Å›uciḥ sammukham ÄsÄ«naḥ
prÄṇa-saá¹yamanÄdibhiḥ
piṇá¸aá¹ viÅ›odhya sannyÄsa-
ká¹›ta-raká¹£o 'rcayed dharim
Å›uciḥ - clean; sammukham - facing (the Deity); ÄsÄ«naḥ - thus seated; prÄṇa-saá¹yamana-Ädibhiḥ - by prÄṇÄyÄma (breathing exercises) and other means; piṇá¸am - the gross body; viÅ›odhya - purifying; sannyÄsa - by placing transcendental marks of tilaka on various places of the body; ká¹›ta-raká¹£aḥ - in this way invoking the Lord's protection; arcayet - one should worship; harim - Lord Hari.
PrÄṇÄyÄma is the authorized Vedic process for controlling the air within the body. Similarly, bhÅ«ta-Å›uddhi is a process for purifying the body. The word Å›uciḥ means that one should be internally and externally clean. Åšuciḥ means that one should perform activities only for the pleasure of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If somehow or other one can remember the Supreme Lord constantly by chanting and hearing His holy name, one will come to the pure stage of life, as described in this Vedic mantra:
om apavitraḥ pavitro vÄ
sarvÄvasthÄá¹ gato ’pi vÄ
yaḥ smaret puṇá¸arÄ«kÄká¹£aá¹
sa bahyÄbhyantara-Å›uciḥ
(Garuá¸a PurÄṇa)
ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura has pointed out that although one may mark the body with sacred tilaka, perform mudrÄs and chant mantras, if one is thinking within his mind of material sense gratification his worship of Lord ÅšrÄ« Hari is bogus. Therefore the word Å›uciḥ here indicates that one should worship the Lord in a favorable frame of mind, considering the Lord to be sacred and one’s self to be an insignificant servant of the Lord. Those who are not favorably inclined toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead do not like to worship the Deity in the temple, and they discourage people from going to the temple of the Lord by saying that since the Lord is omnipresent there is no need to do so. Such envious persons prefer the gymnastic exercises of haá¹ha-yoga or the rÄja-yoga system. But statements by the Lord Himself, such as vÄsudevaḥ sarvam iti and mÄá¹ ekaá¹ Å›araṇaá¹ vraja, indicate that in mature transcendental realization one understands that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the source of everything and therefore the only worshipable object. Thus the devotees who worship the Deity of the Lord according to the pañcarÄtra system are not attracted by any yoga process except bhakti-yoga.