Some people think that they can do any kind of inferior acts and later go to a tirtha (holy place), perform some prescribed ceremonies, and all their sins will be forgiven. This is a misconception. A tirtha is a holy place, not because of the temples that exist there, but because of the presence of holy people. If holy people live in a place, that place will become a tirtha, even if there are no temples there. On the other hand, if there are a lot of temples in a place but unholy people gather there, the tirtha will vanish.
The real essence of devotion is being pure and doing good to others. If one sees God only in His image, one’s devotion is at a very early stage, but if one sees God in the weak, the poor, and the downtrodden, one’s devotion is greater. The biggest test of devotion is unselfishness. Those who have more of this are more spiritual and nearer to God, irrespective of whether they are learned in scriptures or ignorant, or whether they know the ceremonies of worship or not.
A selfish person might have prayed at all temples, visited all tirthas, and performed all kinds of ceremonies, but they will still be farther from God. External worship is a symbol of internal worship, which is vastly more important. God is more pleased with the person who helps others without caring about their gender, caste, or religion than with the person who only visits temples.
Swami Vivekananda used to tell a story about a rich man who had a garden. He had appointed two gardeners to take care of his garden. The first gardener was very lazy and did not do any work, but whenever the rich man visited his garden, he would promptly get up and greet him. He would sing praises of his master in various ways and even dance in front of him. The second gardener did not speak much. He kept himself busy tending to the various fruits and vegetables growing in the garden. He took good care of them and, when they were ripe, would pluck them and carry them on his head to the master’s house, which was a long way off.
Then Swami Vivekananda would ask the audience: Which of these two gardeners would the master be happier with? God is the master, the world is His garden, and we are His gardeners. If someone is doing nothing but singing the praises of God and dancing in front of Him while treating His creations with disdain, and someone else sees God in each of His creations and helps the needy as much as they can, who will God be more pleased with?
