SB 1.2.26 P Divinity and Divine Service
The separated parts and parcels have different positions in the estimation of material powers, and some of them are like Kala-bhairava, Smasana-bhairava, Sani, Mahakali and Candika. These demigods are worshiped mostly by those who are in the lowest categories of the mode of darkness or ignorance. OTHER DEMIGODS, LIKE BRAHMA, SIVA, SURYA, GANESA AND MANY SIMILAR DEITIES, ARE WORSHIPED BY MEN IN THE MODE OF PASSION, URGED ON BY THE DESIRE FOR MATERIAL ENJOYMENT. BUT THOSE WHO ARE ACTUALLY SITUATED IN THE MODE OF GOODNESS (SATTVA-GUNA) OF MATERIAL NATURE WORSHIP ONLY VISNU-TATTVAS. Visnu-tattvas are represented by various names and forms, such as Narayana, Damodara, Vamana, Govinda and Adhoksaja.
The qualified brahmanas worship the visnu-tattvas represented by the salagrama-sila, and some of the higher castes like the ksatriyas and vaisyas also generally worship the visnu-tattvas.
Highly qualified brahmanas situated in the mode of goodness have no grudges against the mode of worship of others. They have all respect for other demigods, even though they may look ghastly, like Kala-bhairava or Mahakali. They know very well that those horrible features of the Supreme Lord are all different servitors of the Lord under different conditions, yet they reject the worship of both horrible and attractive features of the demigods, and they concentrate only on the forms of Visnu because they are serious about liberation from the material conditions. The demigods, even to the stage of Brahma, the supreme of all the demigods, cannot offer liberation to anyone. Hiranyakasipu underwent a severe type of penance to become eternal in life, but his worshipful deity, Brahma, could not satisfy him with such blessings. Therefore Visnu, and none else, is called mukti-pada, or the Personality of Godhead who can bestow upon us mukti, liberation. The demigods, being like other living entities in the material world, are all liquidated at the time of the annihilation of the material structure. They are themselves unable to get liberation, and what to speak of giving liberation to their devotees. The demigods can award the worshipers some temporary benefit only, and not the ultimate one.
It is for this reason only that candidates for liberation deliberately reject the worship of the demigods, although they have no disrespect for any one of them.
74-12-28. Letter: Sons
Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, chapter 18; sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja, aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma sucah. So why you want to worship someone else. Krsna, Himself, recommends mam ekam, he alone. Therefore we must do like that. If one wants to water the tree he waters the root. There is no necessity of watering the branches. THE DEMIGODS ARE ALL DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE UNIVERSAL FORM OF THE SUPREME LORD. BUT KRSNA IS EVEN MORE THAN THAT WHOLE COMPLETE UNIVERSAL FORM. HE IS THE ORIGIN OF THAT UNIVERSAL FORM. THEREFORE I DO NOT ENCOURAGE YOU TO WORSHIP THIS DEMIGOD, GANESA. IT IS NOT REQUIRED, IT IS NOT NECESSARY. SIMPLY WORSHIP KRSNA. PERFORM NICE DEVOTIONAL SERVICE TO KRSNA. THEN YOUR LIVES WILL CERTAINLY BECOME PERFECT. Of course if one has got some sentiment for achieving the blessings of Ganesa for accumulating large sums of money to serve Krsna, then he may perform this Ganesa worship, privately, not making a public show. But first of all he must give me $100,000 per month. Not a single farthing less. If he can supply this amount, $100,000 per month, then he will be allowed to do this Ganesa Puja. Otherwise he should not do it. It will not be good. That is my order. So all of you keep yourselves strong in Krsna Consciousness by following all of my basic principles. That is of the utmost importance. Do not fail to chant 16 rounds daily, rise early, come to mangala arati, come to classes and follow the 4 regulative principles. In this way your life will become free from all anxieties. Please try to distribute my books in huge quantities more and more. This is very much satisfying to me.
Madhya 24.330 The Sixty-One Explanations of the Atmarama Verse
kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah
prapadyante ‘nya-devatah
tam tam niyamam asthaya
prakrtya niyatah svaya
“THOSE WHOSE MINDS ARE DISTORTED BY MATERIAL DESIRES SURRENDER UNTO DEMIGODS AND FOLLOW THE PARTICULAR RULES AND REGULATIONS OF WORSHIP ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN NATURES.” (BG. 7.20)
It is also stated in the Skanda Purana:
vasudevam parityajya
yo ‘anya-devam upasate
svamataram parityajya
sva-pacim vandate hi sah
“A person who worships the demigods and gives up Lord Vasudeva is like a man who gives up the protection of his mother for the shelter of a witch.”
It is also stated in Bhagavad-gita (9.23):
ye ‘py anya-devata-bhakta
yajante sraddhayanvitah
te ‘pi mam eva kaunteya
yajanty avidhi-purvakam
“Whatever a man may sacrifice to other gods, O son of Kunti, is really meant for Me alone, but it is offered without true understanding.”
Demigods are also living entities and parts and parcels of Krsna. Therefore in one sense one worships Krsna when one worships the demigods, but not in the proper way. There is a proper method to water a tree. One should water the roots, but if one waters the leaves and branches instead, he is simply wasting his time. If one worships the demigods to the exclusion of Lord Visnu, his rewards will only be material. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita:
antavat tu phalam tesam
tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam
devan deva-yajo yanti
mad-bhakta yanti mam api
“Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.” (Bg. 7.23)
DEMIGOD WORSHIP IS MEANT FOR UNINTELLIGENT MEN BECAUSE THE BENEFITS DERIVED FROM DEMIGOD WORSHIP ARE ALL MATERIAL, TEMPORARY AND RETRACTABLE. It is also stated in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa:
yas tu narayanam devam
brahma-rudradi-devataih
samatvenaiva vikseta
sa pasandi bhaved dhruvam
“Whoever thinks Lord Visnu and the demigods are on the same level is to be immediately considered a rogue as far as spiritual understanding is concerned.”
There are three modes of nature in the material world, but when one is situated spiritually, he is above the material modes, even though he lives in this material world. Lord Krsna states in Bhagavad-gita (14.26):
mam ca yo ‘vyabhicarena
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa gunan samatityaitan
brahma bhuyaya kalpate
“One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstances at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.” When one engages in the Supreme Lord’s devotional service, he is in a transcendental position. Even though one may be situated in the mode of goodness in the material world, he is susceptible to pollution by the modes of passion and ignorance. When the mode of goodness is mixed with the mode of passion, one worships the sun-god, Vivasvan. WHEN THE MODE OF GOODNESS IS MIXED WITH THE MODE OF IGNORANCE, HE WORSHIPS GANAPATI, OR GANESA. When the mode of passion is mixed with the mode of ignorance, one worships Durga, or Kali, the external potency. When one is simply in the mode of ignorance, he becomes a devotee of Lord Siva because Lord Siva is the predominating deity of the mode of ignorance within this material world. However, when one is completely free from the influence of all the modes of material nature, he becomes a pure Vaisnava on the devotional platform. Srila Rupa Gosvami states in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu:
anyabhilasita-sunyam
jnana-karmady-anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanu-
silanam bhaktir uttama
The position of visuddha-sattva is the position of uncontaminated goodness. On that platform, one can then understand, aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa-tanayas tad-dhama vrndavanam: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the son of Nanda Maharaja, is to be worshiped along with His transcendental abode, Vrndavana.”
(by Mahesh Raja)
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