Re: Lord Shiva the greatest Vaishnav

>. I was thinking that since Lord Shiva is the greatest Vaishnav and He accepts people who are in the mode of ignorance and He has the power to tranform us from ignorance to goodness, then can we worship Lord Krishna only after Lord Shiva makes us qualified to do so ?

Welcome to the NITAAI.com Forums Rahul. We very much appreciate your questions. Thanks to Igor for the nice answers.

>Lord Shiva is pleased easily and in the Rig Veda it is stated that a person who chants Om Namah Shivaya becomes free from sins. >Thus can we first worship Lord Shiva so that after becoming free from sins we can become qualified to worship Lord Krishna ?

The Holy Name of Lord Shiva is very auspicious. Shiva means auspicious in Sanskrit. In one way, Lord Shiva is non-different from Lord Gauraanga Krishna, being His gunaavatara. Still there is a difference between Shiva Tattva and Vishnu Tattva�bheda-abheda. Lord Shiva can possess a maximum of only 55 divine qualities to a large extent. Lord Vishnu posseses 60 divine qualities to a full extent. And Lord Krishna possesses 64 divine qualities to an unlimited extent. And we souls can possess only 48 divine qualities to a small extent even in our perfected stage.

"Om Namaha Shivaaya" certainly destroys our sins but to fully uproot the propensity to sin itself, one needs to please Lord Shiva more by chanting the Holy Names of His Lord and Master Shri Gauraanga Krishna. And those who chant "Om Namaha Shivaaya" considering Lord Shiva as the Supreme, do not receive the full benefits of chanting it. Because Lord Shiva is highly displeased even with his own followers if they don't accept the supreme position of his own Lord and Master Lord Gauraanga Krishna and instead start worshiping him as Lord and Master

To those sincere devotees who approach Lord Shiva with the right desire, Lord Shiva himself quickly directs them to associate with the devotees of his Master Lord Gaura Krishna and chant His Holy Names because he himself is contantly chanting the Holy Names of Lord Gaura Krishna.

It is the instruction of Lord Shiva himself that someone who knows or directly comes in contact with Shiva's own Lord Gaura Krishna and His devotees, should directly approach his own Lord with his full blessings and not look back. He becomes the most pleased with such a devotee. He wants to see whole world directly worship his Lord Gaura Krishna.

Shrimad Bhaagavata  2.3.10:
akamah sarva-kamo va, moksha-kama udara-dhih
tivrena bhakti-yogena, yajeta purusham param

"A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material desire, without any material desire, or desiring liberation, must by all means worship the supreme whole, the Personality of Godhead."

Specifically for those who are in the lowest modes of ignorance like ghosts, spirits, goblins etc. who have no chance of even trying to understand Lord Gaura Krishna directly due to their extremely tamasic nature, Lord Shiva becomes their patient guide and tries to gradually uplift them to a stage where they can approach Lord Gaura Krishna. They receive spiritual credits by serving him and they get very gradually elevated.

So if one prefers this slow process over the fast and direct one of directly approaching Lord Gaura Krishna, then one can chant only Om Namah Shivaya and wait for one's gradual advancement. But if one is inteliigent and wants to please Lord Shiva even more, such a soul will directly take up the process of Nityaananda Gauraanga Hare Krishna Naama Bhakti Yoga, knowing that this is eternal occupation of even Lord Shiva himself.

I hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Daaso'smi, Swami Gaurangapada.

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