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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 11: Chapter 3: Verses 43-53
Avirhotra said : Actions enjoined by the scriptures, prohibitions as opposed to the former and transgressions of the prescribed ones are to be known only from the Vedas and are not (mere) secular affairs; and as the Vedas are the revelations of God,. (even) the
learned get confused in distinguishing the three kinds of actions. (If the Rsis did not reply to your question, obviously the reason was that at that time you were a mere lad and would not have understood the answer.) The Veda has a deeper import than what the words
apparently convey. The real purpose of the Veda is to secure exemption from actions and
their fruit but (obviously) temptations of gaining heaven through prescribed actions are held
out to the ignorant, just as a boy is tempted with sweets to swallow a (bitter) medicine.
One who is himself ignorant and has ho control over one's senses and fails to perform actions enjoined by the Vedas commits the sin of dereliction and passes from one death to another (that is, remains involved in the cycle of births and deaths). One who performs only
actions prescribed by the Vedas, without attachment to their fruits and surrendering them to the Lord, attains to that ultimate fulfilment, which means that knowledge which proceeds from
freedom from actions. The promise of fruits (as mentioned in the Vedas) is meant only to
create interest in actions (The prescribed actions and their fruits are described really for getting ultimately freedom from actions). (46)
Whoever wishes to snap quickly the knot of heart (viz., egotism-the sense of I and mine-and mistaking the body for the soul) in the soul, who is no other than the Supreme,should with He should observe cleanliness and then, sitting in front of the image, purify his body by controlling his breath and other practices and fortify himself by duly assigning the various parts of the body to different deities and worship the Lord. First he should purify the articles of worship (flowers etc., by removing insects and so on), the earth (by sweeping it), his own self (through calmness) and the image (by removing the coating of sandal-paste etc.), and thus. make them fit for worship. Then he should sprinkle water on his seat, keep
ready water for washing the hands and feet etc., of the Deity with and other articles. Then
with a concentrated mind (he should) invoke the Deity (in the image) and, having installed the Deity in his heart and other parts of the body, adore the Lord, with the available articles of worship, in the image etc., or in the heart chanting the fundamental sacred formula or Mantra. He should worship the image of the Deity including His (various) limbs as well as the emblems He wears (e. g., the discus Sudarsana etc.), and His retinue, (Sunanda and others), repeating the sacred syllables pertaining to that Deity, offering water for washing His hands and feet and rinsing His mouth, and so on, bathing the image, robing and decorating It with ornaments, offering Him sandal-paste, flowers, unbroken grains of rice (for adorning His forehead with), garland, incense, light and food. Thus worshipping the Lord with
His entourage well according to the prescribed rites, the devotee should sing hymns in praise
of Lord Sri Hari and prostrate himself (before the image). One should duly worship. the image of Sri Hari while thinking himself as permeated by the Lord; and then, placing the
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