Worshipping other Gods/Deities

From the Bhakti List Archives

• June 3, 2000


All Glories to Lord Narayana and his devotees !!
   There has been a lot of discussion about
Sri Badri's Question regarding worshipping gods/Deities
other than Lord Narayana.
  Here are my views :---
      Lord Narayana is the origin of the other demi-gods,
and they are meant to serve him, just as we are also meant
to serve him and please him. He is the supreme father of
all living beings including us as well as the demigods.
So we must respect the other gods, since they are also
dear to Lord Narayana. 
   As aspiring devotees, we can accept anything that is 
favourable for the service of Lord Narayana, and reject 
anything that is not favourable for his service. We can 
worship the other Gods, and even ask them for boons, but
we must utilize the boons only for pleasing Lord Narayana.
   For example, goddess Saraswati is the Goddess of 
learning and wisdom, so we can pray to her to give us 
enough wisdom, so that we can serve Lord Narayana in a
better way. In fact, the demigods would be glad if we
utilize their boons for the Service of Lord Narayana.
   While serving Lord Narayana, we might face obstacles,
and praying to Sri Hanuman helps in such situations. I 
myself have been benefited in this regard. Sri Hanuman
will be very glad to help anyone who wants to sincerely 
serve Lord Narayana.
   Of course, for a very advanced devotee, who is COMPLETELY
SURRENDERED to Lord NArayana, there is no need to worship
other gods. But until a devotee comes to such an advanced state, 
he can take help from other demigods, but his ultimate
aim should be TO SERVE LORD NARAYANA.
   I beg all the devotees to correct me if I have made any
mistakes, and forgive me if I have offended anybody.
Your fallen servant,
Vivek.


--------------------------------------------------------------
           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
To Post a message, send it to:   bhakti-list@eGroups.com
Visit http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/ for more information