Verse 1.1.8

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.1.8:

“আমার ভক্তের পূজা—আমা হৈতে বড” সেই প্রভু বেদে-ভাগবতে কৈলা দঢ ॥ ৮ ॥

“आमार भक्तेर पूजा—आमा हैते बड” सेइ प्रभु वेदे-भागवते कैला दढ ॥ ८ ॥

“āmāra bhaktera pūjā—āmā haite baḍa” sei prabhu vede-bhāgavate kailā daḍha || 8 ||

“amara bhaktera puja—ama haite bada” sei prabhu vede-bhagavate kaila dadha (8)

English translation:

(8) That same Supreme Personality of Godhead has declared in the Vedas and Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, “Worship of My devotees is superior to worship of Me.”

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The devotees who worship the opulent feature of the Lord first develop in their hearts the conception that only the worship of the Supreme Lord is important. This conception, however, diminishes the glories of worshiping the devotees and exhibits their lack of love and devotion for the Supreme Lord. As stated in the Padma Purāṇa:

ārādhanānāṃ sarveṣāṃ viṣṇor ārādhanaṃ param tasmāt parataraṃ devi tadīyānāṃ samarcanam arcayitvā tu govindaṃ tadīyān nārcayet tu yaḥ

na sa bhāgavato jñeyaḥ kevalaṃ dāmbhikaḥ smṛtaḥ

“Of all types of worship, worship of Lord Viṣṇu is best, and better than the worship of Lord Viṣṇu is the worship of His devotee, the Vaiṣṇava. One who performs worship of Lord Govinda but fails to worship His devotees should be understood to be not a devotee of the Lord but simply a victim of false pride.”

The word daḍha means dṛḍha, or “determination.” In the path of awe and reverence, the Supreme Lord alone is worshiped and His servants are the worshipers. But in the path of spontaneous attachment, awe and reverence are not prominent in the relationship between the object of worship and the worshiper; rather, the attitude of service is prominent. The servants have great pride in their service. Therefore the servants in mādhurya-rasa consider themselves greater than their worshipable Lord Kṛṣṇa. In other words, such persons consider their worshipable Lord as their subordinate, or under their control.

The superiority of worshiping the Lord’s devotees is celebrated in the

Vedas. Some examples are found in the following statements.

The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.1.10) states: tasmād ātma-jñaṃ hy arcayed bhūti-kāmaḥ—“By worshiping the devotees of the Lord, all one’s desires will be fulfilled.” Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa has written in his Govinda- bhāṣya commentary on the Vedānta-sūtras (3.3.51): ātma-jñaṃ bhagavat- tattva-jñaṃ tad bhaktam ity arthaḥ; bhūti-kāmo mokṣa-paryanta-

sampatti-lipsur ity arthaḥ. In other words, if one wants the highest benediction, he should serve the devotees of the Lord.

In Madhvācārya’s commentary on the Vedānta-sūtras (3.3.47), he quotes the following from the Poṣāyaṇa-śrūtis: tānupāsva tānupacarasva tebhyaḥ śṛṇu hi te tāmavantu—“Worship the devotees of the Lord, serve the devotees of the Lord, and hear from the devotees of the Lord, for they will protect you.”

In the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.23) it is stated:

yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” There are many similar statements found in the Vedas.

In the Itihāsa-samuccaya it is stated:

tasmād viṣṇu-prasādāya vaiṣṇavān paritoṣayet prasāda-sumukho viṣṇus tenaiva syān na saṃśayaḥ

“In order to attain the mercy of Lord Viṣṇu, one should satisfy the Vaiṣṇavas. There is no doubt that by their mercy, Viṣṇu will be pleased.” There are many similar statements in the Vaiṣṇava literatures.