No devotion is better than Worship

                               “Taken from the book- The Effulgence of the Veda,   which is translated in English by Gautam Patel,

                                             from the book Vedopdesh Chandrika by Swamiji”

The Nitikara says-

Navadha bhaktir a khyata mukhyam tatra rcanam sivam l

Prah bhagavati sevam aram dasa iti s’rutih ll

Devotion is described as nine-fold. Among those nine types,

Archana Bhakti is the main and is the most auspicious. (74).

In general, the nine types of devotion are narrated, but in them the main and auspicious type of devotion is Archana i.e. the worship of the auspicious Idol of the Lord. This is the reason why Bhagwan Veda maintains that the Archana of the Lord is unavoidable in life completely.

There are some friends who imagine that in the Vedas, the original texts of the Indian culture; there is no reference to idol worship or Archana Bhakti. Hence, they not only start neglecting idol-worship

but engage themselves in its refutation. But when the Veda mantra ordains us directly, there remains no scope for any illusion in this respect.

See how clearly the Vedas say about it:

Aram daso nu milahuse karanyaham devaya bhurnaye’nagah ,

Acetayad acito devo’ryo grtsam raye kavitaro  junati.

I, the devotee, free from any action which is against the proper behavior, worship or adorn the Lord, like some servant, with flowers etc so that He would remain favorable to me for ever. This Lord, being the master of all, by only his presence converts a stone into a substance worthy of worship. This is the reason why a person, tries to please by the worship of that Lord, the bestower of life etc and does not bother to respect the King who could give perishable things only.

Rig Ved- Vll-86-7