Ādi 7.157
TEXT 157
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TEXT
প্রভু যবে যা'ন বিশ্বেশ্বর-দরশনে ।
লক্ষ লক্ষ লোক আসি' মিলে সেই স্থানে ॥ ১৫৭ ॥ prabhu yabe ya'na visvesvara-darasane
laksa laksa loka asi' mile sei sthane
SYNONYMS
prabhu-Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu; yabe-when; ya'na-goes; visvesvara-the deity of Varanasi; darasane-to visit; laksa laksa-hundreds and thousands; loka-people; asi'-come; mile-meet; sei-that; sthane-on the place.
TRANSLATION
When the Lord went to visit the temple of Visvesvara, hundreds and thousands of people assembled to see Him.
The important point in this verse is that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu regularly visited the temple of Visvesvara (Lord Siva) at Varanasi. Vaisnavas generally do not visit a demigod's temple, but here we see that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu regularly visited the temple of Visvesvara, who was the predominating deity of Varanasi. Generally Mayavadi sannyasis and worshipers of Lord Siva live in Varanasi, but how is it that Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who took the part of a Vaisnava sannyasi, also visited the Visvesvara temple? The answer is that a Vaisnava does not behave impudently toward the demigods. A Vaisnava gives proper respect to all, although he never accepts a demigod to be as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
In the Brahma-samhita there are mantras offering obeisances to Lord Siva, Lord Brahma, the sun-god and Lord Ganesa, as well as Lord Visnu, all of whom are worshiped by the impersonalists as pancopasana. In their temples impersonalists also install deities of Lord Visnu, Lord Siva, the sun-god, goddess Durga and sometimes Lord Brahma also, and this system is continuing at present in India under the guise of the Hindu religion. Vaisnavas can also worship all these demigods, but only on the principles of Brahma-samhita, which is recommended by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We may note in this connection the mantras for worshiping Lord Siva, Lord Brahma, goddess Durga, the sun-god and Ganesa, as described in the Brahma-samhita:
srsti-sthiti-pralaya-sadhana-saktir eka
chayeva yasya bhuvanani bibharti durga icchanurupam api yasya ca cestate sa govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami "The external potency, maya, who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit [spiritual] potency, is worshiped by all people as Durga, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, in accordance with whose will Durga conducts herself." (Bs. 5.44)
ksiram yatha dadhi vikara-visesa-yogat
sanjayate na hi tatah prthag asti hetoh yah sambhutam api tatha samupaiti karyad govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami "Milk is transformed into curd by the actions of acids, yet the effect 'curd' is neither the same as nor different from its cause, viz., milk. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, of whom the state of Sambu is a similar transformation for the performance of the work of destruction." (Bs. 5.45)
bhasvan yathasma-sakalesu nijesu tejah
sviyam kiyat prakatayaty api tad-vadatra brahma ya esa jagadanda-vidhana-karta govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami "I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, from whom the separated subjective portion Brahma receives his power for the regulation of the mundane world, just as the sun manifests a portion of his own light in all the effulgent gems that bear such names as surya-kanta." (Bs. 5.49)
yat-pada-pallava-yugam vinidhaya kumbha-
dvandve pranama-samaye sa ganadhirajah vighnan vihantum alam asya jagat-trayasya govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami "I worship the primeval Lord Govinda. Ganesa always holds His lotus feet upon the pair of tumuli protruding from his elephant head in order to obtain power for his function of destroying all obstacles on the path of progress in the three worlds." (Bs. 5.50)
yac caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam
raja samasta-sura-murtir asesa-tejah yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrta-kala-cakro govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami "The sun, full of infinite effulgence, who is the king of all the planets and the image of the good soul, is like the eye of this world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, in pursuance of whose order the sun performs his journey, mounting the wheel of time." (Bs. 5.52)
All the demigods are servants of Krsna; they are not equal with Krsna. Therefore even if one goes to a temple of the pancopasana, as mentioned above, one should not accept the deities as they are accepted by the impersonalists. All of them are to be accepted as personal demigods, but they all serve the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Saṅkaracarya, for example, is understood to be an incarnation of Lord Siva, as described in the Padma Purana. He propagated the Mayavada philosophy under the order of the Supreme Lord. We have already discussed this point in text 114 of this chapter:
taṅra dosa nahi, teṅho ajnakari dasa
ara yei sune tara haya sarva-nasa "Saṅkaracarya is not at fault, for he has thus covered the real purpose of the Vedas under the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Although Lord Siva, in the form of a brahmana (Saṅkaracarya), preached the false philosophy of Mayavada, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu nevertheless said that since he did it on the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there was no fault on his part (taṅra dosa nahi).
We must offer proper respects to all the demigods. If one can offer respects even to an ant, why not to the demigods? One must always know, however, that no demigod is equal to or above the Supreme Lord. Ekala isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya. "Only Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and all others, including the demigods such as Lord Siva, Lord Brahma, goddess Durga and Ganesa, are His servants." Everyone serves the purpose of the Supreme Godhead, and what to speak of such small and insignificant living entities as ourselves? We are surely eternal servants of the Lord. The Mayavada philosophy maintains that the demigods, living entities and Supreme Personality of Godhead are all equal. It is therefore a most foolish misrepresentation of Vedic knowledge.
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