Adapted from Shri Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda Chapters 235-236.
From Madhavananda Dasa’s article in the Krishna Kathamrita magazine copyrighted by Gopal Jiu Publications.
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Parvati Said, “O Lord Shiva, You once told me that one should avoid speaking with Pasandi atheistic demon,and that doing so is worse then talking to candalas outcastes. Please tell me of what are the symptoms of such persons and what signs do they wear on their bodies?”
Shiva replied,”Those Persons who,deluded by ignorace,describw any other deity being superior to Vishnu,The Lord of the world, are said to be Pasandis. Those who,although they do not belong to the Vanaprastha asrama, use skulls, decorate their bodies with ashes and bones, have non-Vedic marks, matted hair, and wear garments of tree bark, are said to be pasandis. Those brahmanas who are devoid of the marks and symbols dear to Vishnu, such as conches, discs,and vertical-lined tilaka worn on the forehead, are said to be pasandis. That brahman who does not follow the practices given in the sastra should be known as a pasandi and should be condemned by all people. Those who have no devotion for the Lord are said to be pasandi. One who behaves as he likes and offers oblations in to the fire for the worship of deities other than Lord Vishnu should be known as a pasandi, for Lord Vishnu is the enjoyer of fruit of all sacrifices and is the deity of brahmanas. He who considers Lord Vishnu as equal to other deities such as Brahma and myself, Rudra,should always be called a pasandi. That brahmana, who with his speech, body,and deeds dose not recognize Vishnu,is a pasandi. What is the use of saying much in this regard? Those brahmanas who are not devotees of Vishnu should never be asked any questions, should never be talked to,and should never be seen,”
Parvati said,”O lord,O best of gods,I want to ask you something secret. Through love for me,please answer. I have a great doubt.The sastras condemn using skulls, dercorating the body with ashes, and wearing skins of animals. Yet,you do all these things. Why are these thing condemned? O Lord of the gods, O highly intelligent one, due to women’s natural fickleness I am asking you these questions. It may be that due to your great power you do not have to follow the sastric injunctions you just described, but previously you had not instructed me in this way. Therefore,O lord, please pardon my question.”
Inquired thus by Pavati in that lonely place free from people,Lord Shiva explained to her the great secrets of his own behaviour. Shiva said, “O Goddess, please listen carefully. I shall tell you a very wonderful secret. You should not repeat what I am about to tell you to common people. I shall tell you the since your body is not separate form mine. Long ago, in the age of Swayambhuva Manu, there were many great demons like Namuchi [The demon Namuchi is described in Shrimad Bhagavatam 8.11.23-40.] who were very powerful and valorous heroes. All of them were devoted to Vishnu, acted purely, and were free from all sins. They followed the pratices laid down in the Vedas. Seeing this, all of gods head by Indra were greatly frustrated. Overcome by fear,they approached Lord Vishnu and took shelter of Him.
“The devas said,’O Kesava, only You can conqeur these great demons who cannot be conqured by all of the gods and who have washed off their sins with penance.’”
Lord Shiva continued, “Hearing the frightful words of the demigods, Lord Vishnu, Purushottma consoled the devas,and said to me,’O Rudra,O you of might arms, O you who are the best of the gods, for the purpose of deluding the enemies of the demigods prepere a course of conduct to be followed by pasandis. Narrate to them the dark puranas, which will take them astray. O intelligent one, you should create holy texts that will cause the demons to become confused.
“‘Through devotion to Me,and for the good of the world, You should approach atheistic sages such as Kanada, Gautama,Sakti, Upamanyu, Jaimini, Kapila,[not to be confused with Kapila,the son of Devahuti], Durvasa, Mrikandu, Brihaspati, Bhargava, and Jamadagni. Exert upon them your power of suggestion. Being infused by your power they will become powerful pasandis. There is no doubt about it. Empowered by you, these brahmanas will narrate to the three worlds the Puranas and doctrines in the mode of ingnorance. O Shiva, on your person you should bear symbols like a skull, animal skins, ashes, and bones. Dressed in way you should fully delude everyone in the three Worlds. You should also inaugurate the pasupata order [The pasupates are a group of followers of Lord Shiva] with its divisions like kankala, saiva, pasanda and mahasaiva. Through these persons you should preach a doctrine whose followers wear no particular identifying marks and are outside the Vedic fold. Wearing ashes and bones, they will be bereft of higher consciousness and will consider you to be the greatest god.
“‘Taking to these doctrines, all of these demons will become averse to Me in a moment.There is no doubt it. O powerful Rudra,in every age in My different incarnations I too shall worship you to delude the demons. Following these doctrines,they will undoubtedly fall down.’”
Lord Shiva then told Parvati, “O beautiful one, after hearing Lord Vishnu’s words, although I am a good speaker I become helpless snd silent.Then offering my obeisances to Lord Vishnu, I said, O Lord,if I do what You have said,it will certainly lead to my destruction. It is is not possoble for me to carry out this instrustion, yet Your order is not to be disobeyed. This is very Painful.”
“O goddess,hearing my words, Vishnu spkoke in such way to restore my happiness. He said,’This will not be the cause of your destruction. Do as I order you for the good of the demigods. I shall also give you the means to maintain yourself while you are preaching these demoniac philosophies. Then with compassion, Lord Vishnu gave me the prayers known as Vishnu-sahasra-nama. Vishnu said,’Installing Me in your heart, utter My indestructible mantra. This very powerful six-syllable mantra is transcendental and awards liberation to thise who worship Me with devotion. There is no doubt about this.’
indivar-dala-syamam padma-patra-vilocanam
sankhanga-sarngesu-dharam sarvabharana-bhusitam
pita-vastram catur-bahum janaki-priya-vallabham
shri-ramaya nama ity evam uccaryam mantram-uttamam
sarva-duhkha haram caitat papinam api mukti-dam
imam mantram japan nityam amalas tvam bhavisyasi
I offer my obeisances to Him, dark like the petal of a blue lotus, with lotus-petal eyes, holding a conch, a disc, and sarnga bow, adorned with all ornaments, wearing yellow ornements, having four arms, and who is the dear lord of Janaki, Sita-devi.The divine mantra, ’shri-ramaya namah,’ should be chanted. It remones all lamentation and gives salvation to even sinners. One who regularly chants this mantra will be free from all contamination.[6.235.44-46]
“‘All of the sinful rections due to wearing ashes and bones will all be destroyed and everthing will beacome auspicious due to reciting My mantra. O best of the gods, being pleased I shall destroy all sin. By My blessings, devotion to no other god than Me will arise. In your heart, worship Me who is the Supreme Being. Obey My order. Due to love for Me, everything will be auspicious for you. ‘Having thus ordered Me, O goddes, He dismissed the hosts of gods who then returned to their own abodes. The gods led by Indra then requested me, ‘O Mahadev, Shiva, Quickly perform those beneficial acts as instructed by Lord Vishnu.’”
Mahadeva then said to goddess Parvati, “O auspicious one, for the good of the gods I took to the way of the pasandis and started wearing skulls, hides, ashes, and bones. O auspicious one, as instructed by Lord Vishnu, I distributed the tamasic puranas and the pasandi Shiva doctrines. O sinless one, by entering Gautama and other brahmanas with my potency I proclaimed texts outside the Vedic fold. Adopting the system I gave, all of the wicked demons became averse to Lord Vishnu, and were enveloped in ignorance. Applying ashes to their bodies and performing severe penance, they stopped worship of Lord Vishnu and worshiped only me with flesh, blood and sandalwood.
“Receiving boons from me, they became intoxicated with power and pride. They were very much attached to the object of the senses, and were full of lust and anger. In that condition, devoid of goodness, they were defeated by the devas. Bereft of righteous paths, those who resort to this doctrine of mine alway go to hell.
“O goddess, thus this behavior of mine is only followed by me for the good of the gods. Following Lord Vishnu’s order, I decorate myslf with ashes and bones. O goddess, these external marks are meant only for deluding the demons. In my heart I always meditate upon the Supreme Lord Vishnu and always chant His mantras. By chanting this great six-syllable mantra I taste the eternal nectar of ecstatic joy. O Lady with an auspicious face, I have answered all that you have asked me. Affectionately I ask you, what else do you desire to hear?”
Parvati said, “O sinless one, tell me about the tamasic scriptures that were composed by the brahmanas bereft of devotion to the Lord. O Lord of the demigods Please tell me their names in sequence.
Lord Shiva replied, “O goddess, please listen. In sequence I shall tell you about the tamasic texts. Simply by remembering them even wise persons become deluded. First,I Myself proclaimed the Shiva, pasupata, and related texts. After my power had entered him, Kanada preached the Vaisesika Philosophy. Similarly, Gautama preached Nyaya,and Kapila preached the atheistic Sankhya. Brihaspati preached the much-censured Charvaka doctrine, and Buddha proclaimed Buddhism to destroy the demons.
Padma Purana 6.236.7
mayavadam asac chastram pracchannam bauddham uchyate
mayaiva kalpitam devi kalau brahmana rupina
“Mayavada or Advaita philosophy is an impious, wicked belief and against all the conclusions of the Vedas. It is only covered Buddhism. My dear Parvati, in Kali-Yoga I assume the form of a brahmana (Adi Shankara) and teach this imagined philosophy.
Padma Purana 6.236.8-9
apartham sruti-vakyanam darsayan loka-garhitam
sva-karma-rupam tyajya tvam atraiva pratipadyate
sarva-karma paribhrastair vaidharma tvam tad ucyate
paresa-jiva-paraikyam maya tu pratipadyate
“This mayavada advaita philosophy preached by me (in form of Adi Shankara) deprives the words of the holy texts of their acutal meaning and thus it is condemned in the world. It recommends the renunciation of one’s own duties, since those who have fallen from their duties say that the giving up of duties is religiosity. In this way, I have also falsely propounded the identity of the Supreme Lord and the individual soul.”
Padma Purana 6.236.10
brahmanas caparam rupam nirgunam vaksyate maya
sarva-svam jagato py asya mohanartham kalu yuge
“In order to bewilder the atheists, in Kali-yuga, I describe the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Gauranga Krishna to be without any form and without qualities.”
Padma Purana 6.236.11
vedante tu maha-sastrera mayavadam avaidikam
mayaiva vaksyate devi jagatam nasha-karanat
“Similarly, in explaning Vedanta mahashastra, I described the same non-scriptural and inauspicious mayavada philosophy in order to mislead the entire population toward atheism by denying the personal form of my beloved Lord.”
[As described in the seventh chapter of adi-lila of Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita, while speaking to Prakashananda Saraswati and the mayavadi sannyasis of Benares, Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu cited these texts to show how Lord Shiva had come in Kali-yuga as Shripad Sankaracharya to propound the philosophy of monism and bewilder the souls. Cited translation of texts 7,10 and 11 are based on the translation of His Divine Grace Shrila A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada as found in his purport to Cc. Adi 7.110.]
Hare Krsna!
PAMHO!! AGTSP!!
What’s the use of quoting Padma Purana without even touching the glorious Shiva Gita from the Padma Purana? What’s the use of meditating Shankaracharya as spreader of fake information, while missing his life and sadhna of austeritya and beautiful works? By labeling Shankara as Mayavadi we would start missing out the stalwart of Vedic culture, the re-establisher Yogi, saint of Vedic culture, Sanatana Dharma on the soil of Bharatvarsha.
Anyone who to have the actual secret of Lord Mahadeva Shiva is clearly under illusion and Lord’s Shiva’s Maya. Nobody has to power to know Lord Shiva’s secret or reality. Not even the sages. Please read Anushasana Parva and instructions of the great Bhishma Pitamah to Yudhishthira. He who knew all kinds of knowledges and Vidyas said not even He is able to describe the glory of Lord Mahadeva Shiva. Only Vasudeva can.
All glories to Lord Mahadeva Shiva!!
All glories to Lord Krsna!!
Hari Bol!!
Get this fucking article out.It is a very unintelligent and pathetic story urely to degrade the best of hindu thought system which has been developed over centuries and acheived its pinnacle inthe form of Advaita theory by shankaracharya.advaita is a very scientific theory meant for intelligent minds not for dumbs like the writer of this article.
Hindu thought is already scattered,please stop attempting to malign the best of what we have.
Advaita is another means of becoming devotee of Lord Krishna. Or else why the name Advaita Acharya for a person who got Lord Krishna to this earth? hmm..
Sankara told – your gramatical world jugglery will not save you at time of death. This is reason why Prabhupada first attacked him. Prabhupada’s writings are full word jugglerys to bewilder conditioned soul.
Chant Hare Krishna and be Happy!!
The article is indeed a sorry story of one who is out to brainwash people. Shri Adi Shankaracharya was in no way out to spread “fake information”. Someone who says so completely failed to understand Vedic culture, philosophy and Advait Vedanta needless to say the Vedic Sanatana Dharma. This article is a sham and piece of bogus sect propaganda!! Nothing more!!
Its sad to see people stoop down to such low levels simply to promote their own brand of sect. How sad indeed. Such people can never understand God. Nor can they understand the vast ocean like Sanatana Hindu dharma. Its not narrow minded.
God is one, saints call him by many names.
Hare Krishna,
All comments here have not even touched against anything that i have said, all that exists in this articles are facts presented directly from various sources in sastra which are authorized.
If you want to make a claim against this then use sastra and logic not empty and repetitive ramblings gifted to one who has verbal diarrhea…
So start valid discussions
Sir, I can quote Siva Puran, Upanishads and Vedas to prove your verses and their translations wrong.
Hi ignorant man! Do not spread venom !
Vishnu cannot measure shiva’s height and the world knows the thousand petal worship Vishnu did to the Lord Shiva !
Hara Hara Maha Dev !
Hare Krishna,
You continue blasphemy devoid of any philosophical backing.
Please try atleast to be sensible first, logical next and intelligent third, if you can not, which i doubt you can, then do not reply, otherwise you still have not even gone against anything this article has said, which is a direct quote from SASTRA!
Dear Krishna lover, Calling Shankaracharya spreader of false knowledge is being devoid of all the three aspects viz, sensibility first, logical next and intelligent third. What shastra do you talk about? The mistranslated Bhagvad Gita? or The selectively used Padma Purana? Read Shiva Gita in Padma Purana. Quoting unquoting is a weapon that you use cunningly. But to no avail except for winning senseless debates with the world outside Iskcon well walls.
How intelligent was it of Prabhupad to call s saint like Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and shri Vivekananda as a “fool and rascal”?? The world knows the answers.
To read philosophical backing – kindly read the beautiful works of Adi Shankaracharya. Read Lord Krishna’s own words in the Anushasana Parva that you reject wrongfully.
Krishna says in Bhagvad Gita –
upadrastanumanta ca
bharta bhokta mahesvarah
paramatmeti capy ukto
dehe ’smin purusah parah (Bhagavad Gita 13:23)
“Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer who is MAHESHWARA (Shiva), the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as Paramatma,the Supreme soul of universe”.
If one belongs to Iskcon or gaudiya sects, most probably he will consider Lord Krishn as supreme only and reject Shiva as a mere “demigod”! This is offensive. Krishna doesn’t consider Lord Shiva as a demigod. Nor does Rama. Nor does Brahma. So we accept Lord Ram, Krishna and Brahma as authority over a human servant (Prabhupad). We accept the authority of the Lord, not the servant. Authority belongs to the LORD, NOT the SERVANT. Prabhupad was a Krshna servant. Not Lord. Lord Krishna says a lot more in Bhagvad Gita which dear devotees of Iskcon/gaudiya philosophy ignore. If you refer and accept Brahm Samhita, also accept Shiv Samhita and Shiva MahaPuran! But being in Iskcon and Gaudiya sampradaya, I don’t think there should be any problem accepting Bhagvad Gita and Shrimad Bhagvatam. Right?
Let’s read and accept Shrimad Bhagvatam together and read an original verse from it that is spoken by none other than the first originator (!) of your lineage Lord Brahma –
” O siva , I know that You are the Supreme controller(Parameswara), You are both the father and the mother of the entire cosmic manifestation and as the one ever auspicious and supreme brahman who is beyond cosmic manifestation” (SB 4:6:42 )
So in conclusion we accept Lord Brahma, Krishna, Rama over Prabhupad. Sorry! We appreciate Prabhupad’s work of bringing KC to the west. But we don’t appreciate belittling of Vedic Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) and Shiva (whom even Rama, Krishna, Brahma, Vishnu worshipped) and Shiva devotees. It is offensive. But since we are understanding of the limitations of human life and limitations of the ego principle, we will leave it as it is for now.
Namah Shivaya
The sick minded people who cannot even gaze at the the glory of Advaita philosophy and who are jealous of shankara started bashing Advaita vedanta. They are not dare enough to use the word ‘advaita’. hence they introduced a new name “Maya vada’ , in order to degrade Advaitins.
Even a person with ordinary intellect could easily understand that those verses from padma purana are BOGUS and are interpolations made by arrogant vaishnavites. Those verses are not found in any Authentic texts of padma purana. All these verses are interpolations in later period( around 1700 AD) by people who are jealous of Advaita philosophy. How can you dumb vaishnavas believe these words of your acharyas ? Don’t you have brain ? why can’t you use it ? Was n’t padma purana there at the time of shankara ? Were n’t the scholars unaware of these verses ? By interpolating such stupid verses , the vaishnavas gratified themselves.
The exact expression which best suits these vaishnavas is :
“The fox who cannot reach the grapes says it is sour !! ”
similarly, the vaishnavas because of their jealousy and stupidity started interpolating scriptures to retain their followers.
Once shankaracharya came across an old vaishnavite at the bank of River Ganga in Kashi, the abode of lord Shiva. There, this old vaishnava started argueing with sadhus and trying to prove from scriptures that lord viswanatha is not really shiva. but the true viswanatha is Lord vishnu. To prove his point, he started using his grammar jugglery. Shankara was shocked at the attitude of this old vaishnava . At that time, shankara sang his famous “Bhajagovindam”.
” Bhajagovindam Bhajagovindam govindam bhaja mooda mathe , samprapthe sannihite kaale nahi nahi rakshati drukkubkarane…….”
Meaning : You Wicked Vaishnava fool / rascal !! …… worship Govinda.. worship your lord govinda…
Why are you using your grammar jugglery to prove something which is wrong (Asatya) as true (satya) ?. All these grammar jugglery will not save you at the time of death… if you like govinda, then worship lord as Govinda .
Sankaracharya’s bhajagovindam is a lesson to all wicked vaishnavas who bash lord shiva and use their stupid grammar jugglery.
I advice vaishnavas to follow what your authentic scripture says Rather than believing bull shit told to you from self generated texts. Instead of wasting time why don’t you stick to the following verses from your scriptures ?.
Narada Pancharatra says:
Shivo Harirhariha Shakshatchiva Eva Nirupitaha |
Shivadveshi Haridrohi Vishnum Nityam Bhajanapi ||
‘Shiva is Hari and Hari is none other than Shiva. An enemy of Shiva is an enemy of Hari, even though he may daily worship Vishnu.’
Here is a quote from Vishnu Purana (5.33.46)
“yo harih sa sivah saksad yah sivah sa svayam harih
ye tayor bhedamati sthan narakaya bhave nnarah ”
TRANSLATION: Whoever is Lord Hari, He Himself is Lord Shiva indeed.Whoever is Lord Shiva, He Himself manifests as Lord Hari. Anyhuman being who mistakes both the Lords to be different, he/she surely goes to hell.
(I bow) to Shiva of the form of Vishnu and Vishnu who is Shiva; Vishnu is Shiva’s heart and Shiva, Vishnu’s. Just as Vishnu is full of Shiva, so is Shiva full of Vishnu. As I see no difference, I am well all my life. (8-9. skanda upanishad )
” O Lord Shiva, You are the cause of all causes, the self-effulgent, inconceivable, and you are alone that Secret Para Brahman (tvaḿ brahma paramaḿ guhyaḿ ). You manifest various potencies in this cosmic manifestation. You are the Supreme soul and supreme personality of godhead (tvam ātmā jagad-īśvaraḥ) ” ( Srimad Bhagavatam 8:7:24 )
Hare Krishna..Lord Krishna is the supreme Godhead.
Krishna says -> mattah parataram nanyat
kincid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam
sutre mani-gana iva
O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.(Bhagavad-Gita 7.7)
Krishna says -> O Arjuna, I am the generating seed of all existences. There is no being–moving or unmoving–that can exist without Me.(Bhagavad-Gita 10.39)
Arjuna said: My dear Lord Krsna, I see assembled together in Your body all the demigods and various other living entities. I see Brahma sitting on the lotus flower as well as Lord Siva(isam–Lord Siva) and many sages and divine serpents.(Bhagavad-Gita 11.15) Arjuna saw lord Shiva in Krishna’s body…
isvarah paramah krsnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam
/ Lord Brahma said -> 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
TEXT 1)
O Lord Krishna– You are the cause of all causes, the self-effulgent, inconceivable, impersonal Brahman, which is originally Parabrahman. You manifest various potencies in this cosmic manifestation.(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.7.24)
Sankaracharya said –Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, you deluded one! When the end is near, knowledge of grammar will not save you.(Adi Sankaracharya’s
Bhaja Govindam)
Bhoovo bharavatharakam bhavabdi karma dharakam,
Yasomathee kisorakam, namami chitha chorakam.
Drugantha kantha banginam, sada sadala sanginam,
Dine dine navam navam namami nanda sambhavam.
Sankaracharya(Lord Shiva) said –
I bow to him who is the stealer of hearts,
Who incarnated to reduce the weight of the world,
Who helps us cross the miserable ocean of life,
And who is young baby of mother Yasoda.
I bow to the son of King Nanda,
Who has a pair of pretty shining eyes,
Who is followed by bees wherever he goes,
And who is new and newer to his devotees,
Today and everyday. (Adi Sankaracharya’s
Sri Krishnashtakam)
Yadha thadha yadha thadha thadiva krushna sathkadha,
Maya sadaiva geeyathaam thadha krupa vidheeyathaam.
Pramanikashtakadwayam japathyadheethya ya pumaan,
Bhaveth sa nanda nandane bhave bhave subhakthiman.
Sankaracharya said -> Where I live, wherever I exist,
Let me be immersed in your stories,
For always without break,
So that I am blessed with your grace.
That great man who sings this double octet.
Would be born with devotion to Krishna,
In all his births. (Adi Sankaracharya’s
Sri Krishnashtakam)
Krupalo hare kesavasesha hetho,
Jagannadha narayananda Vishno,
Namasthubhym ithyalapantham mudha maam,
Kuru sripathe thwad padambhoja bhaktham.
Sankaracharya said -> Hey merciful one, Hey Hari, Hey Kesava,
Hey cause of everything, Hey Lord of universe,
Hey Narayana, Hey Vishnu, Hey happiness,
I cry like this saluting you and so,
Please make me devotee of your lotus feet.(Vishnu Bhujanga Prayata Stotram)
Mukhe mandahasam, nakhe chandrabhasam,
Kare charu chakram, suresadhi vandhyam,
BHujange sayanam, bhaje Padmanabham,
Harenanya daivam na manye na manye.
Sankaracharya said ->
I salute the God with lotus flower on his belly
Who has a smile in the face and the shine of moon in nails,
Who holds pretty Chakra in the hand and
Who is being saluted by devas and who sleeps on a serpent,
And again and again affirm that there is no God except Hari.(Lord Krishna).
Vishuddham shivam santham adhyandha heenam,
Jagajjevanam jyothir ananda roopam,
Adhigdesakala vyavachadaneeyam,
Thrayeevakthi yam veda thasmai namosthu.
Sankaracharya said ->
My salutations to him who is told as trinity by Vedas,
Who is pure, who is peaceful, who is patient,
Who does not have beginning or end,
And whose limits cannot be fixed by stature or time.(Vishnu Bhujanga Prayata Stotram
[Prayer to Lord Vishnu]).
Vrundavana bhuvi vrundharaka gana vrundharadhitha vandeham,
Kundhabamala mandasmera sudhanandam suhrud anandam,
Vandhya sesha maha muni manasa vandhyananda pada dwandwam,
Vandhya sesha gunabdheem, pranamatha govindam paramanandham. 8
Sankaracharya said -> I salute that Govinda who is the extreme limit of happiness,
Who in the land of Brindavan is being worshipped by crowd of worshipful devas,
Whose nectar like smile is as pretty as jasmine flower, who gives happiness to his friends,
Whose twin feet are worshipped by the heart of great and worshipful sages,
And who is the sea of good qualities which are worshipped by all.(Govindashtakam
By Adi Sankara).
In the Atharva Veda, the Gopala-tapani Upanisad 1.1,directly declares Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sac-cid-ananda-rupaya krsnaya, “I offer my obeisances unto Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is the eternal blissful form of knowledge.
in the Narayana Upanisad, brahmano devaki-putrah, “The son of Devaki, Krishna, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead” (Narayana Upanisad 4).
The Gopala- tapani Upanisad (1.1) states, sac-cid-ananda-rupaya, krsnayaklista-karine, namo vedanta-vedyaya, gurave buddhi-saksine, “I offer my respectful obeisances unto Krishna, who has a transcendental form of bliss, eternity, and knowledge. I offer my respects unto Him, because understanding Him means understanding the Vedas, and He is therefore the supreme spiritual master.” Then it is said, krishno vaiparamam daivatam, “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
And then Eko vasi sarva-gah krishna idyah: “That one Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He is worshipable.” Eko ‘pi san bahudha yo ‘vabhati, “Krishna is one, but He is manifested in unlimited forms and expanded incarnations” (Gopala-tapani Upanisad 1.21).
Regarding Krishna being the supreme source of all incarnations and demigods, the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.3.28) states, ete camsa -kalah pumsah, krishnas tu bhagavan svayam, “All incarnations are either plenary portions, or portions of plenary portions of the Lord. But Lord Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
In the Svetasvatara Upanisad (6.8) Krishna’s position as the Supreme is again described, na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate, na tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drsyate, “No one can excel Him.” The Maha Upanisad (1) says, eko vai narayana asin na brahma na isano napo nagni-samau neme dyav-aprthivi na naksatrani na suryah, “In the beginning of the creation there was only the Supreme Personality, Narayana.
There was no Brahma, no Siva, no fire,no moon, no stars in the sky, no sun.” In the Moksa-dharma, Krishna states, prajapatim ca rudram capy, aham eva srjarai cai, tau hi mam na vijanito, mama maya-vimohitau, “The patriarchs, Siva, and others are created by Me, though they do not know that they are created by Me because they are deluded by My illusory energy.
The Narayana Upanisad (1) states, atha purusa ha vai narayano kamayata prajah srjyeti, “Then the Supreme Personality Narayana desired to create living entities,” and again it states, narayanad brahma jayate, narayanad prajapatih prajayate, narayanad indro jayate, narayanad astau vasavo jayante, narayanad ekadasa rudra jayante, marayand dvadasadityah, “From Narayana, Brahma is born, and from Narayana, the Patriarchs are born, from Narayana Indra is born, from Narayana the eight Vasus are born, from Narayana the eleven Rudras are born, from Narayana the twelve Adityas are born.” And Narayana, the source of the most powerful controllers within the material world, is an expansion of Krishna.
Because Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, His words, the Bhagavad-gita, are also accepted as scripture non-different from the Vedas. Actually, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who could know the conclusion of the Vedas as well as He? As the Supreme Lord, He is also the origin of Vedic knowledge. Gopala-tapani Upanisad states, yo brahmanam vidadhati purvam yo vai vedams ca gapayati sma Krishna, “It was Krishna who in the beginning instructed.
According to all vedic scriptures and Adi Sankaracharya ..Lord Krishna is the supreme Godhead.
Hare Krishna !..
Hare Krishna..
tvaḿ brahma paramaḿ guhyaḿ
sad-asad-bhāva-bhāvanam
nānā-śaktibhir ābhātas
tvam ātmā jagad-īśvaraḥ
O Lord Krishna -> You are the cause of all causes, the self-effulgent, inconceivable, impersonal Brahman, which is originally Parabrahman. You manifest various potencies in this cosmic manifestation.(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.7.24)
PURPORT
This prayer is offered to the impersonal Brahman, which consists of the effulgent rays of Parabrahman. Parabrahman is the Supreme Personality of Godhead (paraḿ brahma paraḿ dhāma pavitraḿ paramaḿ bhavān [Bg. 10.12]). When Lord Śiva is worshiped as Parabrahman, the worship is meant for Lord Viṣṇu.
Lord Krishna says -> Of all the Rudras I am Lord Siva..(Bhagavad-Gita 10.23)
Lakshmi pathe Kamala nabha suresa vishno,
Vaikunta Krishna Madhu soodhana pushkarksha,
Brahmanya kesava janardhana vasudeva,
Devesa dehi krupanasya karavalambam.
Adi Sankaracharya said ->
Oh king of devas,
Who is the Lord of Lakshmi, who has a lotus on his belly,
Who is Vishnu, the lord of all heavenly beings, who is Vaikunta,
Who is Krishna, who is the slayer of Madhu,
Who is one with lotus eyes, Who is the knower of Brahman,
Who is Kesava, Janardhana, Vasudeva,
Please give me the protection of your hands.(
Adi Sankaracharya’s
Lakshmi Nrsimha Karavalamba Stotra)
Samsaara saagara nimajjana muhyamaanam
diinam vilokaya vibho karunaanidhe maam,
prahlaada kheda parihaara paraavataara
Lakshmi Nrsimha Mama Dehi Karavalambam.
Sankaracharya said ->
Oh Great God Lakshmi Nrsimha,(Krishna)
I am drowned in the ocean of day to day life,
Please protect this poor one, oh, Lord, Oh treasure of compassion,
Just as you took a form to remove the sorrows of Prahlada, and so,
Please give me the protection of your hands.
Om namah. I offer my respectful obeisances to Sri Krishna, whose form is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss, who is the rescuer from distress, who is understood by Vedanta, who is the supreme spiritual master, and who is the witness in everyone’s heart.
2. Om. Some sages said to the demigod Brahma: “Who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Whom does death fear? By knowing whom does everything else become known? Who created this world.(Gopala-Tapaniya Upanishad1. 1-2)
Brahma replied to them: “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Death fears Govinda. By understanding Gopijanavallabha everything becomes known. By pronouncing the word “svaha” the Personality of Godhead created the world. (Gopala-Tapaniya Upanishad 1.3)
By worshipping Him, Shiva became free from illusion, and by chanting this mantra in a solitary place, he attained the Lord Krishna. (Gopala-Tapaniya Upanishad 1.31)
Om namah. To Lord Govinda, who is the form of the universe, the creator. maintainer, and destroyer of the universe, the master of the universe, and the universe itself. I offer my respectful obeisances.(Gopala-Tapaniya Upanishad 1.39)
Obeisances to Him, the death of Kamsa and his allies, the killer of Kesi and Canura, the object of worship for Siva, and the chariot-driver of Arjuna.(Gopala-Tapaniya Upanishad 1.43)
Lord Krishna says -> I am the Self, O Gudakesa, seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings. (Bhagavad-Gita 10.20)
Jai Sri Krishna…
Wells said Aham Atma.
Let’s see further what the false propaganda master Madhavananda Das states in the above article and asks for alms for his support too.
“Shiva replied,”Those Persons who,deluded by ignorace,describw any other deity being superior to Vishnu,The Lord of the world, are said to be Pasandis. Those who,although they do not belong to the Vanaprastha asrama, use skulls, decorate their bodies with ashes and bones, have non-Vedic marks, matted hair, and wear garments of tree bark, are said to be pasandis. Those brahmanas who are devoid of the marks and symbols dear to Vishnu, such as conches, discs,and vertical-lined tilaka worn on the forehead, are said to be pasandis.”
Now we know that Lord Shiva himself wears vibhuti or ashes.
Ashes are said to be pure. Garments of tree were also worn by Vedic Rishis. But sadly Iskconites and gaudiyas are not aware of it, since they are not into Vedic culture. They just use the term “Vedic” to gain popular support for collecting funds to pay for pedophile law suits world-wide.
When Shri Krishna worshipped Maheshvara Mahadeva Shiva, he also wore ashes and tripunda on his body. He sought Pashupat Diksha from the great Upamanyu rishi and worshipped Lord Shiva becoming a staunch Shaiva, standing on his toe tip for months together without food and water.
This was Krishna. Wow!!
Lord Rama also requested in all earnestness to the great Rishi – Shri Agastya to grant him Virja and Pashupat dikshas that can only be given to a very sincere and advanced Shiva devotee. Upon receiving these dikshas he worshipped Lord Shiva day and night to please him in the forest. Again he worshipped Lord Shiva in Kanyakumari near the ocean. He also wore ashes and worshipped Lord Shiva. Wow! That was Shri Ram himself. Shri Vaman Deva also worshipped Shiva for thousands of years chanting Om Namah Shivaya. So did Vishnu himself offering a thousand lotus petals daily to please Lord of the Lords – devadidev – Mahadev Shiva and received the famous Sudarshan Chakra from Lord Shiva himself. wow!! This was Lord Vishnu!!! Lord Brahma worships Lord Shiva as the cause of all cosmic manifestation. Wow This was Lord Brahma himself!!.
oh but wait, then we have Prabhupad and rest of the gaudiyas with a new brand of New-Krishnaism. All the Vedas, mimansas, Upanishads, words of Krishna himself, rama, Vashishtha, Upamanyu everyone is canceled out. A set of new scriptures is translated in a particular “mood” and represented as something else. Ash wearing Krishna and Rama are no longer accepted cuz they wore ash. But Prabhupad has set in new rules. Because goswamis have come. New rules have come. Now Shiva Bhaktas have psandis and false people not worthy talking to. If this is so, then Lord Ram and Krishna were the highest Shiva Bhaktas. Arjun also worshipped Lord Mahadev and pleased him. So did every other rishi.
Unfortunately the Gaudiyas don’t have such luck!!
But even the fallen demons are given mercy by Lord Bhole Nath, Bhola Bhandari, Sarva, Bhava, Mahesvara, Sadashiva! So still nothing is lost yet. Worship him with all your heart. Put him on the altar along with Lord Krishna. Vishnu and Shiva is one and the same. Krishna says “I’m Shiva”. So Shiva is Krishna too. Don’t get high on sampradayik politics and flowery grammar. Only pure bhakti will help you at the time of death, not flowery jugglery of words.
NAMAH SHIVAYA.
Another foolish claim made in this article is that it shows Lord Shiva himself telling Goddess Parvati that whose wearing ashes are psandis (as one of the qualities of psandis), while Lord Shiva himself wears Ashes and even the Shiva lingum is done bhasma abhishek. So? He is condemning his own self as psandi too?
LOL!!!
Madhavananda das, wake up!!! Its time for Bhaj govindam Mudha mate!!!
Hey, can you give your date and time of birth. I am just collecting info on who becomes follower of prabhupada astrologically.
For me, I seriously doubt prabhupada came from some hell who came to destroy genuine devotees.
1. There is advaiata- by sankara. (Is it same as mayavada is first question. )
2. There is Asura – prabhupada who told mayavada people can never be liberated.
3. There is Chaitanya- whose internal feeling is not understood by anyone, and who actually liberated whole of mayavadis and took initiation from sankariite and respected advaita acharya.
Isn’t this a contradiction. Lord Chaitanya liberated the mayavadis and the Asura prabhupada said- mayavadis can’t be liberated. May be he didn’t know how to liberate himself first.
Siva might have taken some other incarnation of Brahmana where he might have diverted people. There is another possibility: the damoniac incarnation which Siva told to Parvati might be Prabhupada himself. Prabhupada diverted everyone from path of krishna bhakti bringing in some cult like budhha.
PADMA PURANA IS A FALSE LITERATURE CONTRADICTING BETWEEN VARIOUS REGIONS OF INDIA ITSELF.
All acharyas are lesser than Gopis who set the examp;le of worshipping Lord Shiva. If gopis worshipped Lord Shiva, you also need to worship and follow Lord Shiva.
Ramanujacharya and whole lot of other acharyas may just be impersonators.
I didn’t find “Advaita” word is not used in the sanskrit you pasted.
mayavada may be Prabhupada cult. And not Advaita.
Most illogically edited, understood, and produced article in the history of Sanatana Dharma. This is just a conspiracy, a mere struggle to satisfy ones ego. Whereas true devotees of Lord never try to satisfy their ego as Vishnu Bhaktas, or Shiva Bhaktas. They only take pleasure in the god, not in the power or ability or the greatness of lord.
Shiva is said to have given Moksha to many devotees like Markandeya, Kannappa(Arjuna), and many more. If Shiva is a Mayavada God then how can Moksha be possible to him? Although Arjuna was a constant companion of Krishna, he got Moksha from Shiva in his rebirth as Kannappa.
all the 15 fools above me vishnu or sri krishna must be really happy seeing your comments and one person even went on to use the F… word!! while talking about vedas now only god can save him from its bad reactions. god you really succeeded and lord shiva splendidly succeeded, 15 fools here have clearly set themselves apart from reality and are in total awe of the texts in the line of shiva’s influence, glory to advaita and adi sankaracharya for making people believe that god is impersonal, actually shiva is the first and the best of vaishnavas, i can only wonder how well he has carried out the order of lord vishnu that so many 100s of years down the line i can still find 15 staunch believers of advaita sect commenting on the net as though they are liberated souls, i bow to you oh supreme lord vishnu, krishna, hari, govinda for you are the greatest deliverer of souls who understand the sacred text in its direct message but you are the greatest mysticism for those souls who just get attached to scriptures but do nothing to please you o lord of all, it is only through bhakti there is culmination of all knowledge but there is only pumped ego, academic excellence and hatred with devotees of the purest original form of lord that is narayana,govinda or sri krishna, if advaita and dvaita are taken as scientific and unscientific thoughts, that is why i beg of you dear 15 fools above me that devote your self to what you find as truth the original truth will eventually shine forth no matter what, so simply dont comment like ignorant fools like this ever again
Vishnu ji, when you are over-powered by ego how can you call yourself a true devotee? You called some people “Fools”, just because they were having an argument. They have not hurt you, but you have hurt them. This is wrong.
Vishnu Krishna ranter, So you are the new Kalki avartar and everybody is a fool? Ahhl… favorite “Prabhupad” abuse – “FOOLS”! The arrogant hare krsnas or rather hare Prabhupadas consider just about everyone a mere fool who is not in line with their changed texts and philosophy cooked up in the past couple of hundred years. While you talk big mouth about “vedas” you don’t read them, nor do you accept them.
“All 15 fools above you?” Yes, you yourself acknowledged it. They are all above you. Why? Because they don’t accept the foolish article propaganda!!
You are with half the truth. Shiva is vaishnava, but so is Krishna most staunch Shaiva. That’s why he worshipped Lord Shiva in every incarnation. Deny it?? Deny Lord Krishna’s own words?? That’s why I call you fools are Hare Prabhupada and not Hare Krishnas. Because following Prabhupad, you have denied the real Krishna. You foul mouth Shiva Maheshwara and his aruthority. Whereas Krishna worshipped him in all sincerity. So did the Gopis and the rishis. You have nothing to say to this. But only call others as – fools and blasphemy them with “consequences” and “reactions” etc. Your efforts to divide Hindus and Vedic knowledge through your false sect propaganda is not successful. We respect your following or trying to somehow follow Lord Krishna and become His devotee. Krishna Bhakti is wonderful. But you are stuck up in your sampradaya politics! This article is nothing but a result of it only. How unfortunate.
TO
vishnu : who posted comment on
April 12, 2009 at 7:00 pm
What kind of idiot are you ? why do you cheat yourself ? Don’t you feel ashame for your foolishness ?
You madcap , —- you yourself told that all the 15 are ‘Above you’. You don’t have any moral right to talk about Advaitins. first, you devote yourself to Vishnu/krsna. First, pray to God to cleanse up your ignorance and stupidity. Then, you can think of others.
You fool, —– To post a comment on wordpress regarding ‘Advaita’ , one need not be a liberated soul. You’ve posted your comment on ‘Bhakti’ . Are you a Gopika or a Narada or a Prahlada ? The pseudo Bhaktas/Dasas like you find delight in giving advices to others.
Advitins are sincere in their devotion. You seem to be a vaishnava . you must know that the great saints of Bhakti movement are Advaitins. The true devotees like Dnyanneswar,Namdev, Gora Kumbhar, Savta Mali, Janabai, Narhari Sonar, Chokha Mahar, Sena Nhavi, Eknath, Tulasidas, Tukaram, Kabhir are all Advaitins. I know that your ignorant mind has not even heared those names. The crap works of prabhupada have nothing to do with true devotion.
NOTE: This message is only for that person who commented with name ‘vishnu’ on April 12, 2009 at 7:00 pm .
God is Truth. Lie is the opposite of Truth. So Lie is the opposite of God. Liars are ennemies of God. Hare Krishnas are professional liars spreading Lies around the world about the Hindu Dharma. They are great ennemies of God… this is why their poor lifes are cursed in this life and in the others…
Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah
Om Namah Shivaya
Y would GOD want to delude any being??? We are all part of HIM. I went thru real serious karmic troubles in my life and never really believed in GOD. Then came LORD GANESHA into my life and I was guided to Lord Shiva. If Lord Shiva was a deluding God would Lord Ganesha guide me to HIM?
I have seen Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati for a 100/sec. I have felt HIS blessings in my life when i became devoted to Him. There are many more aspects but I cannot jot them all down here. Do not bad mouth Him please. You are making a very grave mistake. He is full of love and would never want to harm anyone in any way.
Lord Ganesha is the key to this world and I have become a vegetarian since He has manifested in my house. I hate using the word I or My but it is the best way I know to describe things. I feel Lord Shivas power from around 7.30pm South African time on a Sunday which will be around 11pm India time till about 7pm on a Monday. I am very energy sensitive. Now why would HE help me when I have nothing to give to Him except my love and devotion???
Would LORD GANESHA delude me??? The most loving God on this planet. No way. Wake up whoever you are. Wake up. Contact me if you want to take me on and I would explain you things that took the Rishis thousands of years to find out that I have found out in ten years. I do not dispute Lord Vishnu or Lord Brahma but as far as I know Lord Shiva is closest to Mother Earth. My sons hands and feet were burnt on Mahashivaratri night and new lines formed on his hands and feet for six weeks thereafter. EXPLAIN that to me?
He has helped us a great deal and we can only offer Him our love and nothing else in return. We dont dress with ash/bones/skulls/barks/beads or any peripherals for Him to come and change our minds. DUH.
What you are saying is that Lord Vishnu asked Lord Shiva to do HIS work when Lord Vishnu could have done it Himself at just a thought. Hello. What blatant lies you tell. You are creating problems by lying for us.
I am prepared to debate any Iskon member on here. debate must take place on here in full view of everyone. I was asked to write this article by a higher power to put an end to the lies of Iskon members and any fraudulent so called gurus. try me i am waiting.
Namaste
Om nama shivaya
So well said Sunil!! Thank you for your insightful message on this. Sadly its a political policy of Iskcon and Gaudiya sampradaya to belittle Lord of Lords – Maheshvara, Mahadeva Lord Shiva as a “servant” or taking orders or a “Semi/Demi-God…!! They say worshipping “Demi-Gods” like Shiva is work of people of ‘low intelligence’. Was Shri Krishna of low intelligence then? Was Shri Rama was also of low intelligence? They worshipped Lord Shiva!! Fact! So this Iskcon and Gaudiya sampradaya preaching about Lord Shiva and his coming to delude people by telling lies is a politically motivated LIE and degraded mentality. They talk of Vaishnava aparadha, but they commit aparadha towards lord Shiva whom Krishna worshipped standing for months on his toes forgoing food, water and even air!!! Arjuna worshipped Lord Shiva. So did the gopis and almost all the greatest Vedic rishis like Shri Vishvamitra, Shri Vashishtha, …. the list is endless!!
OM Namah Shivaya!!
Sarvam Shivam mayam!
The Holy land of India was in the throes of spiritual darkness. The dark clouds of ignorance by way of excessive and selective emphasis on rituals and priesthood threatened to engulf the true spirit of Upanishads. Under the influence of so-called ‘Kali Yuga’, society was plagued with casteism, cruelty, and intolerable suffering inflicted upon animals as well as underprivileged people. Dharma was on decline. Material comforts and sensual enjoyment formed the basic aim in life; spirituality took beating in the onward march of crass superstitions in the name of religion.
The cry of mass despair resulted in the advent of Buddha and Mahavir that filled the religious vacuum to some extent with their teachings of compassion and non-injury. People desisted from animal sacrifices and envisaged some respite from the tyranny of kings and their liaison with merchant and Brahmin class. Kings and the emperors adopted the new religion of equality, ahimsa, and compassion. For some time peace and prosperity prevailed in the land.
However, in their attempt to cut the dross, Buddhism and Jainism removed the basic life sustaining principles as well. Truth contained in Vedas and Upanishads was discarded; these religions refused to accept the authority of Vedas and Upanishads. Hinduism was on decline, and with it the religion as such was in danger. Soon the inevitable happened. Buddhism also showed signs of distortions and degeneration, and was on wane in this Holy land of India. What were the factors responsible for this decline? It is difficult to say, but indiscreet enrollment of many people as monks, both men and women, was one of them. Invariably the monasteries breed corruption where monks or sannyasins are admitted without proper training, and when they are incompetent to lead pure and selfless life
Be that as it may, the lurking fire for Truth, Liberation, and Freedom can never be extinguished from the hearts of restless souls – the seekers after truth. And moreover, whether we consciously know it or not, there is always the need for true religion, for the essential human nature is ever in search of and yearns for the Final Truth. In such chaotic conditions of dominance of priesthood and karma-kanda on one hand and degenerate Buddhism on the other, the society needed a soul of great spiritual knowledge and capacity to reestablish the dharma. And as assured in the Gita, this holy land did not disappoint her children then also.
Acharya Shankara is one of those god-men who have appeared in the world in historical times in order to establish religion firmly. Shankara’s advent took place at a very critical period in the national and in the religious life of India. At that time the Buddhist faith in the Indian sub-continent has passed through many stages of rise and fall for over a thousand years. It had sunk to a condition in which it was not only of absolutely no use for Indian religion and culture, but was positively ruinous. Subjected to the influence of degenerate Buddhism, the eternal Hindu faith had become enfeebled, devastated and disintegrated.
Within two centuries of Acharya’s lifetime, India had to encounter the powerful incursion of the Islamic faith. Degenerate Buddhism would not have possessed the vigor to resist the onrush. It was only the immense strength of the Vedic faith, which is eternal and man- made, and is the repository of universal truth, that could stand and did effectively resist the inroad of Islam. The advent, the career, the life work and the teaching of Acharya endowed the Hindu faith with the energy needed for the task ahead of self-defense and survival and ensured the everlasting stability of the Vedic religion by firmly establishing it on very sure foundations. Such a claim for Shankara is amply supported by historical evidence. Has Shankara not come on the scene, it would have been quite within the bounds of possibility that Hinduism got transformed into a veritable Islamistan.
If the Hindus of today can legitimately be proud of their great Vedic religion, it is in no small measure due to the services of this thirty-two year old monk. This needs to be adequately realized by all especially those belonging to man-made cults and sects who dismiss Acharya as a Mayavadi. It is unfortunate that some people indeed have succumbed to falsehood despite of Acharya’s efforts. Shankara strengthened the foundations of the eternal Vedic faith to such an extent that the vigor imparted by him was an unfailing support in later years to the work and mission of people like Madhwa, Ramanuja, Nimbaraka etc. this is an undeniable historical fact. In Shankara’s life and teaching and propagation lies embedded the immense vitality, which is responsible for the safe preservation and sure sustenance of the eternal Vedic faith.
To designate Shankaracharya as just an upholder of Monism, just like any other sectist Acharya’s is a tone down to his gigantic personality and to dilute his contribution. Not in any of his writings does any evidence exist of one-sided outlook, the narrow vision, the vigorlessness, and the incompleteness, which are the characteristics of most of the later preachers and teachers. Indeed Shankara was the greatest, the noblest and the most luminous representative of expansive, universal and all embracing Sanatana Vedic Dharma. All that is sublime, strengthening, glorious in the Vedanta faith as it obtains today is the handiwork of this distinguished monk, and this is true not only in respect of the philosophical aspect of that faith, but also in respect of its practical side. The resplendent story of Sri Acharya’s life is a veritable lighthouse illumining the path of the universal Vedic faith.
Shankara re-established in the undivided Bharat, the Sanatana Vaidika Dharma by freeing the entire country from the baneful influence of distorted and decayed Buddhism and Jainism. It was because of his life that the Vedas and Vedic faith were protected and preserved. He did not build the monastic order only ( the ten monastic orders Shankara established are Tirtha, Ashrama, Vana, Aranya, Giri, Parvata, Sagara, Saraswati, Bharati and Puri). He entrusted the great responsibility of sustaining and protecting the Sanatana Dharma to the Sanyasins, especially to the Abbots of the Maths he established. As a result of this within a short time the Vedic religion revived in the whole of India. He was the architect of the glorious renaissance. It was because of the vitality infused into the Vedic Dharma that in later years despite heavy onrush and oppression of the outsiders and people of differing creeds that India could stand firm and maintain her distinct cultural identity. Hence even today the Sanatana Vedic Dharma is not only alive but her influence in full glory has spread throughout the globe.
Even from pre-historic times, Varanasi has been one of the chief centers of Sanatana Vedic Dharma. It has verily been the abode of the serene God, Shiva Vishwanatha ever lost in the contemplation of his own Gory. Countless generations of spiritual aspirants of diverse schools and renowned scholars of varied interests have realized the fulfillment of their mission in the holy city of Kashi. At the time of Shankara’s arrival in Varanasi, there lived in it aspirants belonging to many different sects- Shaiva, Pashupata, Sankhya, Patanjala, Soura, Shakta, Ganapatya, Jaina and Bauddha orders of seekers and scholars, all intent on achieving the Supreme God in ways suited to them. Many of them were drawn to Shankara hearing the news of his arrival and about his genius and soon Shankara’s lodgings became a place of sacred pilgrimage. Many, to establish the superiority of their view points, wound enter into debate with Shankara. He lent them patient hearing and with comfortable ease disarmed them all by irrefutable reasonings.
During the onrush of the Buddhist faith that had swept over the country, many Hindu temples had been destructed, neglected and abandoned, but the constructive genius of the Acharya caused all of them to be reclaimed and renovated, the deities reinstalled with arrangements for proper worship. The good ruler of the place, true to his profession of Prajaparipalana, protecting the people, warmly co-operated with Acharya and of his own accord did all he could to make his subjects pursue learning, adhere to exemplary conduct and live religiously. And the ruler himself practiced what he preached. The Acharya ceaselessly exhorted the householders to take to the worship of Panchayatana, the five deities – Shiva, Devi, Ganesha, Vishnu and Surya and to the performance of the five great sacrifices- service of the Gods, of the Pitrus or ancestors, of the sages, men and of all living creatures. Acharya’s stay on the mountains, in this manner, in a very short time, powerfully stirred up a wide-spread resurgence of a spirit of vigorous spirituality and the ages old Vedic dharma got itself securely re-established
The well-known Buddhist logician, Dharmakirti, is Bhattapada’s nephew. Dharmakirti got converted to Buddhist faith, and became very proficient in Buddhist philosophy, after undergoing a course of instruction under the Buddhist teacher, Dharmapala. He then came to the Chola country and challenged his uncle Bhattapada to a debate. Kumarila was vanquished in the debate and according to the solemn undertaking given, it became a matter of honor for Kumarila to switch over to Buddhist faith, to learn it better. He then went to the Buddhist Vihara at Nalanda and became the pupil of Dharmapala and studied Buddhist logic under him. Though circumstances compelled him thus to embrace the Buddhist faith, his inborn respect for and belief in the Vedic religion remained full as ever.
Anandagiri, in his biography of the Acharya says that Kumarila Bhatta went to Nalanda in order to study Buddhist philosophy. Bhattapada himself tells Acharya when the two meet each other, ” In order to refute any school of thought, one should master the philosophy of that thought and have a thorough knowledge of its theory and practice. I had no knowledge of the tenets of Buddhism and so in order to combat Buddhism I had to master its philosophy and know all the intricacies of its workings and beliefs. So I was compelled to enter a Buddhist Vihara and be a Buddhist pupil and learn Buddhist doctrines “.
It is said that one day, the Buddhist teacher Dharmapala, seated in the midst of his disciples among whom was Kumarila, started abusing and ridiculing the Vedas. Kumarila felt extremely agonized at heart, to hear his condemnation of the sacred Vedas, and with face bent down, began to shed tears. The Buddhist Bhikshus noticed him weeping, and enquired about the cause for it. Kumarila was too grief-stricken to explain away his remorse and so told them frankly, ” The teacher is vilifying the Vedas, this has cut me to quick”. The Buddhist monks acquainted the teacher of his clear evidence of Kumarila’s lingering sympathies for the Vedas which he was supposed to have discarded. This infuriated the teacher, and he admonished Kumarila saying, ” Why do you weep in this way? Your tears clearly show that even now, you are a Veda-believing Hindu at the core, covered superficially by a guise of Buddhism. Donning the garb of a Buddhist you have been deceiving us.”.
Kumarila did not choose to pocket the accusation without protest or let the tirade against the Vedas go unchallenged. He entered into an argument with his teacher and said, ” Sir, you have been vilifying and speaking ill of the Vedas, quite in an immoderate way for no reason whatsoever”. The straight remark from an anguished heart in righteous protest roused the ire of the Buddhist teacher and in an excited voice, he challenged the pupil saying, ” If you think that way, argue and establish the illogicity of my remarks and judgments “. Then began a long debate, a philosophical duel on a high plane of thought and feeling, a battle of keen wits, between teacher and pupil. Kumarila effectively smashed the successive positions and attitudes of the teacher, who found himself more and more powerless to contend against his own pupil who overwhelmed and confounded him with unanswerable refutations and forthright arguments. Kumarila was easily able to establish the Supreme authority and the unbeaten superiority of the Vedas. Having quieted down the teacher by the power of his greater understanding and argumentative skill, he declared, ” Without the grace of the omniscience one, the individual soul cannot achieve omniscience. Buddha at first trod the path of Vedic faith and he became proficient in the profound wisdom of the Vedas, but then he rejected and disowned, repudiated and discarded the Vedas. In what manner can we style his behavior other than call it the practice of downright thieving?”
The strong and the severe remark of Kumarila made the Buddhist teacher red in anger, and he burst out, ” You are defaming the lord Tathagata. The only proper atonement for this high sin of yours is the doing away with your life by throwing you down the roof of this lofty mansion”. Hardly had these words come out of the teacher than the excited monks forcibly pushed Kumarila down the tofty mansion. In their display of vengeance, the disciples outran the teacher. The fast dropping Kumarila quickly composed himself into Yogic steadiness, remembered the Lord and uttered, ” If the Veda be true, may my life be protected”.
And the miracle happened. In spite of his having been rolled down from a great height, Kumarila did not die. He sprang up safe and sound. The disciples of Dharmapala could not believe their own eyes. But the news of this wonderful event soon spread all around the place. The Brahmins of the place who followed the Vedic religion, said in this incident lay a victory for them, and honored Kumarila in various ways. They also took away Kumarila in pomp from the precincts of the Nalanda Vihara. The incident did not end there. Rather it sparked off a heart-rending conflict between the Hindu and Buddhist communities of the day. To the Hindus, the miraculous escape of Kumarila from death seemed to be no less than the victorious assertion of the superiority of their faith. Making Kumarila their leader, the Hindus arranged a big assembly and challenged Dharmapala to a debate. The conditions of the debate were very harsh. That party to the debate which suffered a defeat had to change over to the faith of the victor or death by entering a fire of husk, called Tushanala.
At the time of Kumarila, the follower of every religion was firmly convinced that his was the only true religion and his the best among all faiths, and the worth of a religion and its superiority were all determined by debate and discussion.
From all corners of India, Buddhist monks came to Magadha to participate in the great assembly where the big debate was to be held and the superiority of the Vedic faith or the deteriorated Buddhist faith was to be established. The sparking brilliance of Kumarila put into shade the arguments of the Buddhists. Dharmapala, despite all his eminence and not withstanding the tireless efforts he and his followers made to turn the tide of the discussion in their favor, lost the debate. He however refused to change his faith and decided to sacrifice his life. In fulfillment of the terms of the debate, Dharmapala entered husk-fire, letting his body die a slow death in the smoldering flame.
This victory of Kumarila over the Buddhists had a national impact, and here was a new awakening among the followers of the Vedic faith. A grand Ashwamedha sacrifice was arranged to celebrate this victory by Adityasena, the king of Magadha. The celebration was a clear sign of the waning of popular support for Buddhism.
Kumarila was victorious in his campaign of resuscitating the Vedic faith wherever he went in North India, and he effectively lowered the prestige and brought down the influence of Buddhism and Jainism. He then left for South India on a victorious campaign of propaganda with a view of strengthening the roots of Hinduism. After his vanquishing of the best of the Buddhist teachers, Dharmapala, Kumarila found no one ready to face him in a debate. Everywhere, he demonstrated by argument, how the Vedas contained the true faith and how they were not man-made, but trans-human.
Also to be noted is that Kumarila is held to be the part-incarnation of Skanda Bhagavan. Mandanamishra, of whom we shall hear later, was born of the powers of Brahma. It was lord Mahadeva who directed them to be born on earth in order to assist Acharya in the work of re- establishing the Vedic faith. Kumarila is credited with having conquered the Jains as much as he conquered the Buddhists. He was a man of great initiative and power and proved much more than a match to many well-known religionists of that day. He was also a noted writer and wrote with authority on the Mimamsa philosophy. His authoritative works Sloka-Vartika, Tantravartika, Manavadharmasutra etc have made his name immortal.
This fascinating account of Bhattapada as narrated by the Brahmin of Uttarakashi deeply impressed the Acharya’s disciples. The great services of Kumarila to the cause of the mother faith filled them with reverence and admiration for him.
A FEW WORDS TO THE IGNORANT…………….
A glorious chapter in the Acharya’s inspiring unfolded now. From now on, for sixteen long years, he would be seen in the role of an ideal Leader of Lokasangraha. it is true that his many accomplishments like reading up the four Vedas and all philosophical systems and all scriptures by the eighth year of his life, attaining perfection in Yoga and experience of all branches of learning in the twelfth year, writing commentaries on many works including the Brahma sutras before he was sixteen are all evidences of his untiring capacity for work. Yet his inexhaustible energy in the last phase of his life surprises us.
In fact, abstention from all activity by remaining without work and without maintaining the sacred fire is not real Sanyasa. On the contrary, true renunciation consists in doing work for the good of the people in order to please God, indifferent to the consequences of work either here or hereafter, without attachment to or dependence on the fruits of the work performed, without coveting the merits of one’s actions. He who undertakes such work for the good of the world is in fact the true Sanyasin. The Acharya had spent every moment of his life in strict performance of his duty in the mission of bringing about the welfare of all creatures. According to the Acharya, before the attainment of the ultimate knowledge, karma yoga consists in the performance of all works prescribed by the scriptures without attachment to the results of work and surrendering all merits of the work performed to God. It is improper to give up activity before the attainment of knowledge. This is harmful for existence both here and hereafter.
Acharya had attained perfection in yoga. He had also attained the full knowledge of Brahman. The joy of constant communion in yoga with the supreme all-pervading being would have been his, only if he had wanted it. Everyday, in an exalted state of Samadhi he would experience the awareness of Aham Brahmasmi and would feel in himself the nature of Shiva, the supreme Lord without form and attributes, without bondage and without deliverance, full of the bliss of consciousness. His devotion to and the self-sacrifice in the mission of the welfare of all creatures in spite of this experience of communion with the Ultimate Reality lights up a radiant world before us. The picture of that shining young monk, his head shaven, stick and kamandala in hand, brings to our minds a divine inspiration and fills hundreds of hearts with religious feeling. Slowly and calmly, he trudged over the whole of India, including Kashmir and even Nepal and many other places outside India of today, and had the temples repaired and rites of worship instituted. He held debates with those of views opposed to truth and explained the meaning of scriptures. He thus brought the solace and protection of Sanatana Vedic dharma to seekers and turned those who strayed from the right path back to morality and religion.
If we but once ponder over the enormous labors involved in all these activities, we are bound to be astonished. The religions that have been propagated in the world so far have mainly spread through the patronage of the government in power. It is only in the case of the propagation of the Vedic religion that we find an exception. The Acharya proceeded alone holding aloft the banner of Vedic dharma fortified by divine strength, inspired by the strength of his own universal self. Bugles did not sound behind him, solders did not march nor did he run overnight from a place to escape from opposition (Ramanuja did just that). There were only the solemn and holy verses of the Vedas, the chanting of mantras and singing of prayers to Gods and Goddesses.
It was not an easy career of conquest that the Acharya had undertaken. Many a time his life was in danger. But he accepted everything, faced all dangers. No situation could weaken the peace and equilibrium of his soul. In all circumstances he was ever the same, unshakable and unaffected. This practical aspect of the Acharya’s nature appears to be particularly fascinating and we are filled with respect to observe how in all his work and endeavor he remained self-contained. His was indeed a noble existence, a truly great life. He was not only for India but for the entire world.
Even though some ignorant dualists, especially the Gaudiyas call the great Acharya, a Mayavadi, in reality he preached the doctrine of Advaita Brahman which is the only way to escape from Maya. A certain foolish group feels no compunction in holding the Acharya responsible for the present laziness and inertial in the national life of India. If everything is due to Maya, of what avail is individual initiative in this state of illusion? This misinterpreted though is what is behind the reluctance to undertake activity. Acharya’s entire life was a living commentary to the doctrine that he preached. We are not prepared to agree with fools who hold this untiring leader responsible for the inaction of Hindus. All we have from his life is the ideal of great work and inspiration for it. His life of activity inspires a sense of duty in our hearts. Now, the Madhwas have a limited following in the south especially in coastal Karnataka, the followers of Ramanuja in Tamilnadu and the Gaudiyas and others in parts of Bengal. It is indeed the light of Advaita that has spread across the length and breadth of the country. Now these sectarian philosophies, with no bearing to universality can never even hope to approach the place of importance that Advaita Vedanta holds in the altar of the world’s spirituality.
ENDING THE AVATARA, THE GREAT DEPARTURE …………………………
A few days after this incident, it was learnt from many sources that the rites of worship of Pashupathinath had been stopped in Nepal. Because of Buddhist dominance, the worship of the Hindu God was completely stopped. Even the holiness of the shrine was variously affected. Religious opponents had defied the temple by throwing forbidden things into it. The Hindus lived in great misery and suffering. The local ruler was alo inactive and indifferent.
The disciples of the Acharya were deeply mortified to learn this. They urged the Acharya to proceed to Nepal. Finding them so eager, the Acharya, directed by divine will, proceeded towards Nepal. Traversing forests infested with ferocious animals and climbing mountain ranges the party gradually reached the region of Pashupatinath in Nepal. It was a solitary and charming spot. The environments were solemn. The serenity, silence and peace of ages seemed to surround everything there.
The local king received the Acharya and his disciples with due respect. Blessing the king and giving him a piece of advice, the Acharya proceeded towards the temple of Sri Pashupatinath. He was distressed to find no arrangements for rites of worship in the temple which was dirty and dilapidated without repairs. At the direction of the Acharya, the disciples, with great care swept the dirt, cleaned the temple and saluting the deity and went through the rites of worship.
People in large numbers arrived in Nepal to have a Darshan of the Acharya and also of Sri Pashupatinath. Living in the temple courtyard, the Acharya began to give discourses for the assembled people. Hearing the ultimate truth by the Acharya, the hearts of all were filled with an eternal delight. The Buddhist intruders were so much shaken at the arrival of the Acharya that without facing him, they left Nepal for other faces. Soon, entire Nepal witnessed a resurgence of spiritual feeling at the reawakening of the Sanatana Vaidika Dharma. The scholarly Brahmins who accompanied the Acharya began to instruct the localites in the daily duties, the rites of maintaining a perpetual sacred fire, worship of the five chief deities and the performance of the five great sacrifices. The king also showed an interest in these auspicious activities. At the Acharya’s special desire, the temple of Pashupatinatha was repaired and the rites of worship properly instituted. Thus within a short time, Veda and Vedanta spread all over Nepal. Centers of study on the Vedas and the scriptures were set up in different places.
The story goes that Buddhist monks who followed Vajrayana and Vamachara tried to kill the Acharya by Kritya and Abhichara Prayogas and by creating natural calamities sought to raise difficulties in the way of his going to different places. But the Yogic power and the divinity of the Acharya, who was ever protected by Sri Mahadeva and Sri Nrisimha, defeated the evil powers of the Vamacharis. The Acharya was unscathed and overcoming hundreds of obstacles, spread the glory of Vedanta all over Nepal.
At the earnest request of many disciples, the Acharya then set out for Badari. The Acharya remained immersed in the contemplation of Brahman for long hours. The disciples protected his life with great difficulty. Day by day, the meditative mind of the Acharya was immersed in the fathomless depths of the ocean of Brahman. The Acharya duly arrived at Jyotirdhama on the way to Badari Kshetra.
Staying there for a few days, the Acharya satisfied all with his divine discourses and spiritual instructions. After having imparted new life by the life-giving Mantras of the Vedas to moribund Sanatana Dharma all over India from the Himalayas to the oceans, the Acharya again set feet in Uttarakhanda for the second time. There were discussions, worship, and spiritual sacrifices everywhere. The festival of divine joy seemed to be endless.
Those who were charmed at the Acharya’s Darshan earlier, had assembled again in order to have the joy and satisfaction of being in the holy company of the Acharya. All felt that it was as if the entire knowledge, richness, strength, vigor, fame and beauty of the supreme Lord himself that was fully manifest in this great person. Indeed he was incarnation of Shiva. Such perfection was not possible for an ordinary human being.
There was a great transformation in the Acharya’s heart ever since he had a vision of Sri Gaudapaadaachaarya. His mind was eager t be constantly immersed in meditation. The disciples were worried to notice their Gurudeva in this introspective mood. They realized that their revered Guru was now prepared to merge in his own self. His life-span of thirty-two years was now complete. In spite of repeated efforts, the disciples were unable to bring down the Acharya to material plane of earthly consciousness.
One day, the Acharya thus addressed his disciples, ” You see, the task for which I assumed this physical existence is over. Now, you should be prepared to lead lives permeated with the truth of Vedanta and preach the glory of Vedanta to the world. establish yourselves in the knowledge of Aham Brahmasmi, your mission will only then be right. If you have anything to ask, say it”.
With his eyes full of tears, Padmapada said, ” Lord, we have nothing further to ask. The path that you have shown by your very life will be followed by us through your blessings. You are the beacon-light of our lives. Bless us that we may follow the path shown by you”.
The also gave his disciples a clear indication of for future the future programme of work and also made them aware of the noble idea of renunciation and service to humanity. In his life, it is the truth of Atmanaa mokshaartham Jagadhitaaya Cha, for one’s own salvation and for the welfare of the world, that found expression. It is not Atmadhyana alone that comprises the whole of a Sanyasin’s endeavor, he has at the same time to take upon himself, the great responsibility of establishing and maintaining Varnashrama Dharma. The Acharya laid special emphasis on propagating spiritual practices. The abbot would not stay at one place, he would move about for the preaching of religion and would watch with care the efforts of ordinary people to realize a higher and nobler religion through the observance of Varnashrama Dharma.
After taking steps to set on a firm foundation his life-long endeavor to re-establish the Vedic Dharma and also ensuring the future success of his work, the Acharya appeared to have completed all the tasks of his life and prepared for the FINAL JOURNEY.
The Acharya soon went on his way to Badari Narayana. King Sudhanva and many other disciples were accompanying him. The Acharya was extremely delighted to arrive at Badari Dhama for the second time. Repaired and bedecked with buntings and banners, the temple was looking incomparably beautiful. The worship and services to the deity were also being conducted regularly according to the scriptures. In a lilting verse-eulogy the Acharya composed and offered his salutations to Narayana. This famous hymn is known as the `Harimeede’ hymn. Ever dwelling in the state of self-realization, the Acharya composed the verse identifying Sri Narayana as his very Self.
The monks, scholars, and kings regarded the Acharya’s arrival as a special favor of the heavens. The Acharya was all the time introspective. At his direction, his disciples gave discourses on the nature of Brahman and Advaita Vedanta. The Sanyasin disciples of the Acharya were all great masters themselves. By rendering their shining spiritual lives, bright with renunciation and full of knowledge and devotion, to be dedicated ceaselessly to work, ensuring the good of the people, the Acharya transmitted bright faith and tremendous inspiration to the hearts of all who came to him.
After staying in Badari Kshetra for some time, the Acharya then left for Kedara. Most of the time he remained in deep Samadhi. The same Acharya who for sixteen long years had carried on religious preaching tirelessly, had eagerly traversed hundreds of miles on foot, was now stable like the Brahman. Disciples like Padmapada were engaged in a vain bid to bring the mind of their Gurudeva down to the earth plane.
Duly arriving at holy Kedara, the Acharya immediately went to the shrine and remained immersed in worship there. The Acharya’s being refused to come down from the plane of Nirvikalpa Samadhi. He was indifferent even to food and nourishments. After several days had passed thus, one afternoon the Acharya addressed his disciples in a sweet voice saying, ” My dear Children, the task of this body is over. The time has come to merge with my own real self. If you have any questions, please ask me”.
Hearing these words, the disciples were thunder-struck. They could not speak. After a long silence, when the surge of emotions within had subsided somewhat, Padmapada said, his eyes full of tears, ” Sir, by your grace, all over desires are fulfilled. We are fully satisfied. We have nothing further to ask. We feel that the execution of the instructions of our revered Guru is the only duty before us now”.
The other disciples were silent. After a short silence, the Acharya said, ” I bless you with all my heart that you may be crowned with success in your endeavors. As long as you remain in your earth existence, go on preaching Sanatana Vaidika Dharma according to the previous instructions given by me. The knowledge of Brahman and the Self that I have given you has been obtained through a long line of illustrious Gurus and it should be passed on to worthy aspirants”.
The Guru lineage is : Narayana, Brahma, Vasistha, Shakti, Parashara, Vedavyasa, Shukadeva, Gaudapada, Govindapada and Sri Shankara.
” May you attain the state of Parabrahman.” This was the great Acharya’s last blessing to his disciples.
After this, the Acharya became silent and went into deep meditation. His entire body shone brilliantly with the brightness of thousands of Suns. He entered into the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi. His earthly remains also transformed into a dazzling bundle of light and disappeared into the image of Sri Kedareshwara.
The Acharya was an incarnation of Mahadeva. Gods like Vishnu, Indra, Chandra, Vayu, Agni and others appeared in the skies along with Rishis and Siddhas in order to take him back to his own abode. At that time, the whole sky was filled with thousands of lightening- colored flying chariots. The Gods showered heavenly Mandara flowers on the head of the Acharya who was in monk’s robes and sang his praises. Then the Gods decorated and brought Nandi, the celestial Bull whiter than milk and the swan. The Acharya, now assuming his original form as Sri Mahadeva, bedecked with matted locks and sickle moon, got up on to Nandi’s back, resting on Brahma’s shoulders. Parijata flowers began to fall on him like drops of rain. Indra, Vishnu and the other Gods sang hymns and took Shankara back to his eternal abode…………………………………………..
Thus stands before us the glorious life of our Acharya. By entrusting the heavy responsibility of the maintenance and propagation of Dharma on an all-renouncing order of monks, freed from worldly responsibilities, the Acharya has put the Sanatana Hindu dharma on a firm foundation. Those who are burdened with worldly responsibilities may find it practice, preservation and propagation of Dharma. The foreseeing sage had accordingly brought his disciples together and setting up Maths or monasteries in different parts of India, gave a concrete shape to this programme. This farsightedness of the Acharya astonishes us. The deep thought that the Acharya gave to the problem of maintaining intact, the beneficent character of Hinduism in accordance with Varnashrama and suited to the requirements of different times and places and the different aptitudes of its adherents, keeping the great far-reaching Vaidika dharma free from all turbidity and rescuing its ideologically ramified structure from erroneous conclusions, giving greater luster to the glory of his life. By rectifying wrong notions and semi-Vedic conclusions of the theories with the exponents of which he came into contact in the course of his triumphal tour all over India, he gave a Vedic character to all doctrines. He also took steps to preserve the distinct character of these doctrines. This reveals strikingly the generous nature of the Acharya.
The Acharya revealed his identity at the special request of King Sudhanva in the following words :
” In the Satya Yuga Brahma was the teacher of the world. in the Treta Yuga, it was Vashista. In Dwapara, Vedavyasa was the great teacher. For Kaliyuga, I am the world’s teacher”.
The advent and departure of Srimadacharya are both events of past. But his life and message are not set down in the pages of history alone, they have directed the course of Sanatana Dharma and have shed a soft radiance on the inner significance of Vedic Dharma. This becomes clear in the solemn lilting verse with which the Acharya concludes his masterpiece Vivekachudamani.
` Just as a traveler who has lost his way in the desert goes about in futile search of water and getting no trace of it, sinks further into misery, so in this world, man, deluded by illusions and errors, finds no end to his troubles. His whole being seems to be obscured in the blazing sun of worldly preoccupations. Where is the shade? Where is the water that can bring solace? The shade is but truth of Self, the ever-pure, ever-wise and ever-serene. For the person parched by the heat of worldly affairs, the supreme knowledge of the identity between the Brahman and Atman is the cool water’. Glory to this message of the Acharya that shows this eternal majesty of man in his spiritual crisis down the ages.
Even after long centuries, today the mission of Shankara-Bharati is not over. Acharya has not become out of date. Despite the myriad forms of wealth and accomplishments of man today, there is no end to his sorrow and suffering, for his good sense and wisdom are being clouded over with newer forms of error and delusion. Man is being tortured by lust, avarice, conceit and hatred in their various aspects, what is the way out? This way lies solely in man’s realization of his own self as being non-different from the universal self. When everything is the self, who remains separate from the self to be hated or envied? Within all men burns brightly the light of an indivisible essential consciousness. Every human being represents the greatest truth of Brahman in the world in the acceptance, realization and propagation of this undeniable truth. The extraordinary life of thirty-two years of Srimadacharya is a living expression of this tremendous reality.
We have to remember the Acharya’s life anew today. From his life- message, we have to find the means and inspiration of resolving the many conflicts of life in the knowledge of the self. Salutations to the incarnation of Sri Dakshinamurthy, the greatest teacher of the universe, salutations to Sri Krishna, the Jagadguru, salutations to Sri Vedavyasa, the teacher of the humanity, and salutations to Sri Adi Shankaracharya, the embodiment of all the three great teachers.
Thank you Chhenu. Lord Ganesha is MY Lord of this universe. I simply adore Him. Lord Shiva is on a different plane altogether.
It is 8.20pm South african time as I write on here and I felt the Lord Shivas power sweep the earth already. Read my earlier article and one would understand what I am talking about. Whoever was the being that dedicated a Monday to Lord Shiva was very correct indeed. they were spot on. Monday is Lord Shivas day and wednesday is MY Lord ganeshas day. this is jus so damn amazing and to think some fool mentioned that he is here to delude mankind. You are one sick o.
Stick to your worship of Lord Shiv and Lord Ganesha and if there is a higher God then they will automatically re-route you to them jus like Lord Ganesha re-routed me to Lord Shiva.
I am talking real life here and not some tale from a book written many years ago. Also if this was such a big secret of Lord Shiva then howcome the conversation between Him and Mother Parvati which no-one else overheard became public knowledge???????????????? What a laugh you are that narrated that article.
I jus dont understand all this boloney.
Om Namah shivaya
Hare Krishna,
the scriputers say Lord Shiva is known as asutosh very easly pleased. so it is very easy for someone to achieve his mercy. but they also say Vaishnavam yatha Shambo. as far asi have read the krishna devotee did not insult lord shiva nor any of the saivitesin this forum. every vaishava respects lord shiva as the greatest devotee. there is even a vaishnava sampradaya(rudra sampradaya) of lord Shiva. but i am warnig al saivites to be very carful of comitting vaishnav aparad (offense against a vaishnava) for i see you ridiculizing madvacharya and prabupada and also the krishna devotee. what concens me i worship shiva i feel the extacy of worshipping the greatest Vaishnava the scriptures say anyone who worships shiva on shivaratri atains great blessings even by worshipping unknownly like the story of the hunter on shivaratri. therefore i say om Nama Shivaya ,he is very powerfull living entity but still he is not independent from the supreme lord Hari. sakaracharya’s bhaja govindam testifies this. aswell as lord shiva himself when he fought against krishna for banasuras sake. Neelakantha is vaishnavam yatha shambu and we vaishnavas wil always respect him as such. come on when quoted by worshipping who one atains everyting Bishma sung Vishnu sahasranama. when tested by brigu muni lord vishnu came out as the supreme among the tri murthi. when vrita sura (another example of how mercyfull lord Mahadev is) worshipped him and then tried to slay shiva with the blessing he approached vishnu for help and only he could save his devotee.
Vaishnavam yatha Shambo
Om Namah Shivaya
Om namo Narayanaya
“O Lord Girîsha, since the You are Brahman which is transcendental to the material modes of goodness, passion and ignorance, the various directors of this material world certainly cannot appreciate it or even know where it is. It is not understandable even to Lord Brahmâ, Lord Vishnu or the King of heaven, Mahendra” ( SB 8:7:31)
KRISHNA:
krishna is the foremost of the devotees of Lord Shiva. Krishna,in his past lives also, served the Lotus feet of Lord shiva . As per Mahabharata, Krishna did severe penance for several months. Lord shiva,who was pleased with the devotion of krishna , asked him to choose boons. Parvati devi,the consort of Lord Shiva, who was pleased with the devotion of Krishna towards Lord shiva, also gave five boons.
kṛsna said : ( Mahabharata, Anushasan parva Book 13, chapter 16, Verses 1,2&3 )
mūrdhnā nipatyaniyatas tejaḥ saṃnicaye tataḥ
paramaṃ harṣam āgamya bhagavantam athābruvam
dharme dṛḍhatvaṃ yudhi śatrughātaṃ; yaśas tathāgryaṃ paramaṃ balaṃ ca
yogapriyatvaṃ tava saṃnikarṣaṃ; vṛṇe sutānāṃ ca śataṃ śatāni
evam astv iti tad vākyaṃ mayoktaḥ prāha śaṃkaraḥ
TRANSLATION :
The blessed Krishna said, ‘Bowing my head with great joy unto that mass of energy and effulgence, I said these
words unto the great Bhagavan Shiva, with a heart filled with gladness,–
1) Firmness in virtue, (dharme dṛḍhatvaṃ)
2) The slaughter of foes in battle,(yudhi śatrughātaṃ)
3) The highest fame,(yaśas tathāgryaṃ )
4) The greatest might, (paramaṃ balaṃ)
5) Devotion to Yoga, (yogapriyatvaṃ)
6) Thy adjacence, (ava saṃnikarṣaṃ)and
7) Hundreds upon hundreds of children, (vṛṇe sutānāṃ ca śataṃ śatāni)
these are the boons I solicit of thee,–So be it,–said Sankara
Like that, Krishna received several boons from Lord Shiva.
In Mahabharat, Bhisma says,
Rudra bhakthya thu krishnena jagat vyaptham mahathmana,|
Tham prasadhya thadha devam bhadaryam kila bharatha ||
Arthath priya harathwam cha sarva lokeshu vai yadhaa,|
Prapthavaaneva rajendra suvarnaakshan maheswaraath ||
Meaning:
The great Lord Krishna, due to his devotion to Supreme lord Rudra,Has spread all over the universe, Oh Bharatha, Oh king of kings,After making Lord Shiva pleased by his penance in Bhadrinath,He has attained the state of being more dear,Than all the worlds and all aspects of knowledge.
Yuge yuge thu krushnena thoshitho vai maheswara,|
Bhakthya paramaya chaiva prathi sruthwa mahatmana ||
Meaning :
Lord Maheshwara becomes pleased and happy yugas after yugas, by this Krishna who is devotee of Lord Shiva.
Arjuna and Krishna were Nara and Narayana Maharshis respectively in their previous births.They were devoted to
lord Shiva. They both did severe penances for the welfare of mankind for several thousands of years. Narayana succeeded in winning the grace of Lord Shiva. He atttained oneness with Lord shiva. But Nara maharshi has not succeeded. He was reborn as Arjuna and again as Kannappa.
In Mahabharata, Vanaparvan (12. 46&47), Krishna says to Arjuna,”O invincible one, you are Nara and I am Narayana, and we, the sages Nara-Narayana, have come to this world at proper time..”
In the same Parva, chapter 40 (verse 1); Lord Shiva says to Arjuna “In former birth you were Nara and with Narayana as your companion, performed austerities for thousands of years at Badari”.
All GLORIES TO KRISHNA,the foemost of all Shiva Bhaktas.
All GLORIES TO KRISHNA,who always meditates upon the Lotus feet of LORD SHIVA.
all of you just concentrated on me telling “15 fools above me” which is only in the webpage my dear friends! this shows that you people just try to manipulate sentences to put others down and consider yourself to be superior, don’t do that my friends, it is truly amazing that when the whole world is fighting for useless things we are having a war of words just to talk about the almighty, all prabhupada did was to bring back the true vaishnavism, he explained the baghvatam written by vedvyas which is the first truly spotless commentry on the vedas, and it accepted krishna as god, krishnas tu baghwan swayam, please know that the ultimate person exists and he is krishna then people came and according to time and circumstances did the things, but know prabhupada has given to general public an understanding of pure vaishnavism which is not to hate shiva or anything we as souls are not in any position to do that and nor are we intrested in doing that we love krishna as it is accepted in all vedic book that after all krishna you are god yourself, he is the one who spoke the baghvad gita, he is the source of all major and minor incarnations and so as gratitude and love we respect him love him from the bottom of our heart, also we respect shiva but yes we do accpet that krishna is ultimate as we know from the beginning that krishna is playing around in his creation and some important aspects of his leela are revealed in the scriptures which shows us why he worships shiva and things like that so u might get offended in this part as you are emotionally attached to lord shiva’s line of thought but lets be peaceful in our endeavors in submission to lord he will ultimately recognize our sincere efforts so we are always under his eternal vision so lets not fight sometimes we may think we are right but lets leave it to almighty krishna for me, you can call him shiva if you want ultimately it is him who will decide our destiny not us so we are all one yet different in our paths towards that unity that difference is pointed to us by the great souls, gurus who are also ordered directly by the lord, so ultimately lets have faith in that supreme lord everything will be fine, i am not offended nor keen to intervene into shaiva sampradaya but its only in this aspect where people had written so badly also abused the author i got upset, u keep your sampradaya il keep mine no more verbal joustings… hare krishna my friends and om namah shivaya and any more comments trying to put me down and finding faults in my reply is for sure only to satisfy your senses to put yourself higher than others… which is not at all good for a devotee so lets stop this
Dear Vishnu,
Namah Shivaya!!
There are a lot of hypocritical policies about the Hare Krishnas. Actually its more truthful to call it the Hare Prabhupadas.
Because you don’t follow much of Krishna than you do of Prabhupada.
Now you said – “you people just try to manipulate sentences to put others down and consider yourself to be superior”. But this is exactly what the Hare Krishnas (Prabhupadas) do anyway. Shaivas, shaktas, Advaitas are mayavadis and in illusion and people of lower intelligence and come to Iskcon yada yada.. Krishna is ultimate .. Fine Krishna is God.
So tell me why did Krishna worship Lord Shiva??
Why did Rama worship Lord Shiva?
Why did Vaman Devta worship Shiva?
Hanuman worshippe Shiva,
Arjun worshiped Shiva,
Kunti was a staunch Shaiva
Gandhari was a staunch Shaiva and cursed Krishna that his whole family and offsprings would be finished and it happened.
Nanda baba (Krishna’s father) worshipped Shiva in Nand gram, the Gopis worshipped Shiva,
Krishna’s own wives worshipped Shiva,
Valmiki, Ved Vyas Vishwamitra, Vashishtha .. all worshipped Shiva… and you guys call him a “demi-God”????
And then the author of this article tries hard to imply that Lord Shiva came to earth to give “false teachings” .. ? WHY??? Is there ANY logic to it at all, except than the Hare Krishna mistranslated books to imply that everything else is false except your own stuff??!! This is sampradaya politics, nothing more.
And its unfortunate to see such lies written by people who pass themselves as some sort of spiritual authorities.
Namah Shivaya!
the answer to it is that shiva is the first spiritual master all people will worship shiva as he is the first spiritual master, even lord krishna offered his respects to shiva to set an example of worshiping the spiritual master, you think what ever you want, nothing is in our hands, i find a reason to worship krishna and love him the same thing you find with shiva, i am not offended but do not try to be preachy, you preach only if you are ordered to do so by the lord otherwise lets stick to what we love to do, who ever is one the top he will surely come to know that we worship him and we love him no need of playing with words and analyzing sentences in texts this is not that age, i am not telling you to shut your brain but just open your heart also. hare krishna and om namah shivaya
Vishnu,
You said “Don’t try to be preachy”?? How come?? Preaching is the number one business of Hare Krishna cult members and you try to preach everyone!! But won’t take a preaching from others? lol
Don’t like the taste of own medicine?
Krishna “showed respect” to Shiva??? lol.. Doing arduous sadhnas standing on one foot forgoing food, wanter and air in every incarnation is simply “showing respect”? Don’t downplay Lord Krishna’s devotion and worship of Lord Shiva. You can’t say Lord Krishna worshipped Lord Shiva!! So you downplay it with a used up expression like “showed respect”. So even if you take it like Krishna showed example for you, then why don’t you follow Krishna’s example? You defy Krishna?!
You also said that no need of playing with words and analyzing sentences and that its not the age. But why do the Gaudiyas/Hare Krishnas do it then?? All the time??
Don’t tell me you follow plain simple hearted “bhakti”! There is so much manipulation when I read the re-prepoductions of Iskcon published variants of original ’scriptures’. So many things manipulated, downplayed, over played and changed.
Why??
Why do the Hare Krishnas argue people over quoting verse numbers etc? What’s the need? Just follow simple hearted bhakti. Everyone is drawn to bhakti. Regardless of whether it is towards Lord of the Lords – Maheswara Shiva or Lord Krishna murari.
I have been told by Hare Krishnas several times that worshiping Lord Shiva is worshipping demi-Gods and this is for people of low intelligence. Hare Krishnas tell the world Shiva is a demi God!! So?? KRISHNA worshipped Demi-God? Low intelligence? LOL! Rama worshipped Demi God?? Low intelligence??? LOL!!!
Shiva is depicted as a servant in Hare Krishna literature. Why? This is how you “show respects” to Lord Shiva whom Krishna so ardently worshipped?? This is the result of Hare Krishna mis-interpretation of scriptures. And manipulation.
Then you say this is not the age for analyzing words and sentences?? Your sentences? The changed ones?
Namah shivaya
Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva are just different forms of the same God. Saying that they are separate is like saying that the President of the United States and the husband of Michelle Obama are two separate people. The American citizens view Barack Obama as their (great?) leader, but his wife views him as her partner in life, who will stand by her for better or for worse. His children view him as their loving father. But he is still only one person – he is just seen in different ways.
Likewise, Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva are just different forms of God. Lord Vishnu’s job is the maintenance of the material universe and Lord Shiva’s job is the destruction of the material universe. Anyone who says that they are different is conditioned by the tamo-guna and heavy sectarian views.
With regard to the term “demigod” – it is Srila Prabhupada’s translation of the word ‘deva’ (when it refers to the other Gods). However, the Sanskrit word ‘deva’ means ‘god’. It is the root of the Latin word ‘Divinus’ and the English words ‘Divine’ and ‘Divinity’. In fact, there are at least three places in the Bhagavad-Gita where Lord Krishna is addressed as “Deva” (11:15, 11:44 and 11:45). Srila Prabhupada didn’t translate the word “deva” as “demigod” there, did he? He only used the term “demigod” to emphasise that the devas are subservient to Krishna (according to his Gaudiya theology). This is more examples of word juggelry that Adi Shankaracharya warned about.
The Latin prefix ‘demi’ means ‘half’. It is still used in the French language today (’six heures et demie’ being ‘half past six’, for example). Therefore, that would mean that Lord Shiva is “half a God”. What is the rest of him made up of, then? The real use of the word ‘demigod’ is to refer to heroes or other figures in mythology that were born from a sexual relationship between a human and a god/goddess. Perseus and Heracles (Hercules) are therefore both demigods since their human mothers were impregnated by the god Zeus. Such a term does not apply to Hinduism, as I’ve never heard of any heroes born from a sexual relationship between any of the Hindu Gods and a human woman (although Ayyappan was born from Lord Vishnu in His female form as Mohini-Murti, making him a dual incarnation of Shiva and Vishnu).
Smriti is inadmissable in a debate. In the Bhagavata Purana, Krishna is the Supreme Lord. In the Shiva Purana, Shiva is the Supreme Lord. In the Srimad Devi Bhagavatam, Goddess Shakti is the Supreme. These all have different views. You need to refer to the Shruti – the four Vedas (Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva Vedas) and the eleven principal Upanishads (Aitareya, Bṛhadarayaka, Taittiriya, Chandogya, Kena, Isa, Shvetashvatara, Katha, Mundaka, Mandukya, and Prashna Upanishads) – to prove your point.
(Another example of word juggelry by Prabhupada is his use of the Isha Upanishad to support his views – he inserts the name of Krishna into the translation when it is not there in the text to make the reader think that it’s referring exclusively. to Krishna when it’s not).
Hare Krishna
Aum Namah Sivaya
Om Gam Ganapataye Namah
Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva are just different forms of the same God. Saying that they are separate is like saying that the President of the United States and the husband of Michelle Obama are two separate people. The American citizens view Barack Obama as their (great?) leader, but his wife views him as her partner in life, who will stand by her for better or for worse. His children view him as their loving father. But he is still only one person – he is just seen in different ways.
Likewise, Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva are just different forms of God. Lord Vishnu’s job is the maintenance of the material universe and Lord Shiva’s job is the destruction of the material universe. Anyone who says that they are different is conditioned by the tamo-guna and heavy sectarian views.
With regard to the term “demigod” – it is Srila Prabhupada’s translation of the word ‘deva’ (when it refers to the other Gods). However, the Sanskrit word ‘deva’ means ‘god’. It is the root of the Latin word ‘Divinus’ and the English words ‘Divine’ and ‘Divinity’. In fact, there are at least three places in the Bhagavad-Gita where Lord Krishna is addressed as “Deva” (11:15, 11:44 and 11:45). Srila Prabhupada didn’t translate the word “deva” as “demigod” there, did he? He only used the term “demigod” to emphasise that the devas are subservient to Krishna (according to his Gaudiya theology). This is more examples of word juggelry that Adi Shankaracharya warned about.
The Latin prefix ‘demi’ means ‘half’. It is still used in the French language today (’six heures et demie’ being ‘half past six’, for example). Therefore, that would mean that Lord Shiva is “half a God”. What is the rest of him made up of, then? The real use of the word ‘demigod’ is to refer to heroes or other figures in mythology that were born from a sexual relationship between a human and a god/goddess. Perseus and Heracles (Hercules) are therefore both demigods since their human mothers were impregnated by the god Zeus. Yudhisthira, Arjuna and their brothers would be “demigods” as they were fathered by Yama, Indra, etc.
Smriti is inadmissable in a debate. In the Bhagavata Purana, Krishna is the Supreme Lord. In the Shiva Purana, Shiva is the Supreme Lord. In the Srimad Devi Bhagavatam, Goddess Shakti is the Supreme. These all have different views. You need to refer to the Shruti – the four Vedas (Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva Vedas) and the eleven principal Upanishads (Aitareya, Bṛhadarayaka, Taittiriya, Chandogya, Kena, Isa, Shvetashvatara, Katha, Mundaka, Mandukya, and Prashna Upanishads) – to prove your point.
(Another example of word juggelry by Prabhupada is his use of the Isha Upanishad to support his views – he inserts the name of Krishna into the translation when it is not there in the text to make the reader think that it’s referring exclusively. to Krishna when it’s not).
Hare Krishna
Aum Namah Sivaya
Om Gam Ganapataye Namah
Foolish “Vishnu”, here my argument:
IMPERSONAL CONCEPT IS ESSENTIAL FOR GROSS MATERIALIST. ADI SANKARA TAKES CARE THAT GROSS MATERIALIST BECOMES TO VAISHNAVITE.
CRIMINAL PRABHUPADA’S HOROSCOPE IS NOT EVEN UPTO MINE. AN ASSHOLE.
Очень было интересно читать, спасибо!
Я никогда не видел такой глупой статьи в моей жизни.
( Read this with full devotion before moving on to the article. Thanks for you co-operation.)
Om anjnana timirandhasya
jnanjana slakaya
caksur unmilitam yenna
tasmai sri gurue namah
sri caitanya mano bhistam
staphitam yena bhutale
svayam rupam kada mayam
dadati sva padantikam
vande-ham sri guru sri yuta padakamalam
sri gurun vaishnavams-ca srirupam sa-grjatam
saha-ghana ragunathanvitam tam sa jivam
sadvaitam savadhutam parijana sahitam
krsna caitanya devam sri radha krsna padan sahagana lalita sri visakhanvitams-ca
hey krsna karuna sindhu
dina-bandhu jagatpate
gopesa gopika kante
radha kante namo stute
tapta-kancana gaurangi
radhe vrndavaneswari
vrshabanu sute-devi
prnamami hari-priye
vanchakalpatarubhyas-ca
krpa sindubhyeva-ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaishnavebhyo namo-namah
sri krsna caitanya prabhu nityananda
sri advaita sri gadadhara
sri srivasadi gaura bhakta vrnda
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna
Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare!
Why should we go on fruther with this unnescessary arguments?
Param-purusa, Lord Sri Krishna had described the Age of Kali as being he age of unnecessary arguments and debates. This is a clear depiction proving him right. We are fighting over who’s great. I’m sorry to say to the Saivities, you don’t behave like one. A real Saivite is the one who doesn’t behave like a Pasandi, just as mentioned above in the article. You are trying your very in proving that Padma Purana, especialy in this case, is thoroughly wrong and were written by foolish Vaishnavites.
Dear reader, by first uttering that they are foolisha and Gaudiya Vaishnavas are wrong, you have made a wonderful offense to The Holy Name of God( as stated in the Ten Offenses to the Holy Name). All right, let us the devotees, be foolish, what rights do u have in the first place to blashpheme us. Did we offense you? . In human psychology, there is a portion which explains the reaction of humans towards a statement which conradict their mental state. This is what you are committing. We devotees are trying to elelevate the intelligence of you by providing congruent proofs from the Vedas itself.
Besides, i heard a statement that this is all false. Excuse me, to say that Vedas, especially Padma Purana, a non-authoritative masterpiece is entirely an offense. If you are observant and hard-working enough please refer to your own version or interpretations of the puranas and other pars of the Vedas, which will finally prove that you are completely wrong.
I even notice a person stating that ISKCON had misinterpretted the Vedas and other holy scriptures. Pardon me sir, this is totaly a baseless mental concoction of yours. Since everyone, authoritative personals, all around the world, Vaishnavites or even Saivities themselves, have announced that ISKCON is producing the original meaning of Vedas without any mistake. Please enlighten yourself in the latest news.
As we all are aware of, the Vedas, mainly the Bhagavad-Gita was written by Lord Ganesha, who is the son of Lord Shiva,Himself. You should get the story right.Before Lord Ganesha started writing the scripture, Vyasadeva(Krsna’s Incanation),the author of Vedas, ordered Lord Ganesha to understand first the meaning of each words even before writing it. Lord Ganesha in a story, when Lord Shiva was on a grand chariot built by His loyal devotees, he kicked down the chariot. Lord Shiva inquired His son, Lord Ganesha, the reason for his act. Lord Ganesha then explained that although Lord Shiva is his own father, He should have offered respect to him before leaving. Such a great personality is Lord Ganesha. Wouldn’t he have attacked Vyasadeva because the writing was based on Lord Krsna as the Supereme Personality of Godhead rigorously?
There are so many instances in this topic, if you would like to fight over who is greater or not. I humbly request the devotees who noes the truth please do not reply the comments of such rascals, since they have no greater insight and realization. I, offer complete dandavats to the devotees, as well as the offensers, to respect the Vaishnavas, offer obeisances to Krsna, and understand Krsna by chanting the Maha-Mantra.
Remember you can say he is wrong, and point your finger to another person and say he is wrong, and continue as such.
But, you can never deny the final authority. The one I’m rferring to is Lord Brahma. You may not listen to me, but I’m sure you will listen to this, if you sincerely believe that Vedas is true and the creation process is run by Lord Brahma.
(Brahma-Samhita Txt.1)-composed of verses of prayer spoken by Brahma to Govinda or Krishna at the beginning of creation(sense that, Krsna has been even existing before His advent on Earth during pre-Kali yuga period, which totally contradicts your mental concoctions that Vaishnavas are liars and hoaxers):
īśvarah paramah krsnah, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahah
anādir ādir govindah, sarva-kārana-kāranam
Which translates to:
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.
Do not attempt to prove anything against this text, Since it’s a futile attempt.
Chant…
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna
Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
and perfect your life…..
Dear Madhavakrishna, Namah Shivaya!! Jai Shri Krishna!! I’ll deal with your post in detail.
You posted a prayer and asked people to read with devotion. After verse –
“Om anjnana timirandhasya jnanjana slakaya caksur unmilitam yenna tasmai sri gurue namah” – rest is Gaudiya composition. And this is the crux of your philosophy. You take a verse from Vedic literature and add a large part of your own interpretation and made up verses to it to bring people to your camp. Simple. Now let me quote you and answer what you have written.
“You are trying your very in proving that Padma Purana, especialy in this case, is thoroughly wrong and were written by foolish Vaishnavites.”
– If you accept Padma Purana as bonafide and an authority, then there should absolutely no problem your accepting the glorious SHIV GITA that is very much part of this Padma Puran itself. No? But BBT publishes its OWN short version of PadmaPurana without even mentioning Shiva Gita at all! Double Standard!!
“Dear reader, by first uttering that they are foolisha and Gaudiya Vaishnavas are wrong, you have made a wonderful offense to The Holy Name of God( as stated in the Ten Offenses to the Holy Name).”
– Stated Where?? By Gaud Bengali brahman Sanatana Goswami. So why should you commit offense to the holy name of Lord Shiva by demeaning him as merely a “Demi-God”??? Another Double standard!!
“All right, let us the devotees, be foolish, what rights do u have in the first place to blashpheme us. Did we offense you? . In human psychology, there is a portion which explains the reaction of humans towards a statement which conradict their mental state. This is what you are committing. We devotees are trying to elelevate the intelligence of you by providing congruent proofs from the Vedas itself.”
– Yet another double standard of Gaudiyas. Gaudiyas do not propagate the VEDAS. Nor do you read Vedas. Although for marketing’s sake, you do advertise yourself as ‘VEDIC’. Gaudiyas (Iskcon including) have so far claimed that in Kaliyuga Vedic mantras and Vedic practices do not work. And you don’t follow Vedic sadhnas. Nor do you read them and follow them. So?? What congruent proofs are you providing us from Vedas and why if you yourself don’t follow the Vedas and Vedic sadhnas and mantras?! Yet another double standard.
“Besides, i heard a statement that this is all false. Excuse me, to say that Vedas, especially Padma Purana, a non-authoritative masterpiece is entirely an offense. If you are observant and hard-working enough please refer to your own version or interpretations of the puranas and other pars of the Vedas, which will finally prove that you are completely wrong.”
– I’ve heard a number of offensive statements coming out of the Gaudiya camp. Lord Shiva is a servant and a Demi God in the mode of Tamasa (ignorance) being the top one. Another is that Lord Shiva cannot liberate. Let’s see how dear you hold Padma Purana to your heart and accept its authority. In Shiv Gita (comes in Padma Puran), Lord Maheswara Shiva tells Ramachandra that he is the giver of all 5 kinds of liberation and once liberated through him, the jiva never returns back to the cycle of samsara! Let’s see you accept this from Padma Purana. Lord Rama also says to Lord Shiva that he is the supreme Lord of universes. Lord Shiva shows Ramachandra his universal form and also shows in it all 10 avatars of Vishnu including Krishnavatar. Let’s see how much you can accept Padma Purana.
“I even notice a person stating that ISKCON had misinterpretted the Vedas and other holy scriptures. Pardon me sir, this is totaly a baseless mental concoction of yours. Since everyone, authoritative personals, all around the world, Vaishnavites or even Saivities themselves, have announced that ISKCON is producing the original meaning of Vedas without any mistake. Please enlighten yourself in the latest news.”
– There is no question of Iskcon isinterpreting Vedas, since Iskcon has not interpreted the Vedas or written any commentaries on the Vedas. Chaitanya Charitamrita has nothing to do with Vedas. What Shaivaites “all around the world” are claiming that Iskcon is producing original meaning of Vedas?? Lol!! We don’t need to “enlightened” ourselves with the latest Iskcon news. We are better off adhering to the original ancient eternal information. The latest bulletins keep changing.
“As we all are aware of, the Vedas, mainly the Bhagavad-Gita was written by Lord Ganesha, who is the son of Lord Shiva,Himself. You should get the story right. Before Lord Ganesha started writing the scripture, Vyasadeva (Krsna’s Incanation),..”
– Krishna himself is incarnatino of Vishnu. Incarnation means coming down of divinity in human form on earth. Which Krishna did. he came, completed this incarnation and left. Period. Just as every other incarnation of Vishnu did including Vamdev, Narsimha avatara, Shri Ram and others.
“..the author of Vedas, ordered Lord Ganesha to understand first the meaning of each words even before writing it. Lord Ganesha in a story, when Lord Shiva was on a grand chariot built by His loyal devotees, he kicked down the chariot. Lord Shiva inquired His son, Lord Ganesha, the reason for his act. Lord Ganesha then explained that although Lord Shiva is his own father, He should have offered respect to him before leaving. Such a great personality is Lord Ganesha. Wouldn’t he have attacked Vyasadeva because the writing was based on Lord Krsna as the Supereme Personality of Godhead rigorously?”
– LOL!! I’m amazed on the cunning interpretations of Gaudiyas. They are one cunning lot. Before describing the exalted position of Lord Ganesha, pay attention to the position of devadidev Mahadev Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is the supreme personality who bestowed life and established Ganesha as the Gana of devatas and first to be worshipped before any pious deed. Now let me point out to another double standard and hypocrisy of the Gaudiyas here – even though you do mention Lord Ganesha’s authority as the first to be worshipped, one of the Gaudiya acharyas (Thakur.. if I’m not mistaken) canceled out the worship of Lord Ganesha and instead now Iskcon pandits before starting havan (u call it yagya), worship your Guru and don’t even say one line of ganesh pranam. UnVedic downright!! Vedic norms dictate every auspicious deed starts with Ganapati smaran, dhyan and poojan.
Secondly, Krishna avatara took place 5,000 years back. Vedas are much much older. Ganesha’s writing is not based on Krishna as the Supreme “Godhead”. There is besides no such term as “Godhead”. That’s another Iskcon coined term just as “karmi” etc.
Vedas say neti neti when it comes to understanding God. And Vedas also glorify Indra, Agni, Rudra.
Again, as far as your story of Lord Ganesha kicking Lord Shiva goes, also read the story of Lord Ganesha after being appointed the Ganadhipati of devas, is asked to go around the whole universe. Lord Ganesha simply goes around mother Parvati and Father Lord Shiva as they are above Ganesha and all the universes.
“There are so many instances in this topic, if you would like to fight over who is greater or not. I humbly request the devotees who noes the truth please do not reply the comments of such rascals, since they have no greater insight and realization. I, offer complete dandavats to the devotees, as well as the offensers, to respect the Vaishnavas, offer obeisances to Krsna, and understand Krsna by chanting the Maha-Mantra.”
– Who is greater is the famous God positioning agenda of the Gaudiyas/Iskcon. Shivaites never indulge in such foolish argument. Cuz they know Shiva creates as Brahma, preserves as Vishnu and destroys as Rudra. Vishnu/Hari is Shiva and Shiva is Vishnu. But the Hare Krishnas always argue and preach Krishna to be above all and Shiva to be a servant and a mere semi-demi-God in mode of ignorance. So who started this?? Hare Krishna Neo-Krishnaism 400 years old Kaliyuga sampradaya. When the exalted saint after having diksha from advaita marg and immersed in loving devotion of Lord Krishna saw his disciples arguing, he said in this age of kaliyuga there is argument and quarell, so keep on chanting. He had to tell you this seeing your attitude. But the Gaudiyas never left arguing. Chaitanya never argued who’s above whom. Hare Krishnas do. Hare Krishnas preach their own sampradaya to be all n all higher perched above and all others as below somewhere. The tone of preaching is such.
“Remember you can say he is wrong, and point your finger to another person and say he is wrong, and continue as such. But, you can never deny the final authority. The one I’m rferring to is Lord Brahma.”
– Sure!! So why do you deny the final authority of Lord Brahma??? Let’s accept Bhagvatam together and read an original verse from it that is spoken by none other than the first originator of your lineage Shri Brahma –
” O siva , I know that You are the Supreme controller(Parameswara), You are both the father and the mother of the entire cosmic manifestation and as the one ever auspicious and supreme brahman who is beyond cosmic manifestation” (SB 4:6:42 )
“You may not listen to me, but I’m sure you will listen to this, if you sincerely believe that Vedas is true and the creation process is run by Lord Brahma.
(Brahma-Samhita Txt.1)-composed of verses of prayer spoken by Brahma to Govinda or Krishna at the beginning of creation(sense that, Krsna has been even existing before His advent on Earth during pre-Kali yuga period, which totally contradicts your mental concoctions that Vaishnavas are liars and hoaxers):
īśvarah paramah krsnah, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahah anādir ādir govindah, sarva-kārana-kāranam
Which translates to:
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.
Do not attempt to prove anything against this text, Since it’s a futile attempt.”
– Lord Krishna says a lot more in Bhagvad Gita which dear devotees of Iskcon/gaudiya philosophy ignore. If you refer and accept Brahm Samhita, also accept Shiv Samhita and Shiva MahaPuran! Kindly notice –
upadrastanumanta ca
bharta bhokta mahesvarah
paramatmeti capy ukto
dehe ’smin purusah parah (Bhagavad Gita 13:23)
“Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer who is MAHESHWARA (Shiva), the SUPREME proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as Paramatma,the SUPREME SOUL of the UNIVERSE”.
“Chant…
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
and perfect your life…..”
– Yes we saw how perfect are the lives of the Hare Krishna teachers who are paying millions of sincere devotee money in child molestation lawsuits. Also we are in aware of all the murder and money laundering scandals by “Gurus” established by Prabhupad himself. that took place within the Hare Krishna organization. Now the Gaudiyas chanting and following same philosophy have divided into many different branches and each is busy re-publishing his own set of books about the same thing. This is to have differen fan following and jealousy of each other. Such basic concerning qualities are not eve overcome by these Gurus what to talk of perfecting life of devotees. The Gurus travel world over and visit a disciple once in a year for 20 minutes.
Please don’t be offensive to the Holy name of such Lord Shiva the master of all the cosmic manifestation as stated by Shri Brahma ji. Don’t call him a semi-demi-God. You may please Prabhupad with that, but not Krishna – the all attractive Lord.
Even this mantra is not original Upanishad mantra but tampered with. Nothing is original. Everything is changed. Original Upanishadic mantra states Hare Rama first.
The original Vedic Mahamantra that was also chanted by Vedic Rishis like Vashishtha, Vishwamitra, Kannad, Atri, Pulatsa .. KRISHNA, RAMA .. was and is – ॥ ॐ नमः शिवाय ॥ Shri rishi Markandey achieved liberation by doing sadhna of this mantra.
Lord Krishna stood on one leg without food or water for months at stretch to please lord Maheshwara Shiva and so he did that as Rama in a previous incarnation and as Vishnu too.
I accept your dandvats (if u are sincerely offering them) and offer my humble obeinsances.
All glories to Brahm, Vishnu Mahesh. Jai Durge!! Hum!!
ॐ महेश्वराय नमः
– CHHENU
The story of Lingodbhavar is that of the attempts of Vishnu and Bhrama to discover the origins (the beginning Aadi and the end Antha) of Shiva, as stated in three of the puranas – the Kurma Purana, the Vayu Purana and Shiva Purana.
Vishnu was engaged in his yoganidhra – the slumber of yoga – at the end of a kalpa, in the waters of the great deluge, when there appeared before him, Bhrama emerging from a great illumination. Bhrama introduced himself to Vishnu as the Creator of the Universe, to which Vishnu replied that he was the architect of the Universe. An argument ensued between both as to their superiority over one another, when there appeared before them – a huge lingam of fire – with tongues of flames blazing out of it.
Curious to trace the origins of this column of fire, Bhrama assumed the form of a swan and flew upwards, while Vishnu assumed the form of a boar, and burrowed down into the earth. Days of search in either direction proved futile, and hence the duo surrendered to this column of fire with prayers. Shiva then appeared out of this column of fiery lingam, with a thousand arms and legs, with the sun, moon and fire as his three eyes, bearing the pinaka bow, wearing the hide of an leephant, bearing the trishul, and addressed Vishnu and Bhrama in a thunderous voice, explaining that the two were born out of him, and that the three were then separated out into three different aspects of divinity.
OM NAMAH SHIVAYA!!!
Lord Shiva Prayer – I
Om Sarva Mangal Manglaye Shivay Sarvaarth Sadhike
Sharanye Trayambake Gauri Narayaani Namostu Te
Meaning:
Oh the divine couple Shiva Parvati !
O ! Thee, the protectors of this universe,
Along with Lords Brahma and Vishnu
We pray to You for our well-being, prosperity and the enlightenment of our souls.
Lord Shiva Prayer – II
This mantra is a prayer to Lord Shiva who is addressed as Sankara and Trayambaka. Sankara means giver of blessings: (sana = blessings, Kara = the Giver). Trayambaka is the three eyed one, where the third eye signifies the giver of knowledge, which destroys ignorance and releases us from the cycle of death and rebirth.
Om Namastestu Bhagavan
Visvesaraya Mahadevaya
Trayambakaya Tripurantakaya
Trikagni – Kalaya
Kalagni – Rudraya Nil – Kanthaya Mrityunjaya
Sarvesvaraya Sadadhivaya
Sriman Mahadevaya Namah.
Meaning:
Om. I bow down to Lord Shiva, who is the creator and protector of the universe, who is the greatest among Gods, who has three eyes, who is the annihilator of all the three worlds, one whose throat is blue, who is the conqueror of death, who is the Lord of all, who is propitious who is possessed of all marks of greatness and who is the greatest among Gods. To him my prostration.
Lord Shiva Prayer – III
Naagendra haaraaya thriloochanaaya bhasmaangadhaaraaya maheshwaraaya
Nityaaya shudhdhaaya digambaraaya tasmai nakaaraaya namahshivaaya
Meaning:
Salutations to Shiva who wears a serpent as garland, who is three-eyed, whose bare body is covered with ashes, who is forever pure and the very embodiment of sacrifice.
Shiva Dhun
Shivo Bhokta, Shiva Bhojya
Shivo Karta, Shivah Karma
Shivah Karanatmakah
Meaning:
Shiva is the experiencer and the highest object of experience. Shiva is the goal of Sadhana. There is nothing apart from Shiva. There is nothing other than Shiva. Whatever there is, is Shiva. There is nothing, which is not Shiva. There is no place, which is not Shiva. There is no time, which is not Shiva. To be aware of this is to be aware of Shiva.
The Actual secret of ISKCON.(Asatya vadi)
In the age of kali, the Asatya vadis try to delude people . They establish their own cults and contradict vedas. They also disguise themselves as ‘Bhaktas’. They cheat people by using the name ‘Vedik’. They contradict vedas and boast their self generated scriptures as more authoritative than Vedas. The Asatyavaadis try to avoid ‘Satya marga’ ( The path of Truth). They spit venom on ‘Satya marga’. They spread false message and cheat people by saying that vedik mantras are useless in kaliyuga.
The actual secret of Krishna.
krishna is the foremost of the devotees of Lord Shiva. Krishna,in his past lives also, served the Lotus feet of Lord shiva . As per Mahabharata, Krishna did severe penance for several months. Lord shiva,who was pleased with the devotion of krishna , asked him to choose boons. Parvati devi,the consort of Lord Shiva, who was pleased with the devotion of Krishna towards Lord shiva, also gave five boons.
kṛsna said : ( Mahabharata, Anushasan parva Book 13, chapter 16, Verses 1,2&3 )
mūrdhnā nipatyaniyatas tejaḥ saṃnicaye tataḥ
paramaṃ harṣam āgamya bhagavantam athābruvam
dharme dṛḍhatvaṃ yudhi śatrughātaṃ; yaśas tathāgryaṃ paramaṃ balaṃ ca
yogapriyatvaṃ tava saṃnikarṣaṃ; vṛṇe sutānāṃ ca śataṃ śatāni
evam astv iti tad vākyaṃ mayoktaḥ prāha śaṃkaraḥ
TRANSLATION :
The blessed Krishna said, ‘Bowing my head with great joy unto that mass of energy and effulgence, I said these
words unto the great Bhagavan Shiva, with a heart filled with gladness,–
1) Firmness in virtue, (dharme dṛḍhatvaṃ)
2) The slaughter of foes in battle,(yudhi śatrughātaṃ)
3) The highest fame,(yaśas tathāgryaṃ )
4) The greatest might, (paramaṃ balaṃ)
5) Devotion to Yoga, (yogapriyatvaṃ)
6) Thy adjacence, (ava saṃnikarṣaṃ)and
7) Hundreds upon hundreds of children, (vṛṇe sutānāṃ ca śataṃ śatāni)
these are the boons I solicit of thee,–So be it,–said Sankara
Like that, Krishna received several boons from Lord Shiva.
In Mahabharat, Bhisma says,
Rudra bhakthya thu krishnena jagat vyaptham mahathmana,
Tham prasadhya thadha devam bhadaryam kila bharatha
Arthath priya harathwam cha sarva lokeshu vai yadhaa,
Prapthavaaneva rajendra suvarnaakshan maheswaraath.
Meaning:
This great Lord Krishna, due to his devotion to Supreme lord Rudra,Has spread all over the universe(jagat vyaptham), Oh Bharatha, Oh king of kings,After making Lord Shiva pleased by his penance in Bhadrinath,He has attained the state of being more dear,Than all the worlds and all aspects of knowledge
He also says that;
Yuge yuge thu krushnena thoshitho vai maheswara,
Bhakthya paramaya chaiva prathi sruthwa mahatmana.
Meaning :
Lord Maheshwara becomes pleased and happy yugas after yugas, by this Krishna who is devotee of Lord Shiva.
To fulfil the boons given by him, Lord Shiva commanded Vyasa deva to write a Purana which boasts Sri krishna. vyasa deva accepted it. But Lord shiva told vyasa deva not to give much importance to him and his spouse parvati. Vyasa deva said that he cannot ignore the divine couple. At last, vyasa told shiva that he would reveal true form of Lord shiva and parvati only in few verses.
Hence, Vyasadeva revealed true form of Lord Shiva only in few verses of Bhagavatam.The Ignorant fools deluded by their own ignorance cannot see those verses. They live in false worlds. They foolishly try to assess lord shiva who is beyond all kinds of measurement. Even Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu together cannot know the supreme nature of Lord shiva. They simply surrendered to Lord Shiva. Hence, Bhagavatam says:
“O Lord Girîsha, since the You are Brahman which is transcendental to the material modes of goodness, passion and ignorance, the various directors of this material world certainly cannot appreciate it or even know where it is. It is not understandable even to Lord Brahmâ, Lord Vishnu or the King of heaven, Mahendra ( Srimad Bhagavatam 8:7:31)
Lord krishna says that : ( Mahabharata, Anushasan parva,Book 13, chapter 14, verses 6,7&8)
na gatiḥ karmaṇāṃ śakyā vettum īśasya tattvataḥ
hiraṇyagarbhapramukhā devāḥ sendrā maharṣayaḥ
na vidur yasya nidhanam ādhiṃ vā sūkṣmadarśinaḥ
sa kathaṃ naramātreṇa śakyo jñātuṃ satāṃ gatiḥ
tasyāham asuraghnasya kāṃś cid bhagavato guṇān
bhavatāṃ kīrtayiṣyāmi vrateśāya yathātatham
Meaning:
“Vasudeva said, ‘The very deities with Indra, and the Grandsire Brahma numbering among them, and the great Rishis also, are incompetent to understand the course of Supteme lord Shiva’s acts truly and in all their details. Even He is the end which all righteous people attain. The very Adityas who are endued with subtile sight, are unable to behold his abode. How then can one that is merely a man succeed in comprehending Him? I shall, therefore, truly recite to you some of the attributes of that illustrious slayer of Asuras, who is regarded as the Lord of all sacrifices and vows.”
Arjuna and Krishna were Nara and Narayana Maharshis respectively in their previous births.They were devoted to
lord Shiva. They both did severe penances for the welfare of mankind for several thousands of years. Narayana succeeded in winning the grace of Lord Shiva. He atttained oneness with Lord shiva. But Nara maharshi has not succeeded. He was reborn as Arjuna and again as Kannappa.
In Mahabharata, Vanaparvan (12. 46&47), Krishna says to Arjuna,”O invincible one, you are Nara and I am Narayana, and we, the sages Nara-Narayana, have come to this world at proper time..”
In the same Parva, chapter 40 (verse 1); Lord Shiva says to Arjuna “In former birth you were Nara and with Narayana as your companion, performed austerities for thousands of years at Badari”.
Bhagavatam also says that Krishna worshiped Lord Shiva:
ekadā deva-yātrāyāḿ
gopālā jāta-kautukāḥ
anobhir anaḍud-yuktaiḥ
prayayus te ‘mbikā-vanam ( SB 10.34.1)
Meaning:
One day Gopala along with his mates, eager to take a trip to worship Lord Śiva, traveled by bullock carts to the Ambikā forest ( SB 10.34.1)
tatra snātvā sarasvatyāḿ
devaḿ paśu-patiḿ vibhum
ānarcur arhaṇair bhaktyā
devīḿ ca ṇṛpate ‘mbikām ( SB 10.34.2)
O King, after arriving there, Krsna along with his mates bathed in the Sarasvatī River and then devotedly worshiped with various paraphernalia the All powerful and all pervading Godhead Lord Paśupati [devaḿ paśu-patiḿ vibhum] and his consort, goddess Ambikā. ( SB 10.34.2)
Lord Shiva, the Supreme God
Wedded to Parvati, father of Ganapati and Subrahmanya, one who sits in deep meditation in the Mount Kailas of the Himalayas, the King of dance, the patron of all ascetics, and the one who represents everything that is pure and auspicious, Shiva the powerful god, is the source of great energies. In Sanskrit, Shiva (or Siva) means gracious, auspicious. In Tamil, it means ‘the Supreme One’, ‘the Purest’.
Shiva and Vishnu are the two most popular and powerful gods of Hinduism. Brahma, the other member of the Trinity of the Hindu Pantheon, is far behind in popularity. The first two represent two principal streams of traditional Hinduism. The followers of Vishnu are Vaishnavites and those of Shiva are the Shaivites. If Vishnu is originally an Aryan god, Shiva is considered to be of the Dravidian stock, and the one symbolizing the amalgam between the two races. Let us see what the historians and anthropologists have to say about it.
India is a remarkable country in so many ways. Of these is the fact that it has one of the longest recorded civilizations in history. There are the remains of the pre-historic periods too which speak volumes for the unrecorded eons of the India region. Right from this dawn of the evolution of the Indian society, one name/concept stands out as the earliest evidence of a god-like name/image that precedes even the Aryan gods of the Rig Veda. And that particular name/image is Pashupati. In Sanskrit the term means ‘the lord of all animals’. Authoritative scholars have concluded that the Pashupati image belongs to a proto-type of Shiva, the protector of animals. The most significant fact is that the remains from the excavations at the famous Mohanjo-daro and Harappa regions represent a pre-Aryan urban civilization that existed some 5000 years ago. If such a civilization flourished during such a period in the past, how many more decades or centuries had it taken prior to that for developing into such an advanced level of living? In India, the old beliefs continue to live through to the present day. The Indians have always shown a tendency to retain their earlier beliefs and re-cast them to suit the requirements of the changing times and social or political conditions.
Shiva originally belonged to the southern part of India. The invading Aryans could find the great influence Shiva wielded among the people. And ultimately, Parvati, the white girl and daughter of the mountain god Himalaya was given in marriage to Shiva, the darkish South Indian hero, symbolizing the merging of the two races. Thus we see the ‘old’ Shiva retaining his presence even when the Aryan culture began to dominate the Indian region, and becoming one of the three important gods of the Hindu Pantheon – Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the protector and Shiva the recycler – i.e., the Trinity. As the recycler, Shiva is the destroyer, and purifier, and the one responsible for change. In another explanation, Shiva is Satyam, truth, Shivam, the essential goodness and Sundaram, beauty. And Shiva also represents the male potency, and fertility.
Shiva evolved over a period of time by the merging the elements of a pre-Aryan or a non-Aryan fertility deity with Rudra, a fierce god of the Vedic (Aryan) period. This ‘pre-Aryan’ is nothing but ‘Dravidian’ as has been established by anthropologists and historians who delved into pre-historic evidences. According to these scholars the proto-Dravidians introduced a Neolithic village culture based on agriculture or hunting in Baluchistan and Sind, and this enriched and incorporated elements of the Mesolithic culture evidenced about 5000 BC by the earliest known paintings in rock shelters of bison, elephant and buffalo, as far a field as Adamgarh in central India and Badami in the southern Deccan. The so-called Indus Valley civilization which developed form this stretched from Afghanistan to beyond present Delhi and from Makeran coast of Baluchistan far down into Gujarat. Great cities such as Mohanjo-daro and Harappa and Kalibangan rose during the 3rd millennium BC and reached the height of their considerable material culture about 2150-1750 BC as carbon14 dating has shown. These Dravidians or proto-Dravidians clearly worshipped deities connected in one way or another with fertility. Phallic worship typified in the seals found at Harappa, shows a god seated with legs crossed and wearing bull’s horns (bull is a universal symbol of male potency). The cult of a mother goddess is another feature of this culture (Historians have found a similarity of this with the Mesopotamian cults). Then there are figures of animals – deer, elephant, tiger, rhinoceros buffalo and birds – and serpents. It is acknowledged that serpent worship is a pre-Aryan feature, though later on this has been absorbed into the Aryan faith system. We have to note it that the majority of serpents or Nagas were considered demons, though a few were honored otherwise; and that the reverence for animals was alien to the Aryan belief.
Now let us consider the Shiva image. He and his consort resemble the Dravidian cult figures in many respects. Shiva is often portrayed in a cross-legged yogic posture with the bull Nandi as his symbol and vehicle. He is the patron god of the ascetics, self-controlled and celibate. At the same time he loves his spouse whether it be known as Shakti, or Sati or Parvati, or Uma, Gauri, Durga or Kali. Shiva’s character, unlike that of Vishnu, is a mixture of the fair and unfair, the good and the bad. He lurks in horrible places, such as battlefields, burning-grounds, and cross-roads, observes A.L. Basham, noted Indologist and author. Shiva wears a garland of skulls and is surrounded by ghosts, evil spirits and demons – a description in the typical Aryan style which tends to look down upon the ordinary Dravidian elements. Whatever it be, he is a great ascetic, and the patron deity of ascetics. Professor Basham continues his portrayal of Shiva: On the high slopes of the Himalayan Mount Kailasa, Shiva, the great yogi, sits on a tiger skin, deep in meditation in mystical stillness, and through his meditation the world is kept in position. He is depicted thus: as wearing his long and matted hair in a topknot, in which the crescent moon is fixed, and from which flows the sacred river Ganges. In the middle of his forehead is a third eye, emblem of his superior wisdom and insight. His neck is black, scarred by a deadly poison which was the last of the objects churned from the cosmic ocean, and which he drank to save the other gods from destruction. Snakes, of which he is the lord, encircle his neck and arms. His body is covered with ashes, a favorite ascetic practice. Beside him, his weapon, the trident, Parvati, his beautiful wife, and his mount the bull Nandi.
Look, the ascetic who maintains a mystical stillness while in meditation, springs up and transforms himself as Nataraja, the Lord of Dance, and dances 108 different dances, all his own compositions. His dances are of unbelievable ranges, from the movements of absolute calmness to the blood-curdling fierceness of the shattering tandava which is capable of destroying the world.
Shiva has many forms. One is Aghora, as one residing in the cremation grounds. Another one is Ishana, as the Shivalingam. Tat Purusha, in meditation. Varna Deva, the eternal Shiva. Rudra, the terrific wrathful form…
Lingam needs special explanation. It is Shiva, conceived in his unborn, invisible form, always accompanied by the Yoni, the female part, surrounding the base of the lingam, representing the male creative energy of Shiva.
The love of Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya, the mountain king, towards Shiva is a saga of singular dedication and beauty. She undertakes the severest of penances to win the hand of the ascetic of Kailasa and wins at the end. A son is born to the couple, and the child is known as Kumara, or Subrahmanya. Kumarasambhava, the birth of Kumara, is a story incorporated in the epic Mahabharata out of which Kalidasa, the great poet and playwright in Sanskrit wove a classic of the same name. This theme has given rise to umpteen number of literary and performing art creations in various languages of India.
Shiva is the fountain head of a lot of sub-stories. One of them is the burning of Kama, the agent of Desire. Kama assists Parvati in her attempts at wooing the unmoving Shiva who sits still in his yogic posture, in deep meditation. Parvati offers the first-blown flowers of spring at the feet of the meditating Shiva. At the appropriate moment, Kama uses his tricks and instills the feeling of love and desire in the mind of Shiva. The disturbance wakes up Shiva from his concentrated meditation and he finds Kama playing his tricks at him. Shiva burns the miscreant down by opening his third eye, the eye that has a laser-like power to burn up anything on its way. Shiva at his worst as a destroyer is revealed in this episode.
In order to save his devotees from distress, Shiva would do anything. Once he trounced Yama, the lord of death, in order to free a devotee of his from death. As one who vanquished death, Shiva is called Mrityunjaya. In Sanskrit, it means one who conquered Death. Once Shiva drank poison churned up from the ocean in order to save the world from being poisoned. And the poison was arrested at his throat by some of the onlookers lest it should kill Shiva himself. And this resulted in his throat becoming bluish and his getting a new name – Neelkantha which means ‘Blue Throat’.
Lore goes that River Ganges was brought down from heavens to the earth by King Bhagiratha. But there was a problem: when Ganga descents from the sky and falls down to the earth, the impact would be unbearable and devastating. To avoid this, Bhagiratha found a way: he requests Shiva to bear the burden of the descent of Ganges on his matted hair. Everything ends well when Shiva receives Ganges on his head of matted hair and let it flow down smoothly. This gave him a name – Gangadhar, the one who bears the river Ganges on his hair.
Shiva is also known as Ardhanarishvara (meaning ‘the Lord who is half woman’) with a deep philosophic connotation that the ultimate power of the universe lies in the combination of both feminine and masculine powers. It symbolically shows that Shiva and his consort Shakti are inseparable – half male and the other half female, in visual representation (This is seen in the bronzes of the Chola dynasty and the sculptures at Ellora and Elephanta. The earliest Ardhanrishvara images are reported from 35 -60 AD).
The worship of Shiva has various forms. The most familiar is the worship in the form of linga, which is in the form of a cylindrical column. Shiva denotes auspiciousness and linga means ‘genital’, a place where the creative energy sleeps after the dissolution of the created universe. The phallic symbolization is one of the cornerstones of the Shaivite vision.
The most famous temple dedicated to Shiva in India is in Kashi, Varanasi, where the lord is worshipped as Visvanath, the God of all lands. There are twelve jyotirlinga temples in various parts of the country. In South India, the most famous Shiva temples are in Tiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram, Tirunaikaval, Chidambaram and Srikalahasti. Meenakshi Amman temple in Madurai, Brihadeeswarar temple in Thanjavur, Nellaiappar temple in Tirunelveli are also important centers of Shiva worship. The Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, Nepal is another important site of Shiva pilgrimage. The famous Ama Math yatra to Amarnath Cave in Kashmir is also a very important center of pilgrimage for the followers of the Shiva cult. Maha Shivaratri (‘Great Night of Shiva’) is a very important annual festival for the Hindus. It falls on the 13th night of the month of Phalguna in the Hindu calendar, in the month of February. This is the night when Shiva sleeps, and all his devotees keep vigil all night. There are other versions too for the significance of Shivratri. One such is that Parvati, the consort of Shiva, prayed to him to save the world from an impending destruction and she worshipped him all through the long night of pralaya or deluge. Her prayer was granted and a grateful Parvati designated the particular night as the occasion for special worship of Shiva. She conveyed it to the world that this particular night is Shiva’s favorite day.
The Powerful God:
Shiva is ’shakti’ or power, Shiva is the destroyer, the most powerful god of the Hindu pantheon and one of the godheads in the Hindu Trinity. Known by many names – Mahadeva, Mahayogi, Pashupati, Nataraja, Bhairava, Vishwanath, Bhava, Bhole Nath – Lord Shiva is perhaps the most complex of Hindu deities. Hindus recognize this by putting his shrine in the temple separate from those of other deities.
Shiva As Phallic Symbol:
Shiva, in temples is usually found as a phallic symbol of the ‘linga’, which represents the energies necessary for life on both the microcosmic and the macrocosmic levels, that is, the world in which we live and the world which constitutes the whole of the universe. In a Shaivite temple, the ‘linga’ is placed in the center underneath the spire, where it symbolizes the naval of the earth.
Why Shiva is Worshipped in His Phallic Form:
According to another legend, once Brahma and Vishnu, two other deities of the holy Trinity, had an argument as to their supremacy. Brahma being the Creator declared himself to be more revered, while Vishnu, the Preserver, pronounced that he commanded more respect.Just then a colossal ‘lingam’, known as Jyotirlinga, blanketed in flames, appeared before them. Both Brahma and Vishnu were awestruck by its rapidly increasing size. They forgot their quarrel and decided to determine its size. Vishnu assuming the form of a boar went to the netherworld and Brahma as a swan flew to the skies. But both of them failed to accomplish the self-assumed tasks. Then, Shiva appeared out of the ‘lingam’ and stated that he was the progenitor of them both and that henceforth he should be worshiped in his phallic form, the ‘lingam’, and not in his anthropomorphic form.
A Different Deity:
The actual image of Shiva is also distinct from other deities: his hair piled high on the top of his head, with a crescent tucked into it and the river Ganges tumbling from his hairs. Around his neck is a coiled serpent representing Kundalini or the spiritual energy within life. He holds a trident in his left hand in which is bound the ‘damroo’ (small leather drum). He sits on a tiger skin and on his right is a water pot. He wears the ‘Rudraksha’ beads and his whole body is smeared with ash.
The Destructive Force:
Shiva is believed to be at the core of the centrifugal force of the universe, because of his responsibility for death and destruction. Unlike the godhead Brahma, the Creator, or Vishnu, the Preserver, Shiva is the dissolving force in life. But Shiva dissolves in order to create, since death is the medium for rebirth into a new life. So the opposites of life and death and creation and destruction both reside in his character.
The Most Fascinating of Gods:
He is also often portrayed as the supreme ascetic with a passive and composed disposition. Sometimes he is depicted riding a bull called Nandi decked in garlands. Although a very complicated deity, Shiva is one of the most fascinating of Hindu gods.
Since Shiva is regarded as a mighty destructive power, to numb his negative potentials he is fed with opium and is also termed as ‘Bhole Shankar’, one who is oblivious of the world. Therefore, on Maha Shivratri, the night of Shiva worship, devotees, especially the menfolk, prepare an intoxicating drink called ‘Thandai’ (made from cannabis, almonds, and milk) sing songs in praise of the Lord and dance to the rhythm of the drums.
How can the god of destruction be the Supreme ?
Destruction is one among the three activities that is undertaken by the Three Holy Manifestations of sanAtana dharma respectively. That being the case how could one say Lord Shiva who gets associated with the destruction be the Supreme God ?
braHma, viShNu, rudra, often referred to collectively as trimUrti, play the role of masters of creation, protection and destruction respectively. If we take this world as an example it is an easy task for almost everybody to involve in the acts of creation. (This is not to say that the Universal creation is a trivial task. All due respects to Lord braHma). Whereas as for as protection is concerned it is only few good hearted people, who have the strength and inclination to help for the cause of goodness do the protection deeds. But… not everybody is provided with the power of destruction. When anybody starts doing the destruction then there would be chaos which they call the law and order problem. There is normally one authority called government is given the authority to destroy and not others. This would show how difficult is the action of destruction and how carefully it has to be dealt with. This is the reason the act of destruction (to be correct this word should be actually “reduction”, as things are not getting destroyed but only a change of state happens odukkam in thamiz and pralayam in saMskR^itam) is handled by a form of Lord shiva Itself, Who is called rudra. Since rudra is a form of the Lord, rudra is considered as Lord shiva Itself.
Ok, so far only one part of the question is answered. Agreed, the importance of the act of reduction (destruction). But when this Lord being one among the Trinity, how can this Lord be considered the Supreme ?
Let us take an example of a small shop. The owner employs a few skilled people to do the regular work and at peak hours or at critical periods, he/she also takes some important work and executes it. Now that individual wears two caps. One as the owner of the shop and other as the worker in the shop, but the individual is the same irrespective of whether he /she is acting as the owner or as a worker. Nobody questions his/her ownership because he/she shares the work load with the others in the shop. The same way though the Supreme Lord shiva is beyond the five deeds, It also takes roles in the critical deeds assuming a form specific to that role. So though Lord shiva gets associated with one of the three in the Trinity, He is the Supreme Itself.
A point to note here is that it is not just these three actions, but there are totally five deeds which are the acts of/on behalf of the Supreme. These five activities referred to as panycha kR^ityam are creation, sustenance, reduction, illusioning and blessing. The holy masters for these five activities are braHma, viShNu, rudra, maheshwara, sadAshiva respectively. Of these the later three are nothing but the forms of the Supreme shiva (called parashivA). So to conclude Lord Shiva is the Supreme, Who assumes various critical roles and assumes appropriate names and forms, and also stands transcending all these.
OM NAMAH SHIVAYA!!!
Very nice posts Satpurusha and Aham Atma. Thanks for the opportunity to hear the wonderful attributes, past-times and glories of the puissant Lord of all Universes Mahadeva, Maheshvara Shiva, Sadashiva, who’s glories even the great Lord Vishnu, Brahma, Rama and Krishna sing. Who is ever benevolent and merciful, not only on the exalted steadfast in devotion and yoga – yogis, rishis, but even on demons who come to him for protection and get filled with devotion, leaving their bad past. He even relieves them from their sins and grants them liberation.
Ja Jai Shiv Shambhu!! One who is Swayambhu – one who is neither born, or dies, one who appears by his own will and energy.
Jai Shiv Parvat Jagadambe!! Jai Shiva Omkara!
All glories to the great Lord Vishnu who is ever in the heart of Lord Shiva. All glories to the great Lord Vishnu in who’s heart is seated always Lord of Lords Shiva.
Jagatah pitarau vande pavati parameshvarau!!
om namah shivaya!!
I pity the one who wrote this article! he who is ignorant,thinks hmself as the as the hari-bhakata,trying to praise his krsna,is actually spitting venom in the advaita,by making shiva,the Nirakara,the ultimate one as a demi-god who serves vishnu!!LOL…….
mr,madhava krishna, i dont see any diference bw u and the people of abrahamic relegions……..but u r just doing the wrong propoganda that lord vishnu is the only supreme one and shiva is the demi-gd…..the verses u quoted from padma purana are not true….. those were the false creations of some jealous,mad,and mindless vishnavates……
if u solely consider padma purana as the reference ,ok then in the same pama purana it is said that lord rama worshiped the parama shiva…..for the victory against lanka…….wat do u say fr that????
as i said so i find no differenc bw u, the isk’CON’ people and those iguisting jakheer naik,who considers that Islam is th only perect religion,which actually not at all a religion but some crap from the mad-cow Prophet………
what u people are doing is just like those Abrahamic religions….just saying that lord krsna is the ultimate and oters are demi…..LOL….shame on u people….. u such hippocrats r tryin to bring some false-statements ,which actually created by some vishnavates….and pose the name”from vedas”,dats disguisting………
Please dont spoil Our Sanatana dharma!!!!!!!!!!!! by such lame articles…………
hara bol……
hara bol……….
hara hara shambo………………………
this is not only for mr madhava, but also fr the entire isk’CON’ists…………………use ur brain and come to light…………
Hare Krsna!
The scenario that had been created by people of your genre is classic, it’s called as classic game theory or the Prisoner’s Dilemma. I’ve mentioned before to stop condemning about anything out of this topic. Yet, you still go for it. If you don’t accept this scripture as it is, fair enough go and hail Lord Shiva. We didn’t ask you to come and join this discussion. We didn’t ask you to abandon Lord Shiva. Trust me my deluded friends, we devotees of Krsna respect and offer our respectful as well as prostrated obeisances way beyond any of you. This is because we understand and are aware of the Absolute Truth. Keep doing your nonsensical job. It’s going to benefit no one. Keep being a rascal, as long as you want to be. Here I come a with a solemn promise for all of you, everyone here in this discussion who went against the presented truth, will all come to the original consciousness in your life, Krsna consciousness, hurl up your ignorance and accept Krsna as svayam bhagavan. This is a promise and a oath.
Haribol!
om namah shivaya!!
You said 2 stop condemning this article,what does dat mean?
It is u ppl who r in darkness,covering in the masks of truth….and u r asking us 2 come 2 light!! LOL….. and wat makes u think that the article u published is absolute truth?? it is not us who r doing nonsensical job…..its u my dear ……
it is u being a rascal and idiota……….if u really know the absolute truth,u would have never used such filthy language……….. now u mr. plz stop being a rascal!!!
and for ur kind information we r not going against krsna! we r condemning the false information u r publishing abt shiva,the eternal lord……..stop being childish and come to light………know the truth…………
hara bol…………
Jai Gurudev!!
Madhavakrishna,
Shivam Sarva Mayam! Satyam Shivam Sundaram!
Shiva is the eternal truth. You have no answers to the scriptural misinterpretations in places that the Gaudiyas have done.
I’ll clarify again. This discussion is not about Krishna at all. This discussion is about the Gaudiya and Iskcon approach.
All Hindus accept Krishna. All Hindus accept Shiva.
The Gaudiyas are the selective rascals. You are one of them.
You are promising for everyone to come to “Krishna Consciousness”
Who are you? A realized soul?? If not, what can you promise then?
What do you understand by “Krishna Consciousness”??
Your understanding of Consciousness is incomplete. Without going into Nirvikalp samadhi, you cannot even touch that consciousness.
Marketing propaganda is not consciousness. Nor is distribution of books, making and eating of prasad or reading books after books and trying to memorize stanza, shloka number to speak out for propaganda and defeating others purpose. Please know this.
There is no game theory and no prisoner’s dilemma. We are not stuck up narrow minded sampradaya sect brainwashed.
Hinduism is a very open and wide system. Its not stuck up to just Gaud Bengal.
Reason for writing to this article is that it is promoting false information and projecting the Lord of the whole cosmic manifestations and paramatma sitting in the heart of every living being as a mere “demi-God”.
Iskcon and Gaudiya sampradaya preach Hinduism as non authoritative and Shiva as a demi God. Whilst Vishnu avatara Krishna as the “Supreme Personality of God head. But Lord Krishna also worshipped Lord Shiva, so did Lord Rama. But the 400 years old Kaliyuga New Krishnaism sampradaya does not. Though you claim that you respect Lord Shiva, yet most of Hare Krishnas don’t like to say Namah Shivaya and don’t go to Shiva temples. More over spread lies about him. This is a bad trend started by you people. Only rascals do this.
Prabhupad was arrogant at times. He wasn’t humble. If he would’ve been humble, he would’ve name his commentary on Bhagwad Gita as “by Gaudiya Vaishnavism perspective” But he dared to call it “As it is” Just a catchy marketing selling title. And an arrogant one at that. To understand Bhagwad Gita as it is one has to stand in place of Lord Krishna who was adept in every kind of Yogic discipline, which Prabhupad certainly wasn’t so he couldn’t explain many things in detail or properly especially the yogic processes as explained by Lord Krishna.
Prabhupad also taught that Yogis are “materialists” since “they meditate on own body parts”!! He clearly wrote this in his book “Nectar of Devotion”. Krishna and Shiva hail Yoga of meditation.
Prabhupada equalled it to his process of singing dancing.
Whatever…!
Please stop spreading non Vedic misinterpretations of your own imagination backed by sampradaya politics. This is the cause of concern for all.
Be well.
Namah Shivaya!! Jai Gurudev!!! Jai Shri Sita Ram!! Jai Shri Krishn!!
EXCELLENT!!!
WELL SAID PRABHUJI, OM NAMAH SHIVAYA!!!
MADHAVAKRISHNA: HAHAHAHAHAHA… you are funny!!!
I am sorry to say but Prabhupada has brainwashed all the people, and ultimately turned them into narrow minded people. They do not think, even if a good argument is raised they do not consider it. The Krishna teachings by Prabhupada are Mayavada, they openly condemn equality, stability and love for another religion or sect.
God is all embracing, he is present in every religion, whether you call him Krishna or Shiva.
Self-opinionated Prabhupada fooled you people with his bogus “As it is” brand.
The Padma purana has several ‘paaThas’ ( versions) . Those verses which are common to other versions are taken as
‘Pramana’(Authoritative) . The so called verses in chapters 235 &236 of Uttara khand are peculiar to Gaudiya Patha only. Those verses are not found in other popular versions. They are intropolated by Gaudiya Vaishnavas in 17 th century.
The other vaishnava Acharyas like Ramanuja & Madhwa who belonged to 11 th and 12 th centuary AD never quoted any of those verses in their respective treatises. Madhawacharya quoted several veses from puranas to support his Dwaita theology but he never quoted those stupid verses. Since he was unaware of such kind of verses.
It is universally known that The Gaudiya vaishnavas intropolated those bogus verses in 17 century. The Bogus deity Radha is not found in Vishnu purana or Bhagavat purana or Mahabharata. The name GOLOKA is also not found in any of these authentic scriptures. All these unauthorised concepts are peculiar to gaudiya vaishnavas only. Except Vishnu purana and Bhagavatha Purana no other Vaishnava Purana is properly organised. Each version differs from other versions. hence they are neither available nor published in toto.
The Gaudiya Vaishnavas are the known for their bogus propoganda. They intentionally mistranslated several verses and fooled people. Prabhupada is a big cozener. One example:
*********************
The second namaparadha is described as follows:
sivasya sri-visnor ya iha guna-namadi-sakalam dhiya bhinnam pasyet sa khalu hari-namahita-karah
Pabhupada translated the above verse as follows :
“In this material world, the holy name of Visnu is all auspicious. Visnu’s name, form, qualities, and pastimes are all transcendental absolute knowledge. Therefore, if one tries to separate the Absolute Personality of Godhead from His holy name or His transcendental form, qualities, and pastimes, thinking them to be material, that is offensive. Similarly, to think the names of demigods such as Lord Siva to be as good as the name of Lord Visnu-or, in other words, to think Lord Siva and the other demigods to be other forms of God and therefore equal to Visnu-is also blasphemous. This is the second offense at the lotus feet of the Lord.”
********************************
The above translation made by prabhupada shows his stupidity. No one can understand how a single line of sanskrit gave six lined english translation. Anyperson who knows sanskrit language can see the venom spit by malevolent Prabhupada in his translation . Because roguish Prabhupada told exactly opposite.
The above mentioned sanskrit verse clearly warned that :
“It is Aparadha to consider the names and qualities of Shiva and Vishnu as different.”
Word to word meaning:
sivasya—of Siva; sri-visnoh—of Sri Visnu; yah—who; iha—here in this material world; guna—the qualities; nama—the name; adi—and so on.; sakalam—all together; dhiya—with the conception (to think); bhinnam— seperate; pasyet—he may see; sah—he; khalu—indeed; hari-nama—to the holy name; a-hita-karah—acting with offenses.
The verse clearly warns people not to differentiate between the names and qualities of Shiva and Vishnu. But Prabhupada showed his nefarious attitude by translating exactly opposite. Prabhupada has committed a great offence. He also made others to commit the same blashphemy.
VERY WELL SAID AHAM ATMA… what do you say is a proof that “Prabhupada” was a false guru… but there is MANY others…
I mean… there’s many other proofs
“Sab ka Malik Ek”
HAR HAR MAHADEV!!!
hara bol… I invite all my friend hare krishnas
to see the truth with their own eyes: http://www.harekrsna.com/gallery/trimurti1/trimurti8.jpg
and that’s an hare krishna website!!!
HAR HAR MAHADEV
Yes Bro….
Both Vishnu and brahma prostrated before Lord Shiva. They realised that parabrahma shiva as infinite. Brahma tried to find out the ending of Lord Shiva. similarly, vishnu tried to findout the Cause or begining of Lord Shiva. But both of them failed. They realised that Lord Shiva has neither begining nor ending. Later Lord shiva blessed them with True knowledge. hence Both Hari and Brahma realised that they are part of Lord shiva.
Hence Bhagavatam says :
O Lord Girîsha, since the You are Brahman which is transcendental to the material modes of goodness, passion and ignorance, the various directors of this material world certainly cannot appreciate it or even know where it is. It is not understandable even to Lord Brahmâ, Lord Vishnu or the King of heaven, Mahendra ( SB 8:7:31)
“O lord Shiva, you are self-effulgent and supreme. You create this material world by your personal energy, and you assume the names Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara when you act in creation, maintenance and annihilation.” ( Srimad Bhagavatam 8:7:23 )
“O Lord Shiva, the most auspicious, you have ordained the heavenly planets, the spiritual Vaikunthha planets and the Brahma loka as the respective destinations of the performers of auspicious activities. Similarly, for others, who are miscreants, you have destined different kinds of hells which are horrible and ghastly. Yet sometimes it is found that their destinations are just the opposite. It is very difficult to ascertain the cause of this” ( Srimad bhagavatam 4:6:45)
But, People like prabhupada cannot accept the truth. in spite of Bhagavatam repeatedly glorifying lord shiva as ‘parabrahman’ , the Wicked Gaudiya vaishnava Acharyas who are governed by ‘EGO’ refuses to accept Shiva as supreme lord. They resort to cheap tactics like …….. “it won’t apply to shiva” , ” it refers to vishnu”… etc.
Very nice posts Aham Atma and Sat Purusha!!
I liked your quoting the mistranslation by Mr. Prabhupada.
Yes it is known that the gaudiyas and the Iskcon GBC added verses in Bhagwatam too. And Gaudiyas have bungled the scriptures as per their liking.
Otherwise what was the need to re-write and re translate Bhagwatam and Bhagwat-Gita??
Interestingly enough the offenses to holy name is constantly made by Hare Krishnas in case of Lord Shiva. The whole philosophy has double standards and is hypocritical on every step.
Prabhupad was not a Guru in the strictest Vedic, Yogic sense.
He even called himself as an “Acharya” not Guru.
Acharya is an instructor. On who teaches “acharan” or correct behavior. There can be many instructors or teachers in the school, but just one headmaster.
Gurus above Acharya and SadGuru is above an ordinary Guru. Sadguru is one who can liberate jiva through his shakti and can take responsibility of the soul beyond birth and death and is himself an illuminated master. One who has achieved God communion.
Prabhupad never claimed to have darshan of Krishna or experience in cosmic consciousness. He was a translator and preacher. The translations are indeed biased and strictly adhere to the 400 years old Gaudiya Kaliyug sampradaya. To make it all authentic they say it was started by the Krishna himself incarnated (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu). But Chaitanya himself never claimed to be Krishna either. When Krishna came, he openly declared of his position. Chaitanya NEVER did so. In fact Chaitanya was always crying out of devotion and separation from Lord Krishna. If he was Krishna, how can he cry from separation from his own self? This is spiritual fallacy. To this the Gaudiyas explain that – oh well Chainya was a “chhanna avatara” = a hidden / secret avatara!! Lol!! There is no description of a “chhana” avatara in the Vedas.
Fact is a lot, in fact most of the Gaudiya literature is made up and does not bear sanction of even Shri Chaitanya. Right from the Jeev and Sanatana Goswamis, a lot of literature started coming up. This was not what Chaitanya wrote. Chaitanya simply gave a very very short and concise Shishtashtakam.
Just a few versus about simple hearted Bhakti towards lord and singing his holy names. The rest of the politics was churned out by the followers who didn’t want to see anybody else as anything, but just their own sect as all n all. The very concept of “Achintya Bheda bhed” philosophy is in contradiction of itself. On one hand they want only simple hearted bhakti giving examples of gopis who were illiterate without knowledge of scriptures but had a loving heart full of devotion, other hand they get into complicated arguments and bungling of scriptures. That is just contradictory. They have double standards.
They recognize only Gaudiya bengali saints. They hardly talk about Mirabai or Goswami Tulasidas, Kabir and so many other great bhakti period saints who were realized souls in comparison to Mr. Prabhupad.
So there are double standards with the Gaudiyas.
We have no problem with simple pure hearted bhakti in any sampradaya towards any form of god Lord Krishna or Shiva. This is very appreciable.
But not the sampradaya politics.
Namaskar!
Jai Shri Krishna!! Namah Shivaya!
Chhenu.
HARA BOL, HARI BOL
Shivam Sarva mayam!
Shri Krishnam vande JagadGuru.
All glories to Lord Shri Krishna the all attractive mohan, who is the greatest devotee of Lord Shiva.
here’s the truth mr madhava krishna…….. come to light!!!
dont be arrogant!!!!
om namah shivaya! hara bol!!!!!
hey chenu and all you shaivites
Whatever the article amy be understand one thing shankarachary is not a shaiv.
In fact shanakrachray himself has said vishnu is brahm.
As for lord shiva he is also ishwara.
All jagad gurus have propagated vishnu as supreme no harm to anyone.
I can quote shakt texts that prove durga is the god.NOw what would you do now.
Yes durga as durga the inaccesible
Dear SANT… it’s obvious that your knowledge of sanathana dharma is 0.00 … All you have said is WRONG…
Your english is very bad too… so go back to school… and later you come back and you speak again with us
Lol !!
Also, when you say “you shaivites” u try to become something else. Krishna is also Shivaite and so is Vishnu.
Learn about Vishnu worshipping Shiva with a thousand lotuses everyday and offering his own eye when one day one lotus went missing by the maya of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva please gives Vishnu his Sudarshan Chakra. Krishna – the greatest Shaiva worships Shiva. Lord Vishnu worshipped Lord Shiva in every incarnation, as Rama, Krishna, Vamandev…
So don’t live in illusion dear.
Shivam sarva mayam. everything is Shiva. So when you say “you Shivaites” this is nonesense. Shiva is present in everything.
Namah Shivaya!!
Excellent comment bhai… you said the truth in the best way possible… Shiva bless you!
Namah Shivaya!!!
hey stop fighting.
Shanakrachary wasnt a sahiv.
Dont you know facts.
Yes krishna did pray to lord shiva
so do you want me to qoute shakt texts which will say durga was worshipped by tridev.
Look at the whole point of view and just dont limit yourself to a puraan.
lord shiva did bhakti of lord rama and is a bhakt of krishna alos dont you know that.
Its not funny.Its you both who need to have a broader picture.
and you need some class of ortography my dear… hahaha…
anyway… we don’t fight… we only oppose Truth to Lies… if you call that fight… than yes, we are fighting THIS NON-VIOLENT Dharma Yuddha… go read and understand the Puranas before to say bullshits to Acharyas like us
you are acharya?
Your dirty language shows something else.
OK so shankarachary was a shaiv.
If you can prove he was a shaiv then ill run.
If you can prove shiva is not krishna ’s bhakt then ill run.
sant… you are the biggest donkey of the world…
you say that Shankaracharya was a vaishnava!!!
Than why he wrote the amazing Shivananda Lahari (one of the most beautiful devotional hymns in praise of Shiva of the hstory)???
please, my dears HARE KRISHNAS… I invite you all to read the text in english at this webpage: http://www.scribd.com/doc/8535593/shivanandalahari-by-adi-shankara … enjoy
SATYAMEVA JAYATE
NAMAH SHIVAYA!!!
NOW RUN… GET LOST…
HAHAHAHAHA
this doesnt prove anything.He composed for ganpati and krishna also .this doesnt make him a shaiv.
here go and read or ask any follower of his if advaitin and shaivsm are exactly same.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Shankara
i havent said adi shankaracharya was a vaishnav.
If you think that if he prayed to shiva in some prayers and becomes a shaiv then youre right hes a shaiv.
Adi Shankara was born in a shaiva family… His parents were great shaivas… they give Him the name Shankara (Shiva’s name)… he grew up in shaivism… as shaiva… he decided to follow and spread the advaita vedanta path… remaining shaiva (advaita vedanta is a shaiva path)… he wrote many devotional hymns to Shiva (I consider these hymns the most beautiful with those of Manikkavakakar)… All the wonderful hymns that Adi Shankara wrote were for Shiva… and you say he WASN’T SHAIVA???
sant Says:
July 25, 2009 at 5:59 am
hey stop fighting.
Shanakrachary wasnt a sahiv.
Dont you know facts.
sant Says:
July 25, 2009 at 6:16 am
OK so shankarachary was a shaiv.
If you can prove he was a shaiv then ill run
sant Says:
July 25, 2009 at 6:43 am
this doesnt prove anything.He composed for ganpati and krishna also .this doesnt make him a shaiv.
HAHAHAHA “sahiv”, “shaiv”… IT’S “SHAIVA” my dear…
wahts your definiton of shaiv?
One who prays to shiva as supreme god in a few prayers
one who is born in a shaiv family?
In waht way advaita vedanta is a shaiv path?
You can say shaivism is similar to advaita.
smartas are the ones who follow shanakaracharya philosophy.
.
The self atama is itself brahm, advaita vedanta says that everything including self is brahm and there is no place for ishwar at that level.
ARE are u a friend of goutham above.Since i see he is not much better in trying to prove shaivism and its philosophies.
Thanks i didnt know adi shanakracharya was from a shaiv family.Thats why goutham is saying hes a shaiv.
Ok if that makes him a shaiv then you win.
dear sant,
First of all, its not “prayers”, but sadhna. There is a basic and elaborate difference between the two. Prayer is a prayer in which u pray and ask. Sadhna is a very deep process. Krishna was definitely a Shaiva. A thorough devotee of Lord Shiva who devotes his life n its very essence worshipping the lord, surrendering himself to the Lord is the process of sadhna which Krishna did. For reference plz read Shri Krishna’s own words describing his sadhna of Lord Shiva in Anushasan Parva of Mahabharat. That should clear it up for you.
Also plz read the description of all the greatest sages describing their worship of Lord Shiva. Not only that, but its truth that Lord Vishnu in all his incarnations has worshipped Lord Shiva. As Lord Vishnu, as vamdeva, as maryadaPurushotam Ramachandra, Sita Devi worshipped Lord Shiva, Gandhari, Mandodari, Queen KUNTI, the pandavs, Arjun, the great sage Vashishtha, sage Vishwamitra, sage Agastya, Matsyendranath, Gorakhnath, shri Adi SHANKARACHARYA all worshipped Lord Shiva and did very deep worship and meditation on the Lord of the Lords Lord Shiva.
Shri Adi Shankaracharya carried Shiva tripunda tilaka on his forehead always which devote Shiva Bhaktas do.
Namah Shivaya!!! Only fools can believe that a limitated Avatar can be greater than the Limitless…
Only tamasic people can believe that a demi-god can be the Supreme God Sadashiva and that the Supreme God Sadashiva can be the servant/devote of a demi-god
That’s madness!!!
AUM NAMAH SHIVAYA
Hare Krishna,
the scriputers say Lord Shiva is known as asutosh very easly pleased. so it is very easy for someone to achieve his mercy. but they also say Vaishnavam yatha Shambo. as far asi have read the krishna devotee did not insult lord shiva nor any of the saivitesin this forum. every vaishava respects lord shiva as the greatest devotee. there is even a vaishnava sampradaya(rudra sampradaya) of lord Shiva. but i am warnig al saivites to be very carful of comitting vaishnav aparad (offense against a vaishnava) for i see you ridiculizing madvacharya and prabupada and also the krishna devotee. what concens me i worship shiva i feel the extacy of worshipping the greatest Vaishnava the scriptures say anyone who worships shiva on shivaratri atains great blessings even by worshipping unknownly like the story of the hunter on shivaratri. therefore i say om Nama Shivaya ,he is very powerfull living entity but still he is not independent from the supreme lord Hari. sakaracharya’s bhaja govindam testifies this. aswell as lord shiva himself when he fought against krishna for banasuras sake. Neelakantha is vaishnavam yatha shambu and we vaishnavas wil always respect him as such. come on when quoted by worshipping who one atains everyting Bishma sung Vishnu sahasranama. when tested by brigu muni lord vishnu came out as the supreme among the tri murthi. when vrita sura (another example of how mercyfull lord Mahadev is) worshipped him and then tried to slay shiva with the blessing he approached vishnu for help and only he could save his devotee.
Vaishnavam yatha Shambo
Om Namah Shivaya
Om namo Narayanaya
Sankaracharya said
in his famous Shivananda Lahari)
sahasram vartante jagati vibudhA: kShudraphaladA
na manye svapne vA tadanusaraNaM tatkRutaphalam |
hari-brahmAdInAmapi nikiTabhAjA-masulabhaM
chiraM yAche SaMbho Siva tava pAdAMbhoja-bhajanaM || 4 ||
Meaning:
In this world thousands of Gods exist which give small rewards. Even in dreams I won’t consider praying to them or think of the benefits that accrue from them.O Lord Shiva, I shall always beg to worship your lotus feet though it is difficult even for Brahma and Vishnu who are close to you.
yathA buddhi-SSuk^tau rajata-miti kAchASmani maNi-
rjale paiShTe kShIraM bhavati mRugatRuShNAsu salilam |
tathA deva-bhrAntyA bhajati bhavadanyaM jaDajano
mahAdeveSaM tvAM manasi cha na matvA paSupate || 8 ||
MEANING:
Oh Lord Pasupati, the way our intellect considers shell as silver, glass stones as gem, flour mixed in water as milk, the mirage as water, the same way the foolish people worship other gods instead of worshipping you, the Lord of all Gods.
tvameko lokAnAM paramaphalado divya-padavIM
vahanta-stvanmUlAM punarapi bhajante harimukhA: |
kiyadvA dAkShiNyaM tava Siva madASA cha kiyatI
kadA vA madrakShAM vahasi karuNA-pUrita-dRuSA || 18 ||
MEANING:
O Shiva ! You are the only one who gives the best results to the people of the world. Vishnu and others who have got divine positions from you pray to you repeatedly to attain more and more for further such positions. Your compassion for those who come to you is limitless and so are my desires limitless. When will you take up the task of my protection by your graceful glance?
karomi tvatpUjAM sapadi sukhado me Bava viBo
vidhitvaM viShNutvaM diSasi khalu tasyA: phalamiti |
punaS^cha tvAM draShTuM divi Buvi vahan pakShimRugatA-
madRuShT^^vA tatKedaM kathamiha sahe SaMkara viBo || 23 ||
MEANING:
Oh all pervading Lord Shankara, I worship you. Please appear before me immediately and give me the ultimate joy. Oh doer of all good and Oh omnipresent God! Instead If you reward me for my worship with the position of Brahma or Vishnu how will I tolerate the sorrow of not seeing you but searching for you in the sky and earth taking the form of Hamsa Bird and the varaha animal.
SHANKARACHARYA ALSO SAID :
brahma murari surarchitha lingam
nirmala bhashitha sobhitha lingam
janmaja dukha vinasana lingam
tat pranamami sadasiva lingam
I continuously bow to that Linga of Siva, Which is worshiped by Brahma, Murari(krsna) and Indra, Which is adorned and resplendent by clear light, and Which destroys the grief born out of the birth.||1||
“O Lord Girîsha, since the You are Brahman which is transcendental to the material modes of goodness, passion and ignorance, the various directors of this material world certainly cannot appreciate it or even know where it is. It is not understandable even to Lord Brahmâ, Lord Vishnu or the King of heaven, Mahendra” ( SB 8:7:31)
KRISHNA:
krishna is the foremost of the devotees of Lord Shiva. Krishna,in his past lives also, served the Lotus feet of Lord shiva . As per Mahabharata, Krishna did severe penance for several months. Lord shiva,who was pleased with the devotion of krishna , asked him to choose boons. Parvati devi,the consort of Lord Shiva, who was pleased with the devotion of Krishna towards Lord shiva, also gave five boons.
kṛsna said : ( Mahabharata, Anushasan parva Book 13, chapter 16, Verses 1,2&3 )
mūrdhnā nipatyaniyatas tejaḥ saṃnicaye tataḥ
paramaṃ harṣam āgamya bhagavantam athābruvam
dharme dṛḍhatvaṃ yudhi śatrughātaṃ; yaśas tathāgryaṃ paramaṃ balaṃ cayogapriyatvaṃ tava saṃnikarṣaṃ; vṛṇe sutānāṃ ca śataṃ śatānievam astv iti tad vākyaṃ mayoktaḥ prāha śaṃkaraḥ
TRANSLATION :
The blessed Krishna said, ‘Bowing my head with great joy unto that mass of energy and effulgence, I said these words unto the great Bhagavan Shiva, with a heart filled with gladness,–
1) Firmness in virtue, (dharme dṛḍhatvaṃ)
2) The slaughter of foes in battle,(yudhi śatrughātaṃ)
3) The highest fame,(yaśas tathāgryaṃ )
4) The greatest might, (paramaṃ balaṃ)
5) Devotion to Yoga, (yogapriyatvaṃ)
6) Thy adjacence, (ava saṃnikarṣaṃ)and
7) Hundreds upon hundreds of children, (vṛṇe sutānāṃ ca śataṃ śatāni)
these are the boons I solicit of thee,–So be it,–said Sankara
Like that, Krishna received several boons from Lord Shiva.
In Mahabharat, Bhisma says,
Rudra bhakthya thu krishnena jagat vyaptham mahathmana,|
Tham prasadhya thadha devam bhadaryam kila bharatha ||
Arthath priya harathwam cha sarva lokeshu vai yadhaa,|
Prapthavaaneva rajendra suvarnaakshan maheswaraath ||
Meaning:
The great Lord Krishna, due to his devotion to Supreme lord Rudra,Has spread all over the universe, Oh Bharatha, Oh king of kings,After making Lord Shiva pleased by his penance in Bhadrinath,He has attained the state of being more dear,Than all the worlds and all aspects of knowledge.
Yuge yuge thu krushnena thoshitho vai maheswara,|
Bhakthya paramaya chaiva prathi sruthwa mahatmana ||
Meaning :
Lord Maheshwara becomes pleased and happy yugas after yugas, by this Krishna who is devotee of Lord Shiva.
Arjuna and Krishna were Nara and Narayana Maharshis respectively in their previous births.They were devoted to
lord Shiva. They both did severe penances for the welfare of mankind for several thousands of years. Narayana succeeded in winning the grace of Lord Shiva. He atttained oneness with Lord shiva. But Nara maharshi has not succeeded. He was reborn as Arjuna and again as Kannappa.
In Mahabharata, Vanaparvan (12. 46&47), Krishna says to Arjuna,”O invincible one, you are Nara and I am Narayana, and we, the sages Nara-Narayana, have come to this world at proper time..”
In the same Parva, chapter 40 (verse 1); Lord Shiva says to Arjuna “In former birth you were Nara and with Narayana as your companion, performed austerities for thousands of years at Badari”.
All GLORIES TO KRISHNA,the foemost of all Shiva Bhaktas.
All GLORIES TO KRISHNA,who always meditates upon the Lotus feet of LORD SHIVA.
Its always the same thing. The Vaishnavas trying to scare with the “vaishnava Aparadha” definitions while they themselves go on making them. They do all shaiva Aparadhas and Vaishnava Aparadhas. Its all sampradaya scare tactic. They always use the same old examples of Bhrigu muni of Vishnu helping Shiva etc. as Jeff is saying. The same old record being played over n over n over again parroting Prabhupada. Hey why don’t you play the record of Krishna worshipping Shiva to get mercy??? Why don’t you play the tape of Vishnu worshipping Shiva for mercy and getting the Sudarshan Chakra from Lord Shiva???? Why don’t you play the tape of Lord Rama worshipping Lord Shiva all his life for mercy and help??? You play the tape of Bhrigu muni.. So what??
You say getting mercy of Lord Shiva is very very easy??? Did you get it??? Did Shiva appear before you?? Krishna worshipped him day and night standing on one foot without food or water or air for months and years!!! Its THAT easy man!!! So Chant and be happy!! But stop sampradaya politics.
Namah Shivaya!!
The verses, translations and purports in this article are wrong!! The article claims Shiva saying all those who wear ash on their body are pasandis, all who wear skulls are so too. So Shiva himself wears the holy ashes and skulls and Kali and Kaal Bhairav wear skulls too. See the contradiction.. eh??
Foolish author should make more in depth study of Hinduism before parroting Prabhupada. The article is not in the right spirit. Its simply a sampradaya propaganda aimed at hailing Vishnu/Krsna as supreme and Shiva and all others as inferiors.
If this was so Krishna would not himself worship Shiva.
Its a biased article and is far from Vedic truth. We accept the worship of the great Lord Vishnu/Krishna.
But in no way lesser or more than Lord Shiva. We don’t do this politics and God positioning agenda.
Every one has their own Ishta deva – be it Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna or Kali.
Stop your Ego from coming into spiritual teachings and saying mine is superior than yours..!
Jai Sita Ram!!!