74
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 8, Ch. 3]
knows that the Deity in the temple is made of stone, but to think that the Deity is merely stone is an offense. Similarly, to think that the body of the spiritual master consists of material ingredients is offensive. Atheists think that devotees foolishly worship a stone statue as God and an ordinary man as the  guru . The fact is, however, that by the grace of Kṛṣṇa's omnipotence, the so-called stone statue of the Deity is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the body of the spiritual master is directly spiritual. A pure devotee who is engaged in unalloyed devotional service should be understood to be situated on the transcendental platform ( sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate ). Let us therefore offer our obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whose mercy so-called material things also become spiritual when they are engaged in spiritual activity.
Oṁkāra  ( praṇava ) is the symbolic sound representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.  Oṁ tat sad iti nirdeśo brahmaṇas trividhaḥ smṛtaḥ : the three words  oṁ tat sat  immediately invoke the Supreme Person. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that He is  oṁkāra  in all the Vedic  mantras  ( praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu ). The Vedic  mantras  are pronounced beginning with  oṁkāra  to indicate immediately the Supreme Personality of Godhead.  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , for example, begins with the words  oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya . There is no difference between the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, and  oṁkāra  ( praṇava ). We should be careful to understand that  oṁkāra  does not indicate anything  nirākāra , or formless. Indeed, this verse immediately says,  oṁ namo bhagavate . Bhagavān is a person. Thus  oṁkāra  is the representation of the Supreme Person.  Oṁkāra  is not meant to be impersonal, as the Māyāvādī philosophers consider it to be. This is distinctly expressed here by the word  puruṣāya . The supreme truth addressed by  oṁkāra  is  puruṣa , the Supreme Person; He is not impersonal. Unless He is a person, how can He control the great, stalwart controllers of this universe? Lord Viṣṇu, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are the supreme controllers of this universe, but Lord Viṣṇu is offered obeisances even by Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. Therefore this verse uses the word  pareśāya , which indicates that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshiped by exalted demigods.  Pareśāya  means  parameśvara . Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are  īśvaras , great controllers, but Lord Viṣṇu is  parameśvara , the supreme controller.