Srila Prabhupada and Worship of Shiva in ISKCON Temples

April 24, 2004

Is this at all helpful?

Ys., Rama Kesava dasa

(http://chakra.org/discussions/IntFeb13_04.html)

How Vaishnavas worship Lord Shiva

by Nirguna dasi

Reposted Feburary 16, 2004

February 16th, 2004 is Shivaratri. Vaishnavas and Vrajavasis celebrate

by seeking Lord Shiva's blessings and worship him in his form as a gopi

at the ancient temple of Gopishwara in Vrindavan.

"It is said, vaishnavanam yatha sambhu: Lord Shiva is the best of

devotees of Lord Krishna. In Vrindavan there is Lord Shiva's temple

called Gopishwara. The gopis used to worship not only Lord Shiva but

Katyayani (Durga) as well, but their aim was to attain the favour of

Lord Krishna. A devotee of Lord Krishna does not disrespect Lord Shiva,

but worships Lord Shiva as the most exalted devotee of Lord Krishna.

Consequently, whenever a devotee worships Lord Shiva he prays to Lord

Shiva to achieve the favour of Krishna and he does not request material

profit." (Purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 4. 24.30.)

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur offered these prayers wriiten

for Gopishwara Mahadev when he visited the Lingaraj temple in

Bhubaneshwar on June 22nd, 1922:

Vrindavanvani-pate jaya soma soma

maule sanandana-sanatana-naradeya

gopishvara vraja-vilasi-yuganghri-padme

prema prayaccha nirupadhi namo namas te

"O Shiva, O gatekeeper of Vrindavan! O you who are accompanied by Uma

(Parvati)! O you who carry the moon in your hair! O lord worshiped by

Sananda-kumar, Sanat-Kumar and Narada Muni! O Gopishwar, the

worshipable deity of the gopis! Desiring that you bestow upon me love

for the divine couple, Sri Sri Radha Madhava, who perform joyous

pastimes in Vraja, I offer my obeisances unto you again and again."

(Srila Vishwanatha Chakravarti's Sri Sankalpa-kalpadrum, cited in vol.

7 of Sri Krishna Kathamritam)

It is related that Lord Shiva desiring to witness the Rasa Lila is

stopped from crossing the Yamuna by goddess Vrinda. Shiva protests this

refusal of entry, saying he is a great devotee of Krishna and should be

allowed to participate in His most wonderful pastime with the Gopis.

Vrinda devi's rejoinder is firm: "Krishna is the only male in the

rasa-lila."

Lord Shiva, not to be outdone, submerges himself in Yamunadevi,

non-different from love of Krishna, and emerges as a gopi. Now

qualified as feminine, he gains an exclusive inside view into the Rasa

play of Krishna and the gopis. The other Gods, including Brahma, may

only witness and shower flowers from outside the realm of Vamsivata on

Yamuna shore.

The Deity of Gopishwar Mahadev, worshipped in a small temple near

Vamsivata, is a lingam -- one of four important Shiva-linga shrines in

Vraja. Each night the lingam is transformed as he assumes the semblance

of a gopi's face, replete with nose ring and other feminine ornaments

in a most colourful attire The ensemble is different every day of the

year. Lord Shiva resides forever in Vrindavan as Gopishwara Mahadeva,

the dearest devotee of Krishna, and thus participates in all the Lord's

unending Lila.

[Photos courtesy of Robyn Beech from the book on Sri Sri Radha Ramanji

and Vrindavan Dham: Celebrating Krishna (Copyright Sri Chaitanya Prema

Samasthana, Gambhira, Sri Radha-ramana. Vrindavan)]

April 24, 2004