SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM - Prabhupada

152 Srbnad-BbagavaUun [Canto 7, Ch. 3Me." For example, when a man pours water on the leaves and branchesof a tree without pouring water on the root, he does so without sufficientknowledge or without observing regulative principles. The process ofwatering a tree is to pour water on the root. Similarly, the process of renderingservice to different parts of the body is to supply food to thestomach. The demigods are, so to speak, different officers and directorsin the government of the Supreme Lord. One has to follow the laws madeby the government, not by the officers or directors. Similarly, everyone isto offer his worship to the Supreme Lord only. That will automaticallysatisfy the different officers and directors of the Lord. The officers anddirectors are engaged as representatives of the government, and to offersome bribe to the officers and directors is illegal. This is stated inBhagavad-gita as avidhi-puroakam. In other words, i(rf?Qa does not approvethe unnecessary worship of the demigods.In Bhagavad-gita it is clearly stated that there are many types of yajnaperformances recommended in the Vedic literatures, but actually all ofthem are meant for satisfying the Supreme Lord. Yajna means Vif?QU. Inthe Third Chapter of Bhagavad-gita it is clearly stated that one shouldwork only for satisfying Yajiia, or Vif?QU. The perfectional form ofhuman civilization, known as va17)1]Srama-dharma, is specifically meantfor satisfying Vif?QU. Therefore, i(rf?Qa says, "I am the enjoyer of allsacrifices because I am the supreme master." However, less intelligentpersons, without knowing this fact, worship demigods for temporarybenefit. Therefore they fall down to material existence and do notachieve the desired goal of life. If, however, anyone has any materialdesire to be fulfilled, he had better pray for it to the Supreme Lord(although that is not pure devotion), and he will thus achieve the desiredresult.Although HiraQyakasipu offered his obeisances unto Lord Brahma, hewas strongly inimical toward Lord Vif?QU. This is the symptom of anasura. Asuras worship the demigods as being separate from the Lord, notknowing that all the demigods are powerful because of being servants ofthe Lord. If the Supreme Lord were to withdraw the powers of thedemigods, the demigods would no longer be able to offer benedictions totheir worshipers. The difference between a devotee and a nondevotee, orasura, is that a devotee knows that Lord Vif?QU is the Supreme Personalityof Godhead and that everyone derives power from Him. Without