Advice on Sanidhis to Anyadevas.

[Guest guest]

JAI shri Krishna, im am aware that a lot of discussion gruops have

had this debate before and it appears to have gone of on tangents at

times.

 

Now my question regards the issue if Anya devtas, here in the west

there are very few exclusive Vaishanva temples. My 3 local temples

are dedicated to Krishna, balaji, and durga. I rarely do to the

durga temple but i do go to Balaji and Krishna temles. Fortuantly

the Balaji temple follows the Pujas according to Vaishanava agamas

and the Pujaris serving Balaji are Vaishnava. However as these

temples cater for the needs of the whole hindu comunity living in

the area both the Krishna and Balaji mandirs have Sanidhis for

Shiva, Murugan, Durga, surya, ganapathi etc...

 

Now i am aware of the That only Bhagavan can grant Moksha, so we

only offer bhakthi to Divya Dampathi. Im also aware that Demigod

worship is for material minded souls. In my personal Shrine i have

have a picture Krishna in the center with Hanuman, Sudharsana,

Ramanuja and Shiva at his sides.. I also stay away from false Gods

such as Sai baba even though some relatives worship them....

 

Now what should we do i visit my local temples, and we see the

shrines of Shiva, Ganesh etc???? Currently i do offer prayers and

obseinces to the anya devtas, in the knowledge that i should not ask

material things from them as it is not satvik. When i vist the

shrines of other devas i think that they are Bhakthas of Krishna,

who are guarding his Sanidhi, so i offer them my respects.. Now what

is your view respected Vaisnavas????? Also what should we do with

anudeva utsavams celbrated in our communities??? With most of my

community i have observed Shivaratri vratam, but have since several

years dont dont fail to observe the Viashnava Janamashtami, Ram

Navmi and Hanuman Jayanthi Vratas.

[Guest guest]

Dear Devotee,

 

A couple of things should be kept in mind in trying to address this

complicated issue. The first is that the Supreme Being Sriman Narayana

is the sole Svatantriyan in this Universe, meaning that He decides when,

where and how He will appear. So, for reasons known only to Him, He has

decided that for devotees in the West, He should be present along with a

whole host of devathas. Their presence alongside of Him does not

affect Him or our relationship to Him.

 

The second thing to keep in mind is that through His Grace alone, we

have become aware of His Supremacy and Accessibility, along with the

reassurance that no special qualifications are required on our parts for

Him to care for us. His Eternal Relationship is there with everyone,

whether or not they know it. But, He has given the awareness of it only

to those whom He feels will benefit by having this knowledge. So, those

in whom this knowledge is not awakened will still seek out the favors

from other gods. But, since it is He Alone Who permeates the entire

Universe, it is through His Motivation that the other gods operate. So,

there really is nothing to fear.

 

With these two concepts in mind, we can freely visit all temples,

offering our respects to all the Devathas who form a small part of His

Vibhuti. But, when it comes to actually worshipping and adoring

someone, it will be only natural for us to limit this only to Sriman

Narayana - or one of His avatharas. So, we provide our "a:dharana", or

respect to all gods and all the living beings, and our "a:radhana" or

worship to the Supreme Being, His entourage, and of course, His devotees.

 

I hope this helps.

 

adiyen Ramanuja dasanu dasan

Mohan

 

tesh_tel wrote:

 

>JAI shri Krishna, im am aware that a lot of discussion gruops have

>had this debate before and it appears to have gone of on tangents at

>times.

>

>