यत्र गङ्गादयो नद्यः पुराणेषु च विश्रुताः ॥२९॥
yatra yatra harer arcÄ
sa deÅ›aḥ Å›reyasÄá¹ padam
yatra gaá¹…gÄdayo nadyaḥ
purÄṇeá¹£u ca viÅ›rutÄḥ
yatra yatra - wherever; hareḥ - of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa; arcÄ - the Deity is worshiped; saḥ - that; deÅ›aḥ - place, country or neighborhood; Å›reyasÄm - of all auspiciousness; padam - the place; yatra - wherever; gaá¹…gÄ-Ädayaḥ - like the Ganges, YamunÄ, NarmadÄ and KÄverÄ«; nadyaḥ - sacred rivers; purÄṇeá¹£u - in the purÄṇas (supplementary Vedic literature); ca - also; viÅ›rutÄḥ - are celebrated.
Auspicious indeed are the places where there is a temple of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, in which He is duly worshiped, and also the places where there flow the celebrated sacred rivers mentioned in the PurÄṇas, the supplementary Vedic literatures. Anything spiritual done there is certainly very effective.
There are many atheists who oppose the worship of the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the temple. In this verse, however, it is authoritatively stated that any place where the Deity is worshiped is transcendental; it does not belong to the material world. It is also said that the forest is in the mode of goodness, and therefore those who want to cultivate spiritual life are advised to go to the forest (vanaá¹ gato yad dharim ÄÅ›rayeta). But one should not go to the forest simply to live like a monkey. Monkeys and other ferocious animals also live in the forest, but a person who goes to the forest for spiritual culture must accept the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as shelter (vanaá¹ gato yad dharim ÄÅ›rayeta). One should not be satisfied simply to go to the forest; one must take shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this age, therefore, since it is impossible to go to the forest for spiritual culture, one is recommended to live in the temple community as a devotee, regularly worship the Deity, follow the regulative principles and thus make the place like Vaikuṇá¹ha. The forest may be in goodness, the cities and villages in passion, and the brothels, hotels and restaurants in ignorance, but when one lives in the temple community he lives in Vaikuṇá¹ha. Therefore it is said here, Å›reyasÄá¹ padam: it is the best, most auspicious place.
In many places throughout the world we are constructing communities to give shelter to devotees and worship the Deity in the temple. The Deity cannot be worshiped except by devotees. Temple worshipers who fail to give importance to the devotees are third class. They are kaniá¹£á¹ha-adhikÄrÄ«s in the lower stage of spiritual life. As it is said in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (11.2.47):
arcÄyÄm eva haraye
pÅ«jÄá¹ yaḥ Å›raddhayehate
na tad-bhakteá¹£u cÄnyeá¹£u
sa bhaktaḥ prÄká¹›taḥ smá¹›taḥ
“A person who is very faithfully engaged in the worship of the Deity in the temple but does not know how to behave toward devotees or people in general is called a prÄká¹›ta-bhakta, or kaniá¹£á¹ha-adhikÄrÄ«.†Therefore, in the temple there must be the Deity of the Lord, and the Lord should be worshiped by the devotees. This combination of the devotees and the Deity creates a first-class transcendental place.
Aside from this, if a gá¹›hastha devotee worships the Å›ÄlagrÄma-Å›ilÄ, or the form of the Deity at home, his home also becomes a very great place. It was therefore customary for members of the three higher classes — namely the brÄhmaṇas, ká¹£atriyas and vaiÅ›yas — to worship the Å›ÄlagrÄma-Å›ilÄ, or a small Deity of RÄdhÄ-Kṛṣṇa or SÄ«tÄ-RÄma in each and every home. This made everything auspicious. But now they have given up the Deity worship. Men have become modernized and are consequently indulging in all sorts of sinful activities, and therefore they are extremely unhappy.
According to Vedic civilization, therefore, the holy places of pilgrimage are considered most sacred, and still there are hundreds and thousands of holy places like JagannÄtha PurÄ«, Vá¹›ndÄvana, Hardwar, RÄmeÅ›vara, PrayÄga and MathurÄ. India is the place for worshiping or for cultivating spiritual life. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement invites everyone from all over the world, without discrimination as to caste or creed, to come to its centers and cultivate spiritual life perfectly.
