Liberation from Ignorance and Suffering
135
Him, for simply hearing of Him is  subhadra , auspicious.” The entire  Bhāgavatam  is glorification of Kṛṣṇa, and this is glorification by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. He says that one can be perfectly purified if one either glorifies Kṛṣṇa, meditates upon Him, or simply sits before the Deity of Kṛṣṇa and sees Him, thinking, “How nicely dressed is Kṛṣṇa. How nicely dressed is Rādhārāṇī.” If one has no ability to chant or if one’s mind is so disturbed that one cannot fix it upon Kṛṣṇa, one is given this chance: “Here is the Deity. Simply see Him.” If one is engaged in the service of the Deity, there is a good chance of always seeing Him, twenty-four hours a day. While cleansing the floor of the temple, while dressing the Deity, while bathing the Deity, or while offering Him food, one will always see Him. This is the process of devotional service, but people are such fallen rascals that they do not even go see the Deity. “Oh,” they think, “what is this Deity worship? It is idol worship.” They may worship the statue of Gandhi or someone else, but when asked to come see the worship of the Deity they will say, “No, this is idol worship.”
I have seen that in Calcutta in Chaurangi Square there is a statue of Sir Asutosa Mukherji. Throughout the year the crows pass stool on his face, and the stool becomes caked on. So on one day a year the ordinary sweepers cleanse the statue with their brush in the morning, and in the evening some big men come and garland him with flowers. Then after that evening they go away, and again the next morning the crows come to pass stool on his face. So this kind of worship is accepted—sweeping the face of Sir Asutosa Mukherji with the municipal brush—but if we install the Deity of Kṛṣṇa and worship Him nicely, people will say that this is idol worship.
So people are embarrassed by being entangled in  avidyā , ignorance, and the method by which to educate them and rescue them from the clutches of this ignorance is devotional service. As explained by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, one may chant the name of Kṛṣṇa or meditate upon Kṛṣṇa, or if one cannot meditate one may simply sit down and see Kṛṣṇa. Even a child can see, “Here is Kṛṣṇa. Here is Rādhārāṇī.” Even a small child or even an animal can do this and benefit, or if one is more intelligent one may offer prayers, and if one is expert and has been trained by a spiritual master one may perform appropriate worship.
Christians and Muslims are also Vaiṣṇavas, devotees, because they offer prayers to the Lord. “O God,” they say, “give us our daily bread.” Those who offer this prayer may not know very much and may be at a lower stage, but this is a beginning, because they have approached God. Going to a church or mosque is also pious ( catur-vidhā bhajante mām