र्निरुप्तमिष्टं विधिमन्त्रवस्तुतः ।
एकः पृथङ्नामभिराहुतो मुदा
गृह्णाति पूर्णः स्वयमाशिषां प्रभुः ॥२६॥
yaiḥ Å›raddhayÄ barhiá¹£i bhÄgaÅ›o havir
niruptam iá¹£á¹aá¹ vidhi-mantra-vastutaḥ
ekaḥ pá¹›thaá¹…-nÄmabhir Ähuto mudÄ
gá¹›hṇÄti pÅ«rṇaḥ svayam ÄÅ›iá¹£Äá¹ prabhuḥ
yaiḥ - by whom (the inhabitants of BhÄrata-vará¹£a); Å›raddhayÄ - faith and confidence; barhiá¹£i - in the performance of Vedic ritualistic sacrifices; bhÄgaÅ›aḥ - by division; haviḥ - oblations; niruptam - offered; iá¹£á¹am - to the desired deity; vidhi - by the proper method; mantra - by reciting mantras; vastutaḥ - with the proper ingredients; ekaḥ - that one Supreme Personality of Godhead; pá¹›thak - separate; nÄmabhiḥ - by names; Ähutaḥ - called; mudÄ - with great happiness; gá¹›hṇÄti - He accepts; pÅ«rṇaḥ - the Supreme Lord. who is full in Himself; svayam - personally; ÄÅ›iá¹£Äm - of all benedictions; prabhuḥ - the bestower.
In India [BhÄrata-vará¹£a], there are many worshipers of the demigods, the various officials appointed by the Supreme Lord, such as Indra, Candra and SÅ«rya, all of whom are worshiped differently. The worshipers offer the demigods their oblations, considering the demigods part and parcel of the whole, the Supreme Lord. Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts these offerings and gradually raises the worshipers to the real standard of devotional service by fulfilling their desires and aspirations. Because the Lord is complete, He offers the worshipers the benedictions they desire even if they worship only part of His transcendental body.
In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.13) Lord Kṛṣṇa says:
mahÄtmÄnas tu mÄá¹ pÄrtha
daivÄ«á¹ praká¹›tim ÄÅ›ritÄḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jñÄtvÄ bhÅ«tÄdim avyayam
“O son of Pá¹›thÄ, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.†MahÄtmÄs, advanced devotees, worship only the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Others, however, who are also sometimes called mahÄtmÄs, worship the Lord as ekatvena pá¹›thaktvena. In other words, they accept the demigods as different parts of Kṛṣṇa and worship them for various benedictions. Although the devotees of the demigods thus achieve the desired results offered by Kṛṣṇa, they have been described in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ as há¹›ta-jñÄnah, not very intelligent. Kṛṣṇa does not desire to be worshiped indirectly through the different parts of His body; Kṛṣṇa wants direct devotional worship. Therefore a devotee who directly worships Lord Kṛṣṇa through staunch devotional service, as recommended in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, (tÄ«vreṇa bhakti-yogena yajeta puruá¹£aá¹ param), is very quickly elevated to the transcendental position. Nevertheless, devotees who worship the demigods, the different parts of the Lord, receive the benedictions they desire because the Lord is the original master of all benedictions. If anyone wants a particular benediction, for the Lord to award it is not at all difficult.
