श्रीशुक उवाच
भगवानात्मनात्मानं राम उत्तमकल्पकैः ।
सर्वदेवमयं देवमीजेऽथाचार्यवान् मखैः ॥१॥

Å›rÄ«-Å›uka uvÄca
bhagavÄn ÄtmanÄtmÄnaá¹
rÄma uttama-kalpakaiḥ
sarva-devamayaá¹ devam
Ä«je 'thÄcÄryavÄn makhaiḥ

 Å›rÄ«-Å›ukaḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said; bhagavÄn - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; ÄtmanÄ - by Himself; ÄtmÄnam - Himself; rÄmaḥ - Lord RÄmacandra; uttama-kalpakaiḥ - with very opulent paraphernalia; sarva-deva-mayam - the heart and soul of all the demigods; devam - the Supreme Lord Himself; Ä«je - worshiped; atha - thus; ÄcÄryavÄn - under the guidance of an ÄcÄrya; makhaiḥ - by performing sacrifices.


Text

Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: Thereafter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord RÄmacandra, accepted an ÄcÄrya and performed sacrifices [yajñas] with opulent paraphernalia. Thus He Himself worshiped Himself, for He is the Supreme Lord of all demigods.

Purport

SarvÄrhaṇam acyutejyÄ. If Acyuta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is worshiped, then everyone is worshiped. As stated in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (4.31.14):

yathÄ taror mÅ«la-niá¹£ecanena
 tá¹›pyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaÅ›ÄkhÄḥ
prÄṇopahÄrÄc ca yathendriyÄṇÄá¹
 tathaiva sarvÄrhaṇam acyutejyÄ

“As pouring water on the root of a tree nourishes the trunk, branches, twigs and leaves, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead satisfies the demigods, who are part of that Supreme Personality.†Performing yajña involves worshiping the Supreme Lord. Here the Supreme Lord worshiped the Supreme Lord. Therefore it is said, bhagavÄn ÄtmanÄtmÄnam Ä«je: the Lord worshiped Himself by Himself. This does not, of course, justify the MÄyÄvÄda philosophy, by which one thinks himself the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The jÄ«va, the living entity, is always different from the Supreme Lord. The living entities (vibhinnÄá¹Å›a) never become one with the Lord, although MÄyÄvÄdÄ«s sometimes imitate the Lord’s worship of Himself. Lord Kṛṣṇa meditated upon Himself every morning as a gá¹›hastha, and similarly Lord RÄmacandra performed yajñas to satisfy Himself, but this does not mean that an ordinary living being should imitate the Lord by accepting the process of ahaá¹…grahopÄsanÄ. Such unauthorized worship is not recommended herein.