Duties of a Vaishnava family man
Grhastha vaisnavera kartavya vidhana
The grhastha who is a devotee of Vishnu should, without any doubt, worship Krishna in everything he does. In all samskaras[1], starting from niseka[2] and ending at the place of cremation, he should worship Vishnu with the mantras of the Vedas. Following the instructions of the Vedas, he should worship Vishnu and the Vaishnavas. He should offer the remnants of what is offered to Krishna to the Devas and Pitris[3]. One who follows the Mayavada philosophy when he offers sraddha to the Pitris and worship to the Devas, receives condemnation due to his offense.
To impose a dualistic conception on Visnu-tattva is an offense against the Holy Name. With this offense progress in bhakti is obstructed.
Those who think that Siva and other Devas are independent controllers commit a terrible offense to the Holy Name. The Devas come from Visnu-sakti, the superior energy of the Lord. The Vedas do not accept that His various potencies are superior to Himself.
In ancient times, Siva, Brahma, Ganapati, Surya and the Dikpalas[4] were invested with the potency of Krishna and became controllers. Thus, I know that Krishna is the only Paramesvara[5] and that all Devas are considered to be His potencies. Therefore, a grhastha should totally reject material conceptions in the performance of all his duties and strive to attain a correct devotional mood.
How does a Vaishnava perform the Dharma of the householder?
Kirupa vaisnava garhasthya dharma kariben
The grihastha performs various rituals in right devotional mood and satisfies the Devas and Pitris by offering them Krishna’s remnants. He abandons the worship of many Devas and Devis, and since they are all devotees of Krishna, the Devas are satisfied with him. By worshiping Lord Krishna and Vaishnavas, all results are achieved. He who does this avoids committing offenses against the Holy Name and constantly chants the Name.
The rules for maintaining one’s life by observing the rules of the four Varnas
Varna-catustayera jivana-yatra vidhi
Those who follow the duties of the varnas in this world walk on the path of dharma while residing in a material body.
[1] Purifying ceremonies.
[2] Niseka refers to garbhadhana-samskara, the Vedic ritual for producing good offspring.
[3] The ancestors.
[4] The Devas who control the ten directions.
[5] Supreme Controller.
This is a section of the book “Harinama Cintamani (English)”.
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