Why Gopis worshiped Lord Siva & Katyayini, Not Krishna?
Actual Question from a devotee:
“Hare Krishna Prabhu, pamho, DANDAVAT PRANAM. why did gopas n gopis worship lord shiva when lord Krishna physically present in dwaparayuga?”
REPLY:
When Krishna is the Supreme Lord, Why Gopis worshiped Lord Siva & Katyayini, Not Krishna to get Krishna Himself?
THIS IS THE QUESTION IN THE MINDS OF MANY!
Actually, Lord Siva is believed to fulfill the prayers of the devotees faster. Particularly, the women approach Him to get good husband.
Using this nature of Lord Siva, many people ask for material benefits to Him.
However, as far as the vaishnavas are concerned, they are advised to pray/ desire only to get the mercy of Krishna.
(Who are gopis? Can I love Krishna like Gopis? If so, What if my parents want me to marry a boy? READ HERE!)
Therefore, using the “Fast boon-giving” nature of Lord Siva, we can ask for Krishna’s mercy from Lord Siva.
Since the vaishnavas are very merciful, they always like to fulfill the wishes of the devotees.
Lord Siva too, being the topmost Vaishnava becomes happy when someone prays to Him to help him to get the mercy of Krishna.
He also helps these vaishnavas to get Krishna.
On this basis, Gopis too prayed to Krishna ONLY TO GET KRISHNA, NOT FOR ANY MATERIAL BENEFITS.
Gopis had the only target in their life. Getting the direct association of Krishna.
(Glories of Govardhana Hills and Govardhana Puja – READ HERE.)
They tried their best to get as many blessings as possible from the vaishnavas to get Krishna earlier.
Thus, they prayed to Lord Siva also to help them get Krishna.
They succeeded in it.
Even Srila Bakthi Siddhanta Sarasvati, the guru of A.C.Bhakti Vedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON, prayed to Lord Siva for extending Krishna’s mercy.
All the scriptures agree that the Vaishnavas are very powerful in giving/ transferring the Krishna Bhakti to others.
Lord Siva too is capable of bringing Krishna’s mercy to us.
(KRISHNA’s LILAS WITH MARRIED GOPIS! HOW TO UNDERSTAND IT? READ HERE!)
Let us see this in another interesting angle:
The target of Gopis is Krishna. Then, to get Krishna they pray to Siva as recommendation to make sure that they get Krishna.
If a child wants to get permission for a tour arranged by his school, what he will do? He will tell his mother to get the permission from his father to go for tour. He knows that approaching mother will be logical as she is too close to father.
Similarly, Lord Siva is the topmost vaishnava whose requests can not be denied by Krishna easily. So, If the Lord Siva recommends, Krishna will immediately accept us and engage us in His service.
On this basis, approaching Siva and Katyayini seems logical.
Hope you are clear now about why Gopis worshiped Lord Siva & Katyayini, Not Krishna Himself.
(CURE FOR KRISHNA’s SICKNESS – STORY CAN BE READ HERE!)