Take the Lord to be your father or mother, but only as a first step to your overstepping that relationship and merging in the absolute. Do not stop on the steps; enter the Mansion to which they lead. The Atma-sambandha (connection with the Soul) is the-everlasting unchanging sambandha (association). As a first step, you use the flower, the lamp, the incense, etc., to worship the Saguna (attributeful) form. Soon, your bhakti moves on to newer forms of dedication, newer offerings, purer and more valuable and worthier of your Lord. No one sticks to the slate for long; you feel that you should place before the Lord something more lasting than mere flowers; and something more yours than incense. You feel like purifying yourselves and making your entire life one fragrant flame. That is real worship, real bhakti. Do not come to Me with your hands full of trash, for how can I fill them with Grace when they are already full? Come with empty hands and carry away My treasure, My prema. (SSS Vol.2, p. 66)

Agastya said, ‘I desire that you stay in this hermitage, with Sita and Lakshmana. That is the only boon I ask for. I prefer always to worship your Attributeful Form, not your Attributeless Principle. That is what I believe in and teach. That is my Ideal, my favourite Goal, my Aspiration.

‘Therefore, grant me this boon. It is your sport, to elevate your servants, and yourself to slide into the background as if you are innocent of anything and ignorant of everything! But do not elevate me. Do not ask me for directions. My duty is to assent and accept your wishes and to follow your footsteps. Father! Do not inveigle me into your Maya, and delude me into egoism, making me the target of your sport.’ (RKRV Part II, p. 15)