Ishta Devata

[Guest guest]

Is Lord Krishna the Ishta Devata of all Hare-Krishnas?

[Guest guest]

no.. the ishta devata is Hare-Krishna

[Guest guest]

ishtha-deva is krishna

ishtha-devi is radhika!

(accha)

[sudhaya 0]

 

{Please read this}

 

<font color="green">http://www.asitis.com/7/21.html </font color>

 

<font color="red"> Bhagavad-Gita As It Is: 7.21 </font color>

by His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 

TRANSLATION

 

I am in everyone's heart as the Supersoul. As soon as one desires to worship the demigods, I make his faith steady so that he can devote himself to some particular deity.

 

PURPORT

 

God has given independence to everyone; therefore, if a person desires to have material enjoyment and wants very sincerely to have such facilities from the material demigods, the Supreme Lord, as Supersoul in everyone's heart, understands and gives facilities to such persons. As the supreme father of all living entities, He does not interfere with their independence, but gives all facilities so that they can fulfill their material desires. Some may ask why the all-powerful God gives facilities to the living entities for enjoying this material world and so lets them fall into the trap of the illusory energy. The answer is that if the Supreme Lord as Supersoul does not give such facilities, then there is no meaning to independence. Therefore He gives everyone full independence--whatever one likes--but His ultimate instruction we find in the Bhagavad-gita: man should give up all other engagements and fully surrender unto Him. That will make man happy.

 

Both the living entity and the demigods are subordinate to the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore the living entity cannot worship the demigod by his own desire, nor can the demigod bestow any benediction without the supreme will. As it is said, not a blade of grass moves without the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Generally, persons who are distressed in the material world go to the demigods, as they are advised in the Vedic literature. A person wanting some particular thing may worship such and such a demigod. For example, a diseased person is recommended to worship the sun-god; a person wanting education may worship the goddess of learning, Sarasvati; and a person wanting a beautiful wife may worship the goddess Uma, the wife of Lord Siva. In this way there are recommendations in the sastras (Vedic scriptures) for different modes of worship of different demigods. And because a particular living entity wants to enjoy a particular material facility, the Lord inspires him with a strong desire to achieve that benediction from that particular demigod, and so he successfully receives the benediction. The particular mode of the devotional attitude of the living entity toward a particular type of demigod is also arranged by the Supreme Lord. The demigods cannot infuse the living entities with such an affinity, but because He is the Supreme Lord or the Supersoul who is present in the heart of all living entities, Krsna gives impetus to man to worship certain demigods. The demigods are actually different parts of the universal body of the Supreme Lord; therefore they have no independence. In the Vedic literature (Taittiriya Upanisad, First Anuvaka) it is stated: "The Supreme Personality of Godhead as Supersoul is also present within the heart of the demigod; therefore He arranges through the demigod to fulfill the desire of the living entity. But both the demigod and the living entity are dependent on the supreme will. They are not independent."

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[Guest guest]

Ishta Deva means "Worshipable Deity." It has nothing to do with the "demigods" or Devatas. In the Vedas Lord Krsna is also addressed as Deva sometimes, as well as in devotional songs sung by the acharyas (for instance Rupa Gosvami's "Krsna Deva Bhavantam Vande"). In [bg. 11.31] He is addressed as "deva-vara" ("best among the gods") by Sri Arjuna. Radhika is often addresed as "Devi." Technically the term Ishta Deva refers to the form of the Lord worshiped by a particular person and more particularly by a certain sampradaya. In some sampradayas they worship Visnu alone. In other Vaisnava-sampradayas they worship Laksmi-Narayana. Gaudiya Vaisnavas worship Radha-Krsna and Gauranga Mahaprabhu (and Nityanda Prabhu) as their Ishta Devas. Demigods are never worshiped seperately. They are always considered to be the servants of the supreme Deva (Lord Krsna). Nitai-Gaura Premanande!

[sudhaya 0]

 

I guess Ishta-deva can only be used in the sense of Vishnu-Tattva or Internal Potency Devi--Srimati Radharani.

 

Sorry!

[Guest guest]

You wrote:

 

I guess Ishta-deva can only be used in the sense of Vishnu-Tattva or Internal Potency Devi--Srimati Radharani.

Sorry!

 

Ishta-deva doesn't necessarily refer to Visnu-tattva only. For Shaivites the Ishta-deva is Lord Shiva, for instance. So that would be a wrong conclusion also and is not what I suggested. I only wanted to point out the meaning of Ishta-deva in the context of Vaisnavism, as far as I understand it. And why say "sorry"? You didn't offend nobody. Gives me the chance to write something... Thank you!

[sudhaya 0]

 

I only wanted to point out the meaning of Ishta-deva in the context of Vaisnavism

--

 

You should have said so then.

 

I was just chanted japa. when I read your post, so I said sorry, even without knowing it lol, sorry!

[Guest guest]

I admit that I made a mistake by first stating that "Ishta-deva" has nothing to do with Demigods, when later I said that Lord Shiva can also be someones Ishta-deva. I should have been more clear. Even though this is more or less a Hare Krishna forum... Now it's my time to say

 

sorry!

[sudhaya 0]

 

No Problem, lets all be sorry!

[vanamali 1]

I know I'm sorry, and I'm not even sure what's going on!

[Guest guest]

do not be sorry.... to ask to a spiritualist "who is your main object of worship" is not an offence at all!!

 

actually it is a great pleasure to xplain