Confused about who is God...

[Guest guest]

Devotee: Yesterday you have said that Krsna says that He is the taste in water. In the Koran it is also said that Allah you can taste in the water. We also see Krsna is in temple. Does this mean also Allah is in the temple? And why are all these religions so different? Because essentially they are all the same.

 

Prabhupada: You make difference, we don't make. We allow everyone. But you think you are Mohammedan, "We shall not go." That is your discrimination. We say "Come everyone." You make discrimination. We don't make.

[Guest guest]

Acyutananda: Question: I believe in Krsna but please clarify the following doubts. Lord Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so when Krsna is the only God in the world, the creator of the whole universe, then why the existence of Jesus Christ and Allah? Why should not only one God for all? Why Christians and Muslims are not accepting Krsna as God?

 

Prabhupada: They are accepting God, but they did not disclose the name of God because the people are unable to understand. "Krsna" means "the all-attractive." That is the meaning of Krsna. So unless God is all-attractive, how He can be God? "Krsna" means all-attractive.

[Guest guest]

"You can chant the name of Allah also. Not necessarily that you have to chant the Krsna name, but any name indicating the Supreme Lord can be chanted." Because in the Sastra it is said, harer nama, harer nama, [Cc. Ädi 17.21] the holy name of the Lord. But it must be the name of the Lord. Actually, Krsna has thousands of names, and His names are enumerated by His activities. Just like Kåñëa accepted to become the son of mother Yasoda; therefore He is called Yasoda-nandana. Krsna accepted Vasudeva as His father, or Nanda Maharaja; therefore He is called Nanda-nandana, Vasudeva, or Devaki-nandana. Krsna acted as the charioteer of Arjuna; He is called Partha-sarathi. So Krsna's name means attached with the activities along with His devotees. This is Krsna's name. So if the Muhammadans' aim the Supreme Lord, Allah akbar, "God the great..." Just like we say Parabrahma. Brahman means the biggest, brhatvat brhannatvat. On account of being very big, including everything, that God's another name is Parabrahma. Param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan [bg. 10.12]. Arjuna addressed Krsna as Parabrahma. So Allah akbar means Parabrahma.

So we do not make any distinction that this type of religion is better than that type of religion. Any religion which teaches how to love God, that is first-class religion. That is the injunction of the Srimad-Bhagavatam."

 

Srila Prabhupada - Arrival lecture Calcutta march 20 1975

[Guest guest]

Please tolerate my humble attempts to comment on this subject matter. We have no qualification ourselves, only by the mercy of Sri Guru can anything i say have meaning.

 

Please forgive any discrepencies or oversights.

 

Please pray that i may one day get love of Godhead

 

Hara Govinda

 

Your servant

[Umapati_Dasa]

So then you do recognize Shiva as a form of God?

 

Shiva is Shiva-tattva. He has that unique position. He's not a demigod like the other demigods; they are Jiva-tattva. Sada-shiva is also Visnu-tattva and Shiva is an expansion of him, yes? So Shiva is very special, like yoghurt. Milk & Yoghurt are the same yet different. Shiva himself is chanting Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

 

The important thing is that everyone becomes God conscious, but not everyone will take the name Krsna. So if they prefer then they can take the name Allah or Jehovah. Better they worship with the name Allah or Jehovah than not to worship at all. After all they refer to God - despite apparent characteristic differences. The name Shiva can also reference God. For Krsna is indubitably Shiva.

 

Yet Shiva is also an extremely special personality. He is there in Krsna Lila as Gopiswar Mahadev and he is there in Gaura-Lila as Advaita Acarya. He also came as Sankaracarya. Jaya Mahadev who can bewilder the minds of men and is fully devoted to the lotus feet of Sankarsana. Om namo Shivaya!

 

I'd be careful of making offences to the followers of Islam and Christianity. True there may be many who are not so exemplary devotees of God, but there are also undoubtedly those who are very sincere in their worship of God whether they call Him Allah, Jehovah or Visnu etc.

[Guest guest]

Yes Shiva has real objective form. You also have form; name, form, qualities and pastimes. Each and every jiva is part and parcel of God. The difference is quantative, not qualitative. As far as we have understood, Shiva holds a unique posistion between that of Visnu-Tattva and Jiva-Tattva. He is uniquely Shiva-Tattva, how and why God is manifest in this way (who can say) but this is what is told. There are different conclusions. If you are in Rudra Sampradaya perhaps there will be apparent difference. This is acintya sakti of God - that we cannot understand with our minds so bound by duality.

 

One's Ista-dev does not limit, however the appreciation of all worshippable personalities. Our Gurudev tells one story of how he is in Vrindavan and one Shaivite is walking towards him, in full regalia; covered in ashes, trident (the full works) So Guru Maharaj thinks to try and please him by glorifying his Ista-dev so he shouts Jaya Mahadev! And the Shaivite replies Jaya Sri Radhe! So externally we may be this or that, but that doesn't stop us loving all transcendental personalities. We should have the right understanding though. Read Brahma Samhita, it's a tremendously wonderful transcendental literature. I think many in Iskcon as well as others would benefit greatly from reading Brahma Samhita - 5th Chapter as revealed by Sri Krsna-Chaitanya.

 

Here is something we wrote about a year ago, regarding Shaivites and Vaishnavas.

 

 

A perfect Vaishnava should therefore be a perfect Shaivaite

 

 

One of the many meanings of Vaishnava is ‘of the quality of Vishnu’ Vaish refers to Vishnu and Nava means substance or quality, so a Vaishnava should have the quality of Vishnu (all fostering). Nava also refers to the ‘Sat’ principle of eternity, so Vaishnava means one who always has the quality of Vishnu!

 

 

Shaivaite means one who follows the example of Shiva. Shaiv is obviously refering to Lord Shiva and ite refers in Sanskrit to iti meaning so, this and thus. It is interesting to remark that the short & useful word ‘it’, derives from it’s Sanskrit parentage iti and a great many words in the English language use ‘ite’ as either a prefix or suffix e.g. quite.

 

 

So Shaivaite is one with the qualities of Lord Shiva & Vaishnava is one with the qualities of Vishnu. It is worth noting that despite the exacting, potential similartudinal quality of Jiva tattva with that of Vishnu & Shiva tattva respectively, there unceasingly remains a glaringly obvious difference in quantity. Nevertheless, anyone who claims identity as a Vaishnava or Shaivite must assert in himself mutual tolerance, reverance and with all deference, enthusiastically praise both parties. Failing to do so simply results in carnage, as history has shown us.

[rashmipittsburgh]

"Shiva is Shiva-tattva. He has that unique position. He's not a demigod like the other demigods; they are Jiva-tattva. Sada-shiva is also Visnu-tattva and Shiva is an expansion of him, yes? So Shiva is very special, like yoghurt. Milk & Yoghurt are the same yet different."

 

Beautiful ......!!

[Swami Iconoclast]

If you want to know God, simply access the infallible teachings of His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

[bhaktajan]

Hindustani: how the hell you chaps are trying to say who is the God and who is demigod?

Comeout of this fake saga of God and Demigod,else you will be punished severely by your own God one day while living or after death.

 

Umapati_das: I don't understand ISKCON either. They say that Shiva and Devi are less than Krishna, but then go on to say that gods from other religions are Krishna.

 

[iMO, 1/10 of 1% of posters on these forums are not nor have ever been a part of ISKCON, yet. As I am.]

........................................................................

 

Bhaktajan: Who is God? [here is the definition--other than this definition is the concept of Atheism and its concominant factors]:

 

God, by definition, is that Person who possesses and is the original source of all personal Opulences-in-full par excellence:

 

God, by definition, is that Person who possesses all

wealth,

strength,

beautity,

intelligence,

fame, and,

renunciation.

 

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Bhagavata-purana 3.10.17 [translation & Purport by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami]:

 

"The fifth creation is that of the controlling deities by the interaction of the mode of goodness, of which the mind is the sum total. The sixth creation is the ignorant darkness of the living entity, by which the master acts as a fool."

 

 

 

 

PURPORT

 

 

The demigods in the higher planets are called devas because they are all devotees of Lord Viñëu. Viñëu-bhaktaù småto daiva äsuras tad-viparyayaù: all the devotees of Lord Viñëu are devas, or demigods, whereas all others are asuras.

 

That is the division of the devas and the asuras. Devas are situated in the mode of goodness of material nature, whereas the asuras are situated in the modes of passion or ignorance. The demigods, or controlling deities, are entrusted with departmental management of all the different functions of the material world.

 

For example, one of our sense organs, the eye, is controlled by light, light is distributed by the sun rays, and their controlling deity is the sun.

 

Similarly, mind is controlled by the moon. All other senses, both for working and for acquiring knowledge, are controlled by the different demigods. The demigods are assistants of the Lord in the management of material affairs.

 

After the creation of the demigods, all entities are covered by the darkness of ignorance. Each and every living being in the material world is conditioned by his mentality of lording it over the resources of material nature.

 

Although a living entity is the master of the material world, he is conditioned by ignorance, by the false impression of being the proprietor of material things.

 

The energy of the Lord called avidyä is the bewildering factor of the conditioned souls. The material nature is called avidyä, or ignorance, but to the devotees of the Lord engaged in pure devotional service, this energy becomes vidyä, or pure knowledge. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gétä.

 

The energy of the Lord transforms from mahämäyä to yogamäyä and appears to pure devotees in her real feature. The material nature therefore appears to function in three phases: as the creative principle of the material world, as ignorance and as knowledge.

 

As disclosed in the previous verse, in the fourth creation the power of knowledge is also created. The conditioned souls are not originally fools, but by the influence of the avidyä function of material nature they are made fools, and thus they are unable to utilize knowledge in the proper channel.

 

By the influence of darkness, the conditioned soul forgets his relationship with the Supreme Lord and is overwhelmed by attachment, hatred, pride, ignorance and false identification, the five kinds of illusion that cause material bondage.

[username1]

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[Smiley]

It is interesting that he says one can chant the name of Allah because it indicates the Supreme Lord but that Narayana is not completely perfect:

"The activities of the Lord are always inconceivable to the tiny brain of the living entities. Nothing is impossible for the Supreme Lord, but all His actions are wonderful for us, and thus He is always beyond the range of our conceivable limits. The Lord is the all-powerful, all-perfect Personality of Godhead. The Lord is cent percent perfect, whereas others, namely Narayana, Brahma, Siva, the demigods and all other living beings, possess only different percentages of such perfection. No one is equal to or greater than Him. He is unrivaled." SB 1.8.16pp

 

 

"You can chant the name of Allah also. Not necessarily that you have to chant the Krsna name, but any name indicating the Supreme Lord can be chanted." Because in the Sastra it is said, harer nama, harer nama, [Cc. Ädi 17.21] the holy name of the Lord. But it must be the name of the Lord. Actually, Krsna has thousands of names, and His names are enumerated by His activities. Just like Kåñëa accepted to become the son of mother Yasoda; therefore He is called Yasoda-nandana. Krsna accepted Vasudeva as His father, or Nanda Maharaja; therefore He is called Nanda-nandana, Vasudeva, or Devaki-nandana. Krsna acted as the charioteer of Arjuna; He is called Partha-sarathi. So Krsna's name means attached with the activities along with His devotees. This is Krsna's name. So if the Muhammadans' aim the Supreme Lord, Allah akbar, "God the great..." Just like we say Parabrahma. Brahman means the biggest, brhatvat brhannatvat. On account of being very big, including everything, that God's another name is Parabrahma. Param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan [bg. 10.12]. Arjuna addressed Krsna as Parabrahma. So Allah akbar means Parabrahma.

So we do not make any distinction that this type of religion is better than that type of religion. Any religion which teaches how to love God, that is first-class religion. That is the injunction of the Srimad-Bhagavatam."

 

Srila Prabhupada - Arrival lecture Calcutta march 20 1975

Edited August 7, 2009 by Smiley