Hare krishna prabhuji..All glories to prabhupada..
Accept my humble obeisances..
Q1) If we go to Demigod temple(Ex Shiva,Vinayaka..) then it is acceptable to pray him? if yes how to pray him?
if not why? Because iam not interested to go to demigods temple some times with my friends i am going in that time what has to do?
Q2) If yes then it is acceptable to pray like totally bowing down(Sastanganamskar) ??
Guide me prabhu....
Hari bol....
Replies
every demigod is a form of krsna only so we should pray to them as praying to him .
Dear devotee Hare Krsna, All living beings are parts of the Supreme Lord just as the small molecular particles of sunlight are parts of the sun. Each particle has some heat and light that is a quality of the sun but in quantity they are vastly different.
The Supreme Lord is infinite and the living beings are infinitesimal. The Lord is the origin of all and controler of all, Shaktiman and we the living beings are one of His energies, Shakti. The demigods headed by Indra are empowered living beings and funtion as managers of the different govermental departments of each universe. Each has some work just like in any goverment department and there are many such demigods involved in the universal affairs. There are also countless universes and each has a different Brahma and Shiva but in each and every universe its the same Lord Vishnu.
Lord Vishnu is not like the demigods who are subject to the 3 modes of material nature, Maya. Lord Vishnu is the master and controler of Maya. Lord Vishnu is eternal while the demigods are temporary eveh Lord Brahma must die. The demigods are very powerful and Lord Shiva and goddess Durga are said to be able to award moksha but when we go deeper into this we find that this moksha they can give is the same moksha Vishnu gives to the demons He kills. It is heaven and hell difference to the reward of serving the Supreme Lord Vishnu/Krishna with pure devotion.
In the shastra it is said that whoever considers the demigods to be equal or independant of Lord Vishnu is an offender and an atheist. So we should understand that many people say they beleive in God but actualy they do not accept God at all. To accept the Supreme Lord means to accept Vishnu/Krishna and become His devotee.
Respecting the demigods is just like when we go to a goverment agency we offer suitable respect to all the ministers etc. but we pay our taxes to the King. They who offer money to the goverment workers for getting some extra benefits by bribeing them are not following the rule of the King. They imagine they are better off but ultimately they are the looser as everything is seen by the king. Such theives remain in the material world life after life to get the results of such so called devotion to the demigods. Only by becoming a pure devotee of Vishnu/Krishna can one return to an eternal lfe of bliss and knowledgr in the supreme abode far beyond this world of birth and death. Hare Krsna.
who told that mataji??? I never heard of anything like this before. Demigods are not forms of Krishna.
In India it is very very difficult to make our family understand the philosophy of KC. I always end up with a argument with my mother when ever any demigod festivals used to come which we used to celebrate before coming to KC. We have to act intelligently and according to time-place and circumstance.
All demigods are devotees of Lord but they have some material attachment. When we visit their temples, we should respect them as a devotee and pray for our progress in KC. Sastanganamaskar is offered to Krishna, Vishnu tattva and SP and to a sanyasi only. I would offer panchanga pranam to demigods when ever we visit with family.
Yesterday was Nagarpanchami and we used to celebrate it at my home. Now also we celebrate but in different and more meaningful way. We used to bath the deity of Nagdev with milk and water and offer bhoga. Now, we bath the deity of Krishna and then Nagdev. My mom prepared a wonderful feast for Lord Jagannath and we offered it to him and had the prasadam. If I were to be very strict on not bowing down before demigod and doing all these then Jagannath ji would have missed his feast!!! So, if by visiting a demigod temple with the family all are happy with you then there is nothing wrong in doing that.
Hare Krishna.
Hare Krsna,
His divine Grace, A.c Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, has given long and complete explanations about why demigod worship is not
"There is no need to worship demigods of whatsoever category if one is serious about going back to Godhead. In the Bhagavad-gita (7.20,23) it is clearly said that those who are mad after material enjoyment approach the
different demigods for temporary benefits, which are meant for men with a poor fund of knowledge. We should never desire to increase the depth of material enjoyment. Material enjoyment should be accepted only up to the
point of the bare necessities of life and not more or less than that. To accept more material enjoyment means to bind oneself more and more to the miseries of material existence. More wealth, more women and false aristocracy are some of the demands of the materially disposed man because he has no information of the benefit derived from Visnu worship.
"By Visnu worship one can derive benefit in this life as well as in life after death. Forgetting these principles, foolish people who are after more wealth, more wives and more children worship various demigods. The aim of life is to end the miseries of life and not to increase them.
For material enjoyment there is no need to approach the demigods. The demigods are but servants of the Lord. As such, they are duty-bound to supply necessities of life in the form of water, light, air, etc. One should work hard and worship the Supreme Lord by the fruits of one's hard labor for existence, and that should be the motto of life. One should be careful to execute occupational service with faith in God in the proper way, and that will lead one gradually on the progressive march back to Godhead."
"There are innumerable powerful demigods who look over the external management of the material world.
They are all different assisting hands of Lord Vasudeva. Even Lord Siva and Lord Brahma are included in the list of demigods, but Lord Visnu, or Vasudeva, is always transcendentally situated."
Hari Bol,
hare krishna
i think going to demigods is not bad,
offerings sastanga namaskara is ok.
but 1 thing u should remember that dont ask for any material thing,
but ask for pure devotion towards krishna
beg for pure love, bhakhi towards krishna.
hare krishna
jai prabhupad
Hare krishna prabhuji....... all glories to prabhupad...
Sastanga namaskar is ok for demigods, means have to pray them to help us to elevate in krishna consciousness ... right prabhu.....
if at one place rama temple and very just beside that shiva temple is there ...... then is it right to go shiva also?
Thank you prabhu...
ya no problem
shiva is vaishanavanam paramam shambu.
shiva is supreme devotee of Lord Kriahna.
u can ask lord shiva for pure devotional service towards krishna.
hari bol