Hare Krishna
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
I have a doubt. We all know that Lord Shiva and Hanuman are also great devotees of the
Supreme Lord Krishna. But I didn't hear any ISKCON devotee mentioning the name of Lord Shiva or Hanuman. In ISKCON temples, devotees mention Srila Prabhupada,Hari dasa Thakura, Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura and many more. Why don't Lord Shiva and Hanuman, being great vaishnavas, don't deserve that?
Replies
CB Adi-khanda 1.6
TEXT 6
adye shri chaitanya-priya-goshthira carane
ashesha-prakare mora danda-paraname
TRANSLATION
In the beginning I offer unlimited obeisances to the feet of the loving, confidential devotees of Lord Shri Chaitanya.
COMMENTARY
Before offering prayers to Shri Chaitanya, the author offers his obeisances at the feet of the Lord’s confidential devotees. Among the confidential devotees of the Lord, the spiritual master is the prime celebrity. Lord Nityananda Prabhu Himself is the author’s spiritual master.
Goshthi refers to a group of persons who have great relish for a wide variety of scriptures, who are endowed with truthful words, who are embellished with faultless ornaments, and who are full of perfect knowledge. Hearing topics related to the Lord from the Bhagavata and other scriptures, they realize the Lord.
The word danda means “falling to the ground straight like a stick,” and the word paranama means “obeisances.” Such obeisances are of four varieties: (1) offering greetings, (2) offering obeisances with eight parts of the body touching the ground, (3) offering obeisances with five parts of the body touching the ground, and (4) bowing the head with folded hands.
CB Adi-khanda 1.7
TEXT 7
tabe vandon shri krishna chaitanya maheshvara
navadvipe avatara, nama-vishvambhara
TRANSLATION
I then offer my obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna Chaitanya. He incarnated in Navadvipa, and He is known as Vishvambhara.
CB Adi-khanda 1.8
TEXT 8
“amara bhaktera puja-ama haite bada”
sei prabhu vede-bhagavate kaila dadha
TRANSLATION
That same Supreme Personality of Godhead has declared in the Vedas and Shrimad Bhagavatam, “Worship of My devotees is superior to worship of Me.”
COMMENTARY
The devotees who worship the opulent feature of the Lord first develop in their hearts the conception that only the worship of the Supreme Lord is important. This conception, however, diminishes the glories of worshiping the devotees and exhibits their lack of love and devotion for the Supreme Lord.
As stated in the Padma Purana:
aradhananam sarvesham vishnor aradhanam param
tasmat parataram devi tadiyanam samarcanam
arcayitva tu govindam tadiyan narcayet tu yah
na sa bhagavato jneyah kevalam dambhikah smritah
“Of all types of worship, worship of Lord Vishnu is best, and better than the worship of Lord Vishnu is the worship of His devotee, the Vaishnava. One who performs worship of Lord Govinda but fails to worship His devotees should be understood to be not a devotee of the Lord but simply a victim of false pride.”
The word dadha means dridha, or “determination.” In the path of awe and reverence, the Supreme Lord alone is worshiped and His servants are the worshipers. But in the path of spontaneous attachment, awe and reverence are not prominent in the relationship between the object of worship and the worshiper; rather, the attitude of service is prominent. The servants have great pride in their service. Therefore the servants in madhurya-rasa consider themselves greater than their worshipable Lord Krishna. In other words, such persons consider their worshipable Lord as their subordinate, or under their control.
The superiority of worshiping the Lord’s devotees is celebrated in the Vedas. Some examples are found in the following statements.
The Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.10) states: tasmad atma-jnam hy arcayed bhuti-kamah-“By worshiping the devotees of the Lord, all one’s desires will be fulfilled.” Baladeva Vidyabhushana has written in his Govinda-bhashya commentary on the Vedanta-sutras (3.3.51): atma-jnam bhagavat-tattva-jnam tad bhaktam ity arthah; bhuti-kamo moksha-paryanta-sampatti-lipsur ity arthah. In other words, if one wants the highest benediction, he should serve the devotees of the Lord.
In Madhvacarya’s commentary on the Vedanta-sutras (3.3.47), he quotes the following from the Poshayana-shrutis: tanupasva tanupacarasva tebhyah shrinu hi te tamavantu-“Worship the devotees of the Lord, serve the devotees of the Lord, and hear from the devotees of the Lord, for they will protect you.”
In the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6.23) it is stated:
yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau
tasyaite kathita hy arthah prakashante mahatmanah
“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” There are many similar statements found in the Vedas.
In the Itihasa-samuccaya it is stated:
tasmad vishnu-prasadaya vaishnavan paritoshayet
prasada-sumukho vishnus tenaiva syan na samshayah
“In order to attain the mercy of Lord Vishnu, one should satisfy the Vaishnavas. There is no doubt that by their mercy, Vishnu will be pleased.” There are many similar statements in the Vaishnava literatures.
CB Adi-khanda 1.9
TEXT 9
mad-bhakta-pujabhyadhika sarva-bhuteshu man-matih
TRANSLATION
“Worshiping My devotees is better than directly worshiping Me.”
COMMENTARY
When the great devotee Uddhava inquired about pure devotional service and knowledge of the Supreme Lord for the welfare of the living entities, Lord Krishna glorified His devotees in this verse from the Shrimad Bhagavatam (11.19.21) while describing the various limbs of pure devotional service.
CB Adi-khanda 1.10
TEXT 10
eteke karila age bhaktera vandana
ataeva ache karya siddhira lakshana
TRANSLATION
I have therefore offered my prayers first to the devotees, as this is the secret for attaining perfection.
COMMENTARY
In the Adi Purana, it is stated:
ye me bhakta-janah partha na me bhaktash ca te janah
mad bhaktanam ca ye bhaktas te me bhaktatamah matah
“My dear Partha, those who claim to be My devotees are not My devotees, but those who claim to be devotees of My devotees are actually My devotees.”
Also in the Shrimad Bhagavatam (3.17.2) it is said:
durapa hy alpa-tapasah seva vaikuntha-vartmasu
yatropagiyate nityam deva-devo janardanah
“Persons whose austerity is meager can hardly obtain the service of the pure devotees who are progressing on the path back to the kingdom of Godhead, the Vaikunthas. Pure devotees engage one hundred percent in glorifying the Supreme Lord, who is the Lord of the demigods and the controller of all living entities.”
In the Padma Purana, Uttara-khanda, it is stated:
arcayitva tu govindam tadiyan narcayet tu yah
na sa bhagavato jneyah kevalam dambhikah smritah
tasmad sarva-prayatnena vaishnavan pujayet sada
sarvam tarati duhkhaugham mahabhagavatarcanat
“One who performs worship of Lord Govinda but fails to worship His devotees should be understood to be not a devotee of the Lord but simply a victim of false pride. One should always worship the Vaishnavas by all means, for by worshiping the great devotees one is freed from all miseries.”
In this way various other statements glorifying the worship of pure devotees are found in the scriptures.
The word karya-siddhi is explained by Baladeva Vidyabhushana in his Govinda-bhashya commentary on the Vedanta-sutras (3.3.51), wherein he quotes from the Shandilya-smriti as follows:
siddhir bhavati va neti samshayo ‘cyuta sevinam
nihsamshayas tu tad bhakta paricaryaratatmanam
kevalam bhagavat-pada- sevaya vimalam manah
na jayate yatha nityam tad bhakta-caranarcanat
“One may doubt whether the servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead will attain perfection, but there is absolutely no doubt that those who are attached to serving His devotees will attain perfection. One’s mind is not as fully purified by serving the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord as it is by serving the feet of His devotees.”
Shrila Kaviraja Gosvami has written in the Chaitanya-caritamrita (Adi 1.20-21) as follows: “In the beginning of this narration, simply by remembering the spiritual master, the devotees of the Lord, and the Personality of Godhead, I have invoked their benedictions. Such remembrance destroys all difficulties and very easily enables one to fulfill his own desires.”
CB Adi-khanda 1.11
TEXT 11
ishta-deva vandon mora nityananda-raya
chaitanya-kirti sphure yanhara kripaya
TRANSLATION
I offer my respectful obeisances unto Shri Nityananda Raya, for He is my worshipable Lord. By His mercy the glories of Lord Chaitanya become manifest.
COMMENTARY
After first offering respects to the Vaishnavas, the author offers obeisances to his own spiritual master and then begins to describe the pastimes of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The mercy of Lord Nityananda, the author’s spiritual master, is the main qualification in his endeavor.
It is to be remembered that svayam-prakasha Shri Nityananda-Baladeva, who is nondifferent from svayam-rupa Shri Gaura-Krishna, is the source of the following vishnu-tattvas: Mula-Sankarshana, Maha-Sankarshana, the three purushavataras-Karanodakashayi Vishnu, Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, and Kshirodakashayi Vishnu-as well as the thousand-headed Ananta Shesha.
JAY SRILA PRABHUPADA, ACHRYAS AND LORD
HARI BOL
GURU IS EMBODIMENT OF LORD'S MERCY. HE MUST BE WORSHIPPED. LORD HIMSELF SAYS SO.
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF DEVOTEES ON BASIS OF PURITY: PURE DEVOTEES AND MIXED DEVOTEES. WE ARE NOT INSTRUCTED TO WORSHIP DEMIGODS WHO ARE MIXED DEVOTEES BECAUSE WE WILL ALSO GET MIXED DEVOTION. WE HAVE TO RESPECT THEM.
THERE ARE INNUMERABLE PURE DEVOTEES. WE CAN'T OFFER RESPECT TO EACH OF THEM INDIVIDUALLY.
SO, MOST MERCIFUL GURU SHOULD BE WORSHIPPED ALONG WITH ACHARYAS. THERE ARE MANTRAS:
VANCHA KALPA TARU...
I OFFER MY OBEISANCES TO VASIHANAVA DEVOTEES.....
SRI KRSNA ................GAURA BHAKTI VRINDA
.................DEVOTEES HEADED BY SRIVASA
VANDE HUM GURUN ISHA ......
OFFERING RESPECT TO ALL SPIRITUAL MASTERS OR ACHARYAS.
OFCOURSE, SOME DEVOTEES ARE VERY FAMOUS LIKE PRAHLADA MAHARAJA, NARADA MUNI, HARIDASA THAKURA, SO WE TAKE THEIR NAMES MANY TIMES.
BUT STILL ONLY WHEN WE ARE READING SPECIFIC LILA, WE HEAR GLORIES OF THOSE DEVOTEES. SO, WHEN YOU HEAR RAMAYANA OR PADMA PURANA, YOU WILL HEAR HANUMAN JI'S BHAKTI.
LORD SHIVA'S DEVOTION IS IN MANY SCRIPTURES. WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO MENTION ALL OF THEM.
Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada quotes:
Sri Ramanujacarya has stated:
srimad bhagavatarcanam bhagavatah puja-vidher uttamam
sri-visnor avamananad guru-taram sri-vaisnavollanghanam
tirthad acyuta-padajad guru-taram tirtham tadiyanghri-jam
pujanad visnu-bhaktanam purusartho 'sti netarah
tesu tad-dvesatah kincit nasti nasanam atmanah
sri-vaisnavair maha-bhagaih sallapam karayet sada
tadiya-dusaka-janan na pasyet purusadhaman
sri-vaisnavanam cihnani dhrtvapi visayaturaih
taih sardham vancaka-janaih saha-vasam na karayet
The worship of Vaisnavas is greater than the worship of the Supreme Lord. Insulting a Vaisnava is more offensive than insulting Lord Visnu. The water that has washed the feet of a devotee is more pure than the water that has washed the feet of Gauranga-Krsna. There is no higher achievement than to worship a Vaisnava. There is nothing more offensive than being envious of a Vaisnava, which results in one's utter ruination. One should always converse with maha-bhagavata Vaisnavas, and one should never see the lowest of mankind who criticizesVaisnavas. One should never reside with a duplicitous person who is attached to sense gratification and decorated with the signs of a Vaisnava."
Adi Purana:
ye me bhakta-janah partha
na me bhaktas ca te janah
mad-bhaktanam ca ye bhaktas
te me bhakta-tama matah
`Those who are My direct devotees are actually not My devotees, but those who are the devotees and worshipers of My devotees are factually My devotees.'
Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya Lila 11.31:
aradhananam sarvesam
visnor aradhanam param
tasmat parataram devi
tadiyanam samarcanam
`My dear Devi, although the Vedas recommend worship of demigods, the worship of Lord Visnu is topmost. However, above the worship of Lord Visnu is the rendering of worshipful service to the Vaisnavas, who are devoted to Lord Visnu.'
lord shiva is nothingbut Krshna himself...
kṣīraṁ yathā dadhi vikāra-viśeṣa-yogāt
sañjāyate na hi tataḥ pṛthag asti hetoḥ
yaḥ śambhutām api tathā samupaiti kāryād
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
Just as milk is transformed into curd by the action of acids, but yet the effect curd is neither same as, nor different from, its cause, viz., milk, so I adore the primeval Lord Govinda of whom the state of Sambhu is a transformation for the performance of the work of destruction.
http://audio.iskcondesiretree.info/index.php?q=f&f=%2F02_-_ISKC...
http://audio.iskcondesiretree.info/index.php?q=f&f=%2F02_-_ISKC...
http://audio.iskcondesiretree.info/index.php?q=f&f=%2F02_-_ISKC...
all these told in ISKCON Temple Prabhuji.
Yes! I have often heard the pravakta (speaker) mentioning the names of Shiva or Hanuman in their morning Srimad Bhagavatam Classes in ISKCON. They have glorified them as SERVANTS OF LORD, as they proved the audience that such great devotees of Supreme Lord like Shiva/ Hanuman exist since ages (we can take blessings/ mercy from them for ADVANCEMENT in Krsna Consciousness, nothing more is required.)
Jaya Srila Prabhupada!
Hari Bol Jaya Srila Prabhupada Hare Krishna Prabhu ji! Jai Acharyas
In general common populace, people think All demigods to be equal as Lord Hari or Krsna and some make mistake of thinking Lord Visnu as temporary manifestation of impersonal brahman( which is just effulgence of body of Sri Krsna).
So, In Iskcon first Krsna is proved to be Supreme Lord, then we understand position of demigods as being devotees of Supreme Lord and respect them as devotees.
Lord Siva is mentioned in Vaishnava literatures.
www.vaniquotes.org/wiki/Category:Siva
www.vaniquotes.org/wiki/Category:Hanuman
Hanuman ji is dear dasa of Lord Rama- Aisvarya vigraha in Spiritual Ayodhya and he descend to earth in his form.
http://www.vaniquotes.org/wiki/A_devotee_of_Lord_Krsna_does_not_dis...
SB Canto 2
It is said in the Skanda Purāṇa:
"I offer my obeisances unto Him, the infallible, because simply by either remembering Him or vibrating His holy name one can attain the perfection of all penances, sacrifices or fruitive activities, and this process can be universally followed." It is enjoined (SB 2.3.10):
Though a person be full of desires or have no desires, he may follow this path of infallible bhakti-yoga for complete perfection." One need not be anxious to propitiate each and every demigod and goddess because the root of all of them is the Personality of Godhead. As by pouring water on the root of the tree one serves and enlivens all the branches and leaves, so by rendering service unto the Supreme Lord one automatically serves every god and goddess without extraneous effort. The Lord is all-pervading, and therefore service unto Him is also all-pervading.
SB Canto 3
Persons who are too addicted to this material world execute their prescribed duties very nicely and with great faith. They daily perform all such prescribed duties with attachment to the fruitive result.
In this and the following six verses, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam criticizes persons who are too materially attached. It is enjoined in the Vedic scriptures that those who are attached to the enjoyment of material facilities have to sacrifice and undergo certain ritualistic performances. They have to observe certain rules and regulations in their daily lives to be elevated to the heavenly planets. It is stated in this verse that such persons cannot be liberated at any time. Those who worship demigods with the consciousness that each and every demigod is a separate God cannot be elevated to the spiritual world, what to speak of persons who are simply attached to duties for the upliftment of their material condition.
SB Canto 5
Lord Ṛṣabhadeva performed all kinds of sacrifices one hundred times according to the instructions of the Vedic literatures. Thus He satisfied Lord Viṣṇu in every respect. All the rituals were enriched by first-class ingredients. They were executed in holy places according to the proper time by priests who were all young and faithful. In this way Lord Viṣṇu was worshiped, and the prasāda was offered to all the demigods. Thus the functions and festivals were all successful.
It is said, kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha (SB 7.6.1). A ritual should be performed by young men, even boys, at a tender age in order for the ritual to be performed successfully. From childhood, people should be trained in Vedic culture, especially in devotional service. In this way, one can perfect one's life. A Vaiṣṇava does not disrespect the demigods, but on the other hand he is not so foolish that he accepts each and every demigod as the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is master of all demigods; therefore the demigods are His servants. The Vaiṣṇava accepts them as servants of the Supreme Lord, and he worships them directly. In the Brahma-saṁhitā, the important demigods—Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and even the incarnations and expansions of Lord Kṛṣṇa like Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and all the other viṣṇu-tattvas, as well as the śakti-tattvas like Durgādevī—are all worshiped by the process of worshiping Govinda with the words govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **. A Vaiṣṇava worships the demigods in relation to Govinda, not independently. Vaiṣṇavas are not so foolish that they consider the demigods independent of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed in Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya: (CC Adi 5.142) the supreme master is Kṛṣṇa, and all others are His servants.
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