Worshiping Demigods Works But…
“Men in this world desire success in fruitive activities, and therefore they worship the demigods. Quickly, of course, men get results from fruitive work in this world.” (Bhagavad Gita 4.12)
Many people get confused when it comes to God and the demigods. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and He is param-isvara, the Supreme Controller and there can never be any other controller equal to or greater than Krishna. However there are many other isvaras or controllers in the universe who have varying degrees of power over different departments of the universal management.
Actually Krishna is not directly engaged in managing the affairs of the material world. Krishna is, of course, all-cognizant, so He is conscious of everything that is going on, and Krishna is all-powerful so He can do anything that He wants to at any time. Ultimately therefore Krishna is in control of everything however He is not directly connected with managing the affairs of the material world. Krishna has more important business: dancing with the gopis and playing with His cowherd boyfriends and cows and calves in the forests of Vrindavan. He has no interest in personally managing the affairs of the material world.
So, to ensure the affairs of the material world go on nicely Krishna has appointed many managers for all the different departments that need to be looked after in the material world. Krishna’s managers in the material world are called ‘demigods’. The demigods are all devotees of Krishna but they still have some material attachments therefore they are still trapped in the material world. However because the demigods are devotees they get promoted to the higher planets in the universe where they can live a very long life and enjoy a very high standard of material sense gratification and they are also given great positions of power and responsibility over various departments requiring managing in the material world.
In this way Krishna delegates the management of the affairs of this and the many other universes in the material world to His devotees who still have some material attachments so He can simply enjoy in Vrindavan.
Actually these demigods are just like us. They are ordinary living entities like you and me but as a result of their performance of sacrifices and practice of austerities they have been elevated to the higher planets and have been given positions of power and responsibility by Krishna. It is just like if a whole group of young men start working for a particular company they are all the same in the beginning but some will become very successful and be promoted in the company and become managers and get powerful positions and some will not.
So the demigods are like the successful workers in the company who have been promoted to high management positions. In reality there is no difference between the managers in the company and the ordinary workers. It is just that the managers, as a result of there hard work and dedication to the company, have been promoted to the high management positions.
But Krishna is not like that. Krishna is always Krishna — The Supreme Personality of Godhead.
He does not have to work to advance in the universal management system and fight his way to the top like the demigods have to. No. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead eternally. He is always on the top. And Krishna is actually all-powerful, whatever He desires immediately happens. The demigods are not like that. Krishna has given them some authority over some department so in that department they have some power but they have no power in other departments and they have no power to grant anyone liberation from the material world.
For example Lord Indra is the King of Heaven and he is in charge of the clouds and weather and lightning. So Indra is very wealthy and lives on his heavenly planet with his associates in a very opulent and comfortable way and he has power over the weather — that is the service Krishna has given him. So if one wants to be blessed with good weather so his agricultural activities will be a success he may worship Lord Indra for this purpose and because Indra is the controller of the weather if Indra is pleased he can send the clouds to that farmers place and give nice rains so his agricultural activities are successful. Also if one worships Indra and thinks of him at the time of death he can be transferred to the heavenly planet that Indra lives on and live a very comfortable life there.
But Lord Indra’s powers are very limited. Beyond controlling the weather and ruling over his heavenly planet he does not have any authority anywhere else. And his authority is given to him by Krishna. So with a little contemplation one can see that there are many millions of demigods in charge of the countless departments in the material world that effect us in our day-to-day lives. So if we want to worship demigods to satisfy them individually one-by-one that will be a very difficult task. In India there are people who try to do this. They have a huge list of demigods and try to worship them all for different boons or benefits.
The benedictions of the demigods are strictly limited to material benefits. They can not give spiritual benefits because they themselves are not liberated from the material world. Even though the demigods live on planets with a standard of living far, far higher than the standard of living we have on earth, still they have material bodies which will also get old, get sick and die. They may live for fabulously long periods of time but ultimately their material bodies will also get old, get sick and die.
In India there is a great misconception about these gods or demigods of this material world and men of less intelligence, although passing as great scholars, take these demigods to be various forms of the Supreme Lord. They make no distinction between Krishna and the material demigods considering that worship of any of the ‘gods’ is equal to the worship of Krishna.
Actually, as we have discovered, the demigods are not different forms of God, but they are all Gods different parts and parcels–just like we are. God is one and the parts and parcels are many. The Vedas say: nityo nityanam: God is one and isvara parama krsnah: “The Supreme God is one–Krishna”. The demigods are delegated with powers by Krishna so they can manage this material world. The demigods are living entities like us with different grades of material power. They can never be equal to the Supreme God–Narayana, Vishnu or Krishna.
Anyone who thinks that God and the demigods are on the same level is called an atheist, or pasandi. Even the great demigods like Brahma and Shiva can not be compared to the Supreme Lord. In fact the Lord is worshiped by the demigods such as Brahma and Shiva (siva-virinci-nutam). The demigods are powerful men within this material world in the same way that the President of the United States is a powerful man in this world. In our experience we see that many human leaders are worshiped by foolish men with the idea that through that worship and service they will get some material benefit from the great leader. People are working hard in their company worshiping and trying to please their ‘boss’ so they will get promoted within the company and earn more money. That is demigod worship. The ‘boss’ is a person who has achieved a higher position in the company by worshiping the company leaders and serving them and performing austerities like working hard and doing overtime without pay… As a result he has advanced in the company and has some power and authority over a small section of the company. Worshiping the boss at work and worshiping demigods like Brahma, Shiva, Indra, Kali, Durga, etc. is EXACTLY the same thing. Just like worshiping the boss at work will not help you at all spiritually, but it may help to increase your pay packet a little, worshiping the demigods can not help you spiritually but it may provide some temporary material benefits.
However Narayana, Vishna or Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, does not belong to this world. He is above, or transcendental to material creation. Even Sripada Sankacharaya, the leader of the impresonalists, maintains that Narayana or Krishna is beyond this material creation.
Foolish people worship the demigods because they want immediate results. They get the results, but they do not know that the results so obtained are temporary and are meant for less intelligent persons. The intelligent person is in Krishna consciousness and he has no need to worship the paltry demigods for some immediate, temporary benefit.
The demigods of this material world, as well as their worshipers, will vanish with the annihilation of this material world. The boons or benedictions of the demigods are material and temporary. Both the material worlds and their inhabitants, including the demigods and their worshipers, are bubbles in the cosmic ocean.
In this world human society is mad after temporary things such as the material opulence of possessing land, family and enjoyable paraphernalia and to achieve these things they worship demigods or powerful men in human society. If a man gets some ministership in the government by worshiping a political leader, he considers that he has achieved a great boon.
So we find everywhere in this world that people are worshiping the so-called leaders or “big guns” in order to get temporary benefits, and they actually achieve such things. Such foolish men are not interested in Krishna consciousness for the permanent solution to the hardships of material existence. They are all after sense enjoyment and to get a little facility for sense enjoyment they are attracted to worship empowered living entities known as demigods.
This verse indicates that people are rarely interested in Krishna consciousness. Generally they are mostly interested in material enjoyment and therefore they worship some powerful living entity in an attempt to achieve this…
About the Author
Madhudvisa dasa My first contact with a Hare Krishna was a most merciful Mataji in Oxford Street, London who sold me a "Higher Taste" cook book in 1984 while I was on holidays there. I started seriously reading Srila Prabhupada's books in Australia 1985 and by 1986 Srila Prabhupada had convinced me "Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead" and "we should surrender to Krishna." I joined the Hare Krishnas in Perth, Western Australia in 1986. Since then I have been chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, reading and distributing Srila Prabhupada's books and preaching as much as I can. That's my life and full-time occupation now really. I like it more than anything I've ever experienced before. Srila Prabhupada's books are so amazing... Even after reading them all many times they're still fresh and new. They are truly transcendental! That's it really. Now I'm just hankering to once again see the world chant Hare Krishna, dance and feast and float away in the ecstasy of Lord Caitanya's Sankirtana movement as it did in Srila Prabhupada's physical presence. Let the whole world drown in the ecstatic flood of love of Krishna!
Related Posts
The Cleansing of the Gundica Temple →
We Are Not These Bodies →
Srila Prabhupada’s Original Krsna Book Now On-Line →
Hare krsna Madhudvisa prabhu,I am worshiping Lord Shiva By going to his temples,Offering prayers,Worshipping him,circumbulating ,and offering humble obeisances ,to help me connected to krishna consciousness and also to remove all obstacles in krsna consciousness.It is said in Krsna book that If someone offers Ganges water or humble obeisances,Mahadeva(Lord Shiva) is easily pleased.Before coming to krsna consciousness, I was a Staunch athiest and never believed in god.But I cant believed that Big Bang theory-The Universe was a ball, it exploded leading to wide dispersal of condensed cooling gas consisting of Hydrogen and Helium which formed the Sun,Stars and planets.It is also highly insane to believe that life originated from chemicals.
I thought there must be Supreme controller,and I went to Shiva temples many times and prayed to him for knowledge. I Studied many Stotras and searched many articles of Lord Shiva,One day I carefully noted the contents in Bhaja govindam of Adi Shankaracharya and After few days I got connected to Srila prabhupad and Krishna consciousness.
Lord Shiva was my vartma pradaskara guru,Do u think Is it OK to Worship him for removing obstacles in krsna consciousness by offering Srimad Bhagavatam 8th canto prayers glorifying Him.
Madhudvisa prabhu,It is very difficult to follow strictly the instructions of Lord Shiva
His Few Instructions are
1.Better than the Worship of Lord Vishnu , Is the worship of His Devotees
2.Body and navel of Beautiful women are made of Fat,stool and blood,and try to ponder over real Truth
3.The whole World remains prey to Ego,Disease and Grief,Renounce all temporary things and strictly devote ur life to Lord Govinda.
4.Be content with everything in this life according to ur actions in the past
5.Chanting Hari mantra always and hearing pasttimes of lord Vishnu is the only remedy for dangerous atmosphrreof kali yuga.
These things are very complex as lusty desires on women are not leaving from heart,even though i am chanting Hare krsna mantra.Problems is Lack of krsna prasadam and bad association,but i am trying to learn cooking.
Can worshiping Lord Shiva helps me to get rid of obstacles in krsna consciousness?
There is no need to worship demigods. Simply surrender to Srila Prabhupada, pray for his mercy, and serve him. It is only through the mercy of a pure devotee of Krishna that we can get the mercy of Krishna, there is no other way.
In the Nectar of Devotion , Srila Prabhupada has given one of the instructions as to worship Ganesha(I think in respect to increasing our devotional service…. not able to find that sentence now).
While in his oral Instructions he has instructed not to ( I guess that’s what he meant to say when he asked his disciples to pay him a lot of money if they’re worshipping Ganesha).
When I see the diety of Ganesha , I just pray” Please engage me in Srila Prabhupada’s devotional sevice”. In fact that’s what I pray to all the demigods whenever I happen to see them ( because that’s what you see every few meters in india) and even to Krishna. But am i not supposed to even pray like this to ganesha (or the other demigods) . If so I’ll stop it?
2) Is it called “deity” of ganesha or “idol” of ganesha since he is not absolute like Krishna ? But I am sure that Srila Prabhupada is present in his photo and deity form. But is it even true for the demigods? Are they actually present in their idols or are the demigod devotees worshiping just stone? ( Got the doubt because they aren’t transcendental or absolute…)
3) Sometimes told that if we offer the Krishna prasadam (which was offered to Srila Prabhupada) to Ganesha it becomes Maha Maha prasadam … Is it true? If so should we be doing it?
There is no need to worship Ganesh or any of the other demigods. We simply worship Krishna and that automatically includes worship of all the demigods.
However we accept Lord Ganesh as a devotee of Krishna and offer him all respects as a devotee of Krishna. So there is no need for any worship of Ganesh. We can offer him obeisances and respects if we see him of course.
Hare Krishna
I made a promise to worship krishna and then demigods out of respect to help me on my path to krishna conciousness but realise that there is no need to worship the demigods as worshipping krishna pleases all of the demi gods, I am worried if it is okay to pray to demi gods to help you on your path towards krishna if you are thinking about getting initiated and stop praying to the demi gods as promised, will it be offensive as i would like to pray to srila prabupada, a pure devotee to help me on my path to lord krishna instead of the demi gods. What is the right thing that i should do without offending any demi god?
The right thing is to worship Krishna, not the demigods. There is no need at all to worship the demigods. But if we go to a temple of a demigod for example we will offer our obeisances and respect. We see the demigods as devotees. But demigods can not help us actually in our attempts to advance in Krishna consciousness. Demigods themselves, although they are devotees, they are materialistic devotees. Means they still have material attachments, they are still within the material world. The demigods themselves are conditioned souls, they are not liberated themselves. So they can not help us become liberated.
All demigods can do is offer some material benediction within the scope of their authority.
So demigods can not help us advance in Krishna consciousness. They are only for the foolish materialists who want material benefits.
So there is no need whatsoever to worship demigods.
So just worship Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, of course you can pray to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, but really devotees only prayer is ‘please engage me in your service’. And of course when Srila Prabhupada and Krishna give us service WE HAVE TO ACTUALLY DO THE SERVICE…
It is devotional service. So Krishna consciousness means we have to use our time, energy, money, life, words; everything, in the service of Krishna. So we pray to be engaged in the service of Krishna and then we serve Krishna under the direction of His pure devotees..
Madhudvisa prabhu,Then what about Sungodvivasvan,is he not a pure devotee of lord krsna?, Lord krsna taught bhagavad gita to 2 great devotees,sun god and Arjuna.And then Lord Shiva,He is a numberoe vaishnava,mahajana, cant we offer our respects to Sun god and Lord Shiva,to help advance in krsna consciousness.Cant they help anyoneto connect to srila prabhupad,if we pray to them sincerely for real goal of life.
Lord Shiva has said in SB 4th canto
Yah paramaramhasa saksat
trigunat
jiva samjnitat
bhagavantam vasudevam prapannah sa priyo hi me
Anyonewo has surrendered to supreme lord krsna who is the controller of all jivas and material nature is very dear to me.
Srila prabhupad has also said that there is no harm in worshipping demigods if the aim is approaching Lord Krsna.Lord Shiva always meditates and glorifies Lord Ananta deva who is expansion of lord Balarama.In kali yuga Lord Balarama incarnated as Nityananda prabhu,and srila prabhupad is his pure servant.Cant it happent surrender to srila prabhupad by sincerely worshipping lord Shiva for real goalof life.?
Yes. Of course. We can offer respects to the demigods. In fact ever devotee does that. If he visits a place where they are worshiping a demigod he will go there and offer respects to that demigod and respect the demigod as a devotee of Krishna. This is the proper understanding. That all the demigods are devotees of Krishna, servants of Krishna, so we can certainly respect them as devotees of Krishna. This is what Lord Brahma is doing in many verses in Brahma-Samhita, you read that and you will see he is offering respects to different demigods in different verses in regard to their relationship as devotees of Krishna. But there is no need to worship demigods separately from worshiping Krishna. Because worshiping Krishna includes everything, worshiping Krishna includes worshiping Krishna. So we just need to concentrate on worshiping Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, nothing else.
The demigod worshipers do not worship the demigods in this mood. They worship the demigods to get some material benefit within the material world. They want money, they want a nice wife, they want fame, they want profit, they want adoration. So they worship the material demigods for these material benefits.
Actually really demigods can only give material benefits. Yes they are devotees, but materialistic devotees, not pure devotees. They are demigods in the material world because they still have material desires. So even the demigods are not free from the material world, they are not liberated, so they can not really help us become pure devotees of Krishna, because they are not pure devotees of Krishna themselves. Of course Suriya Narayana, is incarnation of Visnu, Lord Shiva is in his own category, more-or-less Visnu, but in touch with the material energy, Lord Brahma is in a very special position, particularly since his incident with Krishna in Vrindavan that you can read about in Krsna book, so since then Lord Brahma is a pure devotee, etc. So there are some special cases among the demigods of course. But the general understanding is they are materialistic devotees because they are still here, stuck in the material world, they have not gone back home, back to Godhead, which is the destination of the pure devotees.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krushna Why ved vyasji created so many purans if krshna is supreme lord in each and every purans we found them supereme lord or lordess like in bhavishya puran surya is supereme lord ganesh puran ganesha shiv puran shiva and many other purans says abt
He created bhagvat mahapuran also full of avtar stories
All is confusion for person who reads anyways my quistion is we have gotra kuldevi kuldevta etc and jyotish shastra etc what is effecting our mind from generations what should we do to krishna says his part is the jiva who is living on earth in each and every one so why we should not worship all if our vision see lord krishna in everyone i mean while worshiping shiva i see krishna in shivling and for me my guru is supereme lord who is krishna shiva para brahma becz he is dharan karta of param purush in his heart so we should leave guru also answer me if u can
Hare krishna
Yes. Srila Vyasadeva had the same thoughts and problems in his mind after writing all these books. He approached his spritual master, Srila Narada Muni and asked him why, after writing so many Purnas, Upanisads, Vedanta Sutra, etc, he was still not satisfied.
So Narada Muni said all these books were more-or-less useless because although he mentions Krishna, they are not primarily glorifying and describing the pastimes of Krishna. So Narada Muni instructed Srila Vyasadeva to write Srimad-Bhagavatam to simply glorify Krishna and present the process of pure devotional service.
So read Srimad-Bhagavatam, then you will no longer be bewlidered and confused.
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa Dasa ;
So after reading this article exemplary article , it just struck me that so many of us chant mantras..so is it wrong to chant mantras of any demi-god , because I realised the importance of chanting Hare Krishna mantra but at the same time most mantras praise the gods and ask them for their blessings in the form of some MATERIALISTIC GAIN such as money , knowledge etc. I am myself am an aspirant and would love to gain knowledge due to which I recently started chanting Saraswati mantra with the divine aim to gain knowledge through WHICH I can educate the world with , also at times I ask the supreme Lord to bestow me with plenty is wealth in order to do charity and help the poverty-stricken…though, to some extend my ideas might seem materialistic but they’re solely for a good purpose and not to my own greed , as for me I want nothing but the blessings of the supreme Lord himself ,hopefully you’d shed light to my doubts..reply ASAP,
Yours truly ,
Aaditya ☺
Hare Krishna Aaditya
Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita that only fools and unintelligent pray to the demigods because the benedictions of the demigods are materialistic, temporary and of no actual value.
So what is the point? Why waste your time praying to Mother Sarasvati when you can hear the absolute from Srila Prabhupada by reading his books and hearing his lectures.
So demigod worship is only for fools and unintelligent persons.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
It is said that in bhagavat gita chapter 9 sloka 23
even those devotees who faithfully worship other gods also worship me. But they do so by the wrong method.
But I have a doubt If we worship Lord Shiva is it also wrong method?
Bcoz there is a belief in kashi that those who will die in kashi will get Moksha (liberation)
Is it a fake one?
Or there are millions of people who worship only Shiva not bcoz they hate vishnu
But they are connected to lord Shiva
There heart dwells in the name of lord Shiva
Those who are the devotees of only lord Shiva
After death where these souls will go?
Will they get Moksha? Or will they be in kalias (Shivas abode)
Or will they be mingled in Shiva
Where do these souls go?
I’m asking this bcoz you said that foolish people only worship Demi gods
For material pleasure
And you are also saying that The demigods are also non liberated spirit souls like us. They are devotees of course, but not completely pure devotees, otherwise they would not still be in the material world. The demigods themselves have many material desires, so by worshiping the demigods you are only going to increase your material desires.
So that means you are saying Lord Shiva is also non-liberated soul like us
So lord Shiva has also many material desires
So if we worship Lord Shiva we will increase material desires
But why bhakta kanappa and manjunatha( Lord Shiva great devotee)
Got liberation
Is this stories are fake?
Where do these souls go those who only worship Lord Shiva?
Hare Krishna Naveen
Lord Shiva is called Bhutanatha, he is worshiped by the materialists who are ghosts and demons. People worship Lord Shiva for sex, for drugs, for money, etc. Lord Shiva takes charge of the living entities who are in the mode of ignorance.
So the people who worship Lord Shiva stay in the material world.
Yes. Lord Shiva is the greatest Vaisnava. So he is very happy if his followers take to worshiping Lord Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
In email it is written supreme – narayana , Vishnu or Krishna. Then why Lord rama name is not written?? He is also an incarnation!! Of Krishna according to bhagvatam puran
So many incarnations are there. You can not mention them all. But Krishna includes all of them.
What are the names of Krsna and Shiva in Chinese and Greek Mythology and how do people living in other countries reach spiritual world?
They chant Hare Krishna… Go there and tell them! In Kali-yuga chanting Hare Krishna is the only way.
Hare Krishna Sir…
Now I know that worshipping demigods again entangles us in the clutches of illusion.
When our pure consciousness awakens, then gradually we come to know that love for Krishna is our highest benefit.
I pray to my Krishna to eternally keep me busy in his loving devotional service, as its my ultimate duty and goal.
Hare Krishna…..
Hare Krishna,
just last few weeks i started listening hare Krishna cheanting , i feel so divine inside and happy what is the next step i have to do?
regards
Praveen Menon
Chant Hare Krishna mantra yourself. First is hearing, then comes chanting…
Hare Krishna,
I agree with this idea of worshipping lord krishna and no need of going to any demigod.but my concern is if any demi god worship(in my case Ganesh Chaturthi) is a family tradition coming to us from generations,do i have to stop it also? also hindu scriptures say that Lord ganesha is to be worshipped first.
What is appropriate action to be done by Krishna devotees in such cases.(such demigod worship happens only once or twice a year).
Hare Krishna Vishal
As Vaisnavas we offer respect to everyone. Even we offer respect to an ant, knowing that Lord Krishna is present also within the heart of the ant. So what to speak of Ganeshji?
But we understand that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the demigods are not. The demigods are servants of Krishna. So as we worship and offer respect to the devotees of Krishna we can also worship and offer respect to the demigods. We can pray to Lord Ganesh to remove the obstacles on our path to Krishna consciousness.
But you know it very well that is not traditionally what Indians do when they worship Ganesh and other demigods. They want money and all sorts of other material benedictions that they think will make them happy in the material world. As you probably know Krishna condems this type of demigod worship in the Bhagavad-gita, karmas tais hrta jnana, they are fools whose knowledge has been taken away.
So it is very foolish to worship demigods in the way they are generally worshiped by the Indians, asking for some material benefit form them. That is not to be done. But if you truly want to ask Lord Ganesh for his blessings to remove the obstacles in your path to Krishna, then it is OK, but if you want to worship Ganesh to get rich then forget it.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
In this newsletter demigods are considered as the managers of a company. A common worker must know the duties and responsibilities of a manager for becoming a perfect owner of a company. Isn’t it? Hence I feel that a common worker will have a kind of admiration towards a manager. But that admiration will not cause to become a manager instead of the owner of the company. But to become an owner of a company is not easy for a common worker in that company. But hard work will lead him to become an owner in the course of time.
Hare Krishna
Yes. Demigods are jiva’s, living entities, just like us. Only they have some very high qualification. So we can also be promoted to the position of a demigod if we have the qualification. But devotees have no interest in being promoted to the planets of the demigods where we can live very long lives and enjoy a far higher standard of material life than is possible on earth. Because the heavenly planets are also within the material world. They are not spiritual. And all the problems of the material world including birth, old age, disease and death also exist in the heavenly planets. So devotees have no interest in going to the heavenly planets. No. They want to go back home, back to Godhead. They want to go to the spiritual world, to Krishna’s planet Goloka Vrindvan where they can serve Krishna in association with the other devotees.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu. I had one question related to demigods especially about Lord Shiva. There is a bigger explanation of the “birth of Lord Brahma from the Lotus grown from the Navel Lake of Garbhodakasayi Visnu who resides in the Garbhodaka Ocean on the Serpent Bed with Goddess Lakshmi his Consort” in Srimad Bhagavatam and also in other Books like Bhagavad Gita As It Is and also in Brahma Samhita. But there is no explanation of how Lord Shiva was born or expanded from Lord Sri Krishna, The Supreme Personality of God Head. I have a very big doubt in this. Can you explain me how Lord Shiva was born from Lord Sri Krishna. This is my doubt Prabhu. Thank You very much Prabhu. Hare Krishna…
Lord Shiva was born out of the anger of Lord Brahma when the Four Kumaras decided to become life-long Brahmacaris. That is described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. You can read it there.
So important a point you explain in that newsletter: few people are attracted by worshipping Krishna because of lower spiritual intelligence! Thanks! Hare Krishna!
To become Krishna’s devotee can we worship demigods like Devotee of Lord Rama ‘Hanuman’.
Hanuman is not a demigod. He is a devotee of Lord Rama. So yes. We can worship and pray to the devotees of the Lord.
It is not necessary to worship the demigods. But worshiping the demigods, understanding that they are devotees of Krishna, and praying to them for their blessings that we can also become nice devotees of Krishna is OK.
My humble obeisances to Spiritual Master and all the devotees of Lord Sri Krishna.
Moreover worshipping demigods are within the modes of material existence. Only Vishnu/Narayana/Krishna are above the modes and we have to go beyond modes of material nature or we have to transcend the modes and serve Krishna to be eligible for entry into spiritual kingdom and even the so called material benediction cannot be sanctioned by the demigods without the approval of Krishna.
Hi Prabhu,
If demigods are not pure devotees of Lord Krishna, then why Lord Krishna says in Bhagavat Gita that Brahma and Lord Shiva are mahatmas and Mahajan? Mahatma means a pure devotee and Prabhupada says in one of his lectures that mahatmas are very rare and are pure devotees serving Lord Krishna in some capacity as per HIS desire… So how can they have material desires? Its a little bit confusing…Please clarify. Thanks
Hare Krishna Reena
Mahatma means ‘great soul’. Maha means great and atma means soul. Demigods, while not being pure devotees, are also great souls undoubtedly.
The whole concept of a demigod means he must have material attachment. And one who has material attachment is not a pure devotee. One who does not have material attachment has no interest in becoming a demigod.
Of course sometimes even Krisha takes the post of Brahma when there is no suitable living entity to be Brahma. And sometimes a pure devotee of Krishna may descend from the spiritual world to take the post of some demigod for some purpose. So these things are not cut and dried. Spiritual life is individual and personal so there will be so many different possibilities.
As far as Lord Brahma you can see if you read Srila Prabhupada’s Krsna Book that initially he did not understand the position of Krishna in Vrindavan but later, you can read the details in Krsna Book, he realized that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and surrendered to Krishna. So at that point Lord Brahma became a pure devotee of Krishna. But demigods are demigods because they have material desires. It is to fulfill material desires that one becomes a demigod. So by definition demigods are not pure devotees of Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna pravhu.i am very previlaged of getting email from a scholar like you.so please keep sending mail on various krishna topic.DANDABAT PRAVHU TAKE CARE.
Is Goddess Laxmi a Demi God????
Goddess Lakshmi is the consort of Lord Narayana. So being in connection with Narayana Lakshmi is completely spiritual. She is an expansion of Narayana. Like Radha is an expansion of Krishna, so Radha is completely spiritual.
Mother Lakshmi can not be worshipped without Narayana. And real Lakshmi is never found separate from Narayana. So if one wants Lakshmi he has to worship Narayana. They are together. Never separated.
So Goddess Lakshmi is not a demigod. She is the consort of Narayan and can only be worshiped in connection with Narayana. Those who worship Lakshmi without Narayana and want to enjoy Lakshmi themselves, they are demons like Ravana. This mentality of wanting to enjoy Lakshmi separate from Narayana is the mentality of Ravana. You may know that Ravana tried to kidnap Lakshmi and take her to his golden island and enjoy her there. But although Ravana appeared to kidnap Lakshmi actually he did not get Lakshmi. He got a maya representation of Lakshmi only. So this is the same for all demons who try to enjoy Lakshmi themselves. They do not get the Lakshmi. They get an imitation, an illusion only. Lakshmi belongs to Narayana and is exclusively for the enjoyment of Narayana only.
Hare Krishna Prabhu, All Glories to Srila Prabhupada ji,
For Devotees should Diwali Festival should be of high importance???? Every one is hankering for money, so people celebrate Diwali to impress Godess Laxmi only…..but this is not a case with Devotees of Krishna, they are far far away from the attack of Maya……. Therefore how Devotee should celebrate Diwali..Please advise…
Your Servant
Amit Mehra
Hare Krishna Amit
Diwali is not really our festival. At the same time we are celebrating the Govardhan / Anukuta Festival. But we can have some festival for the people who want to celebrate the original idea of Diwali
Letters : 1968 Correspondence : October : Letter to: Hamsaduta — Seattle 10 October, 1968 : 68-10-10 :
Diwali ceremony can be observed in the temple by illuminating 100’s of candles, in different parts of the temple, and offering special Prasad to the Deity. This ceremony was observed by the inhabitants of Ayodhya, the Kingdom of Lord Ramacandra, while Lord Ramacandra was out of His Kingdom due to His 14 years banishment by the order of His father. His younger step-brother Bharata, took charge of the Kingdom and the day on which Lord Ramacandra took back the charge again from His brother, and seated on the throne, this is observed as Diwali function. This is the original idea of Diwali, and Dipabali. Dipabali means the same thing—Dipa means candles, and bali means numerous. When numerous candles are lighted it is called Dipabali. In India, this Dipabali function is celebrated in a special auspicious occasion. This Dipabali function can be observed on 21st October, and Prasad can be distributed on the 22nd October, during daytime, which is known as Govardhana Puja and Annakuta Ceremony. In India, in all Vaisnava temples, this ceremony is observed and 100’s of people are given Prasad according to the capacity of the temple.
So we can distribute Krishna Prasadam, like candles and offer them to the deity and have constant Hare Krishna kirtan. It will be very nice.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hari bol….
Hare Krishna…i have a query…plz do answer….i am a Ganesh worshipper but when i came in contact with holy gita i understood that lord Krishna parameshwara has rejected demi god worship so should i leave worshipping ganesha? Will lord Krishna accept me as devotee and will ganesha become angry or something
…plz reply me……waiting for my query be answered……hare Krishna bhagwan…..
Hare Krishna Omkar
It is not that as devotees of Krishna that we disrespect the demigods. No. We understand the proper position of the demigods. The demigods are devotees of Krsihna and they are serving Krishna in some important positions in the material world. Demigods are not pure devotees in the sense that they still have some attachment to the material world. Otherwise, if they were pure devotees they would not be here in the material world. They are here because they have some material attachment, but they are devotees of Krishna.
So we offer all respects to the demigods but we know they are devotees of Krishna, and they are not on the same level as Krishna. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the demigods are His servants.
Lord Ganesh will be very happy with you when he sees you worshiping Krishna. The point is that we are all, including the demigods, part and parcel of Krishna. So the way to please everyone, including the demigods, is by worshiping Krishna. The example that is given to explain this is that when you water a tree you supply the water to the roots of the tree and then the energy is automatically transmitted all over the tree, to all the branches, leaves, fruits and flowers. They are all automatically nourished when you supply water to the roots of the tree.
Similarly when we worship Krishna automatically all the demigods are satisfied and happy with us.
So we do not need to worship anyone except Krishna and of course Krishna’s pure devotees. We have no access to Krishna directly. Our access to Krishna is by serving Krishna’s pure devotee like Srila Prabhupada. Of course by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy we get Krishna and then we have a direct relationship with Krishna also. However the devotee never forgets or minimizes the importance of his spiritual master. It is by the mercy of Krishna that we get a bona fide spiritual master and by the mercy of the bona fide spiritual master that we get Krishna.
So there is no need for you to feel in anyway disrespectful to Ganeshji and you can offer your obeisances to him also. There is no problem. But we have to understand clearly that the position of the demigods and the position of Krishna is completely different. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the demigods are His empowered servants.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hari bol…..prabhuji u are just awesome……thnx for answering
Lord Krishna is awesome and supreme….i think there is no need of worshipping demigods if Krishna is with us….hare Krishna….
Thanks for explaining on demigods
So Hanuman great devotee of lord Ramchandra is also a demigod
But we have altar in ISKCON temples
Can we not request hanumanji to help us reaching in service of krishna like he did for Ramchandra instead of asking material benefits
HARE KRISHNA
Yes. You can ask Hanumanji to help you serve Krishna. That is not bad. Hanuman is not a demigod, Hanuman is a devotee. So he is not comparable to a demigod. So certainly you can pray to Hanuman to give you the strength to surrender to Krishna if you want to.that…
Jay Shri Krishna,
Lord Krishna was born on this earth (material energy) then how can we assume that lord Krishna is not be in touch with the material energy?
rekha
You can not assume anything. What do you know? We have to hear the truth from someone who knows the truth. That is the only way to find the truth. So the person who knows is the pure devotee of Krishna. So we have to hear it from him.
Krishna was not born. Krishna appeared as the fully-grown 4-armed Visnu. And his mother preyed to Him that “King Kamsa is looking for Lord Visnu to kill him and now You have appeared here exactly as Lord Visnu, so I beg You to please transform Yourself into a child. So then Krishna transformed Himself into the baby Krishna. But you see Krishna was never born. He just appeared there in His 4-armed Visnu form and then transformed Himself into the baby Krishna form.
Krishna has no material body and no connection with the material world at all.
It is not your position to assume anything. It is your position and my position to hear from a pure devotee of Krishna submissively. And that is the only way we can get spritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge is avan manasa gocara, beyond the ability of our mind to conceive and beyond the ability of our senses to perceive. So we can not assume anything. We have to hear it from the authority and accept that.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabuje
Thanks for your this removes my misconception regarding demo gods.
Hare Krishna, Radhey Radhey Prabhu
You are very right that Krishna and Radhey are the supreme truth and everything is illusion beacuse we are in maya and maya gives nothing but samsara and Krishna gives mukti, happiness ,truth ,love and himself.
So it means that Krishna is the only one for us to be in truth rather then in maya.
Thankyou
Hare Krishna, Radhey Radhey Prabhu
Dandavat pranam Prabhuji
i never intended to say that we should worship demigods rather i just wanted to say we should follow the path of pure devotion such a way that whatever we want that should be for the purpose of serving krishna only. Pure devotees depends on supreme lord and they are satisfied with whatever he gives (Srimadbhagavat Gita 7.20). But people who worship demigods they have an advantage. Just because they have faith in vedic lit they come in contact with pure devotees and ultimately come to know about the supreme soul (Bhagavatam 2.3.11). So a person who does not know krishna as supreme personality but do have faith in Veda they ultimately become fortunate enough to know about Krishna through his devotees.
There are three types of devotees kripa siddha, sadhan siddha and nitya siddha. Nitya siddha devotees are born devotees. Sadhan siddha devotees become devotees after they come in contact with pure devotees. I used to worship ma kali and shivji when i was a kid. Fortunately i naver asked them to give me any material thing. I always had that urge to know more about god and ultimately i found Srila Prabhupadas books. I dont know whether i am a devotee or not but i am trying to be a servant of God because Prabhupada said a servant of God is no ordinary thing(the science of self realisation).
I am not trying to promote demigod puja but trying to say that atleast we can restrict our material desires by wanting everything for Krishna. Krishna will fulfill our desire. Once we become devotee we know that we dont need to ask for anything through demigods cause we know whatever we have that is granted by Krishna and we should use everything to serve Krishna.
Hare Krishna
subhalaxmi
Dandavat pranam
Prabhupada said we can worship demigods but not for materiallistic benefits. suppose i can pray mata Saraswati to receive the pure knowledge of Bhagabat Gita but not for the sake of passing any particular exam.The Gopis of Vrindavan worshiped katyayani devi to acheive Krishnas unconditional love.
Hare Krishna
subhalaxmi
Hare Krishna Subhalaxmi
Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita that only fools worship the demigods because they do not know the Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that the demigods can not give you any spiritual benedictions at all. The demigods are also non liberated spirit souls like us. They are devotees of course, but not completely pure devotees, otherwise they would not still be in the material world. The demigods themselves have many material desires, so by worshiping the demigods you are only going to increase your material desires.
If you want to become Krishna conscious then you have to worship Krishna’s pure devotees like Srila Prabhupada and through him worship Krishna. This is the way. You can not get to Krishna by worshiping the demigods. You can get to Krishna by worshiping Krishna’s pure devotees. No other way.
If you want the pure knowledge of Bhagavad-gita you are not going to get that from Mother Saraswati. She is the goddess of material knowledge, not spiritual knowledge. She herself does not completely realize the pure knowledge of Bhagavad-gita. So if you actually want the pure knowledge of Bhagavad-gita then surrender to, serve and worship the pure devotee of Krishna and chant the Hare Krishna mantra. This is the only way to get the pure knowledge of Bhagavad-gita. There is no other way. Forget about worshiping the demigods. Whatever you can get from worshiping the demigods you can get it directly from Krishna. Actually ultimately everything is coming from Krishna. Even if the demigods do give some benediction the ultimate source of it is Krishna.
So why not go to the ultimate source? Why not worship Krishna’s pure devotees and Krishna?
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I have one factual doubt. Do living entities living in the planetary system above Bhurloka experience oldage and disease? Or I want to know above which planetary system living entities experience only birth and death, and no disease and oldage, as experienced by brahmaji. Its just a curiosity. Hari Bol.!!!!!!!!!!
Hare Krishna Dheeraj
In the heavenly planets the miseries like birth, old-age, disease and death are still there. The only place you can avoid these things is in the spiritual world. Every place in the material world has the four miseries and even in the heavenly planets the demigods and even Lord Brahma are not free from anxiety. There is always some fighting and wars going on with the demons. So ultimately every place in the material world, even in Brahmaloka, is a place of suffering. Below the earth planet in the hellish planets the suffering is more intense and above the earth planet in the heavenly planets the suffering is less. But still the suffering of birth, old age, disease and death is everywhere in the material world, even in Brahmaloka. It may be reduced from what we experience here, but the suffering is still there….
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna.
Thank you sooo much for this greet newsletter.
But I have a question. Sometimes we are need worship to demigods like Shiva and Ganesha.
If we are suffering from brahma-shapa or curse of brahman we are need worship Shiva(guru of all gurus) for clean this shapa. Shiva also is great mahajan. Otherwise we need live hard on this life and very hard for reach our life goal.
It’s normal or no required worship Shiva for clean shapa or other spiritual purpose ?
Hare Krishna Bhadra
We only need to worship Lord Krishna. Lord Shiva is also worshiping Lord Krishna. Vaisnavanam yatha sambhu; “Lord Shiva is the greatest Vaisnava.” So whatever power Lord Shiva has it comes from Krishna. So there is no need to worship any demigods. And it is unintelligent to worship the demigods for the demigods do not have any power beyond the material world and the only worthwhile things are spiritual, beyond the material world…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna prabhu,how to chastiste our mind for developing krisna consciousness?
You just have to refuse the mind’s nonsense suggestions with your intelligence. And to do this you have to become strong by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day, strictly following the four regulative principles and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. If we are not prepared to surrender to these things at least then there is really no hope of controlling our minds…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna prabhuji..
I agree, to some extent, with the opinion of Mr.jase prasad
(June 21, 2012 at 11:17 am). Some how, he is not refined in expressing his views. We should be courteous while expressing our views and have some tolerance. This indicates our sanskars, culture and the stocks we belong. Any how the supreme GOD may grant some good sense to such person. Indian and India is well known through out the world for its spiritualism. We feel happy and contented under most adverse conditions only due to our religious temperament and passiveness. We believe more in Karamvad rather having normal self confidence and working sincerely to achieve our set targets. We believe and worship lots of demigods/gods/gurus etc to get their favour for materialistic benefits. We have seen upsurge in large number of religious/spiritual organization/gurus/avatars. My simple question is : Are we happy or going in the proper direction to get/feel such aims of life?
Thank a lot, Hare Krishna Hare Rama
Hare Krishna Dr. Goswami
Unfortunately, although as you mention in India these days there is a huge number of religious institutions and ‘gurus’ and ‘sadhus’ all preaching and all collecting a lot of money from the Indian people but at the same time the overall state of India’s morality and spirituality is very bad. India is having more abortions, killing more babies, than practically any other country, the extent of illicit sex in India is enormous, now rape is very commonplace, meat eating is going on openly everywhere and is going on in practically every Indian family, and drinking alcohol and of smoking is so widespread.
So India has gone from the land of dharma to the land of the sinners or adharma. It is a great problem. And generally the Indians have become so materialistic, so much after money and material success.
So India is currently in a very bad way and all these swamis and sadhus and religious institutions are not able to help improve the situation.
The answers are in Srila Prabhupada’s books. Please read them.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna prabhuji..
I agree, to some extent, with the opinion of Mr.jase prasad
(June 21, 2012 at 11:17 am). Some how, he is not refined in expressing his views. We should be courteous while expressing our views and have some tolerance. This indicates our sanskars, culture and the stocks we belong. Any how the supreme GOD may grant some good sense to such person. Indian and India is well known through out the world for its spiritualism. We feel happy and contented under most adverse conditions only due to our religious temperament and passiveness. We believe more in Karamvad rather having normal self confidence and working sincerely to achieve our set targets. We believe and worship lots of demigods/gods/gurus etc to get their favour for materialistic benefits. WE have seen upsurge in large number of religious/spiritual organization are happy
hare krishna prji,, I follow srila prabhupada but i like lord ramchandra more then lord krishna then am i elligible for the srila prabhupada’s mercy or not ????
i purely find ram above each and every one even if krishna. Pis answer me????
Hare Krishna Himanshu
Yes, it is OK if you are more attracted to Lord Ramacandra than Lord Krishna. They are the same person. So you can worship Lord Ramacandara and still get the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. But it would be wrong to think that Lord Rama is above Lord Krishna. They are the same person, but Lord Krishna is a more complete and full exhibition of the qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead than Lord Rama. There is no chance of worshiping Lord Rama in any other mood than awe and reverence. But with Krishna we can serve Him in so many ways: in awe and reverence also, as His parents, as His friends and even in a loving relationship with Him.
So the extent of the ways we can serve and associate with Krishna is far greater than that of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
thanx for the article.
sir,
kindly clarify that lord hanumana is god or demigod,though he relates to brahma ji,shiva and ramji.
dilbagh,
astro spiritual guide,
puri,odisha,india 7205886150
Hare Krishna
Hanumanji is a pure devotee of Lord Ramacandra. Not a god or a demigod, a devotee.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna..
As you said in this post worshiping to semigod is not of use, then why in ISCKON banglore daily do aarati for Narashinha and Vekantaramana with supreme lord ‘KRISHNA’.
Hare Krishna Veerabhadra
The bona fide spiritual master is also non-different from Krishna. So we also offer aroti to Srila Prabhupada. Lord Nrsimhadeva is an incarnation of Krishna, he is Krishna, Visnu-tattva, He appeared in that particular form of half-man, half-lion for the purpose of protecting His pure devotee Prahlada Maharaja. Krishna appeared in this particular form as Lord Nrsimhadeva because Prahlada’s father, Hiranyakasipu, who was trying to kill Prahlada, had got some benedictions from Lord Brahma in an attempt to become immortal. It is a long story but by appearing in the form of half-man, half-lion Krishna was able to kill the demon Hiranyakasipy and at the same time save His pure devotee Prahlada Maharaja while keeping all the benedictions Lord Brahma gave to Hiranyakasipu intact.
So you see Hiranyakasipu is Krishna in a different mood.
As far as Vekantaramana, that has nothing to do with Gaudiya Vaisnavism and really does not belong in a Gaudiya Vaisnava temple, it is not part of our sampradaya, I do not know anything about it.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna prabhuji..
I think some mistake must have been commited by me thats why my questions are not being answered by you as well as my questions and comments are also being deleted here.I apologise for my vaishnav apradh. jai prabhupad 🙁
It is not possible for me to answer all questions. Please read Srila Prabhupada’s books, you will find the answers to your questions there and read the answers I am giving to other questions and if you still have a real question on the philosophy in Srila Prabhupada’s books ask it again in a relevant article.
hari bol prabhu PAMHO..
Prabhuji I am worshiping hanumanji from last 5 years as he his the true servant as well as devotee (vaishnava) of lord Ram. Even if I am born in Krishna conciouss family and following all rules from the very childhood but I got true interest in devotion after I served hanumanji. I treat and serve hanuman ji as guru and very obviously prayed to become pure devotee of krishna from him, only after that I could attained my conciousness towards krishna. So now I am not able to leave worshiping hanumanji. Am I wrong?
It is OK to serve Hanumanji if you understand him and serve him knowing that he is a devotee of Lord Rama, not that Hanumanji is god. He is a devotee, a servant of God, and certainly we can and should serve the servants of God.
Hara Krishna Prabhju Ji,
Now my life main motive to see krishna delight face in my mind or heart and i am doing all things which shree pradhupada says and also regularly going to ISKON temple to purify my soul as well as material body.
Than i surrender my self to shree krishna and now want to tell people to how they will see peace in his life means material life with dovatee of shree krishna. As i seen their is lot of desire of people and when its not fulfill they will some time in that stage to end his life why they didn’t though that life is very very important because with this body we will use to bring our spiritual life, and without body their is no spiritual life because our soul is behind in body and the God gives the body to not fulfill material world activity as it will perform by our self so many times and till we will do the same things.
So last i have a question why the God had destroy our previous birth Karma, If we know that karma i say we will never do any wrong thing in this life and entire life spend in shree krishna consciousnesses.
Hare Krishna
hello….i m 18..i have a speech impediment…i stammer a lot…which demigod shud i worship to get out of my stammering…please help me….i feel like my life is of no use. it will hinder my professional life…many times i thought of aatmahatya…when i go to extremities of emotions.
i m also krishna counsciuoness..chant one round daily..i will do anything to get outta my stammering
Chanting one round a day is not, not, not being Krishna conscious. To begin on the path of Krishna consciousness we have to surrender to the process of chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day and strictly following the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication). When we are fixed up in strictly following these things then we have started on the path to Krishna consciousness…
So you should do this. And it will cure your stammering. But that is not the point. We have to become Krishna conscious. That is the only important thing.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna
I have no doubt that Krishna is the supreme personality of godhead but have heard from a lecture of srimad bhagvatam that during the time of annihilation of this material world each and every demigod are vanquished without affecting shiva, why is that so? And many a times I get bewildered to the statement put in different purans like the shiv puran,devi puran, srimad devi bhagavat etc that they are true supreme being, the creator, controller and annihilator? and also providing facts and incidences. Prabhu, please remove my confusion.
Read the Bhagavad-gita As It Is and let Krishna remove your confusion. But if you want to be confused what can I do? What can Krishna do?
HARE KRISHNA
This is the most eagerly awaited article and everybody needs clarification whether or not to worship demigods. In our krishna society we are aspiring for elevated position, still bounded by family duties we are worried about the welfare of our family members and pray for material benefits. How to gain the confidence that Krishna will take care of everything whether we pray for it or not? As we are brought up in a society where we pray and offer something to the Lord when our desires are satisfied? It is said only if we ask it is heard. If we concentrate on material desires and pray Krishna wont we get elevated ? Please suggest how to stop worrying about family affairs and get the thought that Krishna will take care of everything.
You have to become Krishna conscious and the process to become Krishna conscious, that is explained in Srila Prabhupada’s books. So if you take the time to read them and follow the instructions in Prabhupada’s books you will become detached from the material bodily relationships like your family, etc. But people don’t read and don’t surrender and don’t follow and don’t get out of bed in the morning for mangal aroti and don’t chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and don’t strictly follow the four regulative principles and are not reading Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. So how can they expect to become Krishna conscious???
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
I want to know more about Shiva, Brhama and Vishnu. and their relation with Krishna i.e. How they come from Krishna..
Please read Srimad-Bhagavatam Prabhu. Everything is explained there. It is not a few paragraphs explanation. It is a long explanation. So please read it for yourself.
HARE HRISHNA SWAMIJI..
Swamiji i consider lord krishna as my ISHTDEV but at the same time i also worship other gods like MAA DURGA,LORD SHIVA,LORD GANESHA and others… but i never worship krishna or any other god for getting any personal benefit ( that is, i never expect anything in return from them). krishna always occupy special position in my heart but i do worship other god also.
Am i wrong??
i would be obliged if you answer my query at your earliest..!!
JAI SHRI KRISHNA…
Simply worship Krishna. Everything is included in Krishna. If you can please Krishna then all the demigods will be pleased.
I want to know that whether Lord Krsna is nothing but lord Narayana or Vishnu? We’hv always read n heard that lord Krsna is an Avtaar of lord Vishnu. Now as u have stated in several above posts that everyone is parcel of lord Krsna, unlike that, does lord krsna belongs to lord Narayana? If no, then what about Narayana?
Lord Krishna is the original cause of all causes. So Naryana comes from Krishna.
Hare Krishna,
Just wondering whether Shiva, Durga n others r DEMIGOD,S
Yes. Shiva and Durga are demigods. Shiva is in a special position, above all the other demigods but below Krishna.
In his books Srila Prabhupada mentions that Siva is also a demigod.
Yes. Shiva is a demigod. Still he is in a special category, above all the other demigods, but not as high as Krishna.
The example is given that yoghurt is nothing but milk. Yoghurt is produced by adding some sour thing to the milk and leaving it overnight and in the morning the whole pot of milk has turned into yoghurt. So it is nothing but milk. However the yoghurt has very different properties and effects on the body than milk. A disease caused by overindulgence in milk can actually be cured by taking yoghurt. So yoghurt and milk act very differently on the body. And once the milk has been turned into yoghurt it can not be turned back into milk.
So Lord Shiva is likened to the yoghurt and Lord Krishna is likened to the milk. As milk is transformed into yoghurt by the contact of something sour similarly Krishna or Visnu is transformed into Shiva by the contact of the material energy. So Lord Shiva is Lord Visnu transformed by contact with the material energy. So he has a special position. Krishna and Visnu are visnu-tattva, we, the living entities are jiva-tattva, and Lord Shiva has his own category, shiva-tattva. The other demigods are jiva-tattva, just like us. So if we become qualified we could become any of the other demigods, but we could never become Shiva or Visnu or Krishna…
So yes. Lord Shiva is one of the demigods. But his position is greater than any of the other demigods.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krsna Parabhu :
1) The hevenly planes, What kind of material they are made?
2) The demigods how or in which form they came to the earth to make
their work?
Hare Krishna Manuel
[1]
The heavenly planets are also made of the five gross [earth, water, fire, air and ether] and three subtle [mind, intelligence and false ego] elements that this earth planet is made of. They are just the same as the earth but more ‘heavenly’. People live longer, thousands or tens of thousands of more years, there are less miseries than here on earth and there is more facility for sense gratification [lots of beautiful women, very nice natural beauty, etc…] The heavenly planets are places where pious living entities can go and enjoy the results of their good karma. They are places of increased sense gratification in comparison to earth which is a middle planet. Here on earth we can see both heaven and hell. Sometimes we are in heaven and sometimes we are in hell. But in the heavenly planets the residents are always in heaven. It is a disadvantage actually for spiritual life because there is less impetus for taking to spiritual life and there is such an abundance of easily available sense gratification… So the residents of the heavenly planets can very easily become distracted from serving Krishna. But they are all devotees there, all pious people. Only pious people get promoted to the heavenly planets, so they all believe in Krishna and worship Krishna but they are materialistic devotees. They want some material sense gratification for themselves.
[2]
The demigods do not have to come to earth to do their work. They can do it from their own planets. Each demigod is empowered by Krishna to do the particular service that he is in charge of and he has the necessary abilities and influence and consciousness to do whatever he has to do from his own planet. So they do not have to come to earth. The demigods used to visit earth when they were invited to great sacrifices performed by saintly kings but now such sacrifices are no longer performed and there are no saintly kings so the demigods are not coming to earth any more.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I think it is ment not that krishna doesnt take care of of material affairs more its like doesnot get involved. For Krisna winning a and losing are the same death and birth are the same he is ever present and also completely seperated because unlike all other things he is not under the influence of material world or maya.
But the email I got was answer I already understood as I have studied the gita daily and read 5 different versions also I practice the bhakti yoga everyday.
SO knowledge and meditation, karma yoga and the most important true love for krishna every day. So my friends let me just say Hari Bol
Why are Indian people so money and material-wealth hungry? Some of the most corrupt and greedy people on Earth are Indian people. In Europe, America, Australia, and even other parts of the world like Africa and China, Malaysie, Japan, etc Indian people are regarded as being 1) perverse as they always stare at women especially women who are not Indian, 2) Indian people are garded as dirty as they always smell and are unhygenic in appearance, 3) Indian people are mostly fat and therefore regarded as greedy when it comes to food, 3) Indian people very rarely fight for peoples’ rights they hardly protest and are often classified as passive and therefore are weak, 4) Indian people are corrupt they like money too much nothing else seems to matter (this is demonstrated here on this site as most people wish to query why can’t they ask God for money and material wealth)
Indian people for the most part are very embarassing as they do not do anything productinve on this earth and just wait for the afterlife. I think that is very selfish behaviour and demands indian people to re-examine themselves. Last night I was watching a stand-up comedian – A canadian called Russell Peters – who was mocking how many Indian people born in other countries don’t like to be associated with India and do not regad themselves as Indian. Now I had to ask a friend what is going on as I personally could not relate or understand any of it, but it is clear that Indian people in general like to feel very middle-class and often look down their noses at those who are of not their calibre, just like Russell Peters does. Indian people need to understand they are just people, it doens’t matter if you’re indian, hindu, cristain, jew, white, black, brown, rich, poor, etc. You just need to be a regular decent human being because most of the world will not care who you are or how much money you have so long as you are decent and clean. Indian people only seem to engage with Indian affairs in spite of the world filled richly with other issues that demand greater attention. Indian people are self-serving until they release themselves of such nature they will never be able to confidently express their opinions and views with true grit, all becuase they are far too worried about how they appear when dressing, talking, eating, words they employ to project themselves, etc. All of this is very very superficial and quite simply embarrassing. I never care about what I say and how I say it, And I certainly do not care about dress sense or about what I look like, except of course in the company of a beutiful woman. These things are important because those who place emphasis on trivial frivolaties are misplacing their direction – far greater issues of far greater importance exist in the world and here you people are debating over which Gods to correctly worship, it’s as though you believe krsna actually cares about how you worship it (there is no he/she in God it is the uncreated creator so you can all stop referring to God as a he because it is and IT not a he) You are wrong, the only thing God really cares about is how you conduct yourself whilst being granted time here on earth to live. I ask myself everyday what can I do today to helped someone, it could just be a email, telephone call whatever, so long as somebody feels good after they have interacted with me. you people need to quit wallowing in God and start concentrating on why you were put here on earth. Now stop being so bloody pathetic because krsna doesn’t really care for your worship, but krsna does care about how you conduct yourself, you idiots!
Hare Krishna Jase
Indians, generally speaking, are very, very, very unfortunate. As you have noted they are probably the most materialistic people on the planet and probably the most sinful country in many ways also. But at the same time the religion business is booming in India. There are so many gurus and most Indians have some spiritual master but they are, as you note, so materialistic and so non-spiritual… They are unfortunate. Very, very, very unfortunate. It is a result of being exposed to the preaching of the Mayavadis for so long. The Mayavadis are offenders to Krishna. They deny the personal form of God and say that god has no hands, no legs, no eyes, no ears. Ultimately they say that god does not exist… So when one becomes a Mayavadi then there is no spiritual bliss, no pleasure from spiritual life, so indirectly this Mayavadi preaching encourages the people to become more and more materialistic. So today’s India is completely centered around money and sex and is completely materialistic with all spiritual regulative principles long forgotten. They still have some sentiment to visit temples and observe religious festivals, but generally speaking they refuse to follow the moral codes that are required for one to advance in spiritual life…
Anyhow it is a very, very sad situation. India is punya-bhumi, the land of pious activities, but now the Indians have turned India into the land of sinners… It is very inauspicious. Very, very, very unfortunate…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
You need to realize that you are biased. Saying Indians are this and that is very broad. Not everyone is like that. Don’t see them as Indians but see them as just human beings. You calling everyone idiots clearly tells me that you have hate towards them. You say you want someone to feel good after that person has interacted with you but after reading you biased writing I can tell you that an Indian would probably not want to meet you and you would probably not make an Indian feel happy.
Hello. Im confused about your message above. It’s says that
Krishna doesn’t take care the affairs to material world right,
Then does he grant materialistic wishes of his devotees.
Also I find it hard to chant 16 rounds of the mantra everyday as I’m schooling now
And have no time. I can’ only chant one round. Help me. What should
I do?
Please reply. Thank you. God Bless;)
You have to find time to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day, otherwise how can you expect to make advancement in Krishna consciousness. If you want to do something else with your life then you will not become Krishna conscious. And Krishna may grant the materialistic wishes of His devotees but He may not also. You have to understand that this material world is a miserable place and you can not be happy here and it is stupid to ask Krishna for material things. The material things will come anyhow according to your karma or not come if you have bad karma. So there is no point asking Krishna for them. We should simply pray to Krishna that we can always be engaged in His service.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Very nice article. It clears your mind. thanks again for Enlightenment.
Is Lord Venkateswara is demi god? if not why?
Hare Krishna!
Honestly I do not know much about Lord Venkateswara, but as I understand He is Krishna, Baliji. Others will be more expert on this than me. I have never seen Baliji and can not really tell you much about Him except as far as I have heard He is certainly Visnu-tattva. There are many expansions of Krishna, They are called Visnu-tattva, and They are God, not demigods.
For example Lord Visnu, He is God, the Supreme Lord. He is Visnu-tattva, not a demigod. Demigod means an ordinary living entity who has been elevated to a position of power like God. So he is a man with godly powers. Ordinary living entities are jiva-tattvas. So when a jiva-tattva by his austerities and penances and pious activities becomes elevated to a high post in the management of the universe he is a demigod. Even in this world when someone becomes a very powerful leader, he is also a demigod. A man who has got some sort of godly power over others is a demigod. But the many visnu-tattva expansions of Krishna are completely different from this. They are God, the Supreme Lord, but according to the different incarnations they manifest different features of the Supreme Lord. There are many different types of incarnations of Krishna who are not Jiava Tattvas.
So worshiping the Visnu-tattva forms is not demigod worship. That is worshiping the Supreme Lord…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Good evening rama krishna garu n
Madhudvisa dasa ji!
first of all your name itself says that hare rama hare krsna(i mean RAMA KRISHNA)!
Lord venkateshwara swamy who is the kaliyuga god made his divine place(punya theertha kshetram THIRUPATHI)at chittor district in andhrapradesh which is world famous!
said that all avataras were happened to be the avataras of vishnu n krsna came in these avataras only, this is not true!
krsna is the main n forever!
no other demigod greater than or equals to that PARAMA PURUSHA!
as our Madhudvisa dasa said that all the avataras are not the expansions of lord vishnu!,they are the avataras of PARAMATHMA itself!
actually geetha was first said to sri surya bhagavan n then to some king but the chain stopped!
cause Krsna created the situation to re explain geetha to the whole world with the help of PARTHA(arjuna)!
as krsna is the reasons of all reasons,geetha is the secrets of all secrets!
cause geetha is the fate line of all living n non living things existence!
according to BRAHMAVAIVARTHA PURANAM,
brahma n shiva did chanted krsna stotram n krsna kavacham for some undefined number of times,looking all this krsna paramathma gave shiva the power of destroy(Laya kaaraka)n brahma the power of creation(srushti kaaraka)!
thats why they are the demigods!
paramathma said in geetha that “Iam the reason of all reasons!(sarva kaarana kaaraka)”,in our language “HE is the MEN behind the existence of this entire universe!including the existence of brahma,shiva n all kinds of demigods!”
but god shiva devotees misleaded all these things n still trying to establish that shiva is the original!
even all kinds of TV serials based on shiva showed n showing the same!
this is absolutely wrong!
in geetha HE also said that “one who do all the tapasya, yagna,yaaga n do not have belief in PARAMATHMA, then all ones pious things will give them nothing! n if somebody did no yagna yaagas n have extreme belief in HIM, he will attain progress in his spiritual life(Aadhyathmika jeevitham)that which equals to uncountable pious things(punya phalam)!that which applies to all animals too!”
the only thing that is required is BELIEF in HIM!
so rama krishna garu please leave all your confusions to HIM
chant Hare Krsna!!!
to know about more things in BRAHMAVAIVARTHA PURANAM,please watch our official Sri Venkateshwara Bhakthi Channel(SVBC)Telugu channel,mon to fri every morning at 9:30 pravachanalu!
hare rama!
hare krishna!!
first of all thanks a lot guru ji!
i thought that SRI KRISHNA PARAMATHMA himself speaking directly to me guru ji!
i cant express my feelings sir!
with this response i am touched by Krsna!
that means to decide a particular devotee’s intelligency factor,he created these demigods? right sir!?
thanks a lot guru ji!
can i chant maha manthra with out the help of beads. i mean i want to chant manthra with the help of my fingers. please answer
Hare Krishna
It is better to chant with beads.
prabhu
I do not Have beads prabhu but my motto is to chant the manthra 16 rounds what ever it may be the case or situation.
I understand. You can get beads from http://www.KrishnaStore.com
But ultimately beads are only a counting mechanism. And you can count the rounds in other ways. It is a bit hard to explain how to chant on your fingers in email but it is done in the same way that brahmins count the mantras while they are chanting their gayatri mantra. Our gayatri mantra is seven mantras chanted ten times so we chant from one to ten on our fingers for each of the seven mantras. That is done by taking the thumb of the left hand and placing it in the middle of the finger next to your little finger [on the same hand], then you chant one mantra, then move the thumb to the bottom division on the same finger, then chant one mantra, then move the thumb across to the bottom of the little finger, then chant one mantra, then to the middle of the little finger, chant one mantra, then to the top of the little finger, chant one matra, then move across to the top of the finger next to it and chant one mantra, then move across to the top of the next finger, chant one matra, then across to the top of the finger next to the thumb and chant on mantra, then down to the middle of that finger, chant one matra, then to the bottom of that finger, chant one mantra. So now you have chanted 10 rounds. Then you start counting with your other hand as well. You put your thumb of the other hand, in the same way in the middle of the finger next to your little finger and just leave it there and chant another 10 rounds on your other hand, then you move the finger on the counting hand in the same way, to the bottom of the same finger it is on, and on the other hand chant another ten mantras. Then when you have counted 10 on the counting hand you have chanted 100 mantras and you just chant 8 more mantras and you have chanted one round.
It is much easier to do than to explain how to do. Once you have chanted one round it will be a very simple and natural thing for you to do and you will be able to count the rounds without thinking about counting them…
If you can not understand my explanation or have any questions please let me know.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krsna prabhuji!
prabhuji,when i was known that krsna is the real MEN BEHIND THIS UNIVERSE,
i have a question that if he is the everything behind anything,then why he created all of these demi gods? and why he is saying to pray ME only?
this is really hard to imagine sir!
and if he created,then why he is allowing the demi gods to popularise themselves instead of popularising himself thru demigods?
prabhuji please answer me i am eagerly waiting for your answer sir!
hare krsna!!
Hare Krishna!
All the living entities are expansions of Krishna. So you and the demigods are the same. Just that the demigods have been elevated to a higher position in the material world and have some power to direct some aspect of the workings of the material world. For example Indra has power over the rain so if you are a farmer and depend on the rain then you can worship Indra to get rain. But you can’t get much else from Indra except rain. And you can get rain by worshiping Krishna directly. That is why Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita that the demigod worshipers have no brain substance. They are fools. Because the demigods are just ordinary living entities who have been elevated to higher positions in the material world because of their pious activities and austerities.
The demigods are generally not pure devotees also, they are materialistic devotees. They are devotees, but they still have the material desires to enjoy in the material world, they want power, worship, etc. That is why they advertise themselves and collect foolish men to worship them.
Krishna gives the demigods these positions of power in the universe because that is what they want. Krishna responds in accordance with our desires. So if these living entities want power and followers and are prepared to perform pious activities and austerities to get this then Krishna will give it to them. Of course ‘Demigod’ means they are devotees, they believe in Krishna and worship Him, but for material gains. They do not want to be liberated, they want power in the material world. So that what Krishna gives them.
On the other hand there are demons who also become powerful by performing pious activities and austerities, but they do not believe in Krishna. They reject Him. But they also want power and followers in the material world and if they are prepared to also perform austerities and pious activities Krishna will give the demons also power. And then the demons and demigods will fight.
So it is not even that the demigods themselves have a peaceful life in their heavenly planets. There is always anxiety and fighting going on there between the demons and the demigods.
So everyone here is a fool, the demons, the demigods, and the worshipers of both the demons and demigods. They are all fools because the common factor is they are all wanting to stay in the material world and be ‘happy’ in the material world with power, followers, fame, etc…
The only ones who are not fools are the devotees who realize that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that we should surrender to Him and serve Him with no other purpose except to please Krishna. The devotee has no ulterior motive. He does not want anything at all for himself. He wants everything for Krishna, he wants to please Krishna. He is intelligent because serving Krishna is our eternal occupation. And Krishna can give us anything that the demigods can give, He is supplying everything anyhow through the demigods, so one who is intelligent will get it from the original source…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I read “Worshiping Demigods Works But…” article and i completely agree with it. But what about the people who are praying some Baba’s like Sai and Satyasai-baba? What kind of efforts we are able to do against such BABA CULTURE OF INDIA and ultimately to save Hindu religion?
And Why people are praying them?
Then they go to hell, just like their babas.
hare krishna ji
very good lecture on demigods. radha krishna yugal sarkar should be made iisht dev
p k kochar
Fools don’t know that Hari(vishnu/krishna/govinda) and Shiva are one.
Of course everything is the energy of Krishna. There is nothing separate from Krishna. Everything is a part and parcel of Krishna so Shiva is also part and parcel of Krishna. But none of the parts and parcels of Krishna can ever be equal to Krishna. So Shiva can NEVER be equal to Krishna and anyone who considers anyone, even the great demigods like Brahma and Shiva to be equal to Krishna is the greatest fool.
Hare krishna Madhudvisa dasa,
I am really thankful for your wonderful newsletters.
Hare Krishna,
It is actually not easy to get out of the material world. It is very very very difficult. & now we are so used to this world that it feels that the true world of God is “False” but the truth is that the world of god is only true. But….
Hare Krishna Prabhuji,
Please accept my humble obeisances,All glories to Guru & Gauranga,
Pr.ji I would like to share my experiences while I chant my 16 rounds every day. On certain occassions the mahamantra melts in my mouth, I feel the sweetness which is beyond any explanation. at the same tome there are certain times/days when chanting becomes very very difficult. why is it so that i cant retain the elevated spiritual mood all the time. why this fluctuation is observed. Secondly Prji. while preaching to people I get very Excited. I speak with lots of excitement & Enthusiasm. Is it right. Many preachers preach so softly. Should I change my style of praching.Pl. suggest.
Thankx & regards,
Trying to serve
Sakthi
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Actually we have to understand that we do not have taste for chanting the Hare Krishna mantra because of the offenses we commit and because of the dirty things in our hearts. Also bad association is very contaminating… Sometimes we feel great pleasure in chanting Hare Krishna and other times it can be very difficult to chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra. That is natural. We are in the material world and the whole atmosphere is surcharged by maya. So sometimes it is a battle to chant the Hare Krishna mantra to clear the curtain of maya.
The thing is it is easy to chant Hare Krishna if we are getting a nice taste but if there are difficulties and if there are challenges that is what separates the sincere devotee from the not-so-sincere. The sincere devotee will know that I have promised Srila Prabhupada I will chant 16 rounds a day and I am not feeling any attachment but because of that promise to Prabhupada I am going to chant anyhow 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra. So he will be successful in the long run because this chanting of Hare Krishna is the only way we can raise ourselves to the stage of offensless chanting and it is the only way to purify our hearts of all the material contaminations. It is the offenses and the material things in our hearts that cause us to loose the taste for chanting but it is the chanting that will reestablish our taste because the chanting will gradually raise us to the platform of offensless chanting and purify our hearts of all the dirty things.
A less serious devotee will chant Hare Krishna when it is feeling good and he is getting some nice reciprocation from Krishna but if things become a little difficult and there are all sorts of reverses and chanting Hare Krishna becomes difficult he may not preserver. Which is very bad because it is only the chanting that can save him, and the chanting of Hare Krishna is still powerful and is still working even if we are not feeling any bliss from the chanting…
There are many things that we should do which are favorable for our advancement in Krishna consciousness and also many things that we should avoid. The things we have to avoid are summarized in the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication. So obviously we have to avoid these things. And there are many other things also, do’s and don’ts. It is a science and Srila Prabhupada has so mercifully described the science of Krishna consciousness in his books for our benefit so to fully understand the science of saddhana bhakti and to fully understand all the things we should be doing and all the things we should be avoiding we have to study Srila Prabhupada’s books. There is no avoiding this. In addition to chanting Hare Krishna at least 16 rounds daily and following the four regulative principles we need to have a regular daily routine of reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day.
It may sound like it is a lot but actually it is not so easy to get out of the material world. And that is the only purpose of our life. So we need to become serious. The knowledge we get from reading Prabhupada’s books will give us strength so that we will keep chanting Hare Krishna even if there is no taste. And the taste will come back…
As far as your preaching style preaching means to convince the people we are talking to to purchase Prabhupada’s books from us and read them. Actually they have to hear from a pure devotee. They have to hear from Prabhupada. So our business is simply to attract them to Krishna consciousness somehow and convince them to read Prabhupada’s books. So if you can do this. Convince the people you meet to purchase Prabhupada’s books from you and read them then no matter what your preaching is like it is a grand success. But if they are not taking Prabhupada’s books and reading them then our preaching is a failure no matter how nicely we think we are presenting the philosophy.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Namo Namah Tulasi Krishna Preyasi
Radha Krishna Seva Pabho, yeh ahbilasi
Namo Namah Tulasi Krishna Preyasi.
Haribol, PAMHO, Krishna maaya energies is so powerful it’s exhibited via that 5 element ++ & that material sense which is non-permanent & temporary delicious.
Entities are so entrap in this,but Krishna ful lill it because Krishna is the all mercy & bestow.He is viswarupa,visvamurti hiding & above the trancendental,
no body can see HIM, even a big scholars only an unalloyed person can see HIM eye to eye.This is what i can feel towards my experience of this bhakti yoga.
Even if mankind can direclty worship neglect of Demigods, but still have mentaliy want material oppulances Sri krishna still can grant them now,today, tomorrow or in the next birth, Krishna only can be purchased as what Srimati Radha Rani did & followed by the guru parampara & sadu sanga, this is the actual diciplic succesions so shall we say ” Vande Guru Sri Cara Nara Vrindam ” by following the steps of the Guru(KC) we all shall achive Krishna Prema, hope so,but not too desired passionaly ,must always bear in our mind what Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu told us, ” The Sisastakam ” Ceto Darpanamarjanam………Aslisya vapadaratam pinastu mam adarshanan hatamkarotuva……..,because Krishna loves towards His entites are so pured & unalloyed eternaly & by time immemorial, only we are !because of rebbelion mind fall or entraped in Krishna maya energy by taking many2 births.
Actualy, either maya energy or spiritual energy as we all are in Human form we can differntiate it & wisely choose that the spirualy energy is the best & must be choosen because this actualy refer to serving Kirshna & HIs associates,but that maya energy is refer to sense gratification which refer to Managers & Associates( material oppulances ) not refer to purebhakti for krishna, but merely to serve what material mind desired or the bodily desired as regard to weather but actualy it’s a soul desired & the body is facilitate, so Sri Krishna has manufactured billions of planets & the demigods are appointed as a managers, thus when the entites pray to demigods their desires are fullfilled but at the same time they are punished by material law of nature. but, IF THE ENTITIES DO EVERYTHING FOR KRISHNA as what Srila Prabhupada told us, that is krishna karma,no punishement at all, the demigod or the soldiers/police of Krishna unable to charge or punish us, but what to do the mankind want an immediate grant & oppulances materialy as for this body demand to be always comfortable.That means their eternal eyes is blind how about us is it because we are marginal energy of Krishna be a part & parcel of krishna, our step are one side spiritual & another side materialy, no no, actualy the marginal energy of krishna it’s still a Krishna energy, that energy should serve that ” Absolute Truth ” i mean Sri krishna, otherwise the entites will entraped in the cycle of Samsarachakra & Sri krishan by His material energy will fullfill what ever that entities desired as regard to that entites body design, field of activity & etc. For example , we are so jerk to see a worm in a stool but still for that worms that field is a palace of all oppulances because its supplies foods & accomodation for them , how about us, just think how mercy is krishna, even the entites takes ” conditoned live” but still Sri krishna mercy them towards His material energy.
So for all of, whom know who is Sri Krishna, either material or spiritual energy of Krishna shall we serve Sri Krishna by taking the immediate example like Srila prabhupada did, Jai Srila Prabhupada ki jay ! Haribol! Hare Krishna! & Happy Damodara !
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Q- Why we need to put our index finger out of bag or keep index finger away from beads when we are chanting on beads?
Your Servant
Hare Krishna Chetan
We do it because that is what Srila Prabhupada has instructed us to do. Better to just follow the instructions of the spiritual master than ask at every step, why, why, why…
I am sure there is a reason but I do not know why but I know that is the way it is done. There are many things like that. It is not possible for us to understand everything but we can hear what to do from Srila Prabhupada and accept that. That is obedience, that is respect. Even we do not know why still we follow the orders of the spiritual master.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
as per vedic understanding and in various pujas performed one should not use the index finger in offering anything to the Lord as it is considered to be unfit. so the index fingeris kept out of the bag because chanting is the offering to the Supreme Lord Krishna
hello, i read the article about the demigod worship for attaining material benefits. What happens if only worship lord krishna only. Is that means i will not benefit materially, and only spiritually? please answer.
Thankyou
Hare Krishna Raj
No. If you worship Lord Krishna you will benefit both materially and spiritually. The demigods actually can not give you anything material even. Everything belongs to Krishna so even the boons of the demigods are actually coming from Krishna. If Krishna does not sanction something the demigods can not give it to you.
Krishna says that the worshipers of the demigods are ‘hrta jnana’, bereft of all intelligence, in the Gita, because they are worshiping the demigods for temporary material benedictions and do not understand that all the benedictions are actually coming from Krishna.
There is a verse: akarma sarva karmo va moksa karma udara di tivrena bhakti yogena yajeta parama purusa. It means that if one is full of material desires or if he desires liberation or if he has no desires [the devotee] then he should worship Lord Krishna. So no matter what is our position or what is our desire we can worship Lord Krishna for that. Of course a pure devotee has no desire except to please Krishna, to serve Krishna, but if one is full of material desires he can worship Krishna and Krishna of course can fulfill his material desires. This is not pure devotion but it is devotion to Krishna, materialistic devotee. And Krishna says such devotees are also ‘magnanimous’ in the Gita.
Pure devotee does not ask for anything for himself but Krishna looks after His pure devotees so they are generally not lacking in material facilities. The pure devotee’s idea of pleasure is seeing Krishna happy. He has no interest beyond this and actually Krishna is interested in seeing His pure devotees happy. So there is a very nice transcendental competition between the devotee serving Krishna and Krishna making nice arrangements in the lives of His devotees.
So the summary is that if you simply surrender to Krishna and serve Krishna you will not be missing out on any benefits that you could get by worshiping the demigods but you will be making so much spiritual advancement and on your way back home, back to Godhead. Therefore demigod worship is no necessary. All we need to do is worship Krishna and automatically all the demigods will be pleased with us also.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
its a beautiful piece of information u gave. Really pure devotees do not go to other demigods for material benefit. They even do not want the various kinds of liberation that krishna can give by the nine process of devotional service they perform. They simply want to serve krishna for krishna’s pleasure. And that is the highest perfection for which human birth is awarded to us by Lord Krishna otherwise we will again run in 8400000 species.
Hare Krishna
I know some vaishnavites think of brahma and siva as expansions of krishna, like how lakshmi is an expanision of krishna. Even Prabhupada (the founder of Iskon) said that siva is an expansion of Krishna, and he used the analogy like how your arm is an expanision of your body. If siva is an expansion of Krishna, then he really isn’t a demigod but he is more a different form or avatar of Krishna to serve a purpose? Then other sects are correct in saying Siva is a different form of Krishna. How do you feel about that?
Also, since Ganesh plays a huge role in all the various sects of hinduism, as the demigod to be supplicated first before undertaking any puja, venture, etc….but does’nt play a major role in vaishnavism. Before any Venkateshewara or Narayana puja in south india Viswaksena is supplicated to overcome any obstacles. Do you feel that Viswaksena, the commander of Vishnu’s armies, could be a form of Ganesh? Viswaksena is a self realized demi god that lives in goloka, commands vishnu’s armies, and handles affairs in the material world. Therefore, a self realizied soul could be commanded to fulfill obligations to supervise affairs in the material world as a demigod.
Hare Krishna Sriram
Lord Shiva is in a special category of his own, Shiva-tattva. So he is in a special position for sure. Everyone else is either Visnu-tattva [Krishna, Visnu and His expansions] or jiva-tattva [the living entities like us].
The analogy used to explain the position of Lord Shiva is that if you take milk and convert it into yogurt by adding some sour substance the milk will be transformed into yoghurt. So the original milk is like Krishna and the yogurt is like Shiva. You can say that the yogurt is milk, and in fact it is nothing but milk. It is milk that has been transformed into yogurt. But eating yogurt and drinking milk will have a very different effect on your body. If you eat to many milk sweets and other products made from milk and get sick then the medicine is yogurt mixed with a few other things. So yogurt and milk, although in one sense both milk, act in a very different way. So Lord Shiva is Lord Visnu in touch with or transformed by the material energy. Krishna, Visnu is never in contact with the material energy. He is always transcendental to the material energy. But when He is in contact with the material energy that is Lord Shiva. So as the yogurt can not be used in place of the milk although it is actually only made of milk Lord Shiva can not take the place of Lord Krishna even though Shiva is simply the energy of Lord Krishna transformed in contact with the material energy.
So to make a long story short, yes, Shiva has a special position, but no he is not the same as Krishna and you can not get the same benefits from worshiping Shiva that you can get from worshiping Krishna.
Shiva is ‘butanatha’, he is the Lord of the ghosts and the hobgoblins. He looks after the people who are infected by the mode of ignorance. That is his position, that is his service.
So Shiva is certainly different from Krishna and he is in touch with the material energy and his boons are materialistic, not spiritual. If you want spiritual benefits you have to get them from Krishna. Shiva can give some material benefits but he is also in contact with the material energy. He can not help you out of the material energy. He can advise you to worship Lord Visnu, and of course Vaisnavas offer all respects to Lord Shiva and there is a good example of this in the Brahma-samhita, but they do not make the mistake of thinking that Shiva and Visnu are on the same level. Thinking like this is completely incorrect and is a great offense.
As far as Ganesh, yes, but there is no need to worship Ganesh. That is what Krishna says in the Gita. Ganesh is a demigod and honestly mostly Hindus are worshiping Ganesh for money, not for any spiritual benefit. And Ganesh is a demigod and Krishna says the worshipers of the demigods are foolish, bereft of intelligence. Because they are worshiping for some temporary material thing. If the are actually asking Ganesh to clear the obstacles on their path to serving Krishna that is nice of course but generally you know it quite well that generally Hindus are praying to Ganesh to clear their path to making money. So that sort of worship is foolish.
And no, a self-realized soul will not be a demigod generally speaking. Why? The position of a demigod is a material position of power and opulence and that is desired by devotees who are devotees but still have some material attachments. Self-realized means liberated, the demigods by definition are not liberated. They are devotees, but they are still trapped within the material world. They are not liberated from the material world. Of course they may become pure devotees. Like Lord Brahma. You can read the story in Krishna book how Brahma was bewildered by Krishna and stole Krishna’s cowherd boy friends and cows and later on realized his mistake, realized the position of Krishna and surrendered to Krishna. So the demigods are devotees and they can become pure devotees.
But you have to surrender to the fact that worshiping demigods is only done by fools. Intelligent persons worship Krishna and do not see the need to worship any demigods because worship of Krishna includes worship of all the demigods. Devotees of course offer all respect to the demigods but they never make the mistake of thinking that the demigods are on an equal level to Krishna or Vishnu, even the greatest demigods like Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma can never be considered to be on the same level as Krishna or Visnu. Krishna is always the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No one can be equal to Him and certainly no on can be above Him.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Please answer
I want both things Money and krsna how I can achieve it ? Is it wrong to ask for help like Getting a job ? asking help to get healthy from Krsna and does krsna reply or send back help or is he too busy with his pastimes … Then if a human being is suffering with lack of money and if he/she worship Ma Durga for little money what is the problem in doing this. We can worship Lord Krsna along with Ma Durga … Ma Durga will provide money and Krsna will provide Liberation and a ticket to His Adobe …
Hare Krishna Abhishek
The whole idea of Krishna consciousness is to understand that we are not independent actually. We are not in control. If we are in material consciousness we are servants of maya and if we are in Krishna consciousness we are servants of Krishna. We are always servants. We can only choose if we want to serve Krishna or if we want to serve maya. We can’t serve both. We are going to get what we deserve according to our karma and we can not really change that. So that will come. Whatever money you are destined to get you do not have to worry. You do your duty and it will come, it may not be as much as you want, but that is what will come if you work very hard for it or if you just accept what comes. Of course we have to work and do our duty but if according to our karma we are not meant to be very rich we can not become very rich by working very hard.
A devotee understands that serving Krishna includes everything else. He knows that everyone is a part and parcel of Krishna so if Krishna is pleased then everyone else is pleased. So the real success in life is to please Krishna.
That is of course pure devotee but there are materialistic devotees also who want money and power and opulence and also worship Krishna. This is also good. So if you want money like this then you can worship Krishna and ask Krishna for whatever you want and Krishna will respond to you according to the way you want to see Him. That is the point. Whatever you want you can worship Krishna for and get it. There is no need to go to any demigod to get anything.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Why do you ask for money? Whay is money so important to you? Do not associate Gods, religion and worshipping with wealtha dn money!! It is wrong. You need to go get an education and start looking for a job, no God will help you to do this you have to do it yourself. Stop being a small-minded bloody idiot!!
A demigod gets all power from Lord Sri Krishna. Demigod is never equal to or independent from Sri Krishna Caitanya. Regardless of material designation, a Vaishnava in pure bhakti may appear anywhere ,in anyway. Bali Maharaja is now a pure Vaishnava and shall be the next Manu, ruling the manvantara as well. To worship as a pure devotee is very pleasing to the Lord. Sri Drhuva, Sri Bhakta Prahlad, Sri Brahma is pure devotee heading up our Sri Madhva Brahma Gaudiya Vaishnavasampradaya; all and others are quite worshipable to please The Lord Supreme.
Take shelter of Sri Krishna to your best ability & by pleasing Sri Krishna Caitanya all devas are pleased. If it’s all too much then cry! Cry for Krishna and benefit. Krishna supplies all to everyone; no need of serving a wandering mind. Keep faith, do to please others and Krishna is pleased.When we forget ourselves and become Krishna Conscious rather than jiva conscious all is well. Seek first self-realized action in Bhakti; all things then shall be added as Sri Krishna loves to please his devotees and then they become more enthused to please Sri Krishna and all parts and parcel of. If you can’t cry for Krishna , cry over your inability to cry, sincerely. When your tears fall they will taste sweet, not salty.
my humbe obeiances to all…
i chant the Hare Krsna Mahamantra only once a day. i want to do 16 rounds but some work will come my way and i cannot do it. while chanting also my mind wavers. morning when i get up i worship Lord Krishna and Lord Narasimhaavatar deity’s photo and chant 3 times the Mahamantra. please tell me how to concentrate and do my chanting. in my office whenever i get a chance to visit the sites. i try to read the maximum. frankly i love to keep reading the books continuously. but i do not get a chance. please tell me how to concentrate and do my chanting. HARE KRSNA…
Hare Krishna Priya
You can not really expect to concentrate on your chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra if you only chant three times in the morning.
Honestly if you are serious about making advancement in spiritual life you need to surrender to the idea of chanting at least 16 rounds a day of the Hare Krishna mantra. This is the only way that you will be able to concentrate and do your chanting. In the beginning you will not be able to concentrate. Your mind will be all over the place. But don’t worry about that. Just chant Hare Krishna and in time your mind will come under control and the chanting of Hare Krishna will take you to the transcendental platform.
You just have to make time to chant Hare Krishna. How you do that in your life you know best but this is the most important thing in our lives so we have to make the time for it. There are 24 hours in every day and it only takes about 2 hours to chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra.
This is the beginning and this will remove all of your doubts and solve so many of your problems and answer so many of your questions automatically. So just do it. Don’t worry if your mind is controlled or not in the beginning just chant Hare Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa