​Is worshiping the devatas a means to Krishna consciousness?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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so is worshipping the devatas means to the ultimate path of Krishna consciousness yes, that is the Vedic plan Krishna talks about worship of the devatas twice actually three times he talks about in the Bhagavad Gita, many times but three prominently first he talks about it from 7.20 to 23 in the Bhagavad Gita then he talks about it from 9.20 to 25 and then he talks about it from 17.6 so I will focus on the 7th and 9th chapters because that is important for us so to understand what is the purpose of the worship of the devatas we need to understand the dynamics of the soul’s relationship with Krishna suppose there is a very wealthy king and that king has a prince and the prince has somehow quarrelled with the father and the prince has gone off somewhere when the prince has gone off somewhere else and that time the father wants the prince to come back home but the prince may be suffering over there because he lived in luxury and now he is not having anything he may have taken his inheritance, squandered it away also but the prince is still not ready to come back to the father because he had to quarrel with the father now the father he wants to take care of his son so he knows if I go and approach my son directly he may not come because he still has that aversion so therefore the father sends a minister and the minister tells him see you are working here, you are getting this much money you come to me, you work for me and I will give you that much money, I will give you more in fact so then he says okay this makes sense and then the prince comes back to the kingdom and the prince is working for the minister still the prince is not at home with the father but at least the prince is indirectly under the king’s protection because he has come within the kingdom then at this stage what is happening see the minister is paying the prince and the prince also says this minister also has a lot of power and position he can pay me now in both cases the minister’s power and position and the minister’s capacity to pay the prince they are all coming from the king so similarly Krishna says … … … … … in 7.21 and 22 he states that whichever form a person desires to worship that in that form I give faith … … with that faith people worship that particular devta and … and they get their desires fulfilled but how are they getting their desires fulfilled … it is I who am giving those objects by which their desires are fulfilled that means the soul is here, Krishna is here devtas are here so if somebody is simply a materialistic person that’s like the prince outside the kingdom somewhere else from the materialist if a person becomes a worshipper of the devtas that is a significant step higher it’s like the prince coming back to the father’s kingdom … … like that now the people have come in the house of the Vedas … and that is positive now for the prince the prince doesn’t have to serve the minister the prince has to just be with the father all the royal opponents are the princes so like that the soul doesn’t have to serve devtas, the soul can directly serve Krishna and that’s why from the perspective of being a materialist to become a worshipper of the devtas that is a step higher but from the perspective of being a devotee of Krishna that’s like the prince coming back home, from that perspective staying a worshipper of the devtas that is not very intelligent suppose a father has two sons and both of them have just come from their college with their exam results and one of them has got 40% now one of them is a very mediocre student that person barely passes the exam and one gets 40% and the other is a topper who always gets say 80% and today both of them have come with the results and both of them have got 60% and the father the person who has got 40% for them for that child when he comes with 60% the father says shabash well done and for the other student, badmash, kya kiya fool, what did you do now both of us got 60% why this difference in treatment no, your level was higher so similarly the 40% is like a materialistic person godless materialist, 60% is a devta worshipper and 80% is a devotee so for somebody who is a materialistic person, even doing devta puja is very good, that’s an elevation from 40% to 60% but if somebody who is doing krishna worship or who can do krishna worship, that person starts doing doing devta puja, then that is, krishna says aha, it is less intelligent so there is a progressive plan and somebody who is worshipping the devtas we should not be disrespectful to them we should not be derisive to them, but we can try to educate them systematically by which they can also start worshipping krishna the problem comes not because people do devta worship the problem comes when people start thinking that their particular devta is also the supreme and they think that if I am worshipping this devta, there is no need to worship krishna at all, so if that misunderstanding comes up, then the that which is meant to be a stepping stone can become an obstacle so ideally if we can get the association of mature krishna devotees, there is a gradual progression given, because as I said the son has an aversion because of which he doesn’t want to come back to the father that’s why the minister is there to act as an intermediary, but if someone else can come and tell that son your father still loves you and there is so much for you waiting in your relationship with your father why are you leaving him and going away if someone comes and acts as an intermediary to get the father, get the son to come back to the father then that’s much better so the spiritual master, the devotees of krishna who are like our spiritual guides they are that kind of intermediaries so between us and krishna, the devtas are one kind of intermediary and devotees, our spiritual guides they are also another kind of intermediary so devtas, they act as surrogates substitutes and the problem with acting a substitute is people may stop with the substitute only they may think this is their own but devotees rather than acting as surrogates substitutes the great spiritual masters they act as via media they connect us with krishna so demigod worship is a part of the broad vedic program for gradually elevating people towards krishna worship but unfortunately it becomes a stepping stone what is the stepping stone becomes an obstacle if people don’t understand the full program and that’s why if one gets the association of devotees then one can rapidly come to the level of krishna bhakti does it answer your question? shall we stop here? ok