It is well known that amongst the Pandavas, Arjuna was the closest to Krishna and that is why Gitopadesa was given by Krishna to Arjuna only. But what is bewildering me is that why did Arjuna go alongwith the other Pandavas to Kailash(Himalayas) the abode of Lord Shiva in the final destination of his life. Should not have he gone to Mathura/Dwaraka to spend his final days. Also, Lord Krishna tells his Yadu clan to pray to the demi gods just before his demise from Dwaraka. When the Lord himself has endorsed Demi god worship then why does Srila Prabhupada condemn it? I am asking these questions not with the intention of hurting anybody but with a genuine urge to understand KCON.
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Hare Krishna Arvind Prabhu,
My humble Obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Thank you so much for your kind words.
It may be so as you pointed out regarding Shiva worship. But I think for a devotee, the best course is to follow his Spiritual Master’s orders because guru is the only person who can release a devotee from the pangs of birth and death. He knows the best course of action for his disciple. If a guru asks to perform Shiva worship in a particular mood along with devotional service to Lord Krishna, then it can be done or else not.
The following is my opinion: We are not so fortunate in this Kali Yuga where “akala mrityu” (untimely death) is one of the main features. We don’t have so much time to wait for our consciousness to evolve. That is why we have to live each day as if it is our last day and ensure that we always remember Krishna and never forget Krishna. That is why we need a guide, a spiritual master who can take us to Krishna very easily and we have to follow every order that our guru gives us. Srila Prabhupada is our Acharya and he didn’t recommend demigod worship. So, we should abide by that and go ahead in performing devotional service to Lord Krishna. We cannot speculate on this; more so because we are convinced that Krishna Consciousness is the eternal dharma of the soul. This is my understanding
Senior devotees, please correct me if I have mentioned anything incorrect here.
RadheKrishna!!
Your Servant,
Ram
Poojya Jagadatma dasji, My humble pranaams! I hope I have not offended your goodself and anybody else with my views. My obesiences.
Please accept my humble obeisances.
I am trying to put forth my two cents on this. I may be completely wrong here so I request you to please enlighten me as necessary.
Lord Krishna performed the Govardhan pastime because Indra was becoming proud of his power and position. It was Lord Krishna's way of making him realize that HE himself is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and a human being's endeavor and activities should be directed towards satisfying Lord Krishna. Because that will lead to the ultimate goal for a soul.
As pointed out by senior devotees here, Lord Shiva himself is the greatest Vaishnava. I am no authority in saying this but as per my limited knowledge, it is Krishna's way of showing love and respect to his foremost devotee by asking Arjuna to worship Lord Shiva. This was why Lord Rama worshiped Lord Shiva before leaving for Lanka in Rameswaram.
There are multiple facets to this:
1. Lord Krishna performed so many pastimes when he was here which are beyond this material realm. We cannot reason his activities because he is the absolute while we are in the material plane.
2. If Krishna wanted to establish dharma in this planet and vanquish all demons, then he could have done it within seconds with his unlimited potency. There would have been no need of Kurukshetra war at all. His purpose was to establish religion and give this world the treatise to follow the basic principles of dharma and promote spirituality all over. Without Mahabharata, we could not discriminate between what is right and what is wrong and follow dharmic principles in our society. We would not have got such great examples as Pandavas, Bhisma etc.
Pashupasta astra is a weapon which is present with Lord Shiva. Also, this was before the Kurukshetra war happened and before Bhagawad Gita was spoken. So Arjuna didn't know the absolute truth at that time. So it is natural to recommend the worship of Lord Shiva to procure this weapon.
And yes, we may worship Lord Shiva since he is the greatest Vaishnava but not with an intention to get material benefits. We should approach lord shiva to bestow his mercy on us so that we can get Lord Krishna's devotional service. Same way we approach Lord Hanuman also. They are the greatest devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Even Vedas have recommended lots of procedures and rituals for demigod worship. This is to naturally evolve human consciousness and bring them to an understanding where they realize that nothing is greater than or beyond Lord Krishna.
Lord Krishna's pastimes can be relished but we cannot scrutinizingly reason with them because we cannot understand these with our material senses and unless Lord Krishna bestows his mercy, we will not get to know him or perform devotional serve onto him.
So we should only concentrate on serving Krishna (as directed by Lord Krishna and all our Acharyas coming in the Disciplic Succession) with whatever means we can. That should be our foremost goal in our lives.
I am extremely sorry if I have put forth any incorrect thoughts.
RadheKrishna!!
Your Servant
Ram
to worship means to do those things which was ordered by the object of worship. To serve a Vaishnava is very good. But how we serve to a Vaishnava, first service begins with hearing. He tells us to offer to Krishna flowers, chant Japa, 4 regulative principles...
So i am sure that Lord Shiva has enough servants and He does not lack or need our service but He will be very happy if we serve to Krishna. To His beloved Lord. Vaishnavas do not like to accept service for themselves, they prefer to see how others worship their Lord Krishna.
Krishna does not recommend to worship Demigods. where did You get it, i do not know.
When He performed His childhood pastimes He told His Father Nanda Maharaja not to worship Indra but to worship the Govardhan Hill and the cows.
Your servant,
Even Krsna Himself says this repeatedly in Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna.
Then He shows His universal form and His 4 armed form of Narayan as proof.
Great sages such as Narada Muni, Asita ,Deval and Vyasadev declare Krsna is the Supreme Lord.
lord Brahma glorifies Krsna in the famous Brahma Samhita as the Original Supreme Lord above all the demigods. and the master of all the 3 worlds, devi dham, mahesha dhama and Hari dhama.
Those who do not accept Krsnas Supreme position above all are described in the Gita as atheists.
In all the sampradayas Visnu, Krsna is accepted as Supreme.
And Lord Siva himself says of all types of worship the worship of Visnu is the best.
Lord Siva's instruction should be taken. He says, "The best worship is to worship Visnu,'' visnu ärädhanaà param.
When Siva was asked by Pärvaté that "What method of worship is first-class?''
Then he said, "The first-class worship is worshiping Lord Visnu.'
' Visnu ärädhanaà param. Tasmät parataraà devi tadiyänäm ärädhanam.
He said the Visnu worship is the best.
There are many demigods, but he recommended, "Visnu worship is the best.''
And the better than Visnu worship is to worship Vaisnava.
Tadiyänäm ärädhanam. Tadiyä means His servant, or one who is, or what is in relationship with Him.
Just like we are worshiping this plant, Tulasi.
We are not worshiping all plants, but because this Tulasi has very intimate connection with Krsna and Visnu, therefore we are worshiping.
Tadiyänäm ärädhanam.
Similarly, anything who is intimately related with Krsna, worship of that thing is better than worship of Visnu, Krsna. Hare Krsna
"give me this, give me that"
very shameless. it seemed like a business.
then i started to pray just my Lord You know what is better for me You know well than me myself, do whatever You want with me, i will try to accept that. i know that You are All merciful and You won't let me to be lost.
Krishna is our real friend, He sits in our heart and He knows what we need. So why to ask Him for something? If we just please Him and serve to Him, do You think He won't give attention to our desires and needs???
As like mother cares of her child giving everything on time He also is ready to give everything to us. Why to go to others?
Your servant,
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