SB 4.30.38 – Shiva-ratri

Giriraj Swami: Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Four, Chapter Thirty, “The Activities of the Pracetās,” Verse Thirty-eight. 

The Pracetas were royal princes who went to perform austerities to realize God, Krishna. Because of their austerities in devotional service, Lord Shiva came to instruct them and bless them. Eventually, they realized God, Lord Narayana. So we will read Text Thirty-eight. Please repeat after me.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 38

vayaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavan bhavasya
priyasya sakhyuḥ kṣaṇa-saṅgamena
suduścikitsyasya bhavasya mṛtyor
bhiṣaktamaṁ tvādya gatiṁ gatāḥ sma

TRANSLATION

Dear Lord, by virtue of a moment’s association with Lord Śiva, who is very dear to You and who is Your most intimate friend, we were fortunate to attain You. You are the most expert physician, capable of treating the incurable disease of material existence. On account of our great fortune, we have been able to take shelter at Your lotus feet.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

It has been said, hariṁ vinā na mṛtiṁ taranti. without taking shelter of the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead, one cannot attain relief from the clutches of māyā, the repetition of birth, old age, disease, and death. The Pracetās received the shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by the grace of Lord Śiva. Lord Śiva is the supreme devotee of Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ: the most exalted Vaiṣṇava is Lord Śiva, and those who are actually devotees of Lord Śiva follow Lord Śiva’s advice and take shelter at the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu. The so-called devotees of Lord Śiva, who are simply after material prosperity, are in a way deceived by Lord Śiva. He does not actually deceive them, because Lord Śiva has no business deceiving people, but because the so-called devotees of Lord Śiva want to be deceived, Lord Śiva, who is very easily pleased, allows them all kinds of material benedictions. These benedictions might ironically result in the destruction of the so-called devotees. For instance, Rāvaṇa took all material benediction from Lord Śiva, but the result was that he was ultimately destroyed with his family, kingdom, and everything else because he misused Lord Śiva’s benediction. Because of his material power, he became very proud and puffed up so that he dared kidnap the wife of Lord Rāmacandra. In this way he was ruined. To get material benedictions from Lord Śiva is not difficult, but actually these are not benedictions. The Pracetās received benediction from Lord Śiva, and as a result they attained the shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu. This is real benediction. The gopīs also worshiped Lord Śiva in Vṛndāvana, and the Lord is still staying there as Gopīśvara. The gopīs, however, prayed that Lord Śiva bless them by giving them Lord Kṛṣṇa as their husband. There is no harm in worshiping the demigods, provided that one’s aim is to return home, back to Godhead. Generally people go to the demigods for material benefit, as indicated in Bhagavad-gītā (7.20):

kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ
prapadyante ‘nya-devatāḥ
taṁ taṁ niyamam āsthāya
prakṛtyā niyatāḥ svayā

“Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.” One enamored by material benefits is called hṛta-jñāna, “one who has lost his intelligence.” In this connection it is to be noted that sometimes in revealed scriptures Lord Śiva is described as being nondifferent from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The point is that Lord Śiva and Lord Viṣṇu are so intimately connected that there is no difference in opinion. The actual fact is, ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya: “The only supreme master is Kṛṣṇa, and all others are His devotees or servants.” (Cc. Ādi 5.142) This is the real fact, and there is no difference of opinion between Lord Śiva and Lord Viṣṇu in this connection. Nowhere in revealed scripture does Lord Śiva claim to be equal to Lord Viṣṇu. This is simply the creation of the so-called devotees of Lord Śiva, who claim that Lord Śiva and Lord Viṣṇu are one. This is strictly forbidden in the vaiṣṇava-tantra: yas tu nārāyaṇaṁ devam. Lord Viṣṇu, Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā are intimately connected as master and servants. Śiva-viriñci-nutam: Viṣṇu is honored and offered obeisances by Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. To consider that they are all equal is a great offense. They are all equal in the sense that Lord Viṣṇu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and all others are His eternal servants.

COMMENT

So here, the Pracetas confirmed the statement of Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gītā,

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te

That the material nature, consisting of the three modes, is very difficult to overcome. But one who surrenders to Lord Krishna can easily cross over it. So here, the Pracetas took shelter of Lord Narayana, who they call the most expert physician who can cure the disease of material existence.

Many people approach Lord Shiva to get some material boon. In the Juhu Temple at Juhu Beach in Bombay, there was the Juhu Scheme, which had many big mansions, and one of the mansions belonged to a movie producer named Ramananda Sagar, who was a friend of ours and a life member of ISKCON. He even did a series on Krishna based on Srila Prabhupada’s books in particular. So once he invited us over to his home for some program, and when I walked into the entranceway, I saw a big statue of Lord Shiva. So I sort of indicated, “What is this? You know that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, what is this?” And he said that by worshiping Lord Shiva, he gets material wealth. That was what he thought, and that is a common idea. Because Lord Shiva is easily pleased, he may give such fools material benefits, but they are deceived because they are missing the real benefit of life and are remaining subject to the samsara chakra, the repetition of birth, death, old age, and disease.

But if someone worships Lord Shiva or approaches Lord Shiva not for some material benefit, then Lord Shiva will bring them or direct them to Lord Krishna. Two examples from my personal knowledge: one is Nityananda Prabhu, who is the temple president in Dallas. It just so happened that his home was next to the Krishna Temple of ISKCON in Fiji, and he was a Shaivite, but not because he wanted anything material, but he just thought Shiva was Supreme. But he was so agitated by the kirtan next door, which bothered him somehow. It bothered him. He would call the police and he had a lot of trouble for the devotees. But eventually, through the association of Srila Prabhupada’s devotees and by the grace of Lord Shiva, he himself became a devotee of Krishna.

Another example is a professor from UCSB who, in her junior year at the university, went to India to study and she went to Varanasi and became a devotee of Lord Shiva. Then later, as a professor at UCSB, she had a number of students who were devotees of Krishna, and gradually she became more and more interested in Krishna, to the extent that she made Krishna and Vrindavan her specialty. She went into a very deep study of the Vaishnava scriptures, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the books of the Gosvamis, Ṣaṭ-sandarbha by Sanatana Gosvami and Caitanya-caritāmṛta by Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami. But she had some doubt whether she was being unfaithful to Lord Shiva. So I helped her to understand from scripture especially from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that Lord Shiva himself is a Vaishnava, and if someone approaches him not for material benefit but just for knowledge or devotion, he will bring them to Krishna. And that is actually what happened to her. Even devotees of Krishna can pray to Lord Shiva to help them attain the favor of Krishna. The example is given here. The gopīs say they prayed to Gopisvara and that Krishna is their husband. Even we, as aspiring devotees, can also pray to the Lord Shiva.

One of our godbrothers, who Is a sannyasi and a very advanced devotee, at a certain stage, he really wanted to know what Srila Prabhupada wanted of him. He felt that he was meant for something beyond what he was doing, but he wasn’t sure what it was. He felt that the impediment to his understanding of what he was meant to do was his false ego. Lord Shiva is in charge of false ego, so he went to Kailash, chanted, and performed some austerities to get the favor of Lord Shiva. He prayed that his false ego should be dissolved and that he should be able to understand what his spiritual master Srila Prabhupada wanted of him.

When I was in Madras in 1971, I met a man who was known in the city as being very religious. He was under the impression that Lord Shiva was supreme. We had an argument, and it turned out he had a volatile personality. He became very angry, and his face got red, creating a very tense situation. As I was meeting people in Madras, they were saying, “Oh, have you met Mr. Ramakrishna? You must meet him; he is a very religious man and will appreciate what you are doing.” I think he was also probably thinking that Hare Krishna people age good. We have to know about them. I thought, alright, so many people are saying this, let me meet him again and try to avoid that controversy. I found him, and he immediately agreed to meet me. We both wanted to avoid that type of conflict, but eventually, it came to the same point: who is supreme, Krishna or Shiva? The argument started to escalate, and it seemed like it was heading towards the same type of explosion as the last time, which none of us wanted. Then I suddenly got an inspiration and said, “I am just a student, but my guru is coming in two weeks, so why don’t you discuss it with him when he comes?” He was very happy with that idea, first because it avoided another nuclear holocaust and second because he was getting to meet Srila Prabhupada.

When Srila Prabhupada came, I invited Mr. Ramakrishna. I was in the room when the two met. Mr. Ramakrishna said, “I have been having discussions with your disciple Giriraj about who is supreme, Krishna, Vishnu, or Shiva.” Srila Prabhupada did not entertain the question as Mr. Ramakrishna phrased it. He avoided the whole polarization on the question of supremacy and said that there are two words: bhakti, sevā and puja. In bhakti, one worships the deity solely for the pleasure of the deity, without any desire for personal benefit in return. In puja, generally, people worship the deity for some material gain. So, devotees worship Krishna in the mood of bhakti, and generally, people worship Shiva in the mood of puja to get something. So there is no argument. Then Mr. Ramakrishna said, “Aren’t there also people who worship Lord Shiva in the mood of bhakti?” Srila Prabhupada said, “Well, there may be exceptions, but generally, if someone goes to a liquor shop, he goes to purchase liquor. He might go for some other reason, but generally, if someone goes to a liquor shop, he is going to purchase liquor.” Mr. Ramakrishna then asked, “What if someone did worship Lord Shiva in the mood of bhakti?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “Then there would be no problem at all.” That is exactly the case here. The Pracetas worshiped Lord Shiva not for any material benefit but for spiritual enlightenment, ultimately to get the shelter of Lord Narayana.

In Madras, there are a lot of Saivites, and during Srila Prabhupada’s day, a very wealthy man invited him to his home because he was inaugurating a temple in his home. It was quite a big room, nicely decorated with marbles. He had invited a lot of people, including other sadhus, and the temple room was completely packed. Only Srila Prabhupada was inside, and all of the disciples were outside. It was a temple for Shiva, so we were eager to see how Srila Prabhupada would deal with the situation. At a certain stage, the host distributed flowers to all the participants, and at the given time, they offered the flowers to Shiva. I was looking in the doorway, and Srila Prabhupada threw his flowers in the corner. When everyone came out, we went in and saw in the corner a little deity of Krishna. He had offered his flowers to Krishna. So yes, Lord Shiva helps us as devotees approach him to aid in our attempts to serve Krishna. Otherwise, we don’t have any need or reason to worship demigods. If someone is under the misconception that all gods are the same, we must educate them because it is an offense—one of the ten offenses against the holy name—to consider the names of demigods equal to or independent of the name of Lord Krishna. So it is our duty to help them see things as they are.

Lord Shiva himself has a beautiful verse quoted in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, where he says that his mind is always enchanted by the holy name of Lord Rama. Three names of Lord Rama are equal to one thousand names of Lord Vishnu. The background to that verse is that Parvati would always chant the Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma before taking food. Once, Lord Shiva wanted her to have prasāda with him, and she said she couldn’t because she still had to chant her Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma. Lord Shiva responded with this beautiful verse that his mind is always enchanted by the holy name of Rama, and three names of Rama equal a thousand names of Vishnu. So we can fulfill Lord Shiva’s instruction, and of course, the instruction of the scriptures and all the devotees, by chanting the holy names.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: In one of the books, I read that Lord Shiva has three planets: one within the material world and another that is above Brahmaloka, which doesn’t get destroyed during the annihilation of the material world. I was wondering about that.

Giriraj Swami: Lord Brahma become angry and Lord Shiva appears from his forehead. It is a just a pastime. Just like the incarnations of Krishna or Rama, they are eternal persons but have their līlā, or pastimes, to appear or apparently take birth in the material world. Rudra is an expansion, and Sadashiva, the original Shiva, is beyond the material world. It is quite a complex subject. There are different expansions; some are in the material realm, but the original is beyond it.

Devotee: What is false ego?

Giriraj Swami: False ego is thinking that you are the body, and expansions of that consciousness that I am the body are that everything in relation to the body is mine. Real ego is that I am the eternal servant of Krishna. So everyone who takes birth in the material world, every conditioned soul who takes birth in the material world has false ego. If he didn’t have some false ego, he wouldn’t be in the material world. So we have to become free from false ego so that we can get out of the material world ultimately and go back home, back to Godhead.