Service to the Deity

In each of his temples, Srila Prabhupada established the mūrti, or Deity, of Lord Krsna. To a materialist, the Deity appears to be no more than a statue of wood or stone, but an advanced transcendentalist, seeing through the eye of Vedic knowledge, understands that the Deity is nondifferent from Krsna Himself and that without worshiping the Deity one cannot fully develop and mature one's love for God. Because the form of the Deity is exactly described in the Vedic scriptures, it is the answer to all imaginative iconography about the form of God. By appearing as the Deity, Krsna frees the conditioned soul from false ideas that God is impersonal or void, and by worshiping the Deity, one learns how to love Krsna and becomes eligible to go back home, back to Godhead. When Srila Prabhupada came before the Deity, he saw not a statue but Lord Krsna Himself, and with tears of love in his eyes he bowed down before Lord Krsna in devotion, considering himself but a humble servant of the Deity. The extent of the struggle Srila Prabhupada personally, willingly undertook in London and Bombay for the service of the Deity is only partially known, even to his disciples. Srila Prabhupada's glories are fully known only to Lord Krsna Himself. As Krsna becomes increasingly celebrated and the science of Krsna more fully understood, so too will the glories of His dearly beloved servant, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.