Devanagari
यो मां सर्वेषु भूतेषु सन्तमात्मानमीश्वरम् ।
हित्वार्चां भजते मौढ्याद्भस्मन्येव जुहोति स: ॥ २२ ॥
Verse text
yo māṁ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
santam ātmānam īśvaram
hitvārcāṁ bhajate mauḍhyād
bhasmany eva juhoti saḥ
Synonyms
yaḥ
—
one who
;
mām
—
Me
;
sarveṣu
—
in all
;
bhūteṣu
—
living entities
;
santam
—
being present
;
ātmānam
—
the Paramātmā
;
īśvaram
—
the Supreme Lord
;
hitvā
—
disregarding
;
arcām
—
the Deity
;
bhajate
—
worships
;
mauḍhyāt
—
because of ignorance
;
bhasmani
—
into ashes
;
eva
—
only
;
juhoti
—
offers oblations
;
saḥ
—
he .
Translation
One who worships the Deity of Godhead in the temples but does not know that the Supreme Lord, as Paramātmā, is situated in every living entity’s heart, must be in ignorance and is compared to one who offers oblations into ashes.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
He who worships the deity while rejecting me, the Lord being present in all beings simply makes oblations into ashes (instead of fire).
Because he is the master, Kapila, to teach his devotees, scolds them. Similarly he calls the worshipper a donkey if he is attached to his land.
yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke
sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ
yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij
janeṣv abhijṣeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ
A human being who identifies this body made of three elements with his self, who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, who considers the land of birth worshipable, and who goes to the place of pilgrimage simply to take a bath rather than meet men of transcendental knowledge there, is to be considered like an ass or a cow. SB 10.84.13
Even some present day guru, seeing a trace of offence in other devotees, sometimes scolds his dear disciple who serves him well by saying “You serve me but your service is useless like ashes. You cause me only suffering.” Actually the sages never talk in this manner. It is also said:
arcāyām eva haraye pūjāṁ yaḥ śraddhayehate
na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu sa bhaktaḥ prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ
A devotee who faithfully engages in the worship of the Deity in the temple but does not behave properly toward other devotees or people in general is called a neophyte devotee. SB 11.2.47
Śrīdhara Svāmī explains: he does not behave well with the devotees and even with other people. Prākṛta means “new or unrefined in nature.” Now, in verse 25, it will be explained that the new, immature devotee gradually becomes the highest devotee.
Purport
It is stated clearly herein that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His plenary expansion of Supersoul, is present in all living entities. The living entities have 8,400,000 different kinds of bodies, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is living in every body both as the individual soul and as the Supersoul. Since the individual soul is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, in that sense the Lord is living in every body, and, as Supersoul, the Lord is also present as a witness. In both cases the presence of God in every living entity is essential. Therefore persons who profess to belong to some religious sect but who do not feel the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in every living entity, and everywhere else, are in the mode of ignorance.
If, without this preliminary knowledge of the Lord’s omnipresence, one simply attaches himself to the rituals in a temple, church or mosque, it is as if he were offering butter into ashes rather than into the fire. One offers sacrifices by pouring clarified butter into a fire and chanting Vedic
mantras,
but even if there are Vedic
mantras
and all conditions are favorable, if the clarified butter is poured on ashes, then such a sacrifice will be useless. In other words, a devotee should not ignore any living entity. The devotee must know that in every living entity, however insignificant he may be, even in an ant, God is present, and therefore every living entity should be kindly treated and should not be subjected to any violence. In modern civilized society, slaughterhouses are regularly maintained and supported by a certain type of religious principle. But without knowledge of the presence of God in every living entity, any so-called advancement of human civilization, either spiritual or material, is to be understood as being in the mode of ignorance.