The form of the Lord known as arcā-vigraha is an expansion of His unlimited potencies. When the Lord is gradually satisfied with the service of a devotee, in due course of time He accepts the devotee as one of His many unalloyed servants. By nature, the Lord is very compassionate; therefore the service of neophyte devotees is accepted by the Lord. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.26), the devotee offers eatables in the form of vegetables, fruits, leaves and water to the arcā-vigraha. The Lord, being bhakta-vatsala, compassionate upon His devotees, accepts these offerings. Atheists may think that the devotees are engaged in idol worship, but the fact is different. SB 4.30.28
Generally the worship of the Lord begins with the worship of Nārāyaṇa, or Viṣṇu, whereas the worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā is most confidential. Lord Nārāyaṇa is worshipable by the pāñcarātrika-vidhi, or regulative principles, whereas Lord Kṛṣṇa is worshipable by the bhāgavata-vidhi. No one can worship the Lord in the bhāgavata-vidhi without going through the regulations of the pāñcarātrika-vidhi. Actually, neophyte devotees worship the Lord according to the pāñcarātrika-vidhi, or the regulative principles enjoined in the Nārada-pañcarātra. Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa cannot be approached by the neophyte devotees; therefore temple worship according to regulative principles is offered to Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. Although there may be a Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa vigraha, or form, the worship of the neophyte devotees is acceptable as Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa worship. Worship according to the pāñcarātrika-vidhi is called vidhi-mārga, and worship according to the bhāgavata-vidhi principles is called rāga-mārga. The principles of rāga-mārga are especially meant for devotees who are elevated to the Vṛndāvana platform. SB 4.24.45-46
Māyāvādīs and atheists accept the forms of the Deities in the temple of the Lord as idols, but devotees do not worship idols. They directly worship the Personality of Godhead in His arcā incarnation. Arcā refers to the form which we can worship in our present condition. Actually, in our present state it is not possible to see God in His spiritual form because our material eyes and senses cannot conceive of a spiritual form. We cannot even see the spiritual form of the individual soul. When a man dies we cannot see how the spiritual form leaves the body. That is the defect of our material senses. In order to be seen by our material senses, the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts a favorable form, which is called arcā-vigraha. This arcā-vigraha, sometimes called the arcā incarnation, is not different from Him. Just as the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts various incarnations, He takes on forms made out of matter — clay, wood, metal and jewels. There are many śāstric injunctions which give instructions for carving forms of the Lord. These forms are not material. If God is all-pervading, then He is also in the material elements. There is no doubt about it. But the atheists think otherwise. Although they preach that everything is God, when they go to the temple and see the form of the Lord, they deny that He is God. According to their own theory, everything is God. Then why is the Deity not God? Actually, they have no conception of God. The devotees’ vision, however, is different; their vision is smeared with love of God. As soon as they see the Lord in His different forms, the devotees become saturated with love, for they do not find any difference between the Lord and His form in the temple, as do the atheists. The smiling face of the Deity in the temple is beheld by the devotees as transcendental and spiritual, and the decoration of the body of the Lord is very much appreciated by the devotees. It is the duty of the spiritual master to teach how to decorate the Deity in the temple, how to cleanse the temple and how to worship the Deity. There are different procedures and rules and regulations which are followed in temples of Viṣṇu, and devotees go there and see the Deity, the vigraha, and spiritually enjoy the form because all of the Deities are benevolent. The devotees express their minds before the Deity, and in many instances the Deity also gives answers. But one must be a very elevated devotee in order to be able to speak with the Supreme Lord. Sometimes the Lord informs the devotee through dreams. These exchanges of feelings between the Deity and the devotee are not understandable by atheists, but actually the devotee enjoys them. Kapila Muni is explaining how the devotees see the decorated body and face of the Deity and how they speak with Him in devotional service. SB 3.25.35
As long as one is in conditional life, in the material body, it is natural that he will suffer from anxieties and agonies. One cannot avoid the influence of material energy, even when one is on the transcendental plane. Sometimes disturbances come, but the agonies and anxieties of the devotees are at once mitigated when they think of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His beautiful form or the smiling face of the Lord. The Lord bestows innumerable favors upon His devotee, and the greatest manifestation of His grace is His smiling face, which is full of compassion for His pure devotees. SB 3.28.31
The Lord’s worshipable form (arcā-vigraha), which is installed in temples by authorized ācāryas who have realized the Lord in terms of Mantra Seven, is nondifferent from the original form of the Lord. The Lord’s original form is that of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and Śrī Kṛṣṇa expands Himself into an unlimited number of forms, such as Baladeva, Rāma, Nṛsiṁha and Varāha. All of these forms are one and the same Personality of Godhead. Similarly, the arcā-vigraha worshiped in temples is also an expanded form of the Lord. By worshiping the arcā-vigraha, one can at once approach the Lord, who accepts the service of a devotee by His omnipotent energy. The arcā-vigraha of the Lord descends at the request of the ācāryas, the holy teachers, and works exactly in the original way of the Lord by virtue of the Lord’s omnipotence. Foolish people who have no knowledge of Śrī Īśopaniṣad or any of the other śruti-mantras consider the arcā-vigraha, which is worshiped by pure devotees, to be made of material elements. This form may be seen as material by the imperfect eyes of foolish people or kaniṣṭha-adhikārīs, but such people do not know that the Lord, being omnipotent and omniscient, can transform matter into spirit and spirit into matter, as He desires. Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 8
The bhakti-yogī accepts the Deity of Kṛṣṇa as worshipable because there is some bodily conception fixed in the mind, which can thus be applied. Of course, worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form within the temple is not idol worship. There is evidence in the Vedic literature that worship may be saguṇa or nirguṇa — of the Supreme possessing or not possessing attributes. Worship of the Deity in the temple is saguṇa worship, for the Lord is represented by material qualities. But the form of the Lord, though represented by material qualities such as stone, wood or oil paint, is not actually material. That is the absolute nature of the Supreme Lord. BG 12.5
Nārāyaṇa in the Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma, the kingdom of Godhead. He accepts the form of arcā-vigraha (worshipable Deity) just to accept service from His different incapable devotees. By the mercy of the arcā-vigraha, the form of the Lord in material elements, the devotees who are in the material world can easily approach the Lord, although He is not conceivable by the material senses. The arcā-vigraha is therefore an all-spiritual form of the Lord to be perceived by the material devotees; such an arcā-vigraha of the Lord is never to be considered material. There is no difference between matter and spirit for the Lord, although there is a gulf of difference between the two in the case of the conditioned living being. For the Lord there is nothing but spiritual existence, and similarly there is nothing except spiritual existence for the pure devotee of the Lord in his intimate relation with the Lord. SB 1.12.9
The word puruṣārcanam in this verse means worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, especially the form of Lord Kṛṣṇa. In Bhagavad-gītā it is confirmed by Arjuna that Kṛṣṇa is the original puruṣa, or Personality of Godhead, puruṣaṁ śāśvatam. Therefore in yoga practice one not only must concentrate his mind on the person of Kṛṣṇa, but must also worship the form or Deity of Kṛṣṇa daily. SB 3.28.4
I am present in every living entity as the Supersoul. If someone neglects or disregards that Supersoul everywhere and engages himself in the worship of the Deity in the temple, that is simply imitation. In purified consciousness, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one sees the presence of Kṛṣṇa everywhere. Therefore if one only engages in Deity worship in the temple and does not consider other living entities, then he is in the lowest grade of devotional service. One who worships the Deity in the temple and does not show respect to others is a devotee on the material platform, in the lowest stage of devotional service. A devotee should try to understand everything in relationship with Kṛṣṇa and try to serve everything in that spirit. SB 3.29.21
Performing his prescribed duties, one should worship the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead until one realizes My presence in his own heart and in the hearts of other living entities as well. SB 3.29.25
Especially for householder devotees, the path of Deity worship is strongly recommended. As far as possible, every householder, by the direction of the spiritual master, must install the Deity of Viṣṇu, forms like Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa or Sītā-Rāma especially, or any other form of the Lord, like Nṛsiṁha, Varāha, Gaura-Nitāi, Matsya, Kūrma, śālagrāma-śilā and many other forms of Viṣṇu, like Trivikrama, Keśava, Acyuta, Vāsudeva, Nārāyaṇa and Dāmodara, as recommended in the Vaiṣṇava-tantras or Purāṇas, and one’s family should worship strictly following the directions and regulations of arcana-vidhi. Any member of the family who is above twelve years of age should be initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, and all the members of the household should be engaged in the daily service of the Lord. SB 2.3.22
One might ask, then what is the necessity of being initiated? The answer is that even though the chanting of the holy name is sufficient to enable one to progress in spiritual life to the standard of love of Godhead, one is nonetheless susceptible to contamination because of possessing a material body. Consequently, special stress is given to the arcā-vidhi. One should therefore regularly take advantage of both the bhāgavata process and pāñcarātrikī process. Deity worship has two divisions, namely pure and mixed with fruitive activities. For one who is steady, Deity worship is compulsory. Observing the various types of festivals, such as Śrī Janmāṣṭamī, Rāma-navamī and Nṛsiṁha-caturdaśī, is also included in the process of Deity worship. SB 7.5.23-24
By worshiping Me through the various methods prescribed in the Vedas and tantras, one will gain from Me his desired perfection in both this life and the next. The devotee should more fully establish My Deity by solidly constructing a temple, along with beautiful gardens. These gardens should provide flowers for the regular daily worship, special Deity processions and holiday observances. One who offers the Deity gifts of land, markets, cities and villages so that the regular daily worship and special festivals of the Deity may go on continually will achieve opulence equal to My own. SB 11.27
My dear Arjuna, O winner of wealth, if you cannot fix your mind upon Me without deviation, then follow the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga. In this way develop a desire to attain Me. BG 12.9
Regarding Kartikeya's question about worshiping Lord Jagannatha, He should always be worshiped with awe and reverence. Krishna's picture as a Naughty Child should not be treated by us as a naughty child. We should always worship Krishna as the Supreme Lord. Letter, 19 April 1969, Buffalo
Although there is no Deity, still this Hare Krishna Mantra is considered to be the sound vibration incarnation of Krishna. Actually, we should give more stress in worshiping the incarnation of sound vibration but whenever there is possibility of installing Deities and strictly following the regulations of worship, we shall do this, but the essential part of our activities is to worship the sound incarnation. Letter, 4 April 1971, Bombay
Yes, leave Krishna's plate for 15-20 minutes or more, not more than half an hour. After offering the plate, the balance in the pots should be distributed immediately. The plate can remain on the altar while the rest is being distributed. Letter, 25 January 1968, Los Angeles
As far as placing the Deity in the bed is concerned, if the Deity is large and heavy, it is not possible to move Him daily. It is better that a small Deity, which is also worshiped, be taken to the bed. This mantra should be chanted: agaccha sayana-sthanam priyabhih saha kesava. CC Madhya 24.334
By your unalloyed service to the Deities you are becoming more and more attracted to the spiritual world and seeing the material world as a condemned place of no happiness. So our business as Vaisnavas is to increase our natural attraction to Krsna and try to tell others about this great hopefulness to human life. Letter, 17 June 1974, Frankfurt
Radhakrishna shall be your life companion and thus you will be always secure from the attack of Maya. So also Hayagriva. The present mode of worship is quite alright, don't worry. You have seen in Vrindaban so do follow as much as possible. Decorate the Deity as nicely as possible with nice flowers and dress. You will forget all other false beauty. Letter, 22 October 1968, Seattle
Deity worship is for such persons who have ample time. The thing is, Deity worship is compulsory, and you can increase if you have got time to do so. But Mangala aratrik is essential (morning arati), and Sandharatrik (evening aratri) is essential, and offering of Prasadam to Deity is essential. And nice dress, decorating the Deity with sweet-smelling flowers, colorful and very opulent dresses, jewels, incense, etc., to make Them very brilliant and attractive, that is real Deity worship. Letter, 14 December 1968, Los Angeles
I am so glad to learn that you are feeling development of a bit of affection for Jagannatha by personal taking care, and that is the way of increasing our love of Godhead. Deity worship is the practical demonstration and hearing from the Spiritual Master is the nourishment of the idea. Letter, 27 December 1968, Los Angeles
These are the nine different procedures of bhakti-yoga. The first thing is sravanam. If we simply keep these Deities here, we may see. But if we don't hear about Him, then it will be hackneyed. Then it will be hackneyed. Just like in India it has become. Because they have given up the process of sravanam kirtanam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Lecture, 5 September 1972, New Vrindavan
If you produce milk, you should not drink milk very much. Rather, you should save it and convert it into ghee and then sell it to the householders and centers and thus maintain your asrama. The excess quantity of ghee may be exchanged by trade. Kirtana is our first duty. The Deity worship should be simple and the eating should be as meager as possible. Letter, 13 November 1975, Bombay