MikeMalaysia

To say that all the gods are various forms of the one Impersonal Brahman is the Mayavada Philosophy taught by Shankaracharya.

However, there is some confusion over the term "demigod" as it is not exactly accurate. This is mainly a language issue.

The Sanskrit word that is translated as "demigod" by Srila Prabhupada is deva. Deva means "god" and is the root of the Latin word divinus, which is where the English words "divine" and "divinity" come from. However, the Scriptures state that the devas are subordinate to Lord Krishna, the Supreme Lord. Lord Krishna states that He is the origin of the devas. The term used to refer to Lord Krishna is Bhagavan, meaning "He who possesses all opulences in full".

In order to emphasize Krishna's supremacy and show the subordinate position of the devas, Srila Prabhupada translated the Sanskrit word "deva" as "demigod". Let's keep in mind that he was preaching to a Western audience, whose concept of God arose mainly from Christianity. If Srila Prabhupada had started talking about "gods", then many people would have run a mile thinking that he was teaching polytheism, when in fact the devas occupy a position similar to angels in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

The word "Bhagavan" is the Sanskrit word for God in the traditional monotheistic view - the Supreme Being that created the universe. Deva refers to a lesser divine being, a "god" with a small "g" (let's face it, we talk about the Greek "gods" and we don't believe that they are supreme, do we?). The word "god" simply means a divine being.

The term "demigod" is also not very accurate. "Demi" means "half" in Latin, and it does not make sense in a Hindu context. If Lord Shiva is half god, what is the other half of him made up of?

However, talking about "gods" can also confuse people. I think that the best thing to do is to use the original Sanskrit word "deva" and then explain to people what it means and the relationship between Bhagavan and the Devas.

Here is what Lord Krishna says about the Devas:

"Neither the hosts of devas nor the great sages know My origin or opulences, for, in every respect, I am the source of the devas and sages." (Bhagavad-Gita 10:2)

Hare Krishna!

This is false information. Vedas do not say ant thing like that. In fact Vishnu is not a vedic god at all. Veda Recognises only thirty three gods and Vishnu is not there in the vlist. There is a name Vishnu mentioned but that is actually tone of the twelve names of Aditya Sun god.

 

I have posted this information before but people dont seems to accept the truth and continue to probagate false views about veda. I have no problem with Vishnu bhaktas but I have problem with perverting of the truth of Prinstine Vedas.

 

Saraba Iyar

There are many references to Lord Vishnu in the Vedas, but for this age, the recommended Scriptures are Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, both of which attest the superiority of Lord Krishna.

dādhāra dakṣamuttamamaharvidaṃ vrajaṃ ca viṣṇuḥ sakhivānaporṇute

"Viṣṇu hath power supreme and might that finds the day" (Rig Veda 1:156:4)

oṃ tad viṣṇoḥ paramam padam sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ

"All the suras (i.e., the devas) look always toward the feet of Lord Vishnu." (Rig Veda, 1:22:20)

agnirvai devanamavamo vishnuh paramah tadantara sarva devatah

"Agni is the lowest and Vishnu is the highest among devas. All other gods occupy positions that are in between." (Aitareya Brahmana 1.1.1)

"Then we shall expound the Mahopanishad. They say Narayana was alone. There were not Brahma, Shiva, Waters, Fire and Soma, Heaven and Earth, Stars, Sun and Moon. He could not be happy" (Maha Upanishad: I-1-4)

"Narayana desired to create people. Because of this thought, Soul (prana) rose from him. Mind and all body parts, sky, air, light, water and the earth which can carry all these created beings took their form. From Narayana, Brahma was born. From Narayana, Rudra (Shiva) was born. From Narayana, Indra was born .From Narayana those people who rule these human beings were born. From Narayana, the twelve suns, eleven Rudras, Eight Vasus and all those meters (for writing) were born. All these function because of Narayana. All these end in Narayana. Thus is read, the Upanishads of Rig Veda." (Narayana Upanishad)

tam isvaranam paramam mahesvaramtam daivatanam paramam ca daivatampatim patinam paramam parastadvidama devam bhuvanesam idyam

"You are the Lord of all other controllers such as Brahma and Siva. You are the Lord of all the devatas such as Indra. You are the Lord of all the prajapatis. You are superior to the supreme. We know you as the ultimate object of all prayers and eulogies; the Supreme Personality who is keen on performing wonderful pastimes" (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.7)

We see from these references that Narayana is also a name for Lord Vishnu, and that He is the Supreme Being.

In the Brahma-Samhita, we read:

isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah

anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam

"Krishna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal

blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He

is the prime cause of all causes." (Brahma-Samhita 5:1)

evam jyotir-mayo devah sad-anandah parat parah

atmaramasya tasyasti prakrtya na samagamah

"The Lord of Gokula [Krishna] is the transcendental Supreme Godhead, the own Self of eternal ecstasies. He is the superior of all superiors and is busily engaged in the enjoyments of the transcendental realm and has no association with His mundane potency." (Brahma-Samhita 5:6)

vamangad asrjad visnum daksinangat prajapatim

jyotir-linga-mayam sambhum kurca-desad avasrjat

"Maha-Visnu created Visnu from His left limb, Brahma, the first

progenitor of beings, from His right limb and, from the space between His two

eyebrows, Sambhu, the divine masculine manifested halo." (Brahma-Samhita 5:15)

Since long time, I have a doubt over the history of religions. I am quite aware that Hinduism dates back to long time than other religions.Then, I doubt if there are any other religions such as Islam , Christianity at the time of Ramayana or Mahabharata.What are the People of western countries during Ramayana? Are they Christians or Jews or Muslims?

"Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku." Bhagavad-Gita 4:1

From this verse, we see that Lord Krishna taught the Bhagavad-Gita to Vivasvān before or at the time of King Manu, the first human being. So we see that Sanatana Dharma (the proper name for Hinduism) dates back to the dawn of creation. Even modern religious scholars admit that the Vedas are the oldest revealed Scriptures, followed closely by the Avesta of the Zoroastrians of Iran. However, the Vedas were passed along by word of mouth for a long time, as man's memory was much better in the previous ages (Satya, Treta and Dwapara).

The Ramayana dates back two million years. The Mahabharata dates back 5000 years. Christianity came into existence 3000 years after the Kurukshetra war. Islam came into existence about 600 years after Christianity. Even Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, was not born until around a thousand years after the Kurukshetra war.

And yes, Hinduism is the mother of all religions as it is the original, eternal religion. Monotheism came from Hinduism (Krishna is the Supreme Lord). Ancient Greeks etc too the various devas and adopted them as their own gods (Indra is the king of heaven, Zeus is the ruler or Mt. Olympus). Religious iconography was taken from Hinduism.

The Rig Veda states: tama āsīt tamasā ghūḷamaghre.apraketaṃ salilaṃ sarvamāidam | tuchyenābhvapihitaṃ yadāsīt tapasastanmahinājāyataikam ||

" Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness this All was indiscriminated chaos. All that existed then was void and form less: by the great power of Warmth was born that Unit." (Rig Veda 10.129.3)

Compare this to Genesis 2: "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

So yes, I think that it is quite safe to say that Hinduism is the oldest religion and the mother of all other religions.

I am a devotee of Lord Krishna and I have been going to an ISKCON temple, and attending Bhagavad-Gita classes run by ISKCON devotees for a few months. I have decided that I want to be a Gaudiya Vaishnava, and that this is the spiritual path that I want to follow.

However, tonight I visited a Gaudiya Math Temple. While it wasn't as big or as opulent as the ISKCON temple, and while their kirtan wasn't as long, I liked it. Apparently Narayana Maharaja is coming to Malaysia in 3 months time or so, and I would like to meet him.

From those on this forum who are either Gaudiya Vaishnavas (ISKCON, Gaudiya Math, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math etc), what would your advice be? Join ISKCON, who requires 16 rounds a day for initiation, which I don't know if I could do, or go with Gaudiya Math, who are less rigid and set in stone on initiation requirements?

Hare Krishna!

IS VISHNU,KRISHNA,DURGA,SHIVA,LAXMI AND RADHA THE SAME PHENOMENON?

 

It is said in the vaishnav doctrines that lord shiva is an expansion of vishnu himself.and vishnu is non different from krishna.Next, puranas and tantras reguard durga(shakti) and shiva to be abhed(without distinction).Puranas state that laxmi is an expansion of durga or shakti.It also mentions that laxmi incarnated in this material world as tulsi.So indirectly durga and tulsi is the same concepts.Then again durga and krishna are inseparable(shakti and shaktimaan).Vaishnavs claim radha to be superior to durga,but in puranas like markendaya and devipuran radha is durga's expansion.And again radha and krishna together is the whole.

 

So in the end all ends up to be the representations of the same reality.

To say that all the gods are various forms of the one Impersonal Brahman, which is essentially what you are saying, is the Mayavada Philosophy taught by Shankaracharya.

However, there is some confusion over the term "demigod" as it is not exactly accurate. This is mainly a language issue.

The Sanskrit word that is translated as "demigod" by Srila Prabhupada is deva. Deva means "god" and is the root of the Latin word divinus, which is where the English words "divine" and "divinity" come from. However, the Scriptures state that the devas are subordinate to Lord Krishna, the Supreme Lord. Lord Krishna states that He is the origin of the devas. The term used to refer to Lord Krishna is Bhagavan, meaning "He who possesses all opulences in full".

In order to emphasize Krishna's supremacy and show the subordinate position of the devas, Srila Prabhupada translated the Sanskrit word "deva" as "demigod". Let's keep in mind that he was preaching to a Western audience, whose concept of God arose mainly from Christianity. If Srila Prabhupada had started talking about "gods", then many people would have run a mile thinking that he was teaching polytheism, when in fact the devas occupy a position similar to angels in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

The word "Bhagavan" is the Sanskrit word for God in the traditional monotheistic view - the Supreme Being that created the universe. Deva refers to a lesser divine being, a "god" with a small "g" (let's face it, we talk about the Greek "gods" and we don't believe that they are supreme, do we?). The word "god" simply means a divine being.

The term "demigod" is also not very accurate. "Demi" means "half" in Latin, and it does not make sense in a Hindu context. If Lord Shiva is half god, what is the other half of him made up of?

However, talking about "gods" can also confuse people. I think that the best thing to do is to use the original Sanskrit word "deva" and then explain to people what it means and the relationship between Bhagavan and the Devas.

Hare Krishna!