Demigod worship in Madhva sampradaya

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

 

Hare Krishna. I have a question from my brother in

phoenix, Arizona. He likes the Udipi temple there, but

the Demigod worship there is too strong so much so

that he even doubts their connection to Madhva

sampradaya.Now they are doing Chandika Maha Yagna,

every friday they chant Mahisasura Mardhini.

 

He wishes to know the following:

 

1) Is demigod worship philosophically *acceptable* in

the Madhwa Sampradaya?

 

2) If so, is it *recommended*? If not, why do they

still do it, don't they seek Moksha than just rather

materialist things like dhanam, vidhya, etc??

 

3) If (1) is not true, why do we see demigod worship

in Madhwa Sampradaya??

 

I must add here that he is also sad to see the trend

in ISKCON temples too, where Ganesha Chathurthi and

Durga Puja and Siva Rathri are celebrated pompously.

 

Any comments on this?

 

dasa

Narasimhan

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005

 

[Guest guest]

achintya, ranganathan narasimhan

<simhan74> wrote:

>

> Dear all,

>

> Hare Krishna. I have a question from my brother in

> phoenix, Arizona. He likes the Udipi temple there, but

> the Demigod worship there is too strong so much so

> that he even doubts their connection to Madhva

> sampradaya.Now they are doing Chandika Maha Yagna,

> every friday they chant Mahisasura Mardhini.

>

> He wishes to know the following:

>

> 1) Is demigod worship philosophically *acceptable* in

> the Madhwa Sampradaya?

 

Yes, it is. Being from a Madhva family, I know that there are

several pujas and festivals that are celebrated for the devatas.

However, Madhvas always are supposed to keep in mind the devatA-

tArAtamya, the hierarchy of superiority of the various devatAs with

Sri Hari as sarvottama.

 

> 2) If so, is it *recommended*? If not, why do they

> still do it, don't they seek Moksha than just rather

> materialist things like dhanam, vidhya, etc??

 

It is recommended, since it is considered Sri Hari's system. Let me

give you an example. Married women are expected to do the Mangala-

Gauri puja to pray for the well-being of their husbands. This puja

is a prayer to PArvatI. So technically, this comes under "kAmya-

karma", ie, where you are seeking some material benefit. But being

kAmya-karma does not make it condemnable, since even kAmya-karmas

can become karma-free if the motivation is clear. The wife wants her

husband to live a long life, so that she can serve him, and in

return, the husband facilitates her sAdhanA, and family life goes on

well, according to the varNAshrama-system.

If pleasing Sri Hari is the goal, then what is the harm in

approaching His representatives who He has authorized?

Now, having said that, many Madhvas do seek the material benefits

without having the sAdhanA for moksha as the goal. That misses the

goal of the demigod worship. Gaudiyas and SriVaishnavas are known to

look down upon demigod worship much more than Madhvas. For Madhvas,

devatA-tArAtamya is quite important.

 

> 3) If (1) is not true, why do we see demigod worship

> in Madhwa Sampradaya??

 

Demigod worship keeping in mind "Hari sarvottamatva" and "devatA-

tArAtamya" is part of the sampradAya.

 

There are several instances where you find demigods giving excellent

lessons. In the talavakAra (kena) Upanishad, PArvatI gives a lesson

to Indra when out of arrogance, he and others think that the battle

which was actually won by the grace of Sri Hari, is their victory.

 

In the Mahabharata, Lord Shiva gives long lessons to pArvati about

how the laws of karma function, and about strI-dharma etc. All this

cannot be just discarded in the name of worshipping Sri Hari. So

Madhvas are supposed to have demigod worship as part of their

sAdhanA, as a service to Sri Hari's representatives.

 

>

> I must add here that he is also sad to see the trend

> in ISKCON temples too, where Ganesha Chathurthi and

> Durga Puja and Siva Rathri are celebrated pompously.

>

 

I am not sure about the conception of Gaudiyas when they celebrate

these festivals. For Madhvas, I know for sure that they are supposed

to consider all the powers of devatAs as Sri Hari's own powers. For

sure, many of them don't do it.

 

It ultimately boils down to what the acharyas have recommended - for

Gaudiyas, they do not recommend demigod worship (at least not so

much), for Madhvas, they do.

 

Regards,

Anant