householders, duty of
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It is the duty of every householder to install Deities of the Lord at home and to begin the process of worshiping along with all of his family members. Regarding worship of the form of the Lord, or Deity, Rūpa Gosvami has written the following verse: "My dear friends, if you still have any desire to enjoy the company of your friends within this material world, then don't look upon the form of Krsna, who is standing on the bank of Kesi-ghat [a bathing place in Vrndavana]. He is known as Govinda, and His eyes are very enchanting. He is playing upon His flute, and on His head there is a peacock feather. And His whole body is illuminated by the moonlight in the sky."
(More...) The purport of this verse is that if someone becomes attached to the Sri Mūrti, or Deity of Krsna, by worshiping at home, then he will forget his relationship of so-called friendship, love and society. Thus it is the duty of every householder to install Deities of the Lord at home and to begin the process of worshiping along with all of his family members. This will save everyone from such unwanted activities as going to clubs, cinemas, dancing parties, smoking, drinking, etc. All such nonsense will be forgotten if one stresses the worship of the Deities at home.
(More...) In the above two verses of Rūpa Gosvami there are some metaphorical analogies, which indirectly condemn the association of materialistic society, friendship and love. People are generally attracted to society, friendship and love, and make elaborate arrangements and strong endeavors to develop these material contaminations; but to see the Sri Mūrtis of Radha and Krsna is to forget such endeavors for material association. Rūpa Gosvami composed his verse in such a way that he was seemingly praising the material association of friendship, love, etc., and was condemning the audience of Sri Mūrti or Govinda. This metaphorical analogy is constructed in such a way that things which seem to be eulogized are condemned, and things which are to be condemned are eulogized. The actual import of the verse is that one must see the form of Govinda if one at all wants to forget the nonsense of material friendship, love and society.
(More...) Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/?qg=6393
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