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TEXT 22 sa taya sraddhaya yuktas
SYNONYMS  sah--he;
taya--with that; sraddhaya--with faith; yuktah--endowed;
tasya--his; aradhanam--worship; ihate--seeks; labhate--obtains;
ca--and; tatah--from which; kaman--desires; maya--by
Me; eva--alone; vihitan--regulated; hi--for; tan--those.
TRANSLATION Endowed with
such a faith, he seeks favors of a particular demigod and obtains his desires.
But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone.
PURPORT The demigods
cannot award benedictions to the devotees without the permission of the
Supreme Lord. The living entity may forget that everything is the property
of the Supreme Lord, but the demigods do not forget. So the worship of
demigods and achievement of desired results are not due to the demigods
but to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by arrangement. The less intelligent
living entity does not know this, and therefore he foolishly goes to the
demigods for some benefit. But the pure devotee, when in need of something,
prays only to the Supreme Lord. Asking for material benefit, however, is
not a sign of a pure devotee. A living entity goes to the demigods usually
because he is mad to fulfill his lust. This happens when something undue
is desired by the living entity, and the Lord Himself does not fulfill
the desire. In the Caitanya-caritamrta it is said that one who worships
the Supreme Lord and at the same time desires material enjoyment is contradictory
in his desires. Devotional service of the Supreme Lord and the worship
of a demigod cannot be on the same platform because worship of a demigod
is material and devotional service to the Supreme Lord is completely spiritual.
For the
living entity who desires to return to Godhead, material desires are impediments.
A pure devotee of the Lord is therefore not awarded the material benefits
desired by less intelligent living entities who prefer to worship demigods
of the material world rather than engage in devotional service of the Supreme
Lord.
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