Lord Shiva, The Greatest Vaisnava

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LORD SHIVA THE GREATEST VAISHNAVA

In this article we pose certain commonly asked question about lord

Shiva,

with answers from the teachings of Srila Prabhupada

 

(1) WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KRISHNA AND SHIVA?

 

Learned scholars in transcendental subjects have carefully analyzed

the

summum bonum Krishna to have sixty-four principal attributes. All the

expansions

or categories of the Lord possess only some percentages of these

attributes.

But Sri Krishna is the possessor of the attributes cent percent. And

His personal

expansions such as svayam-prakasa, tad-ekatma up to the categories of

the

avataras who are all vishnu-tattva, possess up to ninety-three

percent of these

transcendental attributes. Lord Siva, who is neither avatara nor

avesa nor in

between them, possesses almost eighty-four percent of the attributes.

(sb

1.3.28)

 

 

kshiram yatha dadhi vikara-visesha-yogat

sanjayate na tu tatah prithag asti hetoh

yah sambhutam api tatha samupaiti karyad

govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

" `Milk changes into yogurt when mixed with a yogurt culture, but

actually it

is constitutionally nothing but milk. Similarly, Govinda, the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, assumes the form of Lord Siva [sambhu] for

the special

purpose of material transactions. I offer my obeisances at His lotus

feet.'

(The real nature of Sambhu, the presiding deity of Mahesa-dhama, is

described.) Sambhu is not a second Godhead other than Krishna. Those,

who

entertain such discriminating sentiment, commit a great offense

against the

Supreme Lord. The supremacy of Sambhu is subservient to that of

Govinda; hence

they are not really different from each other. The nondistinction is

established by the fact that just as milk treated with acid turns

into curd so

Godhead becomes a subservient when He Himself attains a distinct

personality by

the addition of a particular element of adulteration. This

personality has no

independent initiative. The said adulterating principle is

constituted of a

combination of the stupefying quality of the deluding energy, the

quality of

nonplenitude of the marginal potency and a slight degree of the

ecstatic-cum-cognitive principle of the plenary spiritual potency.

This

specifically adulterated reflection of the principle of the

subjective portion

of the Divinity is

Sadasiva, in the form of the effulgent masculine-symbol-god Sambhu

from whom

Rudradeva is manifested. In the work of mundane creation as the

material cause,

in the work of preservation by the destruction of sundry asuras and

in the work

of destruction to conduct the whole operation, Govinda manifests

Himself as

guna-avatara in the form of Sambhu who is the separated portion of

Govinda

imbued with the principle of His subjective plenary portion. The

personality of

the destructive principle in the form of time has been identified

with that of

Sambhu by scriptural evidences that have been adduced in the

commentary. The

purport of the Bhagavata slokas, viz., vaishnavanam yatha sambhuh,

etc., is that

Sambhu, in pursuance of the will of Govinda, works in union with his

consort

Durgadevi by his own time energy. He teaches pious duties (dharma) as

stepping-stones to the attainment of spiritual service in the various

tantra-sastras, etc., suitable for jivas in different grades of the

conditional existence. In obedience to the will of Govinda, Sambhu

maintains

and fosters the religion of pure devotion by preaching the cult of

illusionism

(Mayavada) and the speculative agama-sastras. The fifty attributes of

individual souls are manifest in a far vaster measure in Sambhu and

five

additional attributes not attainable by jivas are also partly found

in him. So

Sambhu cannot be called a jiva. He is the lord of jiva but yet

partakes of the

nature of a separated portion of Govinda. (brahma samhita 5.45)

 

(2) CAN ONE GET THE SAME RESULT BY WORSHIPPING SHIVA OR KRISHNA?

 

There is a Mission that regularly propounds that worship of any

demigod will

lead one to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or the supreme goal.

But

worship of demigods is thoroughly discouraged herein because even the

greatest

demigods like Brahma and Siva represent only part of the opulence of

the

Supreme Lord. He is the origin of everyone born, and no one is

greater than

Him. He is asamaurdhva, which means that no one is superior to Him

and that no

one is equal to Him. In the Padma Purana it is said that one who

considers the

Supreme Lord Krishna in the same category with demigods—be they even

Brahma or

Siva—becomes at once an atheist.(BG 10.42)

There are many foolish persons who say that one can chant Hare

Krishna or chant

the name of Kali or Durga or Siva because they are all the same. If

one thinks

that the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the

names and

activities of the demigods are on the same level, or if one accepts

the holy

name of Vishnu to be a material sound vibration, that is also an

offense. (SB

3.15.25)

 

(3) IN WHAT WAY DO DEVOTEES OF LORD KRISHNA OFFER RESPECTS TO LORD

SHIVA?

 

It is said, vaishnavanam yatha sambhuh: Lord Siva is the best of all

devotees.

Therefore all devotees of Lord Krishna are also devotees of Lord

Siva. In

Vrindavana there is Lord Siva's temple called Gopisvara. The gopis

used to

worship not only Lord Siva but Katyayani, or Durga, as well, but

their aim was

to attain the favor of Lord Krishna. A devotee of Lord Krishna does

not disrespect

Lord Siva, but worships Lord Siva as the most exalted devotee of Lord

Krishna.

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

Siva to

achieve the favor of Krishna, and he does not request material

profit. In

Bhagavad-gita (7.20) it is said that generally people worship

demigods for some

material profit. Kamais tais tair hrita jnanah. Driven by material

lust, they

worship demigods, but a devotee never does so, for he is never driven

by

material lust. That is the difference between a devotee's respect for

Lord Siva

and an asura's respect for him. The asura worships Lord Siva, takes

some

benediction from him, misuses the benediction and ultimately is

killed by the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, who awards him liberation.

Because Lord Siva is a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of

Godhead,

he loves all the devotees of the Supreme Lord. Lord Siva told the

Pracetas that

because they were devotees of the Lord, he loved them very much. Lord

Siva was

not kind and merciful only to the Pracetas; anyone who is a devotee

of the

Supreme Personality of Godhead is very dear to Lord Siva. Not only

are the

devotees dear to Lord Siva, but he respects them as much as he

respects the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, devotees of the Supreme

Lord also

worship Lord Siva as the most dear devotee of Lord Krishna. They do

not worship

him as a separate Personality of Godhead. It is stated in the list of

nama-aparadhas that it is an offense to think that the chanting of

the name of

Hari and the chanting of Hara, or Siva, are the same. The devotees

must always

know that Lord Vishnu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that

Lord Siva

is His devotee. A devotee should be offered respect on the level of

the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, and sometimes even more respect.

Indeed, Lord

Rama, the Personality of Godhead Himself, sometimes worshiped Lord

Siva. If a

devotee is worshiped by the Lord, why should a devotee not be

worshiped by

other devotees on the same level with the Lord? This is the

conclusion. From

this verse it appears that Lord Siva blesses the asuras simply for

the sake of

formality. Actually he loves one who is devoted to the Supreme

Personality of

Godhead. (purport SB 4.24.30)

 

(4) SHOULD DEVOTEES OF KRISNA DISCOURAGE OTHERS FROM WORSHIPPING LORD

SHIVA?

 

Devotee: Srila Prabhupada, in Winnipeg there is one very pious east

Indian

man who for many years has been worshiping somewhat, worshiping Lord

Siva. And

his wife is also a very quite chaste woman and sincere follower—and

so were her

parents—of Lord Siva. And he is reading your Bhagavad-gita. He visits

our

temple. And I have given him the first volume of Canto Four which

discusses

Lord Siva a great deal. And he has read in one of your purports that

Krishna is

more pleased when you worship His devotee than when you worship Him

directly.

And Lord Siva is a very great devotee of Krishna. So he has now

interpreted that

to mean that if he worships Lord Siva so nicely, then actually he is

pleasing

Krishna more. So he is experiencing some difficulty because of this

and I'm not

quite sure how to instruct him that actually...

Prabhupada: Difficulty?

Brahmananda: That... Our Godbrother has difficulty in replying to this

interpretation that Krishna says, " You can please Me by worshiping My

devotee, "

and Lord Siva is the devotee of Krishna. So therefore this man

says, " Then I

shall worship Lord Siva. In that way I shall please Krishna. "

Prabhupada: But if he accepts Lord Siva is devotee of Krishna, then by

worshiping Lord Siva he will be benefited. If he thinks Lord Siva is

independent, then he will not be benefited.

Devotee (3): I've got him to accept that Lord Siva is devotee of

Krishna, but

there's no practical instruction in his worldly activities coming.

Prabhupada: No, vaishnavanam yatha sambhuh: " Amongst the Vaishnavas,

Sambhu,

Lord Siva, is the greatest Vaishnava. " So we worship Lord Siva as

Vaishnava. We

gives respect to Vaishnavas. So why not Lord Siva? Lord Siva is a big

Vaishnava.

But generally, the devotees of Lord Siva, they take Lord Siva is

independent

God. That is offensive. If you know that Lord Siva is also a devotee,

you can

give more respect to Lord Siva. Krishna will be pleased.

Devotee (3): Srila Prabhupada, he does not chant Hare Krishna, he

chants om

sivaya namah.

Prabhupada: That's all right.

Devotee (3): It's all right?

Prabhupada: He will gradually become devotee. When God, Lord Siva,

will be

pleased upon him, he will advise to worship.

Devotee (3): He is already trying to tell him to follow in your

footsteps

surely, so just before I left he said he will try once again to chant

sixteen

rounds of japa, Hare Krishna. He has tried already. He has a taste

for...

Prabhupada: If he simply understands that Lord Siva is a Vaishnava

and if he

worships Lord Siva, then he will get the benefit. (ROOM

CONVERSTATION, CHICAGO,

9TH JULY 1975)

 

(5) WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BEWTEEN LORD SHIVA AND GHOSTS?

 

Lord Siva, the king of the ghosts, sitting on the back of his bull

carrier,

travels at this time, accompanied by ghosts who follow him for their

welfare.

PURPORT

Lord Siva, or Rudra, is the king of the ghosts. Ghostly characters

worship

Lord Siva to be gradually guided toward a path of self-realization.

Mayavadi

philosophers are mostly worshipers of Lord Siva, and Sripada

Sankaracarya is

considered to be the incarnation of Lord Siva for preaching

godlessness to the

Mayavadi philosophers. Ghosts are bereft of a physical body because

of their

grievously sinful acts, such as suicide. The last resort of the

ghostly

characters in human society is to take shelter of suicide, either

material or

spiritual. Material suicide causes loss of the physical body, and

spiritual

suicide causes loss of the individual identity. Mayavadi philosophers

desire to

lose their individuality and merge into the impersonal spiritual

brahmajyoti

existence. Lord Siva, being very kind to the ghosts, sees that

although they

are condemned, they get physical bodies. He places them into the

wombs of women

who indulge in sexual intercourse regardless of the restrictions on

time and circumstance

(SB 3.14.24)

 

(6) WHY DO SO MANY LADIES WORSHIP LORD SHIVA?

 

Lord Siva is the husband of Sati, one of the sisters of Diti. Diti

invoked

the pleasure of her sister Sati so that Sati would request her

husband to

excuse her. Besides that, Lord Siva is the worshipable lord of all

women. He is

naturally very kind towards women, on whom even the uncivilized

hunters also

show their mercy. Since Lord Siva is himself associated with women,

he knows

very well their defective nature, and he might not take very

seriously Diti's

unavoidable offense, which occurred due to her faulty nature. Every

virgin girl

is supposed to be a devotee of Lord Siva. Diti remembered her

childhood worship

of Lord Siva and begged his mercy.

(SB 3.14.36)

Today in Hindu society, unmarried girls are still taught to worship

Lord Siva

with the idea that they may get husbands like him. Lord Siva is the

ideal

husband, not in the sense of riches or sense gratification, but

because he is

the greatest of all devotees. Vaishnavanam yatha sambhuh: Sambhu, or

Lord Siva,

is the ideal Vaishnava. He constantly meditates upon Lord Rama and

chants Hare

Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Lord Siva has a Vaishnava

sampradaya,

which is called the Vishnu Svami-sampradaya. Unmarried girls worship

Lord Siva

so that they can expect a husband who is as good a Vaishnava as he.

The girls

are not taught to select a husband who is very rich or very opulent

for

material sense gratification; rather, if a girl is fortunate enough

to get a

husband as good as Lord Siva in devotional service, then her life

becomes

perfect. The wife is dependent on the husband, and if the husband is a

Vaishnava, then naturally she shares the devotional service of the

husband

because

she renders him service. (S.B. 3.23.1)

 

(7) WHY DOES SHIVA HAVE SNAKES ALL OVER HIS BODY?

 

In order to get release from the false ego, one has to worship

Sankarshana.

Sankarshana is also worshiped through Lord Siva; the snakes which

cover the body

of Lord Siva are representations of Sankarshana, and Lord Siva is

always

absorbed in meditation upon Sankarshana. (S.B. 3.26.21)

 

(8) DO VAISNAVAS TAKE THE PRASADAM OF LORD SHIVA?

 

It is said that among all the devotees of the Personality of Godhead,

Lord

Siva is the greatest. Thus the remnants of foodstuff left by him are

accepted

by other devotees as maha-prasada, or great spiritual foodstuff. The

remnants

of foodstuff offered to Lord Krishna are called prasada, but when the

same

prasada is eaten by a great devotee like Lord Siva, it is called maha-

prasada.

Lord Siva is so great that he does not care for the material

prosperity for

which every one of us is so eager. Parvati, who is the powerful

material nature

personified, is under his full control as his wife, yet he does not

use her

even to build a residential house. He prefers to remain without

shelter, and

his great wife also agrees to live with him humbly. People in general

worship

goddess Durga, the wife of Lord Siva, for material prosperity, but

Lord Siva

engages her in his service without material desire. He simply advises

his great

wife that of all kinds of worship, the worship of Vishnu is the

highest, and greater than that is the worship of a great devotee or

anything

in relation with Vishnu. (S.B. 3.14.26)

 

(9) WHAT IS THE POSITION OF LORD SHIVA?

 

In the Vamana Purana it is said that the same Vishnu expands Himself

as Brahma

and Siva to direct the different qualities. ( cc ADI 5.104)

Mahesvara, or Lord Siva, is not an ordinary living being, nor is he

equal to

Lord Vishnu. Effectively comparing Lord Vishnu and Lord Siva, the

Brahma-samhita

says that Vishnu is like milk, whereas Siva is like yogurt. Yogurt is

nothing

like milk, but nevertheless it is milk also. (CC ADI 1.105)

 

(10) IT IS SAID THAT LORD SHIVA IS NON-DIFFERENT FROM KRISHNA. WHAT

DOES THAT

MEAN?

Srila Jiva Gosvami, in his Bhakti-sandarbha (213), has clearly

explained that

a pure devotee's observation of the spiritual master and Lord Siva as

being one

with the Personality of Godhead exists in terms of their being very

dear to the

Lord, not identical with Him in all respects. (CC ADI 1.46)

 

(11) WHO ARE THE EXPANSIONS OF LORD SHIVA?

 

Rudra, who is an expansion of Sadasiva and who appears in unlimited

universes, is also a gunavatara [qualitative incarnation] and is the

ornament

of all the demigods in the endless universes.

PURPORT

There are eleven expansions of Rudra, or Lord Siva. They are as

follows:

Ajaikapat, Ahibradhna, Virupaksha, Raivata, Hara, Bahurupa,

Devasreshtha

Tryambaka, Savitra, Jayanta, Pinaki and Aparajita. Besides these

expansions

there are eight forms of Rudra called earth, water, fire, air, sky,

the sun,

the moon and soma-yaji. Generally all these Rudras have five faces,

three eyes

and ten arms. Sometimes it is found that Rudra is compared to Brahma

and

considered a living entity. But when Rudra is explained to be a

partial

expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is compared to

Sesha. Lord

Siva is therefore simultaneously an expansion of Lord Vishnu and, in

his

capacity for annihilating the creation, one of the living entities.

As an

expansion of Lord Vishnu he is called Hara, and he is transcendental

to the

material qualities, but when he is in touch with tamo-guna he appears

contaminated by the material modes of nature. This is explained in

Srimad-Bhagavatam and the

Brahma-samhita. In Srimad-Bhagavatam, Tenth Canto, it is stated that

Lord

Rudra is always associated with the material nature when she is in

the neutral,

unmanifested stage, but when the modes of material nature are

agitated he

associates with material nature from a distance. In the Brahma-

samhita the

relationship between Vishnu and Lord Siva is compared to that between

milk and

yogurt. Milk is converted into yogurt by certain additives, but

although milk

and yogurt have the same ingredients, they have different functions.

Similarly,

Lord Siva is an expansion of Lord Vishnu, yet because of his taking

part in the

annihilation of the cosmic manifestation, he is considered to be

changed, like

milk converted into yogurt. In the Puranas it is found that Siva

appears

sometimes from the heads of Brahma and sometimes from the head of

Vishnu. The

annihilator, Rudra, is born from Sankarshana and the ultimate fire to

burn the

whole creation. In the Vayu Purana there is a description of Sadasiva

in

one of the Vaikuntha planets. That Sadasiva is a direct expansion of

Lord

Krishna's form for pastimes. It is said that Sadasiva (Lord Sambhu)

is an

expansion from the Sadasiva in the Vaikuntha planets (Lord Vishnu)

and that his

consort, Mahamaya, is an expansion of Rama-devi, or Lakshmi. Mahamaya

is the

origin or birthplace of material nature. (CC ADI 6.79)

 

(12) IS LORD SHIVA WORSHIPPED THROUGH THE TAKING OF INTOXICANTS?

 

We should always consider the position of the isvaras, or those who

can

actually control the movements of the sun and moon, as superior.

Without such

power, one cannot imitate the isvaras, who are superpowerful. Lord

Siva drank

poison to the extent of swallowing an ocean, but if any common man

tries to

drink even a fragment of such poison, he will be killed. There are

many pseudo

devotees of Lord Siva who want to indulge in smoking ganja

(marijuana) and

similar intoxicating drugs, forgetting that by so imitating the acts

of Lord

Siva they are calling death very near. Similarly, there are some

pseudo

devotees of Lord Krishna who prefer to imitate the Lord in His rasa-

lila, or

dance of love, forgetting their inability to lift Govardhana Hill. It

is best,

therefore, that one not try to imitate the powerful, but simply

follow their

instructions; nor should one try to occupy their posts without

qualification.

There are so many " incarnations " of God without the power of the

Supreme

Godhead.

 

(13) WHAT IS THE NAURE OF THE WORSHIPPERS OF DIFFERENT GODS?

 

When the mode of goodness is mixed with the mode of passion, one

worships the

sun-god, Vivasvan. When the mode of goodness is mixed with the mode of

ignorance, one worships Ganapati, or Ganesa. When the mode of passion

is mixed

with the mode of ignorance, one worships Durga, or Kali, the external

potency.

When one is simply in the mode of ignorance, one becomes a devotee of

Lord Siva

because Lord Siva is the predominating deity of the mode of ignorance

within

this material world. However, when one is completely free from the

influence of

all the modes of material nature, one becomes a pure Vaishnava on the

devotional

platform. (CC MADHYA 24.330)

 

(14) WHY DID LORD RAMACHANDRA WORSHIP SHIVA?

 

He (LORD KRISHNA AND LORD RAMA) likes to worship His devotee.

Sometimes the

father takes the child on his shoulder. Does it mean the child is more

important than the father? They say the Valmiki Ramayana, there is no

such

incidence as Ramacandra worships Siva. It is later on,

interpretation. But even

if He does so, what is the wrong here? (conversation 23 dec 1975

mumbai)

 

Some points are from Krishna Kathamrita by Madhavananda dasa prabhu.