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ye 'py anya-devatÄ-bhaktÄ
yajante Å›raddhayÄnvitÄḥ
te 'pi mÄm eva kaunteya
yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam

10 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: CC(1) , SB(7) , TLC(1) , TLKS(1)

 ye - those who; api - also; anya - of other; devatÄ - gods; bhaktÄḥ - devotees; yajante - worship; Å›raddhayÄ anvitÄḥ - with faith; te - they; api - also; mÄm - Me; eva - only; kaunteya - O son of KuntÄ«; yajanti - they worship; avidhi-pÅ«rvakam - in a wrong way.


Text

Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kuntī, but they do so in a wrong way.

Purport

“Persons who are engaged in the worship of demigods are not very intelligent, although such worship is offered to Me indirectly,†Kṛṣṇa says. For example, when a man pours water on the leaves and branches of a tree without pouring water on the root, he does so without sufï¬cient knowledge or without observing regulative principles. Similarly, the process of rendering service to different parts of the body is to supply food to the stomach. The demigods are, so to speak, different ofï¬cers and directors in the government of the Supreme Lord. One has to follow the laws made by the government, not by the ofï¬cers or directors. Similarly, everyone is to offer his worship to the Supreme Lord only. That will automatically satisfy the different ofï¬cers and directors of the Lord. The ofï¬cers and directors are engaged as representatives of the government, and to offer some bribe to the ofï¬cers and directors is illegal. This is stated here as avidhi-pÅ«rvakam. In other words, Kṛṣṇa does not approve the unnecessary worship of the demigods.