durgam vinayakam vyasam

 visvaksenam gurun suran

sve sve sthane tv abhimukhan

 pujayet proksanadibhih

 

Translation: 

 

With offerings such as proksana one should worship Durga, Vinayaka, Vyasa, Visvaksena, the spiritual masters and the various demigods. All these personalities should be in their proper places facing the Deity of the Lord.

 

Purport: 

 

According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, the Ganesa and Durga mentioned in this verse are not the same personalities present within the material world; rather, they are eternal associates of the Lord in Vaikuntha. In this world Ganesa, the son of Lord Siva, is famous for awarding financial success, and the goddess Durga, the wife of Lord Siva, is famous as the external, illusory potency of the Supreme Lord. The personalities mentioned here, however, are eternally liberated associates of the Lord who reside in the spiritual sky, beyond the material manifestation. Srila Jiva Gosvami quotes from various Vedic literatures to prove that the name Durga may also indicate the internal potency of the Lord, who is nondifferent from Him. The external, or covering, potency of the Lord expands from this original Durga. The Durga of the material world, called Maha-maya, assumes the function of bewildering the living entities. Thus a devotee should not fear becoming polluted by worshiping the Durga mentioned here, who has the same name as illusion, but rather the devotee must show respect to these eternal servitors of the Supreme Lord in Vaikuntha.