8 / Offenses to be Avoided

In the supplementary Vedic literature, there is the following list of
32 offenses in the matter of serving the Lord: 1) One should not
enter the temple of the Deity in a car or palanquin or with shoes on
the feet. 2) One should not fail to observe the various festivals for
the pleasure of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, such as Jan-
mastami, Ratha-yatra, etc. 3) One should not avoid bowing down be-
fore the Deity. 4) One should not enter the temple to worship the
Lord without having washed his hands and feet after eating. 5) One
should not enter the temple in a contaminated state. (According to
Vedic scripture, if someone dies in the family the whole family be-
comes contaminated for some time, according to its status. For ex-
ample, if the family is brahmana their contamination period is 12
days, for the ksatriyas and vaisyas it is 15 days, and for sidras 30
days.) 6) One should not bow down on one hand. 7) One should not
circumambulate in front of Sri Krsna. (The process of circumam-
bulating the temple is that one.should begin circumambulating from
the Deity’s right-hand side of the temple and come round. Such cir-
cumambulation should be performed outside the temple structure at
least three times daily.) 8) One should not spread his legs before the
Deity. 9) One should not sit before the Deity holding the ankles,
elbows or knees with his hands. 10) One should not lie down before
the Deity of Krsna. 11) One should not accept prasadam before the
Deity. 12) One should never speak a lie before the Deity. 13) One
should not talk very loudly before the Deity. 14) One should not
talk with others before the Deity. 15) One should not cry or howl
before the Deity. 16) One should not quarrel or fight before the

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