prÄyeṇa veda tad idaá¹ na mahÄjano 'yaá¹
devyÄ vimohita-matir bata mÄyayÄlam
trayyÄá¹ jaá¸Ä«-ká¹›ta-matir madhu-puá¹£pitÄyÄá¹
vaitÄnike mahati karmaṇi yujyamÄnaḥ
prÄyeṇa - almost always; veda - know; tat - that; idam - this; na - not; mahÄjanaḥ - great personalities besides SvayambhÅ«, Åšambhu and the other ten; ayam - this; devyÄ - by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; vimohita-matiḥ - whose intelligence is bewildered; bata - indeed; mÄyayÄ - by the illusory energy; alam - greatly; trayyÄm - in the three Vedas; jaá¸Ä«-ká¹›ta-matiḥ - whose intelligence has been dulled; madhu-puá¹£pitÄyÄm - in the flowery Vedic language describing the results of ritualistic performances; vaitÄnike - in the performances mentioned in the Vedas; mahati - very great; karmaṇi - fruitive activities; yujyamÄnaḥ - being engaged.
Since one may easily achieve the highest success by chanting the holy name of the Lord, one may ask why there are so many Vedic ritualistic ceremonies and why people are attracted to them. This verse answers that question. As stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (15.15), vedaiÅ› ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: the real purpose of studying the Vedas is to approach the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Unfortunately, unintelligent people bewildered by the grandeur of Vedic yajñas want to see gorgeous sacrifices performed. They want Vedic mantras chanted and huge amounts of money spent for such ceremonies. Sometimes we have to observe the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies to please such unintelligent men. Recently, when we established a large Kṛṣṇa-BalarÄma temple in Vá¹›ndÄvana, we were obliged to have Vedic ceremonies enacted by brÄhmaṇas because the inhabitants of Vá¹›ndÄvana, especially the smÄrta-brÄhmaṇas, would not accept Europeans and Americans as bona fide brÄhmaṇas. Thus we had to engage brÄhmaṇas to perform costly yajñas. In spite of these yajñas, the members of our Society performed saá¹…kÄ«rtana loudly with má¹›daá¹…gas, and I considered the saá¹…kÄ«rtana more important than the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. Both the ceremonies and the saá¹…kÄ«rtana were going on simultaneously. The ceremonies were meant for persons interested in Vedic rituals for elevation to heavenly planets (jaá¸Ä«-ká¹›ta-matir madhu-puá¹£pitÄyÄm), whereas the saá¹…kÄ«rtana was meant for pure devotees interested in pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We would simply have performed saá¹…kÄ«rtana, but then the inhabitants of Vá¹›ndÄvana would not have taken the installation ceremony seriously. As explained here, the Vedic performances are meant for those whose intelligence has been dulled by the flowery language of the Vedas, which describe fruitive activities intended to elevate one to the higher planets.
Especially in this Age of Kali, saá¹…kÄ«rtana alone is sufficient. If the members of our temples in the different parts of the world simply continue saá¹…kÄ«rtana before the Deity, especially before ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, they will remain perfect. There is no need of any other performances. Nevertheless, to keep oneself clean in habits and mind, Deity worship and other regulative principles are required. ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ« says that although saá¹…kÄ«rtana is sufficient for the perfection of life, the arcanÄ, or worship of the Deity in the temple, must continue in order that the devotees may stay clean and pure. ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura therefore recommended that one follow both processes simultaneously. We strictly follow his principle of performing Deity worship and saá¹…kÄ«rtana along parallel lines. This we should continue.