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Originally Posted by bhakta
Few months back I visited a Hindu psychic medium who recommended that I start worshiping lord Ganesha. I told her that I wished to worship lord Krishna because I had decided to give the path of devotion or Bhakti a try, and felt more drawn towards that deity. She replied me revealing that my astrological chart dictated that I should consider Ganesha as my preferred deity and therefore propitiate him, but at the same time there was nothing wrong in worshiping lord Krishna.
Now, most Hindu psychic mediums I have met have told me that deities like Ganesha and other petty gods exist for real, have their particular role and that they need to be pleased either in order to win their favor or lest they be displeased. But many classify these deities as demigods while deities like Shiva and Vishnu as gods. I have read Bhagwata Geeta which puts Krishna or Vishnu on the rank of "The God" whilst other demi-gods, including Shiva are considered to be demi-gods. I am sure Shaivite tradition replaces Shiva with Vishnu and so do other traditions like Shakta et al.
Now I am left with so many questions but here I will only list the ones that are bothering me the most and whose answers, I am optimist, I will be able to get from you all:
1. Do you believe that these demi-gods do exist like told by the mediums? Do they have the same andromorphic form as seen in the images?
2. So who is the real God between Shiva and Vishnu and who is just a demi god?
3. Isn't it true that Shiva and Vishnu appeared much later in Puranas and they are merely imaginary representation of some formless God/Power given by devotees. In that case isn't worshipping them assigning a particular form like other demi-gods (if case 1. is true) just a waste of time?
4. If I decide to worship all three: Ganesha, Shiva and Vishnu/Krishna, what is the best way of practice? Can I tread on the path of Bhakti venerating both Shiva and Vishnu if there exist any tradition, and worhship Ganesha for my wordly endeavors?
Thank you
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Namaste.
How I see it...what use is there in worshiping an aspect of the Divine (and there are countless to choose from) if your heart isn't in it? If you don't feel drawn to it?
It is my understanding that people only supplicate Lord Ganesha to get over difficulties and obstacles in life eg "I already worship one God and he/she is doing nothing to give me what I want so, I will go and worship another God so they may be more open to listening and responding to my desires and woes".....it really doesn't work that way.
Sure, our faith in a certain Deity may cause things to manifest when one has lost faith in another Deity. It is because they are approaching them for selfish ends when there is probably a reason why you are worshiping the God(s) you already do in the first place.
It is only a coincidence that my Astrological chart tells me to worship Bhairava, even though Swami Chidananda Saraswati tried to get me to worship the Goddess Tripurasundari once...all that did was to highlight the differences between the Kaula schools of Tantric Shaivism...so in Bhakti, it is always better to just attended to your own heart's pleasures and the love you feel in there.
1. Unlike the Gaudiya Vaishnavas, I take a different approach. The Nature Spirits or "Devas" are the "Demigods" like Indra Dev, Agni Dev, Varun Dev, Shani Dev, Surya Dev etc..those are the "Demigods". The Godhead is the combination of Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva all-in-one..called the Trimurti....only I choose to worship the "Shiva" aspect of it as being totally inclusive and beyond the trinity of all Divine qualities (Tripurari).
2. I have listed the "Demigods" above. Many schools of Vaishnavism vs Shaivism will advocate their aspect of Godhead as being the "Saguna Brahman" while everything else (including any opposing Deities) as being "beneath/below" it in some kind of hierarchical structure, or incorporated wholly into it to say "that God you worship is only a small part of the God that I worship"..but it is all just smoke and mirrors...all fun and games. I could have very easily gone the other way and worshiped Lord Narayana or Lord Krishna instead...and I was given that opportunity..but I fell in love with Lord Shiva and the labels anybody places on Lord Shiva (including myself) don't tend to stick there for very long.
3. Yes, the Indian Gods "appeared" much later in the piece, but it also depends on how you want to take that as well to suit whatever confirmation biases you also have about your own (limited) understanding as to the "nature of God". For example, in the Rig Veda, it mentions Rudra as being the Spirit in Man...in the Indus Valley, around the time the Vedas were being written, they found clay tablets attesting to the worship of a deity called Pashupati...both Rudra and Pashupati were later incorporated into the Deity known as being "Shiva" or "Auspiciousness".
4. I don't know. Although, some have worshipped Shiva and Vishnu at the same time as being HariHara.... and their son (when Vishnu was in Mohini incarnation during the Bhasmasura incident) as being Ayappan....the one with the bell...so, wherever there is a will to worship, people will always seem to construct a why and a how to match it..but that isn't important.. only the notion of Ishta Dewata is..your own personal God/Demigod who can lead you to Moksh..to liberation.
ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय ।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Aum Namah Shivaya