(2) Please God, Not Yourselves

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kadigachha, Lord Siva's Temple inauguration,
5 March 2019, morning, part 2
Translated from Bengali

We want to become Siva and take marijuana – we worship Siva for our material desires, to fulfil our own selfish interests. This is not real worship. This applies to all god worship. Do not be like this. Do not come to worship Lord Siva with any selfish intention to get something. Do not turn gods into your servants instead of worshipping them. You come to Lord Siva and expect him to give you this, this, that – Lord Siva becomes your servant who must do what you tell him to do. This is wrong.

Our duty is to serve Lord Siva, and whether Lord Siva takes our service or not, what he gives us or does not give, that is his matter. If he feels happy to see me struggle and suffer, let him make me suffer; and if he feels happy to keep me well, let him do that. Our happiness or unhappiness is not our concern. This is how we must always worship Lord Siva.

Lord Siva's instruction is expressed very nicely in Sri Padma Purana. If you want to worship Lord Siva, you must follow his words. He said that devotion to Lord Krishna's devotees is the highest of all kinds of devotion. Everybody knows that devotion to the Supreme Lord (Vishnu, Krishna) is the highest, but devotion to the Lord's devotee is higher still. One time, Parvati Devi asked him, 'Whose worship is the greatest?' First, Lord Siva replied, 'The worship of Lord Vishnu is the highest.' Hearing this, Parvati Devi became upset because she thought, 'I worship Siva... Does it mean that I should instead worship Lord Vishnu?' Understanding her thoughts, Lord Siva then said, 'But higher than even the worship of Lord Vishnu is the worship of Lord Vishnu's devotee.'

আরাধনানাং সর্ব্বেষাং বিষ্ণোরারাধনং পরম্ ।
তস্মাৎ পরতরং দেবি তদীয়ানাং সমর্চ্চনম্ ॥

aradhananam sarvesam visnor aradhanam param
tasmat parataram devi tadiyanam samarchanam

'Of all types of worship, the worship of Lord Vishnu is best, and better than the worship of Lord Vishnu is the worship of His devotee, a Vaishnav.'

'Yes, devotion to Lord Vishnu is main, but higher, more important and more beautiful than even the worship of Lord Vishnu is the worship of Lord Vishnu's devotee (tadiyanam).' But the problem is that in lieu of worshipping Lord Siva, you cannot turn him into your servant.

Offer Lord Siva what he likes: bel leaves and certain flowers. You all know these things. He is Ashutosh – it is very easy to please him. He likes bel leaves, akanda flowers (crown flower/giant milkweed) and some other flowers. The Lord has specially created the flowers that we can use to worship Lord Siva, the flowers that he likes. There are certain flowers that are not offered when worshipping Lord Krishna, but Krishna says, 'You can offer them to My devotee Siva.'

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