Temple Worship

The entire Los Angeles community of devotees gathers for kirtana (congregational chanting of the names of God) at 4:30 every morning. According to Vedic scriptures, to rise one and a half hours before sunrise and attend the kirtana ceremony starts the day with potent spiritual inspiration. Men on one side, women on the other, in two rows the length of the temple, the devotees face the three closed doors that house the holy Deities. The women wear saris; the men, dhotis (robes)-white if they are married, saffron if they're not. Both men and women wear white clay tilaka marks on their foreheads, signifying that they are devotees of Krsna.

The chanting of Hare Krsna begins, accompanied by hand cymbals and drums. After a few minutes of chanting, the pūjari (altar attendant) rings a bell and then opens the three large doors, revealing the Deities, chief of whom are Radha and Krsna.

The pūjari then offers the Deities a flame, handkerchief, conch shell and other articles one after another in large circles, as the chanting of Hare Krsna increases its tempo, the devotees swaying rhythmically from side to side, a few small children dancing with their parents. On the marble altars, artfully arranged with flowers, vases and candles, three silver trays of milk and sweets present the first of six daily offerings to the Deities, who are dressed in silks and ornaments. Singing and dancing, the devotees worship with rapt attention. But, one might ask, who are the Deities?

Srila Prabhupada has clearly explained the Deity worship in his books and lectures. "You cannot approach or see Krsna with your present blunt senses and contaminated desires," he writes. "But Krsna is so merciful that He appears before you in the form of the Deity so that you may see Him and render loving service. Everything is Krsna's energy, and so He can appear in this form if He likes."

The form of Krsna in the temple with Radharani, His eternal consort and pleasure energy, is not a mere idol fashioned from imagination, nor is the worship in the temple a whimsical or concocted process. The Vedic scriptures describe in detail the Lord's form and how to carve or paint the form of the Deity. Since the Supreme Lord is absolute, His form is not different from Him. Thus the form of the Lord in the temple is an authorized incarnation of the Lord who can accept the loving service of His devotees.

Srila Prabhupada often gives the example of a mailbox. The post office establishes boxes for the deposit of mail, and because these boxes are authorized, putting mail in the box is as good as putting it in the post office itself. Similarly, because the Vedic scriptures authorize the form of the Lord in the temple as a fully potent incarnation of the Lord, to worship the Deity in the temple is to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.

This facility to worship the Lord's form is a great benediction because it enables one to serve the Lord in a personal way and fix one's mind upon the Lord's personal features. The vital principle of Deity worship is to fix one's mind upon the form of the Lord and consider oneself His humble servant.

In this consciousness, the devotees in New Dvaraka consider themselves humble servants of the Deity. Thinking of Him as the owner and controller of everything, the devotees depend upon His mercy and act only to please Him. By centering all their activities around Krsna in this way, the devotees create the blissful spiritual atmosphere of devotional service that is the essence of New Dvaraka.

Worship is not confined to the temple. Since the Supreme Lord is all-pervading, His devotees go everywhere to preach His glories for the benefit of those who have forgotten Him. Although New Dvaraka sponsors presentations of Krsna consciousness in high schools and colleges in the Los Angeles area and also holds daily classes and a Sunday festival at the temple, its most important programs for spreading Krsna consciousness are sahkirtana and the distribution of Krsna conscious books.

The most visible of the temple's activities is sahkirtana, the public congregational chanting of the holy name of God, as in the Hare Krsna maha-mantra-Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. The Vedic scriptures recommend this chanting as the most effective means for spreading spiritual consciousness in the modern age. The Garuḍa Purana gives the following comparison: "The state of conditioned life in the material world is like the unconsciousness of a man bitten by a snake, for both these unconscious states can be ended by the sound of a mantra."

Commenting on this verse, our spiritual master explains: "When a man is snake-bitten he does not die immediately, but first becomes unconscious and remains in a comatose condition. Anyone who is in the material world is also sleeping, as he is ignorant of his actual self or his actual duty and his relationship with God. So materialistic life means that one is bitten by the snake of maya, illusion, and thus, without Krsna consciousness, he is almost dead. Now the so-called dead man bitten by a snake can be brought back again to life by the chanting of some mantra. There are expert chanters of these mantras who can perform this feat. Similarly, one can be brought back into Krsna consciousness from the deadly unconscious state of material life by hearing of the maha-mantra: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare."

Understanding the potency of the maha-mantra, new Dvaraka's devotees go to the busiest areas of Los Angeles to spread this benediction. As their other duties allow, some devotees go out chanting once a week, some once a day, and some every day, all day long. This chanting not only purifies those who chant but also those who hear, be they conscious of its potency or not. Thus one who hears the maha-mantra gradually becomes eligible to understand Krsna consciousness and engage in the devotional service of Lord Krsna.

Since the background for this chanting is a uniquely detailed, clear, scientific and therefore convincing philosophy of spiritual consciousness, the Hare Krsna devotees understand that their most effective preaching is the distribution of their spiritual master's books, which convey this philosophy as originally enunciated by the Supreme Lord Krsna Himself.

New Dvaraka distributes Krsna conscious books not only locally but on a nationwide level, for devotees in New Dvaraka arrange the shipment of books to other Krsna conscious centers throughout the United States. According to the devotees who manage New Dvaraka's book warehouse, last year the warehouse served as a distribution center for five hundred tons of books. New Dvaraka is also the distribution center for Back to Godhead, which now has a monthly circulation of almost half a million copies. The money collected on sales of books and magazines goes for printing more, and thus the distribution is always increasing.

Locally, devotees distribute Krsna conscious literature personally, hand to hand, to interested readers. The chanting party distributes many books, and other devotees, who go out individually with big bags full of books, distribute many more. According to Ramesvara dasa, one of the chief architects of New Dvaraka's book distribution program, "These book distributors are the greatest friends of mankind because they are dedicated to spreading knowledge and giving relief and the joyful life everyone is seeking. They don't take vacations; they are always thinking of how to distribute this knowledge."

Some devotees are so eager to distribute Krsna conscious books that they do it all day long. Tripurari dasa, one of New Dvaraka's most enthusiastic distributors, explains: "Every time I give someone a book, I feel that I've pleased my spiritual master. Prabhupada came here to distribute this science of Krsna consciousness to everyone, and the duty of the disciple is to serve and assist the spiritual master. By pleasing God's devotees one can please God. So when I try to help the mission of my spiritual master, I know I have pleased Krsna too. Whoever gets a book gets the highest knowledge, and he can be really joyful."

Adding still another dimension to New Dvaraka's programs, Golden Avatar Productions makes the philosophy and chanting of the Krsna consciousness movement available on the radio, on records and on tape cassettes. Started two years ago by Krsnakanti dasa, an electronics engineer who worked for six years with NBC television before joining the New Dvaraka community, Golden Avatar has distributed more than 25,000 tape cassettes and produces a weekly radio show, broadcast by eighty stations throughout the United States.