Only Krishna accepts service; demigod worship in darkness; restriction uplifts toward the Supreme.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣana Appearance — June 14, 1970, Los Angeles 700614LE-LOS ANGELES [36:20] Lecture_700614LE-LOS ANGELES AppBaladevaVidyabhusana_700614LE-LOS ANGELES Prabhupāda: Hm. Hare Kṛṣṇa. [devotees chanting japa] So everyone feeling all right? Devotees: Jaya. Prabhupāda: Ānanda-mayo 'bhyāsāt [Vedānta-sūtra]. Practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness means you gradually come to the platform of blissfulness, ānanda-mayo 'bhyāsāt.
That is our prerogative, right. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Now chant the mantras. oṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate [Īśo Invocation] īśāvāsyam idam sarvaṁ yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam [Īśo mantra 1] kurvann eveha karmāṇi jijīviṣec chataṁ samāḥ evaṁ tvayi nānyatheto 'sti na karma lipyate nare [Īśo mantra 2] asuryā nāma te lokā andhena tamasāvṛtāḥ tāṁs te pretyābhigacchanti ye ke cātma-hano janāḥ [Īśo mantra 3] anejad ekaṁ manaso javīyo nainad devā āpnuvan pūrvam arṣat tad dhāvato 'nyān atyeti tiṣṭhat tasminn apo mātariśvā dadhāti [Īśo mantra 4] tad ejati tan naijati tad dūre tad v antike tad antar asya sarvasya tad u sarvasyāsya bāhyataḥ [Īśo mantra 5] yas tu sarvāṇi bhūtāny ātmany evānupaśyati sarva-bhūteṣu cātmānaṁ tato na vijugupsate [Īśo mantra 6] yasmin sarvāṇi bhūtāny ātmaivābhūd vijānataḥ tatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ śoka ekatvam anupaśyataḥ [Īśo mantra 7] sa paryagāc chukram akāyam avraṇam asnāviram śuddham apāpa-viddham kavir manīṣī paribhūḥ svayambhūr yāthātathyato 'rthān vyadadhāc chāśvatībhyaḥ samābhyaḥ [Īśo mantra 8] andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti ye 'vidyām upāsate tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u vidyāyām ratāḥ [Īśo mantra 9] anyad evāhur vidyayānyad āhur avidyayā iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṁ ye nas tad vicacakṣire [Īśo mantra 10] Chant this verse again. vidyāṁ cāvidyāṁ ca yas tad vedobhayaṁ saha avidyayā mṛtyuṁ tīrtvā vidyayāmṛtam aśnute [Īśo mantra 11] vidyāṁ cāvidyāṁ ca yas tad vedobhayaṁ saha avidyayā mṛtyuṁ tīrtvā vidyayāmṛtam aśnute [Īśo mantra 11] The next verse. andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti ye 'sambhūtim upāsate tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u sambhūtyām ratāḥ [Īśo mantra 12] [Prabhupāda corrects pronunciation] Again chant. andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti ye 'sambhūtim upāsate tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u sambhūtyām ratāḥ [Īśo mantra 12] Again. andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti ye 'sambhūtim upāsate tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u sambhūtyām ratāḥ [Īśo mantra 12] [05:32] Prabhupāda: Hmm. So.
“Those who are engaged in the worship of demigods enter into the darkest region of ignorance, and still more so do the worshipers of the Absolute.” If we do not know how to worship, then first of all, the materialists, they worship some demigod for immediate effect. Just like even in our ordinary life, to get some immediate effect, suppose I want some business from somebody, so I worship him, I flatter him, just to satisfy him. Or if I serve some..., I want to satisfy my immediate boss, that is natural. But this satisfaction, trying to satisfy our immediate benefactor, that is described in the Bhagavad-gītā [Bg 7.20]: kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ. Those who are of lost of intelligence, kāmais.
Why they have lost their intelligence? Kāmai: being greedy or lusty. I want something; I desire something for my sense enjoyment. So, just like in Vedic literature there is worship of goddess Kālī.
Why they worship goddess Kālī? Eh? Because in the kālī-pūjā, in the worship of Kālī, there is a prescribed method of sacrificing a goat, animal. So these devotees are actually after eating meat, but if they worship Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu, oh, that is not possible. If somebody comes here, “Ah, give me prasādam meat,” that is not possible.
So therefore they will not come. They will go to some mission who are worshiper of Kālī, a very good devotee. Because they are offering meat, and this—what is this called?—this turkey prasādam. So turkey prasādam means prasādam; for that purpose they go to worship this goddess of Kālī.
Actual purpose is to eat meat. But Vedas is so broad that they are... You may question, then, “Why in this Vedas this worship of Kālī is recommended?” Yes, it is recommended for the third-class men. Third-class men, they will not be able to give up. If a third-class man, if I say, just like we are preaching, “You cannot take meat,” or this is not very good advice to the ordinary men; therefore they are not coming here: “The Swamiji is very conservative.