Text 24] Prahlada, the Saintly Son of Hiranyakaéipu 257
positively assured. Deity worship means following the rules and regula-
tions precisely. That will keep one steady in devotional service. Generally
householders have children, and then the wives of the householders
should be engaged in caring for the children, just as women acting as
teachers care for the children in a nursery school.

Grhastha devotees must adopt the arcana-vidhi, or Deity worship ac-
cording to the suitable arrangements and directions given by the
spiritual master. Regarding those unable to take to the Deity worship in
the temple, there is the following statement in the Agni Purdna. Any
householder devotee circumstantially unable to worship the Deity must
at least see the Deity worship, and in this way he may achieve success
also. The special purpose of Deity worship is to keep oneself always pure
and clean. Grhastha devotees should be actual examples of cleanliness.

Deity worship should be continued along with hearing and chanting.
Therefore every mantra is preceded by the word namah. In all the
mantras there are specific potencies, of which the grhastha devotees
must take advantage. There are many mantras preceded by the word
namah, but if one chants the holy name of the Lord, he receives the
result of chanting namah many times. By chanting the holy name of the
Lord, one can reach the platform of love of Godhead. One might ask,
then what is the necessity of being initiated? The answer is that even
though the chanting of the holy name is sufficient to enable one to
progress in spiritual life to the standard of love of Godhead, one is none-
theless susceptible to contamination because of possessing a material
body. Consequently, special stress is given to the arcana-vidhi. One
should therefore regularly take advantage of both the bhagavata process
and pdficaratriki process.

Deity worship has two divisions, namely pure and mixed with fruitive
activities. For one who is steady, Deity worship is compulsory. Observing
the various types of festivals, such as Sri Janmdstami, Rama-navami
and Nrsimha-caturdasi, is also included in the process of Deity worship.
In other words, it is compulsory for householder devotees to observe
these festivals.

Now let us discuss the offenses in Deity worship. The following are
offenses: (a) to enter the temple with shoes or being carried on a palan-
quin, (b) not to observe the prescribed festivals, (c) to avoid offering
obeisances in front of the Deity, (d) to offer prayers in an unclean state,
