Devanagari
अहं सर्वेषु भूतेषु भूतात्मावस्थित: सदा ।
तमवज्ञाय मां मर्त्य: कुरुतेऽर्चाविडम्बनम् ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
ahaṁ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
bhūtātmāvasthitaḥ sadā
tam avajṣāya māṁ martyaḥ
kurute ’rcā-viḍambanam
Synonyms
aham
—
I
;
sarveṣu
—
in all
;
bhūteṣu
—
living entities
;
bhūta
—
ātmā — the Supersoul in all beings
;
avasthitaḥ
—
situated
;
sadā
—
always
;
tam
—
that Supersoul
;
avajṣāya
—
disregarding
;
mām
—
Me
;
martyaḥ
—
a mortal man
;
kurute
—
performs
;
arcā
—
of worship of the Deity
;
viḍambanam
—
imitation .
Translation
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.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
I, the soul of all beings, am always situated in all beings. He who disrespects me in all beings performs false worship of my deity form.
However, in such bhakti, offence creates restriction. Offence generally stems from disrespect to the great devotees. Though such devotees are difficult to see, many exist. In order to avoid offences to them, one should pay respects to all living entities, thinking that the Lord is present in all of them. Without doing so, even worshiping the deity forms of the Lord will not give any result. Since he is the Supreme Lord, Kapila then speaks in six verses somewhat angrily, out of affection, to benefit his devotee who does not respect all beings. In these verses disrespect, disregard, hatred and criticism are forbidden. This person performs imitation worship of my deity forms (arcā-viḍambaṇam).
Purport
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. To serve everything means to engage everything in the service of Kṛṣṇa. If a person is innocent and does not know his relationship with Kṛṣṇa, an advanced devotee should try to engage him in the service of Kṛṣṇa. One who is advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness can engage not only the living being but everything in the service of Kṛṣṇa.