Liebe Besucher,
Liebe Devotees,
nach monatelanger intensiver und freudiger Arbeit an dieser Webseite zusammen mit unserer Webdesignerin bin ich sehr glücklich, dass nun alles soweit vollendet ist. Heute am 9.9.2016
ist zudem der Erscheinungstag von Shrimati Radharani, ein äußerst glücksverheißender Tag
für die Premiere unseres Forums und dieser Webseite als Ganzes.
Anstelle von Verhaltensregeln möchte ich einfach alle TeilnehmerInnen höflich darum bitten,
nett zueinander zu sein und auch bei Meinungsverschiedenheiten – die naturgemäß immer irgendwann bei Diskussionen auftreten werden – stets den guten Ton zu wahren.
Ich freue mich auf einen regen Austausch.
Euer Vedanta
Shivaratri - Lord Shivas Night
Today, on February 25, 2017, is Shivaratri, the night of Shiva, during which Shri Shiva is revered in in countless temples around the world. Above all in India, the worship of Shiva is very popular, indeed He is apparently the most revered deity there. The worshipers of Shiva are often artificially competing with the devotees of Krishna and Vishnu because - equipped with a couple of good arguments from the Vedas - they regard Shiva as God. On the other hand, some Krishna devotees, and especially Vishnu devotees, commit the fatal error of refusing to pay due reverence to Lord Shiva, being more or less disrespectful to him, or even speaking in a derogatory manner of him. Babaji Maharaja explained in his lectures that the devotees, through such behavior, such as categorically refusing to enter a temple of Shiva, let alone bowing down to him, would draw Krishna's disgrace, for Krishna deeply loves His exalted devotee Lord Shiva. Therefore, this poses a serious obstacle in the way of Bhakti and is simply called Vaishnava-aparadha, the offending of Vaishnavas. But at this point we would like to hear some more elaborations on the topic from Babaji Maharaja himself:
Shiva has two sides to him. One side is related to his being a guna-avatara, in charge of tamas, and of the dissolution of the universe. In that aspect of Shiva, he is shown as short-tempered, easily pleased, and giving his blessings to even asuras [demons] without discrimination.
The other aspect of Shiva is that he is one of the greatest Vaisnavas, a devotee. In this mood he is very calm, gentle and tolerant. Therefore, you find stories in the Puranas showing both of his sides. In Bhagavata Purana he is primarily shown as a great devotee. In other Puranas he is shown as an avatar or even God himself.
As a devotee also, his position is very special because he is not an ordinary jiva but an expansion of Vishnu or Krishna Himself. In a way, He is almost God in the garb of a devotee. Therefore, it is difficult to understand his personality.
- HH Shri Satyanarayana Dasa Babaji Maharaja
ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param
tasmāt parataraṁ devi tadīyānāṁ samarcanam
O Devi, the most exalted system of worship is the worship of Lord Vishnu. Yet even greater than that is the worship of Vaishnavas or tadīya, anything belonging to Vishnu.
- Lord Shiva speaking to his wife Parvati (Padma Purana)
