Then Muktãnand Swãmi asked, "Mahãrãj, a devotee who serves God by offering beautiful clothes, jewellery, various types of food, etc., also desires to please God. Yet, you are saying that one can only please God through austerities. What, then, is inappropriate about pleasing God through such offerings, without resorting to austerities?"

Shriji Mahãrãj replied, "If the person who is offering bhakti to God with such lavish objects does so without any desires, solely for the purpose of earning God's pleasure, then it is all right. If, on the other hand, he is tempted by those objects, viewing them to be God's prasãd, and, leaving God aside, if he develops affection for those objects, then by indulging in the vishays, he will become engrossed in them and corrupted by them - that is what is inappropriate…"
 

[Kãriyãni-10]