The Māyāvādī, Śaṅkarites, they have made a hodgepodge. They have made so much blunder in understanding the Vedic conclusion. Misleading, simply. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu has especially warned that, "Anyone who hears about the Māyāvāda commentation, he's doomed." He's gone forever, lost. He will have no understanding, either this way or that. The Vedas, they give us information of the demigods, but they are not imagination. And neither Kṛṣṇa is imagination. The Māyāvāda says everything is imagination. So the Bhāgavata is giving this direction. Bhāgavata means Vyāsadeva is giving direction, that "If you want this profit, then worship this demigod." So he's playing childish, foolish things? He's giving some wrong information? Imagination? What business he has got to do that?
But these Māyāvādī rascals will say that, "The demigods are also māyā, Kṛṣṇa is also māyā, everything is māyā." Therefore we call them Māyāvādī: everything māyā; kṛṣṇa-bhakti is māyā. They say it is good for raising oneself to the platform of impersonalism. Their process is that you, if you want to go higher platform, you take one staircase and get on it and then throw it away. Because you don't require to come down again. That is their philosophy. So you take any means. The Ramakrishna Mission also says like that: yata mata tata patha. "You can worship brahma-varcasa, you can worship Devī-māyā; you can worship Vasūn; you can worship Rudra; you can worship anyone; ultimately, you become one with the Supreme." Most misguiding. Here it is . . . but if you want this particular thing, then you worship this.
In the Bhagavad-gītā also, it is confirmed, yānti deva-vratā devān pitṟn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ (BG 9.25): demigod worshipers will go to the demigods. There are different planets. Thirty-three crores of demigods, and there are thirty-three crores of planets also. The moon planet, according to Vedic literature, that is also one of the planet belonging to the demigod Candra. It is one of the higher planets. So this is the list. If you want something particular . . . if you want to merge into the effulgence, brahma-jyotir, then you worship . . . yajeta brahmaṇaḥ patim. Brahmaṇaḥ. Brahman means also Vedas, śabda-brahma. Tene brahma hṛdā, in the Bhāgavata, beginning. Brahman means this sound, transcendental sound of knowledge. That is Veda. So there is Upaniṣad. So Upaniṣad, they generally, those who are scholars in the Upaniṣad, they want to become one with the . . . so that is not a very difficult thing. Anyone can do that. There is a process.
But we Vaiṣṇavas, we do not accept that suicidal policy. We want to keep our individuality, not merge. We don't want to finish our identity. Our real identity is eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa: jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa (CC Madhya 20.108-109). So we want to keep that identity, and we want to serve Him eternally. Eternally means now we are in this material world, we are being trained up how to serve Kṛṣṇa. This Deity worship, this is a training. The same thing will continue when you go to Vaikuṇṭha or Vṛndāvana. The same way we shall personally serve. Here, Kṛṣṇa . . . this is also personally. But due to my imperfectness, I cannot see Kṛṣṇa in His actual spiritual form, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). Therefore Kṛṣṇa has assumed a form which you can approach. It is for your facility. And Kṛṣṇa, in any form He appears, He is transcendental, either this form or that form. Nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ (CC Madhya 17.133). Everything.
That is Kṛṣṇa's speciality. He can appear . . . just like if you have got a photograph of some of your friend, so you cannot derive the benefit of directly meeting him. But in Kṛṣṇa's form, if you have a Kṛṣṇa's photograph, it is as good as Kṛṣṇa. That is the difference. You can get the same benefit from the photograph picture of Kṛṣṇa as you get benefit by directly meeting Him. Therefore, meeting this photograph, Deity of Kṛṣṇa, is as good as Kṛṣṇa. Advaya-jñāna, nonduality. Here in this material world there is duality, but in the spiritual world, there is no such duality.
Brahmā-varcasa-kāmas tu yajeta brahmaṇaḥ patim, indram, indram, indriya-kāmas (SB 2.3.2). Indriya means senses. Those who are too much lusty satisfy simply . . . the most important indriya is the genital, sex. So for them, it is recommended that, "You worship Indra." Indra, the demigod, he is number-one sexually inclined demigod. He has got eyes, eyes over all his body. Śata-cakṣuṁṣi. These eyes were originally vagina. He was cursed by Gautama Muni that, "You are so fond of vagina that I curse you that you get all over your body vagina." Then, when he surrendered, he began to cry that "It will be very much, I mean to say, abominable for me." Then he asked, offered, that "These vagina may be turned into eyes." Therefore his body is full of eyes. Śata-cakṣuṁṣi.