Revered Sankarshan das ji,
With due respect to the bhakti cult I have a question regarding the 2nd offense against the holy name that you mentioned in Lesson 18 of this course thatone should not consider the names of demigods like Lord Siva or Lord Brahma to be equal to, or independent of, the name of Lord Vishnu. You also said that if someone thinks that he can chant "Kāli, Kāli!" or "Durga, Durga!" and it is the same as Hare Krishna, that it is the greatest offense
But my question is: Why not chanting "Durga Durga", "Shiva Shiva", "Kāli Kāli"? They are the same thing as when a devotee chants "Hare Krishna." How you can say that Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are different when they are one. This is certainly not an offense as you narrated.
My name is Debasis. But this is certainly not my real identity. It is my name, ID number plate, just like that. The Supreme Divine is my self, not my name. I can change my number plate at any moment I would like. That does not mean My Supreme identity is changed. So by whatever name I call the Supreme communication will be in order. Lord Vishnu's devotees always have access to Supreme whether they chant Shiva, Kali, Durga or whatever they like.
In the Bhagavad-gita I did not find any interpretation in support of the precaution that you have stated.
Hare Krishna
Yours obediently,
Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:I Only Repeat What Is In the Scriptures
You have objected to what I have stated about offenses while chanting the Lord's holy names. But you should know that what I have written is not my statement. I have simply repeated the version of the Vedic scriptures and the great Vedic authorities. I understand that there is some confusion in your mind regarding the 2nd offense against the chanting of the Lord's holy name, which is stated as follows:
To consider the names of demigods like Lord Siva or Lord Brahma to be equal to, or independent of, the name of Lord Vishnu. (Sometimes the atheistic class of men take it that any demigod is as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu. But one who is a devotee knows that no demigod, however great he may be, is independently as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, if someone thinks that he can chant "Kāli, Kāli!" or "Durga, Durga!" and it is the same as Hare Krishna, that is the greatest offense.)
You question why this is wrong because you consider that all the gods are the same. You have concluded that chanting the names of various gods is as good chanting the name of Krishna because all the gods are the Supreme.
Such a philosophy may be very popular in these days of egalitarianism. But is it not in accord with logic and scripture. How many supreme courts are there in a nation? There is only one because if there were more than one, there would be no supreme court. In the same way if everyone is the Supreme, there is no Supreme. In other words, the philosophy that everyone is the Supreme is a roundabout way of saying that there is no God. Plus is it confirmed again and again throughout the Vedic literatures that there is one Supreme Person who is the source of all the gods. For example it is stated in the Brahma-samhita by Lord Brahma:
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
"Krishna is the supreme controller of everything. He has an eternal form of bliss and knowledge. He has not origin because He is the origin of everything, and He is the cause of all causes."
Brahma-samhita 5.1
And Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita:
aham ādir hi devānāṁ
"I am the source of the demigods."
Bhagavad-gita 10.2
You also mention that there is nothing in the Bhagavad-gita that one should not consider the demigods to be equal to Krishna. Apparently you have missed these verses spoken by Lord Krishna in your study of the Gita:
kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ
prapadyante 'nya-devatāḥ
taṁ taṁ niyamam āsthāya
prakṛtyā niyatāḥ svayā
"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures."
Bhagavad-gita 7.20
antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ
tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām
devān deva-yajo yānti
mad-bhaktā yānti mām api
"Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet."
Bhagavad-gita 7.23
The conclusion is that by worshipping the demigods you attain the planets of the demigods, which are temporary abodes here in this material world. At the time of the universal devastation the planets of the demigods are destroyed. So why should one go there. The intelligent person worships Krishna so that he can attain of Krishna where life is eternal. Although we do not worship the demigods as the Supreme, we still greatly respect them for they are all great devotees of Lord Krishna.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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