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Explanations of the Ātmārāma Verse
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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.” (Bg. 7.23)
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  Hari-bhakti-vilāsa :
yas tu nārāyaṇaṁ devaṁ brahma-rudrādi-devataiḥ samatvenaiva vikṣeta sa pāṣaṇḍi bhaved dhruvam
“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. Lord Kṛṣṇa states in  Bhagavad-gītā  (14.26):
māṁ ca yo ‘vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma bhūyāya kalpate
“One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstances at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.” When one engages in the Supreme Lord’s devotional service, he is in a transcendental position. Even though one may be situated in the mode of goodness in the material world, he 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, he 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, he 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, he becomes a pure Vaiṣṇava on the devotional platform. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī states in  Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu :
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam