Seeing devotees of other gods ignorant after joining ISKCON! Tips!
A question from a devotee (Name hidden):
“Hare Krishna prabhuji. Dandavats Pranams. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I have a different problem after joining ISKCON. I am now very fond of Krishna and I forget all other gods. I was a Saivait by birth embracing ISKCON later. When my parents call me to come with them to Shiva temple, I refuse to go. I scold them as ignorent to go to shiva temple. But, internally, I feel guilty. This disturbs me while chanting also. Tell me what to do to come out of this guilt?”
REPLY:
Treating devotees of demigods ignorant after joining ISKCON is also ignorant. Because, ISKCON devotees read about Vishnu tatvas more and practice devotion to Krishna only.
Worshiping only Krishna is very good! But, a vaishnava should not disrespect Lord Siva and all other Gods. Srila Prabhupada has preached to worship Krishna alone to avoid diversion of attention of the devotees of Krishna towards many gods as he can focus on a Single God who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and make this life successful.
A whole canto of Srimad Bhagavatham speaks the glories of Lord Siva.
(Why Krishna alone is the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Why Shiva Purana says Shiva as Supreme? READ HERE!)
Krishna is the Paramathma and Supreme Personality of Godhead that has been accepted by all, even by advaita gurus like Sri Adhi Shankaracharya.
So, be convinced that Krishna is the main root and all the other gods are branch roots from the main root.
This can be understood if you read the Vibhoodhi Yoga of Bhagavad Gita, in which Krishna says that He is the Lord Shiva among Rudras, Karthikeya among head of warriors, etc.
So, all the other gods that we know have originated from Krishna.
We, the followers of Krishna, pour water to the main root of a plant; If you water the main root of a plant, that water is received by all the branch roots!
But, if you pour water to any branch root, for how many roots will you pour? To Lord Shiva? Ganesh ji? To Karthikeya? To Kali? To Sarasvathi ma? To Surya deva? To Indra? To agni? To Varuna? To Vayu? To navagrahas? To 33 crores of celestials? Or, to your ancestors?
(Why In India many gods are worshiped contrary to other countries? READ HERE!)
Just imagine how difficult it will be to satisfy all the controllers of these creations, ie., gods.
While you are worshiping a god, someone will come and tell you that another god is faster in giving benefits. Then, you will switch from this god to that god.
Why these weak, confused and selfish devotion? If you please Krishna, automatically, all other gods, celestials and ancestors are satisfied.
It is said in scriptures: “If you please Krishna by becoming a vaishnava, you will get opportunity to serve eternally in Krishna’s kingdom and all your previous seven and next seven generations will be relieved from material bondage and get freed from repeated births and deaths”
So, we worship the Main root Paramathma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna. No confusion.
Let us not bother about the sects or so many classifications and communities. Let us not involve in the arguments about different gods. Those who are interested in getting the material benefits worship other gods. Those who are interested in going out of material bonding and get Krishna’s service eternally, worship Krishna. So, we have chosen Krishna. This is great!
(Other Gods help faster than Krishna and my friends got promoted while I am not yet. Why? READ HERE!)
This does not mean that we should disrespect other demigods. If we disrespect even a dog, that means, we are in thamo and rajo gunas. But, a devotee will have to be in Satva guna. So, one should respect all gods.
I have already said in this site about a neighbour who is a Lord Vishnu devotee! There is a Shiva temple near his house. Whenever the devotees of Lord Shiva goes Nagar Sankirtan singing songs glorifying the Lord Shiva, that Vishnu devotee will close all the doors and windows of his house and keep the Radio or TV volume high, to prevent the sound of the songs on Lord Shiva entering his ears.
Is this the quality of real vaishnava? No. He is a pretender.
A vaishnava sees Krishna in all gods, people, and even in dogs and those who eat dogs. He sees Krishna everywhere. He sees Lord Shiva too as the greatest Vaishnava and gives full respect to Him.
I usually give this example wherever I mention about the presence of multi-god system followed in India: The presence of many gods are like a big corporate company’s administration.
(Though they have advanced knowledge of God, why many Indians violate the disciplinary rules in public places? READ HERE!)
You go to a company to get an order for your product. There, you like to meet the Chairman of that company. Can you meet the chairman if you disrespect the employee in the ‘reception’ of that company?
First you have to respect the receptionist. The receptionist asks questions about you and then forward you to the director. Therefore, to avoid the failure, you first meet the receptionist of that company and explain about your product. He/ she help you to meet the director. If you disrespect these first level employees, you can’t meet the director.
Thus, Krishna is the Chairman. We try to directly satisfy Krishna. But, to satisfy Krishna, we need some qualities. The most important quality is that one should be in the state of respecting all the creations of Krishna including gods, people, animals, birds, etc.
We do not know how long we will be in this body. So, before leaving this body, we have to satisfy Krishna. Then only, we can avoid the next birth and go back to Krishna. So, we must develop the qualities of respecting all other gods and people. In this matured state, we can get Krishna easily.
(16 KALAS OF KRISHNA/ VISHNU! KALAS OF OTHER GODS & LIVING BEINGS! READ HERE!)
A Krishna devotee will not disrespect other gods and celestials. Because, they are in a higher state than us. So, we should respect them. And, all the gods and celestials are also serving the Lord and they also are His employees to perform a particular assignment. Yama, who is called ‘Dharma Raja’ too is doing his service to the Lord by separating the souls from the bodies perfectly in time.
You need not try to please all the gods and celestials. Because, we can’t satisfy all of them within this birth. Therefore, offer your prayers to Krishna and give respect to all gods. Whatever you offer to Krishna, that is automatically distributed to all the demigods.
Though you get something from any god, it is offered only because of the sanction of Krishna given to those gods. Therefore, you need not try to please all of them.
But, if we insult other gods and devatas, even Lord Krishna will not accept it and He will give some more births to you to learn how to honour all His servants in His creations.
Therefore, save time by satisfying Krishna, but, respect all the gods and devatas. It is the natural quality of a Krishna devotee.
(SRI CAITANYA MAHA PRABHU AND SRILA BHAKTI SIDDHANTHA SARASVATI ALSO VISITED LORD SIVA TEMPLES! IT CAN BE READ HERE!)
No guilt; No worries about seeing devotees of other gods ignorant after joining ISKCON! Your such a respecting attitude will be highly appreciated by Krishna!
(Two Views on Krishna’s devotee worshiping Other Gods? Which to follow? READ HERE!)