benefits awarded to an individual and earning some false prestige amongst a deluded world is certainly not to their liking.They help the living entities in three ways,firstly, they save the individual from looting the property of the Lord for one's selfish interest,secondly, they speak about the divine pastimes of the Lord to attract the conditioned souls to the path of blessedness,and lastly they give away their strength of their Bhajan by taking some material necessities from the conditioned souls whilst awarding them additional pious activities to help them in devotion.In reality,the pure devotee preaches by his exemplary conduct to attract the fallen souls.

Srila BhaktiSIdhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad's unparalleled contribution for the preaching of the Holy Name.

Sila Prabhupad after taking over the editorship of the Sajjana Tosani magazine always stressed in his writings, the importance of not being complacent in the hearing and chanting of the Holy name for even a moment.He used to remark that the divine incarnation, Sriman Mahaprabhu for the benefit of the masses had proclaimed, Kirtaniyah sad Harih meaning to constantly chant the Holy Name without respite.In this context ,Sila Prabhupad would say a normal material engagement would keep the worker yearning for rest from the drudgery of work but conversely chanting of the Holy Name being transcendental will give more and more joy as the chanter progresses without break.
Many a time we hear this quip that one should not take the Lord's name in vain, even many Christians repeat that point.During the time of Mahaprabhu there were people saying that the rainy months when the Lord is supposed to take rest ,one should not chant loud for fear of offence to the Lord. A class of Vaishnavas would cover their mouths for fear that their chanting will be overheard by others.This was a common belief amongst the smarta Brahmans against chanting loudly..One Vallabha Bhatta even tried to instruct Sriman Mahapabhu by saying that since all jivas are feminine(prakirti) while the Supreme Lord being the only masculine entity(purusha),it is may not be right for a saintly wife to take her husband's name with indifference.Sriman Mahaprabhu with his unalloyed associates have smashed all this misconceptions.The duty of a wife is to follow the instructions of her husband and Lord Krishna has instructed all the Jivas in the chanting and remembering His name constantly without break.
This evidence is also given in the Holy Bhagavatam,
etavan eva loke smin pumsam paro dharmah parah smrtah,
bhakti yogo bhavati tannamgrahanadibhih
that the highest religious duty of a person is in devotional service to the Supreme Lord which begins with hearing and chanting of the Holy Name.One of the ending verses of the Vedanta Sutra which is anavrthi sabdat,anavrthi sabdat also proclaims that only by the holy sound vibration can one be liberated from material entanglement.In this way ,Srila Prabhupad by logic and spiritual evidence have proved that the foremost way to cultivate devotion to the Lord is by the chanting and hearing of the holy sound vibration.He has also informed us that the divine realm can only be approached by an attitude of service which begins with the use of our senses being engaged in the service of God primarily in the use of our tongue in the chanting of the Holy Name and ears in hearing the holy vibration.

the meaning of pilgrimmage to the Holy Dham

Once, Srila Prabhupad brought a distinguished guest ,Sri Prabodhanda Upaydyaya and a few of us, his disciples to meet Srila Gaurakishore Das Babaji Maharaj.Babaji Maharaj nodded his head after introduction and remarked that, 'now you should stay here and do HariBhajan in this Holy Dham'.However ,the guest replied ,'not exactly for I have bought the return train ticket back to Calcutta'.At which Babaji Maharaj retorted back ,'then you shouldn't have come ,for this Holy land is only for those who want to come and seriously do Hari Bhajan'.(service to the Lord).
In actual fact, Srila Babaji Maharaj was instructing all of us that just to meet a Saint out of whimsical curiosity or just to see new and newer places was not actually the real meaning of a pilgrimage for by doing so neither the actual benefit of the association of holy saints nor that of the wandering in the holy spots are obtained.The main reason for pilgrimage is the association of the holy saints.This actual association can never take place unless one is surrendered to the pure devotees.This means surrender of all one's own whimsical ideas , a positive service attitude and proper inquiry.The mood of buying a ticket to the Holy Dham but with a resigned or lackadaisical attitude of returning back to continue to enjoy our senses as usual goes to show that there was no surrendered mood to the pure Devotees. Consequently, their nectarine words and teachings will only fall on deaf ears and just be in vain.We have heard this story repeated often times by Srila Prabhupad to us, that insincere people who take Diksha(initiation) but want to go back to their old ways(return ticket) will never be able to take to Hari Bhajan. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur in His 'Saranagati' has given similar instructions in this context.In conclusion, there is no difference between their teachings and they all point out to exclusively, causeless and unalloyed service to Sri Krishna.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati advices on when the devotee suffers lack of saintly association

Srila Prabhupad writes, informing us of a place in which there is a dearth of topics of Lord Hari even though it is most comfortable and beset with all amenities or otherwise filled with all loving kinsmen will not be the suitable place of residence.It is by the mercy of Mahaprabhu that some type of service to the Lord and hearing of the topics of the Divine is going on in the Gaudiya Maths.'
He writes to a disciple,'I have heard that you are placed in a situation that you are not able to have proper association with devotees,it may not be good luck, still I know that you have a service attitude to the Supreme Lord.So,carry on but always read the spiritual journals like 'Gaudiya' and the recommended devotional texts and by doing this you will be able to assimilate the proper hearing from these books.Even though we may not be fortunate to interact with great souls, however,Mahaprabhu has time again left precious jewels in the form of the holy devotional treatises and by giving reception to these books,our distresses can be mitigated.If we are immersed like this in these type of transcendental hearing and remembering then there is no way the material sorrows can effect us.
Wherever the Lord places us ,in whichever situation, one has to remain entrenched in devotional service but without forgetting to hear and remember the discourses of the pure devotees of Sriman Mahaprabhu.Unfortunately,not all can get a relish for such topics for the condition is one has to have a service attitude to the Supreme Lord.We have to understand that the Lord is testing us at all times and to pass the test means to see His presence in all situations.I too, am praying the day will come when I can see the hand of Mahaprabhu in everything and be able to follow Him at all times.This material world is the testing ground. In order to be successful one has to constantly remember the poignant words of the unalloyed devotees from either their discourses or the recommended holy books.There is no cause for pessimism.
The devotees try to see the Lord's presence in everything just as Prahlad who could fathom the Supreme Lord in the pillar of stone, reversely,the demons are unable to locate the Lord anywhere at all.The only way to reduce our sense gratification is to increase our service propensity to the Supreme Lord .

Those who worship Mother(Armma) have long time conflict with the Vaishnavas.

In actual fact, the real Vaishnavas do no quarrel with anybody ,their real mood is not to cause the slightest disturbance to any living entity.They are non-envious in all their dealings.For this reason ,they are always engaged in the welfare work of all living entities.Other than the service to Vishnu there is no other auspicious activity in this world. so they are always informing the wandering souls of their original relation with the Supreme Lord.The worship of the Divine Mother can definitely bring some auspiciousness in this earthly sojourn no doubt ,but the chance is that the soul can become more covered and entangled away from the eternal duties of the soul. Real violence as expressed by the Vaishnavas is when some form of teaching is given which causes the bondage of the soul in worldly illusion.Therefore,in order to save the fallen souls they take a fierce stance which is in actual fact the position of a good doctor with his soothing surgical knife which cuts off the offending abscess .The votaries of Mother(saktas) never fail to recognize the divinity of Mother because all their worldly enjoyments are derived consecutively from Her worship but they fail to understand the Husband of their Divine Mother.Unfortunately,as much as they give opposition to the pure devotees of the Lord(Vaishnavas) till then they will never be able to transcend their narrow conceptions in which they are submerged.They will exist in their mood of simply exploiting the material energy.Their mood will be 'She is the fountain -head of everything but She is the custodian of my physical frame only and not of soul.'
The soul is unborn ,and does not have any mother.The actual function of the soul is neither material enjoyment or renunciation.The call for' give me wealth' ,'give this or that', has nothing in common with the indomitable soul.The soul being the associated counterpart of the Supreme Lord only wishes to satisfy the transcendental senses of the Lord in loving service by which it becomes completely joyful and peaceful.This type of service is causeless and eternal.

The real contribution of Mahaprabhu

One cannot compare Sriman Mahaprabhu to the other numerous leaders and saints who have introduced their own specific brand of teachings.He had never given indulgence in any form to mental speculation in His teaching.Many great sages have taught but their message has seen to be distorted by their followers to the extent that only a parody of the original has been left instead due to to the influence of this iron age. In the beginning ,Lord Krishna awarded this divine knowledge to Lord Brahma through the heart.Unfortunately,this knowledge which was transmitted from Brahma became deviated due to the influence of the age and the modes of nature that it has suffered a great deviation from the original pure message.Those who do not accept the eternity of Lord Vishnu,His devotee and service to Vishnu cannot be called servant of God in any sense and they are against the Vedic Formula.The Vedas proclaim:Om tad Vishnoh paramam padam sada pasyanti surayah.The residence of Lord Vishnu is the highest destination and it is self illuminating and eternal unlike the material world.The demigods(surayah) are always engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord.
Sriman Mahaprabhu has given us the means worshipping the Supreme Lord, SriKrishna exclusively Hiswith eternal residence, Vrndavan.He has informed us that the actual method of worshipping The Lord has been best exemplified by the cowherd damsels in the moods of the highest devotion to God ever shown.The Book which neglects all the lower aspirations of the individual in favour of unalloyed devotion is the Srimad Bhagavatam which is self evident in itself and the cream of the Vedic teachings.Therefore, those devout followers of Mahaprabhu reject any other concocted or superimposed duties in the name of religion.Mahaprabhu taught that the highest devotion can be obtained by simply obtained by chanting the Mahamantra -hara krishna mantra ,which has its basis in the Bhagavatam.In short ,He made everything very simple but the fact remains that the mantra have to be received through the disciplic succession in order to get the blessings of the predecessor acaryas .He broke through caste barriers,and country or creed.Everybody, man women,lame,neuter ,pariah were all equally entitled to chant the holy Name and serve the Supreme Lord for their spiritual advancement.This was the unique contribution of Mahaprabhu and His magnaminity for the fallen conditioned souls . He has declared that all potencies exist in the Name and one can be delivered from material life by chanting the holy name and being free from offences.All perfections can be thus attained by the sincere chanter.

the process of self realization in the age of Kali.

After the reign of performances of sacrifices in the Treta age ,the Dwarpa age heralded the the system of gorgeous worship. However,this did not include the slaughter of animals .According to Srila Prabhupad ,heat,air and the sun togetherwith empirical knowledge were implemented in the worship of the demigods and the fore fathers for the satisfaction of the senses of the individual.The purified saints had already established the worship of Vishnu or service to Lord Vishnu and the way they worshipped the Supreme was according to pancharatric system ,which was the real method of worship.Unfortunately,many other non bona fide successions lapsed to the worship of the demigods.In the beginning of Kali yuga, the Buddhists and the Jains too caused a deviation in the rigid following of Vedic traditions.The influence of perverse age of Kali was another factor in the distortion of the actual pure process of worship.The building of temples to promote worship of Vishnu has generally become degraded to the petty satisfaction of the belly and the genitals of the votaries.For this reason, the acaryas have given the verdict that the process of religion in the age of Kali is by the chanting of the Holy Name
As stated by SriMadhava,In Kali yuga, the process of worship is by the chanting the Holy names of God.'Kalau tu namamatrena pujyate bhagavan Harih'.
The reasona being in this iron age ,there is difficulty in obtaining specific ingredients required for worship as mentioned in the Vedas.Next, there is also the question of the purity of such ingredients for any adulteration is tantamount to offence.The other point is the purity of the mutterer of the sacred hymns and the the clarity of the Sanskrit mantras pronounced in accordance with grammar in order that it will not produce a diverse result.In the chanting of the Name there is no question of proper place ,time and circumstances ,by the mercy of the Lord it is possible in all diverse conditions and there is no barrier in terms of the caste or creed of the individual concerned.

Demigod worship as compared to worship of Vishnu

There are sections of people identified as Hindus who equate Vishnu with minor gods such as Ganesh,Surya ,Devi and Siva and worship these deities without any difference.In retrospect,SrimanMahaprabhu has completely nullified such a contention with the phrase ,'sa pasandi bhaved dhruvam 'meaning-those who compare the Supreme Lord Vishnu with other demigods and try to topple him from His unquestionable status as being equal to none have been termed as unbelievers of the faith.
Krishna Das Kaviraj has explained about the word 'pasandi'(CCAdiLila-17/203).These people do not believe in the Holy name as the only process of salvation and goal , on the other hand they balance it with pious activities like yoga,austerity and charity. Secondly they do they have faith in Lord Krishna as the Supreme Deity in respect to the other minor gods.These type of smarta puja has been termed as not proper(aviddhi) by the Lord in the Bhagavat Geeta.
ye py anya devata bhakta yajanty sraddhanyavitah
te'pi mama eva kaunteya yajanty aviddhi purvakam
meaning- that thosewho are bewildered worship the demigods without proper understanding.In actual fact, to understand the omnipotence of Lord Krishna as the Supreme is the initial hurdle for in worshipping gods as Ganesh as the Supreme God would mean they are only worshipping the shadow energies of the Personality of Godhead for He alone is the only independent Auotocrat in this Universe while all the others are dependent on Him.Therefore, such worship will not reveal ultimately one's existing spiritual identity .In other words, one has to approach a spiritual master to reveal this knowledge(sambandha).Only then will he realize the absolute position of the Supreme Lord with his constitutional position being as the eternal servant of the One Supreme Lord.

Srila Prabhupada(Saraswati Thakur) on devotion and How it arises

'Anartha' refers to all that which blocks our natural wealth in relation to service to the SupremeLord.Devotion is the natural and eternal constitutional function of the soul to the Supreme Lord and this constitutes religion.All the other so called duties (dharma) are secondary and subject to change being temporary.On the other hand, when this devotion to the Lord and his devotees is forgotten it leads to the rise of fear ,illusion and lamentation which is a false covering of the soul.Until and unless one takes full shelter of the Supreme Lord,he will will be implicated in the vicious material phantasmagoria in the form of 'me' and 'mine'.The lure of knowledge and fruitive works are indeed stumbling blocks to devotion just as a man who eats well but never gets fat because he harbours worms in his body.
A Pure Devotee is one who constantly hears,chants and remembers the Lord's glories and pastimes in an unalloyed manner.If one can give aural reception to the messages of such a devotee in a submissive mood with great attention then devotion may be achieved.Lord Vishnu is the maintainer of this Universe in the mode of goodness.SriKrishna Chaitanya has advented to surcharge the devotional consciousness of(chaitanya) all the living entities to Lord Krishna.He took the renounced order too for that same reason and that's why his sanyassa name was such.Still our consciousness have not changed for most.Therefore all our attempts at other duties should be curtailed in favour of the causeless and obstructed devotion to Lord Krishna.This is our real important need (artha)

can any materially attached person take up lila smaran for purification?

Srila Prabhupad comments that the transcendental pastimes which transpires between the Divine Couple are not for those who are conditioned or attached to their physical bodies.When one tries to artificially remember these pastimes in an immature state ,he is termed as a sahajiya.On the other hand,the liberated souls who are on spontaneous devotional service to the Lord have all qualification for such attempts at remembrance(lila-smaran).This is not exactly the region for artifice and imitation.In trying to ascend to such a high state precariously will bring exactly the feared opposite and base results.This has been proven time and again by the gross illicit encounters of those imitators or' sahajiyas'.Verses in the Bhagavatam like bhajate tadrsa krida,tatparo bhavet which emphasize the importance of listening to the divine pastimes and taken as the proof will only embroil these people in the gross enjoyment of their senses.The real sense of this word 'tadrsa krida' means transcendental sport of the divine Lord.The 'bhavet 'in the verse may be in the affirmative signifying one must act but only for those who have crossed the bodily platform and are on spontaneous devotion to the Lord.Otherwise,ordinary individuals will imitate their latent lusty tendencies and end up making a mockery of the divine sport in their attempt to fathom these pastimes while being in a more fallen position rather than the so predicted absolute conquest of their wild senses.In the verse of the Bhagavatam,(10/33/30) naitat samacarejjatumanasapi hy iswarah,vinasyatyacarenmodyad yatharudro addhijam visam Sukadeva Goswami warns us all not to imitate great souls just as Lord Siva who could drink the ocean of poison for that will be the cause of our downfall.

the importance of kirtan in respect to worship of the deity

Usually, ordinary devotees worship the Lord with ordinary faith and with mediocre formality but such kind of worship will never even be able to reach the Supreme Lord.The ordinary devotee is generally covered by gross and subtle coverings and his heart is polluted with mundane knowledge and works.Until and unless he obtains transcendental knowledge, his worship of the Lord will not be pure.Therfore,in the initial stages, it is of utmost importance to receive initiation from a spiritual master and engage in worship side by side with chanting of the name.It is necessary for those who have wealth to engage their wealth in gorgeous worship of the Lord but if they were to prefer to simply remember the Holy name following the moods of the renounced devotees that would be tantamount to offence.Besides those rich people who pay priests to conduct worship in their homes would sadly reflect their own spiritual impoverishment and laziness.Srila Jiva Goswami has stated that any limb of devotional service like worship has to be coupled with chanting of the name in order to bear any fruit.In this respect,the worship that was conducted by the Goswamis as Rupa and Sanatana was on the transcendental plane -that is Lord Krishna was directlt accepting and reciprocating with His pure devotees.In Chaitanya -lila there is description of the worship of a Brahman devotee called Gunanarva Misra but his worship was on the neophyte level and can never be compared with the worship of Raghunath Goswami for his Girirraj deity with the gunjamala which was completely transcendental and being one of the internal associates of SriSriRadhaKrishna