Do devotees do idol worship?
If one was to take the question literally, yes devotees worship statues of God and His devotees. From the mentality and intention standpoint, devotees do not worship idols. God is indeed very merciful that He allows us to worship Him through His images, whether they are in statue form or picture form. Of course, the statue or picture has to be a true representation of the personality represented. Otherwise, that picture or statue is not authorized. A good analogy to help one understand this is by looking at a mailbox. Anyone can throw anything into the mailbox. If a mailman finds the envelope with the the right weight, proper addressing, and the properly stamped envelope, then he or she will accept this and deliver it. If these things aren’t there, then this is not considered mail and the mailman will reject it. Likewise, it is important to have authorized images of Krsna or His devotees, as these images are non-different from Him. Devotees also worship devotees of the Lord, as they ha
