Ganesha Worship

[Guest guest]

We Should Weigh A Statement From Çréla Prabhupäda Carefully When We Know He

Modifies Or Contradicts It Elsewhere.

In The Nectar of Devotion Çréla Prabhupäda writes:

One should begin the worship of the demigod Ganapati, who drives away all

impediments in the execution of devotional service. In the Brahma-saàhitä it is

stated that Ganapati worships the lotus feet of Lord Nåsiàhadeva and in that

way has become auspicious for the devotees in clearing out all impediments.

Therefore, all devotees should worship Ganapati.

We can take this as clear and authoritative proof that Çréla Prabhupäda wanted

all the devotees in his society to worship Gaëapati (Gaëeça).

But balance that letter against this letter to Çivänanda Däsa (August 25,

1971):

So far worshipping Ganesa is concerned, that is not necessary. Not that it

should be done on a regular basis. If you like you can pray to Ganapati for

removing all impediments on the path of Krishna Consciousness. That you can do

if you like.

And finally, consider this letter, sent to "My dear Sons" in Evanston,

Illinois, on December 28, 1974. (Çréla Prabhupäda sent nearly identical

messages to several other devotees.)

I do not encourage you to worship this demigod, Ganesa. It is not required, it

is not necessary. Simply worship Kåñëa. Perform nice devotional service to

Kåñëa. Then your lives will certainly become perfect. Of course if one has got

some sentiment for achieving the blessings of Ganesa for accumulating large

sums of money to serve Kåñëa, then he may perform this Ganesa worship,

privately, not making a public show. But first of all he must give me $100,000

per month. Not a single farthing less. If he can supply this amount, $100,000

per month, then he will be allowed to do this Ganesa Puja. Otherwise he should

not do it. It will not be good. That is my order.

Although the injunction to worship Ganesa is clear and comes from a book, in

this case the evidence from the letters weighs in heavier.

 

-From

Vedabase Producers.

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhadra Govindaji, et al, PAMHO AGTSP

 

On Oct 14, 2004, at 8:11 PM, Bhadra Govinda Dasa wrote:

 

> Although the injunction to worship Ganesa is clear and comes from a

> book, in this case the evidence from the letters weighs in heavier.

>  -

> From Vedabase Producers.

 

Sorry, are you saying that the Vedabase Producers say that these

personal letters outweigh the quote from Nectar of Devotion?

 

OK, if you want to accept their ideas over Srila Prabhupada's that's

your business.

 

I prefer to accept the more traditional version that an instruction in

a book (and a pretty important book at that, and a book that Srila

Prabhupada gave us to show us how to perform our devotional practices,

supposed to be one of his four main books) is much more important than

these letters to individuals.

 

I gave you the other example of the Jiva issue, also confused because

of misquoting from letters which seem to contradict what is written in

Srila Prabhupada's books. In fact there is a famous letter to Balai

dasi where Srila Prabhupada tells her not to distribute his letters as

those instructions are not meant for everyone only for the individuals

to whom they are addressed. If you do not find this letter in the

Vedabase then it must have been deleted probably by the same people

that want to make a living out of selling the Vedabase and/or who push

the letters as such an important part of our siddhanta to the exclusion

of clear instructions in Srila Prabhupada's books.

 

So in order to make your point I ask that you please come up with a

quote anywhere where Srila Prabhupada says that his instructions in his

letters are more important or outweigh those in his books. I don't

think you will find any. On the contrary I have quoted the letter to

Balai where he says that you should not distribute his letters or take

his letters as absolute and also I quote the fact that he said that

everything was in his books, i.e. NOT HIS LETTERS.

 

Another point is that if it is still confusing to you (although I can't

see why it would be???) One should see what the previous Acharyas say

on this issue. Actually Rupa Goswami gives the mantras for worshiping

Ganesh as part of his Krsna Janma Abhiseka. One can see this performed

at Radha Raman temple each year and see the Ganesh puja that precedes

it (of course the Ganesh puja is very minor preliminary part as it

should be, compared to the worship of Radha Raman but it is still there

as a accepted preliminary part of the ceremony). One should note that

Srila Prabhupada wanted us to learn deity worship from the Radha Raman

temple and he instructed certain devotees to do just that, including

instructing Nitai to write Arcana Paddhati to be a standard text for

ISKCON deity worship and take help from Nrsimha Vallabha Goswami of

Radha Raman.

 

Letter to Aksayananda Swami (President Krsna Balarama Mandir), 13th

January, 1976.

 

"My Dear Aksayananda Maharaja,

 

Please accept my blessings.… What are the Bengali dramas that Nitai is

working on? He should work on Arcana-paddhati, not divert his attention

here and there. He should make Hari-bhakti-vilasa into short cut, not

more than twenty pages. He can consult Nrsimha Vallabha Goswami for

help on this matter. This should be his first consideration now."

 

Ganesh puja is also accepted and given in Hari Bhakti Vilasa which is

accepted by all Gaudiya Vaisnavas as the main text on Gaudiya Vaisnava

worship by Gopal Bhatta and Sanatana Goswamis. So right there you have

3 out of 6 Goswamis (as well as Srila Prabhupada) advocating Ganesh

worship as preliminary to Krsna worship for clearing obstacles in the

path of devotion. Certainly Srila Prabhupada told certain devotees not

to get into it in the early 70's and I have no problem reconciling the

idea that it is a deviation for most neophytes (and I'm sure devotees

of Indian origin must be shocked to hear that it is an accepted Gaudiya

practice, but those devotees of Indian origin should get over their

cultural conditioning and realize that it IS a part of Gaudiya

practice) but that does not change the fact that ALL Vaisnava

sampradayas except the Ramanujas have Ganesh puja as part of their

traditions. When Vaisnavas worship demigods they do so with the

explicit understanding that the demigod is not supreme or equal in amy

way to the Lord. As you will see in the conversation quoted below Srila

Prabhupada was clear on this point.

 

There is also a text by Gopal Bhatta Goswami on samskaras where he

suggests that one might not worship as a preliminary puja, Ganesha but

instead worship Visvaksena but the consensus of opinion amongst all

Gaudiya Vaisnavas outside ISKCON and the Gaudiya Math is that this book

is not in fact by Gopal Bhatta but by someone else. Be that as it may,

if it is by a Gaudiya Vaisnava (as it certainly seems to be from it's

content) then it shows that there is a traditional idea that the

worship of Ganesh could be replaced with that of Visvaksena (as

Ramanuja sampradaya does). However this brings up the point that if a

Gaudiya Vaisnava is suggesting that the worship of Ganesh be changed to

that of Visvaksena then it means that the author is suggesting a change

from the accepted Gaudiya practice which again is the preliminary

worship of Ganesh. So this is another proof that the preliminary

worship of Ganesh is an accepted Gaudiya practice.

 

Anyway, enjoy the rest of this email. I wrote it about 26 years ago as

part of my deity worship newsletter published from Los Angeles. So you

can see that I have been studying and writing about these issues for a

long time.

 

Srila Prabhupada on How to worship the Demigods

 

Indian 2: If we follow the Krsna conscious path... Now, take for

example our wedding ceremonies. Now, the first thing that we take, the

Ganapati, there is Ganasyainava(?), and there is various other deities

that we have to respect. Now, what happens in his case?

Srila Prabhupada: If you are actually Krsna conscious, then to worship

Ganapati, there is no harm. But if you take Ganapati as independent

God, then your Krsna consciousness is hampered.

Indian 2: But in certain ceremonies these things are...

Srila Prabhupada: Any ceremony. If you know the constable is constable

and the president is president, then it is all right. But if you think

constable is president, then you are misguided.

 

Morning Walk Conversation 12/10/75 Durban, South Africa

 

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.5.5l)

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.…

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. (Cc. Adi. 7.157 Purport)

 

According to Vedic civilization, unmarried girls from ten to fourteen

years of age are supposed to worship either Lord Siva or the goddess

Durga in order to get a nice husband. But the unmarried girls of

Vrndavana were already attracted by the beauty of Krsna. They were,

however, engaged in the worship of the goddess Durga in the beginning

of the Hemanta season (just prior to the winter season). The first

month of Hemanta is called Agrahayana (October\-November), and at that

time all the unmarried gopis of Vrndavana began to worship goddess

Durga with a vow. They first ate havisyanna, a kind of foodstuff

prepared by boiling together mung dal and rice without any spices or

turmeric. According to Vedic injunction, this kind of foodstuff is

recommended to purify the body before one enacts a ritualistic

ceremony. All the unmarried gopis in Vrndavana used to daily worship

goddess Katyayani early in the morning after taking bath in the River

Yamuna. Katyayani is another name for goddess Durga. The goddess is

worshiped by preparing a doll made of sand from the bank of the Yamuna.

It is recommended in the Vedic scriptures that a deity may be made from

different kinds of material elements; it can be painted, made of metal,

made of jewels, made of wood, earth or stone or can be conceived within

the heart of the worshiper. The Mayavadi philosopher takes all these

forms of the deity to be imaginary, but actually they are accepted in

the Vedic literatures to be identical with either the Supreme Lord or a

respective demigod.

The unmarried gopis used to prepare the deity of goddess Durga and

worship it with candana pulp, garlands, incense, lamps and all kinds of

presentations—fruits, grains and twigs of plants. After worshiping, it

is the custom to pray for some benediction. The unmarried girls used to

pray with great devotion to goddess Katyayani, addressing her as

follows: “O supreme external energy of the Personality of Godhead, O

supreme mystic power, O supreme controller of this material world, O

goddess, please be kind to us and arrange for our marriage with the son

of Nanda Maharaja, Krsna.” The Vaisnavas generally do not worship any

demigods. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura has strictly forbidden all

worship of the demigods for anyone who wants to advance in pure

devotional service. Yet the gopis, who are beyond compare in their

affection for Krsna, were seen to worship Durga. The worshipers of

demigods also sometimes mention that the gopis also worshiped goddess

Durga, but we must understand the purpose of the gopis. Generally,

people worship goddess Durga for some material benediction. Here, the

gopis prayed to the goddess to become wives of Lord Krsna. The purport

is that if Krsna is the center of activity, a devotee can adopt any

means to achieve that goal. The gopis could adopt any means to satisfy

or serve Krsna. That was the superexcellent characteristic of the

gopis. They worshiped goddess Durga completely for one month in order

to have Krsna as their husband. Every day they prayed for Krsna, the

son of Nanda Maharaja, to become their husband. (Krsna Book 1.22)

 

She (Rukmini) explained that it was the custom of her family to visit

the temple of the goddess Durga, their family deity, before a marriage.

(The ksatriya kings were mostly staunch Vaisnavas, worshiping Lord

Visnu in either the Radha-Krsna or Laksmi-Narayana form; still, for

their material welfare, they used to worship the goddess Durga. They

never made the mistake, however, of accepting the demigods as the

Supreme Lord on the level of visnu-tattva, as did some less intelligent

men.) (Krsna Book 1.51)

 

Rukmini further began to think that demigods such as Lord Brahma, Lord

 

Siva and the goddess Durga might have been displeased. It is generally

said that the demigods become angry when not properly worshiped. For

instance, when Indra found that the inhabitants of Vrndavana were not

worshiping him (Krsna having stopped the Indra-yajna), he became angry

and wanted to chastise them. Thus Rukmini thought that since she did

not worship Lord Siva or Lord Brahma very much, they might have become

angry and tried to frustrate her plan. Similarly she thought that the

goddess Durga, the wife of Lord Siva, might have taken the side of her

husband. Lord Siva is known as Rudra, and his wife is known as Rudrani.

Rudrani and Rudra refer to those who are accustomed to putting others

in distress to cry forever. Rukmini was thinking of the goddess Durga

as Girija, the daughter of the Himalayan Mountains. The Himalayan

Mountains are very cold and hard, and she thought of the goddess Durga

as hardhearted and cold. In her anxiety to see Krsna, Rukmini, who was

after all still a child, thought this way about the different demigods.

The gopis worshiped goddess Katyayani to get Krsna as their husband;

similarly Rukmini was thinking of the various types of demigods not for

material benefit but in respect to Krsna. Praying to the demigods to

achieve the favor of Krsna is not irregular, and Rukmini was fully

absorbed in thoughts of Krsna.…

Deity worship in the temple has been in existence since the beginning

of Vedic culture. There is a class of men described in the

Bhagavad-gita as the veda-vada-rata; they believe only in the Vedic

ritualistic ceremonies but not in the temple worship. Such foolish

people may here take note that although this marriage of Krsna and

Rukmini took place more than five thousand years ago, there were

arrangements for temple worship. In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord says,

yanti deva-vrata devan: “The worshipers of the demigods attain the

abodes of the demigods.” There were many people who worshiped the

demigods and many who directly worshiped the Supreme Personality of

Godhead. The system of demigod worship was directed mainly to Lord

Brahma, Lord Siva, Lord Ganesa, the sun-god and the goddess Durga. Lord

Siva and the goddess Durga were worshiped even by the royal families;

other minor demigods were worshiped by silly, inferior people. As far

as the brahmanas and Vaisnavas are concerned, they simply worship Lord

Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Bhagavad-gita the

worship of demigods is condemned, but not forbidden; there it is

clearly stated that less intelligent men worship the demigods for

material benefit. On the other hand, even though Rukmini was the

goddess of fortune, she went to the temple of the goddess Durga because

the family deity was worshiped there. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is

stated that as Rukmini proceeded towards the temple of the goddess

Durga, within her heart she always thought of the lotus feet of Krsna.

Therefore when Rukmini went to the temple it was not with the intention

of an ordinary person, who goes to beg for material benefits; her only

goal was Krsna. When people go to the temple of a demigod, the

objective is actually Krsna, since it is He who empowers the demigods

to provide material benefits.

As Rukmini proceeded toward the temple, she was silent and grave. Her

mother and her girl friend were by her side, and the wife of a brahmana

was in the center; surrounding her were royal bodyguards. (This custom

of a would-be bride's going to the temple of a demigod is still

practiced in India.) As the procession continued, various musical

sounds were heard. Drums, conchshells and bugles of different sizes,

such as panavas, turyas and bheris, combined to make a sound which was

not only auspicious but very sweet to hear. Thousands of wives of

respectable brahmanas were present, all dressed very nicely with

suitable ornaments. They presented Rukmini with flower garlands,

sandalwood pulp and a variety of colorful garments to assist her in

worshiping Lord Siva and the goddess Durga. Some of these ladies were

very old and knew perfectly well how to chant prayers to the goddess

Durga and Lord Siva; so, followed by Rukmini and others, they led these

prayers before the deity.

Rukmini offered her prayers to the deity by saying, “My dear goddess

Durga, I offer my respectful obeisances unto you as well as to your

children.” The goddess Durga has four famous children: two

daughters—the goddess of fortune, Laksmi, and the goddess of learning,

Sarasvati—and two famous sons, Lord Ganesa and Lord Karttikeya. They

are all considered to be demigods and goddesses. Since the goddess

Durga is always worshiped with her famous children, Rukmini

specifically offered her respectful obeisances to the deity in that

way; however, her prayers were different. Ordinary people pray to the

goddess Durga for material wealth, fame, profit, strength and so on;

Rukmini, however, desired to have Krsna for her husband and therefore

prayed that the deity be pleased with her and bless her. Since she

desired only Krsna, her worship of the demigods is not condemned. While

Rukmini was praying, she presented a variety of items before the deity,

chief of which were water, different kinds of flames, incense,

garments, garlands and various foodstuffs prepared with ghee, such as

puris and kacauris. She also offered fruits, sugarcane, betel nuts and

spices. With great devotion, Rukmini offered them to the deity

according to the regulative principles, directed by the old brahmana

ladies. After this ritualistic ceremony, the ladies offered the

remnants of the foodstuffs to Rukmini as prasadam, which she accepted

with great respect. Then Rukmini offered her obeisances to the ladies

and to the goddess Durga. After the business of deity worship was

finished, Rukmini caught hold of the hand of one of her girl friends

and left the temple, accompanied by the others. (Krsna Book 1.52)

 

Gopal Bhatta Goswami cites the alternative for the vaisnava according

to the Padma Purana:

 

ananya sarano bhakto nama mantresu diksitah

kada cin narcayed devan ganesadims tu vaisnavah

yatra yatra surah pujya ganesadyas tu karminam

visnvarcane tatra tatra vaisnavanam hi vaisnavah

visvaksenam sa sanakam sanatana matah param

sananda sanat kumara pancaitan pujayet tatah

 

The devotee interested in pure devotion to the Lord, and initiated with

vaisnava mantra should never worship Ganesa and the other devatas.

Wherever the karmis prescribe worship of Ganesa and the devatas, the

vaisnava should worship the pure devotees of visnu. Thus instead of

worshipping Ganesa to remove material obstacles, the devotee should

worship visvaksena and the four Kumara brothers to remove obstacles on

the spiritual path. Padma Purana, cited in Sat Kriya Sar Dipika

 

In the same way, instead of worshipping the nine planetary deities one

should worship the nine yogendras, and instead of worshiping the dik

palas (protectors of the directions) one should worship the maha

bhagavatas. Instead of worshiping the matr gana (sixteen expansions of

Durga, in charge of material energy) one should worship the the Lord's

consorts who are the shelter of spiritual energies.

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur has accepted Sat Kriya Sara

Dipika as the authorized vaisnava manual for samskaras, just as he has

accepted Hari Bhakti Vilasa as the authorized scripture for arcana, and

has recommended that all vaisnava grhasthas should follow its

procedures.

 

sincerely,

 

Gaura Keshava das

[Guest guest]

Gaura Keshava wrote:

 

> I gave you the other example of the Jiva issue, also confused because

> of misquoting from letters which seem to contradict what is written in

> Srila Prabhupada's books. In fact there is a famous letter to Balai

> dasi where Srila Prabhupada tells her not to distribute his letters as

> those instructions are not meant for everyone only for the individuals

> to whom they are addressed. If you do not find this letter in the

> Vedabase then it must have been deleted probably by the same people

> that want to make a living out of selling the Vedabase and/or who push

> the letters as such an important part of our siddhanta to the exclusion

> of clear instructions in Srila Prabhupada's books.

 

I have sent you an extensive research on the jiva issue by Drutakarma

prabhu, which clearly and unequivocally shows Srila Prabhupada's, Srimad

Bhagavatam's and the previous acharyas' position on the matter, namely that

the soul originates from Krishna's lila. Now, I would like to know where

this idea comes from, that you and many other devotees brandish about as if

it were a fact, that the souls in the material world were always in maya and

have never been with Krishna? Where does the idea come from? Is there any

evidence at all? Why are some devotees convinced of a conclusion that has no

basis in guru-sadhu and sastra? Can you tell me that?