Text 39]
Ideal Family Life
189
Lord's lotus feet one can also obtain in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Krṣṇa  mahā-mantra ." In Satya-yuga, every person was spiritually advanced, and there was no envy between great personalities. Gradually, however, because of material contamination with the advance of the ages, disrespectful dealings appeared even among  brāhmaṇas  and Vaiṣṇavas. Actually, an advanced Vaiṣṇava is to be respected more than Viṣṇu. As stated in the  Padma Purāṇa ,  ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param : of all kinds of worship, worship of Lord Viṣṇu is the best.  Tasmāt parataraṁ devi tadīyānāṁ samarcanam : and recommended more than worship of Viṣṇu is worship of the Vaiṣṇava.
Formerly, all activities were performed in connection with Viṣṇu, but after Satya-yuga there were symptoms of disrespectful dealings among Vaiṣṇavas. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thākura has said that a Vaiṣṇava is he who has helped others become Vaiṣṇavas. An example of one who has converted many others into Vaiṣṇavas is Nārada Muni. A powerful Vaiṣṇava who has converted others into Vaiṣṇavas is to be worshiped, but because of material contamination, sometimes such an exalted Vaiṣṇava is disrespected by other, minor Vaiṣṇavas. When great saintly persons saw this contamination, they introduced worship of the Deity in the temple. This began in Tretā-yuga and was especially prominent in Dvāpara-yuga ( dvāpare paricaryāyāṁ ). But in Kali-yuga, worship of the Deity is being neglected. Therefore chanting of the Hare Krṣṇa  mantra  is more powerful than Deity worship. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu set a practical example in that He did not establish any temples or Deities, but He profusely introduced the  saṅkīrtana  movement. Therefore Krṣṇa consciousness preachers should give more stress to the  saṅkīrtana  movement, especially by distributing transcendental literature more and more. This helps the  saṅkīrtana  movement. Whenever there is a possibility to worship the Deity, we may establish many centers, but generally we should give more stress to the distribution of transcendental literature, for this will be more effective in converting people to Krṣṇa consciousness.
It is said in  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  (11.2.47):
arcāyām eva haraye pūjāṁ yaḥ śraddhayehate