Forum is for Krishna-Bhakti

[Guest guest]

Jai Shree Krishna

After reading all these comments by bhakts, I strongly felt that I should reply. I don't agree with what is being said. I am a fundamental Krishna bhakt, I love Krishna bhagwan but I am not ignorant to the demigods and the people that believe in them. Majority of my extended family members are Satya Sai Baba followers, they are very close with him. That doesn't mean I have to also be his follower but I do respect him. When I am with my cousins I go to Sai Bhajans and so fourth but in my heart I know that I am a Krishna bhakt. A few years ago Swaminarayan saints (popularly known as BAPS), came to my house. In my house there is a room which is a temple, and I do pooja to Radha Krishna Bhagwan. The saints came and started to say to me that I should take these deities out and pray to their God Swaminaryan. They continued to say that if I wanted to be liberated in this life I would have to become Swaminaryan. That is when I said to myself I will never let these people come back into my temple nor would I have anything to do with them. I didn't go and listen to them or start following their god but at the same time I did insult them by throwing them out and arguing with them. What I am trying to say is your faith needs to be strong. Yes true that association has a role to play also. I was born and raised in N.A. all my friends which I studied with go clubbing, drink and party, they are still some of my good friends but I know that I don't do a lot of things which they do. I choose the path I wanted to and have a strong will power to continue on it. MY family members all eat meat, cook it at home and so fourth but I don't. I am still able to carry out my daily religious prayers and do seva to Bhagwan Shree Krishna, I don't get influenced by their ways. My dad critizes me almost everyday about being religious, I don't even have a relationship with him as he is so against me being religious!! He has never even stepped into the temple in our house. He continually curses god and religious people. But I don't bother with it and continue marching on my path. You have to be a strong person from inside and your faith needs to be strong. I continually pray to Bhagwan Krishna that make my faith and love for you stronger don't let me get swept away by the influences of others. I was never a strong person, I was always embarssed to tell people that I believe in God as they would probably laugh but as I grew up something from inside was making me more confident in myself. There was this force from inside that made be stand up for what I believed in and help get rid of that fear. It was Krishna Bhagwan. My cousins who are not religous always used to laugh at me and make fun of me for being religous but I always continued beliving in God and today many of them have some much respect for me. Yes the mind is very powerful and hard to control but you have to be determined. We have to learn to live our lives like a lotus flower which grows amongst all this polluted water but doesn't let it influence it one bit.

I also pray to Ma Durga, Hanuman Dada, Shiv Bhagwan but I know that the supreme God is Krishna. He is the prime minister where as the rest of them are his cabinet ministers, assigned various duties. I am sorry if I have offended anyone but just was a bit upset by reading all these comments. I love Krishna and there is no doubt about it but at the same time I respect the demigods and people who follow them. Also there is no real format or structure to this email, I just wrote as the feelings came out from within.

Hari Bol,Bhavesh

 

 

 

-

srikrishnadasa_rajeev

Saturday, August 18, 2007 6:19 AM

Forum is for Krishna-Bhakti

 

 

 

Hare Krishna ! Dandavat Pranams to Bhagavan Sree Krishna and all Vaishnavas !

In Krishna-bhakti , the focus is on Bhagavan Sri Krishna . God is one . But, He has different forms . God's purest form ( Sattvic) is Sree Krishna . This is the reason behind , Satguru Srila Prabhupada's insistence to worship Sree Krishna . A Krishna-bhakta could advance in his spirituality only if he is rightly focused .

In `Sanatana Dharma' , one has the freedom to choose a Deity according to his taste . There are many options available like Krishna , Durga, Siva , etc . Even Durga has different forms like Kali , Mahalakshmi, Sarasvathi , etc .

This unlimited religious freedom , has caused many conflicts between different spiritual paths . For example, the prolonged fight between Saivites and Vaishnavites . Seeing the difficulties of His Bhaktas , Bhagavan Krishna Himself intervened time and again through divinities like Ramanuja, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri, Srila Prabhupada , etc . Even today , this intervention is continuing . Krishna's Bhaktas are His instruments ; and Bhagavan uses them to guide other Bhaktas .

If we mix-up Krishna-Bhakti with the philosophies and worship of Demi-Gods , it will cause utter confusion. This age " Kali-Yuga " is the period of confusion . There are conflicting views even in Puranas . "Narayaneeeyam " reveals this truth in verse 90.9-10 :

" In order to please the Siva-Bhakta rulers of that age , Sage Vyasa did certain adjustments in certain puranas like Skanta-purana . Exaggerate the reality, talk about the possibilities , contradict the reality , etc are certain techniques used there for entertainment " .

In order to avoid this confusion , great Acharyas like Srila Prabhupada clearly advised Krishna-Bhaktas to follow Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatham ; and not the other contradictory Puranas .

A true personal experience

My aunty ( Father's elder sister) was a long-term Krishna-bhakta . She used to worship Krishna with great dedication . Sometimes back, she started worshipping Durga because the temple near to her new house is a Durga temple . It was just a matter of convenience . However, one night Bhagavan Krishna appeared in her dream and said " Now , you have left me and taken to the worship of Durga . For sure, you will realize the difference in due course " .

Unlike the other Demi-Gods, Krishna doesn't punish His Bhaktas for such mistakes . He only tries to guide them in the proper direction .

Bhagavan Krishna says in Gita ( 18.65-66) :

" Fix your mind on Me, become My devotee, offer service to Me, bow down to Me, and you shall certainly reach Me. I promise you because you are My very dear friend. Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me completely with faith and devotion. I shall liberate you from all sinful reactions. Do not grieve".

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya !!!

SriKrishnaDasa Rajeev

-----------------------

, Stephen Silberman <srs8 wrote:>> > Fellow readers.> I was giving some thought to the recent discussion about weather or not this website should be open to other types of bhaktas, more specifically demigod bhaktas. The moderator indicated that in Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krsna states that he makes the faith of such worshipers strong. As a result, the moderator believes that allowing other bhaktas than Krsna bhaktas to speak in this group is okay. I would like to point out some philosophical issues. Our Srila Prabhupada says that Lord Siva smokes ganja but if someone imitates he will suffer as a result. Prabhupada says that smoking ganja is asking death to come close. Prabhupada recommended that we not imitate Lord Siva. Therefore, for Krsna Bhaktas there should be no intoxication. Might it be imitation to think that because Krsna can allow some of his living entities to worship demigods and further more, because Krsna makes their faith strong, we should allow non Vaisnava discussions at this website. The result will make us advance. Is this the correct mentality or is it imitation of Krsna? Krsna is pure and prophylactic and can not be contaminated by bad association. Depending upon the level of one's advancement, bad association should be avoided. In the case of Lord Chaitanya, He listen to the Bhattacarya for many days. But in the end, the Bhattacarya became his devotee. Imitation can be dangerous. The moderator believes that this type of discussion is good and develops one's Krsna Consciousness. Others disagree. Perhaps the moderator is sufficiently advanced and can transform such people by allowing them to participate. I personally think that such discussions are disturbing. Additionally, I think that solicitation of Krsna Bhaktas to diviate from the path of Krsna Bhakta is not desirable. Archana has made many valid points and I agree. However, some Krsna Bhaktas, like the moderator, believe that it can stimulate either debate or advancement. That may be for him. Perhaps he is very advanced. Srila Prabhupada's spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta use to chase the mayavadis with his danda and threaten to hit them. I am curious to hear what others think about this issue. Hence I write. Syamakunda Das> _______________> Learn. Laugh. Share. Reallivemoms is right place!> http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM & loc=us>

[Guest guest]

There are two ways of looking at the same thing: From the viewpoint of the eternal observer, who is none other than Lord Krishna himself, and one is from the viewpoint of a Bhakta, a devotee.Naturally both viewpoints cannot be compared. The devotee who has dissolved his ego and individual differences and whose opinions are exactly like Krishna's is indeed a fortunate devotee. In fact such a devotee has already fulfilled the requirements of being a devotee.

Taking offense is one thing, not taking offense is another. A person of magnanimous heart will not take offense easily and will tolerate. Vaishnava Dharma is about toleration. Krishna has always preached toleration, not intolerance. So taking offense easily means we are not internally geared up to accept others yet and are still evolving as devotees, and need careful nurturing at every stage. It also may be possible that some members might begin to take Krsna Bhakti more seriously,after going through the debates. As we are not in direct contact we have plenty of time to think and react.The purpose of raising arguments is only to instill the correct conclusion, not to raise confusion, and the correct conclusion is to worship Lord Krishna, develop ahaituki bhakti, without deviation from Krishna.

I appreciate the will and determination of everyone here who has been saying that Krishna is the Supreme Most Worshippable Lord of the Universe.

Here is a story which will illustrate some wonderful aspects of the Lord. This story was related by Sathya Sai Baba to his followers.

There was in Bengal a devotee named Madhavadasa, who, when his wife died, realised that he had lost his "home," for his grihalakshmi (goddess of prosperity) had passed away. So he gave all his riches to the poor, donned an ochre robe and wandered alone as a pilgrim to the shrine of Lord Jagannath (another form of Lord Krishna) of Puri in the state of Orissa, India. There he did such deep penance that the Concrete Image soon became the Abstract Reality and the Abstract Reality became a perpetual Vision.

He lost all sense of time and space, of chith (awareness) and achith (non-awareness). Then the Lord, with Mother Subhadra, His Energy Aspect, moved towards him and placed before him the gold plate used by the priests to keep food in front of idol of Lord Jagannatha in the sanctum sanctorum. When Madhavadasa awoke to his gross surroundings, he saw the gold plate with the pile of delicious food upon it. He ate his fill and returned to his inner paradise which he had left for a while.

Meanwhile, the plate was reported lost, assumed to be stolen, and discovered by the seashore near Madhavadasa, who was promptly arrested and led to the lockup by some very efficient policemen. He was beaten mercilessly but did not seem to mind it a bit. The chief priest that night had a dream in which Lord Jagannatha asked him not to bring food for the Lord again into the shrine, "You bring food for Me, and when I eat it, you start beating Me!" Then he realised that it was the entire Leela (sport) of the divine to demonstrate the devotion of Madhavadasa and teach others the real nature of Bhakthi (devotion).

Some scholars and pundits of Puri did not feel happy at this sudden rise to fame of a stranger from Bengal. So they called Madhavadasa into their midst and challenged him to an intellectual duel. Madhavadasa was not a pundit of that type. He had learnt the Sastras only as a staff to help him walk, as a guide to action; not as a stick to beat others with. So he accepted defeat even before the bout began and signed a statement to that effect, which the leading pundit was only too glad to accept because Madhavadasa had a reputation for scholarship which was really frightening. The pundit hurried to Kasi with that token of victory. He waved it before a gathering of scholars and demanded that they should all pay him homage as superior even to Madhavadasa.

But the Lord will not allow His devotee to be humiliated. When the signed statement was opened and read, they were all amazed to find that it was a statement declaring that it was Madhavadasa who had achieved victory and it was the pundit who had signed underneath acknowledging his own defeat! The Lord will not be silent when His Bhaktha (devotee) is insulted or harmed.

In the above story, Sathya Sai Baba has merely stated the truth that the Lord will never let down His Devotee.

My personal experience with Sathya Sai Baba has brought me closer to Krishna than anyone can ever imagine. When I was only a small child, I saw Sathya Sai Baba garlanding what I thought was a huge statue of Lord Krishna. When i went to see the statue of Krishna which he had garlanded, the statue had disappeared, and all I found there was some flowers. I picked some flowers and played with them.I don't know if any other people saw this, but I never told anyone till today.Now I realise that I had actually seen Krishna standing there accepting the garland from Sathya Sai Baba, and from that day I have always learnt to respect Sathya Sai Baba. It is only by Krishna's mercy that I remember this incident even today when I am 50 years old, a memory of my childhood when I was just 12.

Jai Sri Krishna!

 

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna ! Dandavat Pranams to Bhagavan Sree Krishna and all Vaishnavas !!!

`Mahatmas' of this era like Sree Saibaba, Sri Sri Ravishankar and Sri Mata Amritananda Mayi Devi are promoting vedic faith in their own ways . Their efforts are minimizing negativities of the well organized anti-Vedic propaganda . Followers of Sree Sai Baba worship Him as a combined incarnation of Lord Siva and Devi Parvati ; and they chant "OM SAIRAM" . Amritananda Mayi Devi's followers worship Her as an incarnation of Divine mother ; and they chant "Om Amritesvaraye Namah " . Sri Sri Ravishankar's followers also worship their Guru as an `Avatara' and they chant "Jai Gurudev" ! . Although these devotees occasionally worship various other Deities like Sree Krishna also , their `Ishta Devata' ( most worshipped Deity) is always own Guru .

Krishna-bhaktas chant "Hare Krishna" or "Om Namo Narayanaya" to worship their Ishta Devata , Sree Krishna . Since Bhagavan Krishna is the eternal protector of Sanatana Dharma, His Bhaktas respect every one who follows the Vedic path .

However , Krishna-Bhaktas have a unique methodology of worship as specified in Bhagavatham . The Puja rituals in the Krishna-temples are absolutely Sattvic . Whereas, in the temples of certain other war related Deities, even non-veg and liquor are offered on certain specific occasions .

In Krishna-Bhakti , if the Jivatma ( Soul) is a drop of water , Paramatma ( Supersoul, a manifestaion of Krishna ) is an ocean . Krishna-Bhakta doesn't consider self to be equivalent to Bhagavan or try to become Bhagavan one day . He only takes refuge at the lotus feet of Sree Krishna and serve Him to the best of his ability without expecting anything in return .

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya !!!

SriKrishnaDasa Rajeev

 

-------- , "sanjeev" <punjsanjeev wrote:>> > There are two ways of looking at the same thing: From the viewpoint of> the eternal observer, who is none other than Lord Krishna himself, and> one is from the viewpoint of a Bhakta, a devotee.Naturally both> viewpoints cannot be compared. The devotee who has dissolved his ego and> individual differences and whose opinions are exactly like Krishna's is> indeed a fortunate devotee. In fact such a devotee has already fulfilled> the requirements of being a devotee.> > Taking offense is one thing, not taking offense is another. A person of> magnanimous heart will not take offense easily and will tolerate.> Vaishnava Dharma is about toleration. Krishna has always preached> toleration, not intolerance. So taking offense easily means we are not> internally geared up to accept others yet and are still evolving as> devotees, and need careful nurturing at every stage. It also may be> possible that some members might begin to take Krsna Bhakti more> seriously,after going through the debates. As we are not in direct> contact we have plenty of time to think and react.The purpose of raising> arguments is only to instill the correct conclusion, not to raise> confusion, and the correct conclusion is to worship Lord Krishna,> develop ahaituki bhakti, without deviation from Krishna.> > I appreciate the will and determination of everyone here who has been> saying that Krishna is the Supreme Most Worshippable Lord of the> Universe.> > Here is a story which will illustrate some wonderful aspects of the> Lord. This story was related by Sathya Sai Baba to his followers.> > There was in Bengal a devotee named Madhavadasa, who, when his wife> died, realised that he had lost his "home," for his grihalakshmi> (goddess of prosperity) had passed away. So he gave all his riches to> the poor, donned an ochre robe and wandered alone as a pilgrim to the> shrine of Lord Jagannath (another form of Lord Krishna) of Puri in the> state of Orissa, India. There he did such deep penance that the Concrete> Image soon became the Abstract Reality and the Abstract Reality became a> perpetual Vision.> > He lost all sense of time and space, of chith (awareness) and achith> (non-awareness). Then the Lord, with Mother Subhadra, His Energy Aspect,> moved towards him and placed before him the gold plate used by the> priests to keep food in front of idol of Lord Jagannatha in the sanctum> sanctorum. When Madhavadasa awoke to his gross surroundings, he saw the> gold plate with the pile of delicious food upon it. He ate his fill and> returned to his inner paradise which he had left for a while.> > > Meanwhile, the plate was reported lost, assumed to be stolen, and> discovered by the seashore near Madhavadasa, who was promptly arrested> and led to the lockup by some very efficient policemen. He was beaten> mercilessly but did not seem to mind it a bit. The chief priest that> night had a dream in which Lord Jagannatha asked him not to bring food> for the Lord again into the shrine, "You bring food for Me, and when> I eat it, you start beating Me!" Then he realised that it was the> entire Leela (sport) of the divine to demonstrate the devotion of> Madhavadasa and teach others the real nature of Bhakthi (devotion).> > Some scholars and pundits of Puri did not feel happy at this sudden rise> to fame of a stranger from Bengal. So they called Madhavadasa into their> midst and challenged him to an intellectual duel. Madhavadasa was not a> pundit of that type. He had learnt the Sastras only as a staff to help> him walk, as a guide to action; not as a stick to beat others with. So> he accepted defeat even before the bout began and signed a statement to> that effect, which the leading pundit was only too glad to accept> because Madhavadasa had a reputation for scholarship which was really> frightening. The pundit hurried to Kasi with that token of victory. He> waved it before a gathering of scholars and demanded that they should> all pay him homage as superior even to Madhavadasa.> > But the Lord will not allow His devotee to be humiliated. When the> signed statement was opened and read, they were all amazed to find that> it was a statement declaring that it was Madhavadasa who had achieved> victory and it was the pundit who had signed underneath acknowledging> his own defeat! The Lord will not be silent when His Bhaktha (devotee)> is insulted or harmed.> > In the above story, Sathya Sai Baba has merely stated the truth that the> Lord will never let down His Devotee.> > My personal experience with Sathya Sai Baba has brought me closer to> Krishna than anyone can ever imagine. When I was only a small child, I> saw Sathya Sai Baba garlanding what I thought was a huge statue of Lord> Krishna. When i went to see the statue of Krishna which he had> garlanded, the statue had disappeared, and all I found there was some> flowers. I picked some flowers and played with them.I don't know if any> other people saw this, but I never told anyone till today.Now I realise> that I had actually seen Krishna standing there accepting the garland> from Sathya Sai Baba, and from that day I have always learnt to respect> Sathya Sai Baba. It is only by Krishna's mercy that I remember this> incident even today when I am 50 years old, a memory of my childhood> when I was just 12.> > Jai Sri Krishna!>

[Guest guest]

As long as your faith and devotion in Sri Krishna is strong, there is

no harm in worshipping other deities. Ultimately, as Sri Krishna says in

the Gita, it is he himself who strengthens the devotee's faith in each

deity. However the key thing to remember is " mayi sarvamidam protham

sootre maniganaa iva " - all this is strung on me(Krishna) much like

clusters of gems lie on a string. There is a famous verse recited by

Hindus during the regular Sandhya worship every day :-

Akaashaat pathitham toyam yadaa gacchathi saagaram

sarvadeva namaskaaram kesavam prathi gachchathi

Sri kesavam prathi gacchathyOM nama ithi -

Every drop of water that falls from the sky goes to the ocean. Likewise,

prayers offered to all deities go to Kesava, Bhagavan Krishna. Wonderful

Indeed, to Bhagavan Sri Krishna only!

In the Upanishads, it is said

dva suparnaa sayujaa sakhaaya samanam vriksham parishaswajaate

tayorannya pippalam khaadvat anashnnan annyor abhichaakasheethih

in the same tree adorn two beautiful birds of wonderful plumage, birds

always together, but one of which eats fruits while the other, immersed

in its own glory, watches the first bird.

each tree is the human body, the first bird is the jeevatma and the

second the paramaatma or Bhagavan Sri Krishna himself.

In several puranas Vyaasa either gets Krishna to speak of his identity

with Siva, or gets Siva to speak of his identity with Vishnu/Krishna. So

do we find in the Mahabharatha, Sri Krishna doing penance on lord Siva

for getting a heroic son, and advising Upamanyu to propitiate lord Siva

by chanting his thousand names, and elsewhere we have lord Siva

enumerating the glories of Krishna to Parvati and advising her to

worship Krishna alone. In the Padma Purana we have lord Siva advising

Parvati that chanting the single name Raama is equivalent to chanting

the thousand names of Siva or Vishnu. In Puranas like Devi Bhagavat we

have both Siva and Krishna worshipping devi for the achievement of

specific desires, and elsewhere in the Devi Gita we have the mother

goddess affirming her equality with all these Gods. This is the

wonderful ethos of Hinduism, the key thing to note is, it does not stop

at merely affirming the unity of all gods, it delves deep into the

affirmed equality and comes out with staggering and illuminating riches

of spiritual truths that could not be shelved into prescribed boundaries

as in the case of the Judaic religions. When one has a firm conviction

of the great underlying equality of all spiritual paths, when one has a

humble devotion towards the thousands of great acharyas who have

illumined the different spiritual paths in India, like Siva worship,

Shakti worship, Subrahmanya worship, Hanuman worship etc etc...when one

is filled with a burning curiosity and desire towards understanding each

path, and approaches these paths with a very open mind and with

reverence to the great men who have diffused them with Supreme light,

always keeping in mind the core principles of the Bhagavad gita and

believing firmly that they all ultimately lead to Bhagavan Sri Krishna

only, then one's spiritual life could be full of joy and the pleasure of

learning and appreciation for the great spiritual treasures of Hinduism,

inspired by Bhagavan Sri Krishna himself. So why should we impose

controls/limits over ourselves?

 

Regards,

Hari

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna to allI go on reading this topic and I am very much disheartened by reading this message that worship of any demigod is similar to worship of Krishna. My dear friends this is called MAYAVAD. Just See following shloka from Bhagawatam: akamahÌ£ sarva-kamo va moksÌ£a-kama udara-dhihÌ£ tivrenÌ£a bhakti-yogena yajeta purusÌ£amÌ param"Less intelligent people who have lost their spiritual sense take shelter of demigods for immediate fulfillment of material desires. Generally, such people do not go to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because they are in the lower modes of nature (ignorance and passion) and therefore worship various demigods. Following the rules and regulations of worship, they are satisfied. The worshipers of demigods are motivated by small desires and do not know how to reach the supreme goal, but a devotee of the Supreme Lord is not misguided. Because in Vedic literature there are recommendations for worshiping different gods for different purposes (e.g., a diseased man is recommended to worship the sun), those who are not devotees of the Lord think that for certain purposes demigods are better than the Supreme Lord. But a pure devotee knows that the Supreme Lord Krishna is the master of all. In the Caitanya-caritamrÌ£ta (Adi 5.142) it is said, ekale i´svara Krishna, ara saba bhrtya: only the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is master, and all others are servants. Therefore a pure devotee never goes to demigods for satisfaction of his material needs. He depends on the Supreme Lord. And the pure devotee is satisfied with whatever He gives." antavat tu phalamÌ tesÌ£ÄmÌ 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."Krishna uses the words Alpa-Medhasha simply fools and rascalsAlso look at the final conclusion of Krishna in BG: sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekamÌ ´saranÌ£amÌ vraja ahamÌ tvamÌ sarva-papebhyo moksÌ£ayisÌ£yami ma ´sucahÌ£ "Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear." man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mamÌ namaskuru mam evaisÌ£yasi satyamÌ te pratijane priyo 'si me"These words stress that one should concentrate his mind upon KrÌ£sÌ£nÌ£a — the very form with two hands carrying a flute, the bluish boy with a beautiful face and peacock feathers in His hair. There are descriptions of Krishna found in the Brahma-samÌhita and other literatures. One should fix his mind on this original form of Godhead, Krishna. One should not even divert his attention to other forms of the Lord. The Lord has multiforms as VisÌ£nÌ£u, NarayanÌ£a, Rama, Varaha, etc., but a devotee should concentrate his mind on the form that was present before Arjuna. Concentration of the mind on the form of Krishna constitutes the most confidential part of knowledge, and this is disclosed to Arjuna because Arjuna is the most dear friend of Krishna."So Prabhupada is telling here that one should not worship other forms of Vishnu also who are (sva-amsh), so what to speak of demigods who are Vibhinnansh!!!Now I think the doubt are supposed to be removed about demigod worship , "Krishnan, Harihara" <harihara.krishnan wrote:>> As long as your faith and devotion in Sri Krishna is strong, there is> no harm in worshipping other deities. Ultimately, as Sri Krishna says in> the Gita, it is he himself who strengthens the devotee's faith in each> deity. However the key thing to remember is "mayi sarvamidam protham> sootre maniganaa iva" - all this is strung on me(Krishna) much like> clusters of gems lie on a string. There is a famous verse recited by> Hindus during the regular Sandhya worship every day :- > Akaashaat pathitham toyam yadaa gacchathi saagaram> sarvadeva namaskaaram kesavam prathi gachchathi> Sri kesavam prathi gacchathyOM nama ithi - > Every drop of water that falls from the sky goes to the ocean. Likewise,> prayers offered to all deities go to Kesava, Bhagavan Krishna. Wonderful> Indeed, to Bhagavan Sri Krishna only!> In the Upanishads, it is said > dva suparnaa sayujaa sakhaaya samanam vriksham parishaswajaate> tayorannya pippalam khaadvat anashnnan annyor abhichaakasheethih> in the same tree adorn two beautiful birds of wonderful plumage, birds> always together, but one of which eats fruits while the other, immersed> in its own glory, watches the first bird.> each tree is the human body, the first bird is the jeevatma and the> second the paramaatma or Bhagavan Sri Krishna himself. > In several puranas Vyaasa either gets Krishna to speak of his identity> with Siva, or gets Siva to speak of his identity with Vishnu/Krishna. So> do we find in the Mahabharatha, Sri Krishna doing penance on lord Siva> for getting a heroic son, and advising Upamanyu to propitiate lord Siva> by chanting his thousand names, and elsewhere we have lord Siva> enumerating the glories of Krishna to Parvati and advising her to> worship Krishna alone. In the Padma Purana we have lord Siva advising> Parvati that chanting the single name Raama is equivalent to chanting> the thousand names of Siva or Vishnu. In Puranas like Devi Bhagavat we> have both Siva and Krishna worshipping devi for the achievement of> specific desires, and elsewhere in the Devi Gita we have the mother> goddess affirming her equality with all these Gods. This is the> wonderful ethos of Hinduism, the key thing to note is, it does not stop> at merely affirming the unity of all gods, it delves deep into the> affirmed equality and comes out with staggering and illuminating riches> of spiritual truths that could not be shelved into prescribed boundaries> as in the case of the Judaic religions. When one has a firm conviction> of the great underlying equality of all spiritual paths, when one has a> humble devotion towards the thousands of great acharyas who have> illumined the different spiritual paths in India, like Siva worship,> Shakti worship, Subrahmanya worship, Hanuman worship etc etc...when one> is filled with a burning curiosity and desire towards understanding each> path, and approaches these paths with a very open mind and with> reverence to the great men who have diffused them with Supreme light,> always keeping in mind the core principles of the Bhagavad gita and> believing firmly that they all ultimately lead to Bhagavan Sri Krishna> only, then one's spiritual life could be full of joy and the pleasure of> learning and appreciation for the great spiritual treasures of Hinduism,> inspired by Bhagavan Sri Krishna himself. So why should we impose> controls/limits over ourselves?> > Regards, > Hari>