SB 9.11.1 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

श्रीशुक उवाच भगवानात्मनात्मानं राम उत्तमकल्पकै: । सर्वदेवमयं देवमीजेऽथाचार्यवान् मखै: ॥ १ ॥

Verse text

śrī-śuka uvāca bhagavān ātmanātmānaṁ rāma uttama-kalpakaiḥ sarva-devamayaṁ devam īje ’thācāryavān makhaiḥ

Synonyms

śrī — śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said ; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; ātmanā — by Himself ; ātmānam — Himself ; rāmaḥ — Lord Rāmacandra ; uttama — kalpakaiḥ — with very opulent paraphernalia ; sarva — deva — mayam — the heart and soul of all the demigods ; devam — the Supreme Lord Himself ; īje — worshiped ; atha — thus ; ācāryavān — under the guidance of an ācārya ; makhaiḥ — by performing sacrifices .

Translation

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thereafter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Rāmacandra, accepted an ācārya and performed sacrifices [yajṣas] with opulent paraphernalia. Thus He Himself worshiped Himself, for He is the Supreme Lord of all demigods.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: The Supreme Lord, Rāmacandra, accepted an ācārya and performed sacrifices with the best paraphernalia. Thus he worshiped himself, by himself. The Eleventh Chapter describes the sacrifices performed by Rāma, his rejection of Sītā, her entrance into the earth, and sending his brothers to conquer the directions. “He worshipped himself by himself” means that he worshipped himself by sacrifices which were not different from him, since he is the process and the result of sacrifice.

Purport

Sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā. If Acyuta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is worshiped, then everyone is worshiped. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (4.31.14) : yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇāṁ tathaiva sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā “As pouring water on the root of a tree nourishes the trunk, branches, twigs and leaves, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead satisfies the demigods, who are part of that Supreme Personality.” Performing yajṣa involves worshiping the Supreme Lord. Here the Supreme Lord worshiped the Supreme Lord. Therefore it is said, bhagavān ātmanātmānam īje: the Lord worshiped Himself by Himself. This does not, of course, justify the Māyāvāda philosophy, by which one thinks himself the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The jīva, the living entity, is always different from the Supreme Lord. The living entities ( vibhinnāṁśa ) never become one with the Lord, although Māyāvādīs sometimes imitate the Lord’s worship of Himself. Lord Kṛṣṇa meditated upon Himself every morning as a gṛhastha, and similarly Lord Rāmacandra performed yajṣas to satisfy Himself, but this does not mean that an ordinary living being should imitate the Lord by accepting the process of ahaṅgrahopāsanā. Such unauthorized worship is not recommended herein.