Text 31]
Mahārāja Pṛthu's Going Back Home
1015
TRANSLATION
Any person who describes the great characteristics of King Pṛthu with faith and determination—whether he reads or hears of them himself or helps others to hear of them—is certain to attain the very planet which Mahārāja Pṛthu attained. In other words, such a person also returns home to the Vaikuṇṭha planets, back to Godhead.
PURPORT
In the execution of devotional service,  śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ  is especially stressed. This means that  bhakti , or devotional service, begins by hearing and chanting about Viṣṇu. When we speak of Viṣṇu, we also refer to that which relates to Viṣṇu. In the  Śiva Purāṇa , Lord Śiva recommends Viṣṇu worship to be the topmost worship, and better than Viṣṇu worship is worship of the Vaiṣṇava or anything that is related to Viṣṇu. The fact is explained herein that hearing and chanting about a Vaiṣṇava is as good as hearing and chanting about Viṣṇu, for Maitreya has explained that anyone who hears about Pṛthu Mahārāja with attention also attains the planet which Mahārāja Pṛthu attained. There is no duality between Viṣṇu and the Vaiṣṇava, and this is called  advaya-jñāna . A Vaiṣṇava is as important as Viṣṇu, and therefore Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura wrote in his  Gurv-aṣṭaka :
sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair uktas tathā bhāvyata eva sadbhiḥ kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam
“The spiritual master is honored as much as the Supreme Lord because he is the most confidential servitor of the Lord. This is acknowledged in all revealed scriptures and is followed by all authorities. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master, who is a bona fide representative of Śrī Hari.”
The supreme Vaiṣṇava is the spiritual master, and he is nondifferent from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is said that sometimes Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to chant the names of the  gopīs . Some of the Lord’s students tried to advise Him to chant the name of Kṛṣṇa instead, but upon hearing this Caitanya Mahāprabhu became very angry with His students. The controversy on this subject reached such a point that after this incident Caitanya Mahāprabhu decided to take  sannyāsa  because He was not taken very seriously in His  gṛhastha-āśrama . The point is that since Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chanted the names of the  gopīs , worship of the  gopīs  or the devotees of the Lord is as good as devotional service