Links to Srila Prabhupada’s purport and lecture on SB 3.25.36:
https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/3/25/36/
https://prabhupadavani.org/transcriptions/741205sbbom/
Hare Krsna,
SB 3.25.36: Upon seeing the charming forms of the Lord, smiling and attractive, and hearing His very pleasing words, the pure devotee almost loses all other consciousness. His senses are freed from all other engagements, and he becomes absorbed in devotional service. Thus in spite of his unwillingness, he attains liberation without separate endeavor.
Srila Prabhupada’s purport and lecture point to a very relevant topic for this forum post – The Transcendental Art of Seeing Krsna.
I could draw several key principles from this lesson.
1. No one is barred from seeing the beautiful form of the Supreme Lord: Srila Prabhupada says that even neophyte devotees (kanistha adhikaris) can advance in Krsna consciousness simply my appreciating the beautiful transcendental form of the Deity. This is how merciful the arca-vigraha form of the Lord is. Because we are materially conditioned, we cannot see the true transcendental form of the Lord. Therefore the Lord manifests as arca-vigraha so that conditioned souls can appreciate His form, beauty, attributes, and so on.
“Even the third-class devotee — who is not advanced in knowledge of the Absolute Truth but simply offers obeisances with great devotion, thinks of the Lord, sees the Lord in the temple and brings forth flowers and fruits to offer to the Deity — becomes imperceptibly liberated.” (SB 3.25.36 Purport)
2. We can see the Lord through the eyes of faith: Srila Prabhupada explains that in order to truly appreciate the beautiful form of the Lord, we must cultivate sufficient faith in the Lord. Otherwise, we will mistake the Deity to be mere idols. Therefore, one should develop strong faith to see the Lord in the Deity. The Lord is not impersonal; He is as personal as you and I. All we need is the faith that the Lord is standing in front of us in His beautiful three-fold bending form. This faith can be developed by studying the scriptures such as Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. We have studied in Sri Caitanya Caritamrta where the Deity form of the Lord acted a witness to a feud between two brahmanas. This is because these devotees had strong faith in the Deity form of the Lord.
“Faith means that faith is created after reading Bhagavad-gītā. If you read Bhagavad-gītā carefully and if you actually understand Bhagavad-gītā as it is, then the faith will be created. Without reading Bhagavad-gītā, there is no question of faith in Kṛṣṇa.”
“The faith is explained by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī. He says, ‘śraddhā‘-śabde—viśvāsa sudṛḍha niścaya [Cc. Madhya 22.62]. Faith means one who has got firm faith in the words of Kṛṣṇa. That is called faith.” (Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on SB 3.25.26)
Lord Krsna declares in Bhagavad Gita that He is never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them He is covered by His internal potency, and therefore they do not know that He is unborn and infallible. (BG 7.25)
3. We need to follow both pāncarātriki-vidhi and bhāgavata-vidhi: Srila Prabhupada reiterates that both these processes are needed to see and worship the Deity in the proper manner. Bhagavad-vidhi means hearing about the name, form, qualities, pastimes, glories, abode, paraphernalia, associates, etc. of the Lord. This will give us proper understand about the Lord. Janma karma ca me divyam (BG 4.9). pāncarātriki-vidhi means the process of proper worship of the Supreme Lord.
“Two things must go on = the Deity must be worshiped—this is called pāncarātriki-vidhi—and to hear about the Supreme from Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Vedic literature—that is called bhāgavata-vidhi. So the pāñcarātriki-vidhi and bhāgavata-vidhi must go parallel.” (Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on SB 3.25.26)
I can give an example from my personal life to explain this better. I have consistently struggled with weight management issue. I tend to put on too much weight too soon if my lifestyle goes into disarray, especially in regard to my eating and workout routine. There were more than a couple of occasions in my life when I had to lose weight through proper plan and supervision. Usually, two processes are recommended for weight reduction – proper diet/nutrition and proper exercise (aerobic or anaerobic). If we simply follow one or the other, we will not achieve desired results. We need to follow both in parallel for maximum benefit.
Similarly, we need to follow both the pancaratriki-vidhi and bhagavad-vidhi to completely understand the Supreme Lord and achieve self-realization in the process. I have seen many temples in India where only the Deities are worshipped but there is no hearing and studying of scriptures. Srila Prabhupada correctly pointed out that such temples are not visited even by the devotees. Due to lack of devotees, such temples gradually fall apart and crumble due to lack of maintenance and worship. I hope ISKCON temples do not fall into this category. This is why it is important for us to engage in hearing and chanting the name, form, glories, etc. of the Lord while also engaging in Deity worship.
“So any devotee who is serious about this Deity worship, hearing about Kṛṣṇa, chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, following the Vedic principle, or rejecting the sinful activities of life… In this way we can come to the platform of spiritual life, and if we act accordingly, that is called bhakti-yoga, or the liberated stage.” (Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on SB 3.25.26)
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 