शस्ताङ्कुरांशुकैश्चार्चेत्तुलस्या प्रियया प्रभुम् ॥५५॥
salilaiḥ Å›ucibhir mÄlyair
vanyair mÅ«la-phalÄdibhiḥ
Å›astÄá¹…kurÄmÅ›ukaiÅ› cÄrcet
tulasyÄ priyayÄ prabhum
salilaiḥ - by use of water; Å›ucibhiḥ - being purified; mÄlyaiḥ - by garlands; vanyaiḥ - of forest flowers; mÅ«la - roots; phala-Ädibhiḥ - by different kinds of vegetables and fruits; Å›asta - the newly grown grass; aá¹…kura - buds; amÅ›ukaiḥ - by the skin of trees, such as the bhÅ«rja; ca - and; arcet - should worship; tulasyÄ - by the tulasÄ« leaves; priyayÄ - which are very dear to the Lord; prabhum - the Lord.
One should worship the Lord by offering pure water, pure flower garlands, fruits, flowers and vegetables which are available in the forest, or by collecting newly grown grasses, small buds of flowers or even the skins of trees, and if possible, by offering tulasī leaves, which are very dear to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
It is specifically mentioned herein that tulasÄ« leaves are very dear to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and devotees should take particular care to have tulasÄ« leaves in every temple and center of worship. In the Western countries, while engaged in propagating the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we were brought great unhappiness because we could not find tulasÄ« leaves. Therefore we are very much obliged to our disciple ÅšrÄ«matÄ« Govinda dÄsÄ« because she has taken much care to grow tulasÄ« plants from seeds, and she has been successful by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. Now tulasÄ« plants are growing in almost every center of our movement.
TulasÄ« leaves are very important in the method of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this verse the word salilaiḥ means “by the water.†Of course, Dhruva MahÄrÄja was worshiping on the bank of the YamunÄ. The YamunÄ and the Ganges are sacred, and sometimes devotees in India insist that the Deity must be worshiped with water of the Ganges or YamunÄ. But here we understand deÅ›a-kÄla to mean “according to time and country.†In the Western countries there is no river YamunÄ or Ganges — water from such sacred rivers is not available. Does this mean that the arcÄ worship should for that reason be stopped? No. Salilaiḥ refers to any water — whatever is available — but it must be very clear and collected purely. That water can be used. The other paraphernalia, such as flower garlands, fruits and vegetables, should be collected according to the country and according to their availability. TulasÄ« leaves are very important for satisfying the Lord, so as far as possible an arrangement should be made for growing tulasÄ« leaves. Dhruva MahÄrÄja was advised to worship the Lord with the fruits and flowers available in the forest. In the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ Kṛṣṇa frankly says that He accepts vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc. One should not offer Lord VÄsudeva anything other than what is prescribed herein by the great authority NÄrada Muni. One cannot offer to the Deity according to one’s whims. Since these fruits and vegetables are available anywhere in the universe, we should observe this small point very attentively.
