Posted by J. Brennan on August 26, 2015 at 10:06am
Greetings,I am new. As someone who grew upin an Abrahamic religion e.g. Christianity, Judaism, or Islam; I must ask, why should worship of demigods be permitted if Krishna is the only object and person worthy of worship?
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Hare Krsna, My obeisances to all devotees, guru and gauranga.
I apologise beforehand if I offend anyone or hurt their sentiments or beliefs by my response. My response is just based on my limited understanding..
Joseph prabhu, I have come across many posts and response relating to the term "demigods". This term is used across other religions as well. In a general meaning, demigod is a divine or supernatural being. In Hinduism, the term demigod is used to refer to deities who were once "humans" and later became devas (gods).
In the Rig Veda (1.22.20) states, oṃ tad viṣṇoḥ paramam padam sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ: "All the suras (i.e., the devas) look always toward the feet of Lord Vishnu. Thus the Devas are stated to be subordinate to Vishnu. So, when Srila Prabhupada used the same term in his purports, he dint make up a new word but kept the meaning consistent with the authorised scriptures.
Now one can question how can Srila Prabhupada term "accepted Gods" as demigods?? The answer is actually in Bhagwad Gita itself. In the 9th chapter krsna says
yanti deva-vrata devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah bhutani yanti bhutejya yanti mad-yajino 'pi mam
Translation
Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.
Krsna himself mentions "deva" "devan" but not to belittle his subordinates. If you think about it, everything emanates from Krsna, then how can anyone be subordinate or superior. Every thing is part and parcel of him. Demigods is krsna, devotees is krsna, maha mantra is krsna, ur phone is krsna, ur car is krsna, ur house is krsna (you might think, some are material but even material things originate from krsna). It is us (foolish people), who cannot understand his instructions and think we can manufacture our own God and call him/her supreme, like Salman is god, some baba is god, sachin is god etc etc..
Srila Prabhupada in his books never asked his devotees to disrespect demigods nor did he criticize other religions. His message was simple, loud and clear "Love god". In whatever religion/belief you are in, just love god. Correct me if my understanding is wrong.
I put my faith in Krsna's words and ofcourse Srila Prabhupada's translation because without his purports I would never have understood Bhagwad Gita. So in BG, krsna says he is Supreme. So, lets worship him. Also respect other demigods as part of krsna as we have to see that there is krsna as supresoul in everything.
Sorry, if this was a bit long worded. Hope I was able to try and answer your question prabhu.
Again, apologize if this response offends people or their beliefs.
Thank you Krsna dasa! I do not believe you have offended anyone here. Its just the idea of having other gods is alien to me. Then again, the so called Angels had influence over material nature. Raised in the church I was taught from the 10 commandments, "thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" and "thou shalt have no other gods before me." I have been a believer in the Supreme Lord all my life, unsure of his identity. From reading the Bhagavad Gita, the idea of creation being part of and intertwined with God seemed to make the make the most sense.
But if they are devoted to Krishna and they understand who he is, why worship the demigods? Shouldn't we pray directly to Krishna to fulfill all of our needs?
YOu are right. However, most people are not interested in who is God and what is our duty towards Him and even what is the purpose of our life? THey are interested in resolution of minute day to day issues - like Give us today our daily bread, please make this project the project in office, please give me that promotion, please pass me in my exams, pls make the food i cooked the tastiest in the world, please give me that diamond necklace, this lifestyle apartment and so on.... So then what do they do, they approach demigods, who are in the Government of God, meaning authorised by God to handle various departments like wealth, beauty, marital happiness, rains, heat, cold and get what they want. It is akin to approaching a Govt official to get what one wants and bribing that official for our purposes.
You can do a survey and find out how many people are even interested in knowing who is God?
Replies
Hare Krsna,
My obeisances to all devotees, guru and gauranga.
I apologise beforehand if I offend anyone or hurt their sentiments or beliefs by my response. My response is just based on my limited understanding..
Joseph prabhu, I have come across many posts and response relating to the term "demigods". This term is used across other religions as well. In a general meaning, demigod is a divine or supernatural being. In Hinduism, the term demigod is used to refer to deities who were once "humans" and later became devas (gods).
In the Rig Veda (1.22.20) states, oṃ tad viṣṇoḥ paramam padam sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ: "All the suras (i.e., the devas) look always toward the feet of Lord Vishnu. Thus the Devas are stated to be subordinate to Vishnu. So, when Srila Prabhupada used the same term in his purports, he dint make up a new word but kept the meaning consistent with the authorised scriptures.
Now one can question how can Srila Prabhupada term "accepted Gods" as demigods?? The answer is actually in Bhagwad Gita itself. In the 9th chapter krsna says
yanti deva-vrata devan
pitrn yanti pitr-vratah
bhutani yanti bhutejya
yanti mad-yajino 'pi mam
Translation
Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.
Krsna himself mentions "deva" "devan" but not to belittle his subordinates. If you think about it, everything emanates from Krsna, then how can anyone be subordinate or superior. Every thing is part and parcel of him. Demigods is krsna, devotees is krsna, maha mantra is krsna, ur phone is krsna, ur car is krsna, ur house is krsna (you might think, some are material but even material things originate from krsna). It is us (foolish people), who cannot understand his instructions and think we can manufacture our own God and call him/her supreme, like Salman is god, some baba is god, sachin is god etc etc..
Srila Prabhupada in his books never asked his devotees to disrespect demigods nor did he criticize other religions. His message was simple, loud and clear "Love god". In whatever religion/belief you are in, just love god. Correct me if my understanding is wrong.
I put my faith in Krsna's words and ofcourse Srila Prabhupada's translation because without his purports I would never have understood Bhagwad Gita. So in BG, krsna says he is Supreme. So, lets worship him. Also respect other demigods as part of krsna as we have to see that there is krsna as supresoul in everything.
Sorry, if this was a bit long worded. Hope I was able to try and answer your question prabhu.
Again, apologize if this response offends people or their beliefs.
Hare krsna
Hare Krishna
Hare KRsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
YOu are right. However, most people are not interested in who is God and what is our duty towards Him and even what is the purpose of our life? THey are interested in resolution of minute day to day issues - like Give us today our daily bread, please make this project the project in office, please give me that promotion, please pass me in my exams, pls make the food i cooked the tastiest in the world, please give me that diamond necklace, this lifestyle apartment and so on.... So then what do they do, they approach demigods, who are in the Government of God, meaning authorised by God to handle various departments like wealth, beauty, marital happiness, rains, heat, cold and get what they want. It is akin to approaching a Govt official to get what one wants and bribing that official for our purposes.
You can do a survey and find out how many people are even interested in knowing who is God?
Pls feel free to revert if you still have doubts.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Rashmi