View source for There is a proper method to water a tree: one should water the root. But if one waters the leaves and branches instead, he is simply wasting his time. If one worships the demigods to the exclusion of Lord Visnu, his rewards will only be material

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{{compiler|Iswaraj}}
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[[Category:There Is]]
[[Category:Proper]]
[[Category:Method]]
[[Category:Water]]
[[Category:Tree]]
[[Category:One Should]]
[[Category:Watering the Roots of a Tree]]
[[Category:If One]]
[[Category:Leaf]]
[[Category:Branches]]
[[Category:Instead]]
[[Category:Simply]]
[[Category:Useless Waste Of Time]]
[[Category:Demigod Worship]]
[[Category:Excluded]]
[[Category:God Is Lord Visnu]]
[[Category:Material Rewards]]
[[Category:Will Be]]
[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila Chapter 24 Purports - The Sixty-One Explanations of the Atmarama Verse]]
[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila Purports]]
[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 62 Chapters, All Purports]]
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<h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<h3>CC Madhya-lila</h3>
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Demigods are also living entities and parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore in one sense one worships Kṛṣṇa when one worships the demigods, but not in the proper way. There is a proper method to water a tree: one should water the root. But if one waters the leaves and branches instead, he is simply wasting his time. If one worships the demigods to the exclusion of Lord Viṣṇu, his rewards will only be material.
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[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 24.330|CC Madhya 24.330, Translation and Purport]]
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“Your book should describe the characteristics of the bona fide guru and the bona fide disciple. Then, before accepting a spiritual master, one can be assured of the spiritual master’s position. Similarly, the spiritual master can also be assured of the disciple’s position. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, should be described as the worshipable object, and you should describe the bīja-mantra for the worship of Kṛṣṇa, as well as that for Rāma and for other expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
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The words sevya bhagavān in this verse of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta are important. Bhagavān indicates the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu. Lord Viṣṇu alone is worshipable. There is no need to worship demigods. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 7.20 (1972)|BG 7.20]]):

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:kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ prapadyante ‘nya-devatāḥ
:taṁ taṁ niyamam āsthāya prakṛtyā niyatāḥ svayā
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“Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.”It is also stated in the Skanda Purāṇa:

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:vāsudevaṁ parityajya yo ‘nya-devam upāsate
:sva-mātaraṁ parityajya śva-pacīṁ vandate hi saḥ
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“A person who worships the demigods and gives up Lord Vāsudeva is like a man who gives up the protection of his mother for the shelter of a witch.”It is also stated by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 9.23 (1972)|BG 9.23]]):

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:ye ‘py anya-devatā-bhaktā yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ
:te ‘pi mām eva kaunteya yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam
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“Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kuntī, but they do so in a wrong way.”Demigods are also living entities and parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore in one sense one worships Kṛṣṇa when one worships the demigods, but not in the proper way. There is a proper method to water a tree: one should water the root. But if one waters the leaves and branches instead, he is simply wasting his time. If one worships the demigods to the exclusion of Lord Viṣṇu, his rewards will only be material. As confirmed by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 7.23 (1972)|BG 7.23]]):

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:anta-vat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām
:devān deva-yajo yānti mad-bhaktā yānti mām api
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“Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.”Demigod worship is meant for unintelligent men because the benefits derived from demigod worship are all material, temporary and retractable. It is also stated in the Padma Purāṇa:

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:yas tu nārāyaṇaṁ devaṁ brahma-rudrādi-daivataiḥ
:samatvenaiva vīkṣeta sa pāṣaṇḍī bhaved dhruvam
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([[Vanisource:CC Madhya 18.116|CC Madhya 18.116]])

“Whoever thinks Lord Viṣṇu and the demigods are on the same level is to be immediately considered a rogue as far as spiritual understanding is concerned.”There are three modes of nature in the material world, but when one is situated spiritually, he is above the material modes, even though he lives in this material world. As Lord Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 14.26 (1972)|BG 14.26]]):

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:māṁ ca yo ‘vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate
:sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
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“One who engages in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.” In material consciousness, however, even one who is situated in the mode of goodness is susceptible to pollution by the modes of passion and ignorance. When the mode of goodness is mixed with the mode of passion, one worships the sun-god, Vivasvān. When the mode of goodness is mixed with the mode of ignorance, one worships Gaṇapati, or Gaṇeśa. When the mode of passion is mixed with the mode of ignorance, one worships Durgā, or Kālī, the external potency. When one is simply in the mode of ignorance, one becomes a devotee of Lord Śiva because Lord Śiva is the predominating deity of the mode of ignorance within this material world. However, when one is completely free from the influence of all the modes of material nature, one becomes a pure Vaiṣṇava on the devotional platform.
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