What does Hare Krishna have against Lord Shiva?

[Guest guest]

 

Jai Shree Krishna,

 

I apologize for any controversy, but I sometimes get the feeling that the Hare Krishna movement looks to undermine the glory of Lord Sankara.

 

Don't get me wrong - I worship Lord Vishnu and his divine incarnations. I have the understanding that Lord Shiva is the greatest yogi - the master of all yoga. He is also the unmatched devotee of Shree Ram, and Shree Hanuman is one of his incarnations. He is also known as "Bholenath" - because his easily bestows boons and wishes on his devotees.

 

But I don't feel the Hare Krishna movement emphasizes this a lot, or at all, whenever I visit the mandirs, read their books and versions of scriptures, etc.

 

An example: I was reading the Srimad Bhagavatam a few minutes ago, and I read Canto 1, Chapter 18, Verse 14 [http://www.srimadbhagavatam.org/canto1/chapter18.html]. The explanatory text states:

 

"..His transcendental attributes cannot even be measured by such masters of mystic powers as Lord S'iva and Lord Brahmâ."

 

when the original did not even mention Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma.

 

Please express your view on this.

 

[sashin]

Haribol Prabhu,

 

I checked the verse you mentioned in the Bhagavatham.

 

As far as Shrila Bhakti vedanta Swami Prabhupada's trnaslation is concerned he translated Bhava as Lord Siva and Padma as Lord Brahma ..so your contention that Lord Siva is being not mentioned in the verse is incorrect

 

ko näma tåpyed rasavit kathäyäà

mahattamaikänta-paräyaëasya

näntaà guëänäm aguëasya jagmur

yogeçvarä ye bhava-pädma-mukhyäù

SYNONYMS

kaù—who is he; näma—specifically; tåpyet—get full satisfaction; rasa-vit—expert in relishing mellow nectar; kathäyäm—in the topics of; mahat-tama—the greatest amongst the living beings; ekänta—exclusively; paräyaëasya—of one who is the shelter of; na—never; antam—end; guëänäm—of attributes; aguëasya—of the Transcendence; jagmuù—could ascertain; yoga-éçvaräù—the lords of mystic power; ye—all they; bhava—Lord Çiva; pädma—Lord Brahmä; mukhyäù—heads.

 

 

Moreover there are many instances in Srimad Bhagavatam where Lord Siva himself glorifies Lord Krishna. According to Harekrishna Lord Shiva is considered as foremost devotee of Krishna. "Vaishnavanam Yatha Shambhu".

 

He is also one of the barah Mahajana. If one prays to Lord Shiva with genuine devotion undoubtedly they would end up at krishna Bhakti. There are quite few instances of this too. So a true Vaishnava atleast follower of Mahaprabhu would never vilify Lord Shiva.

 

Hope this helps

 

ys

-Sashi

[Guest guest]

Hare Krsna. For all intents and purposes, Vaisnavas understand that Lord Siva is also the Supreme Person. He even surpasses Lord Brahma in his opulences. He is above all created beings. He is also considered a supreme authority on Bhakti Yoga.

 

Vaisnavas worship Lord Siva as God, with understanding that He worships Sri Govinda. As with any relationship, we recognize whom He himself recognizes, and this is the way we worship Him, as Supreme Servant of Sri Govinda.

 

How can anyone with any sense have any negative feelings for Lord Siva. Lord Parvatigar, Lord Nataraja, all these forms of Lord Siva bring devotees of Krsna great Joy. We follow Arjuna, who also worships Lord Siva as great Guru above all others.

 

Hare Krsna, ys, mahaksadasa

[sumedh]

Hare Krishna

 

 

"..His transcendental attributes cannot even be measured by such masters of mystic powers as Lord S'iva and Lord Brahmâ."

 

when the original did not even mention Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma.

 

 

 

O, what to speak of Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma, even He Himself as Lord Ananta cannot measure the transcendental attributes -- just illustrates the meaning of Supreme limitless nature of the Supreme Purusa.

 

How does the Hare Krishna undermine the authority of Lord Shiva? Could you give some examples. But for that the correct position of authority of Lord Shiva must be known, no.

[govinda]

I beleive krishna is the supreme also. I also love shiva the care taker of this world but we need to understand that our goal in life is to pray to krishna and to be free from this materialistic nature. We should respect Shiva as he is a great devotee of shree hari. When shiva meditates he meditates for peace and to krishna. I even know a person that claims to have seen a vision of shiva. Haribol

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna

We do not ignore Lord Shiva .Lord Shiva is the Greatest devotee off Lord Krishna the hare krishna Movement follows Chaitanya Mahaprabhu so please read Srila Prabhupada books as it will help you develop a better understanding of Lord Shiva role in vaishnava HARE KRISHNA