Brahma/Brahman

[Ravisankar S. Mayavaram]

On Thu, 27 Aug 1998 Chelluri at aol.com wrote:

My wife Bala asked me who is supreme among devatas. Some say it
is ganapathi, some say it is siva, some vishnu, some aditya and
some like me say it is DEVI.


namaskAram

Whenever one worships his/her iShTa devata, (s)he would like to
view it as only the supreme being, as the saguNa brahman. I think
it is the correct bhAvam. Ishvara who is the saguNa brahman will
bless the devotee in the form of the devotee's choice. HE who has
no form and no name, to satisfy his children assumes name and
form.  This is my belief.


"AkAshAtu patitam toyam.h yatha gachChati sAgaram.h, sarva deva
namaskAraH keshavam pratigachChati" - like all the rain drops
coming from the sky  ultimately reach the ocean, all the worship
that is done reaches Ishvara.  As smArta-s we worship all devatas
with this bhAvam, with love and reverence.

Some say that they will bow only before shrIman nArAyaNa or Lord
shiva and not any other devata. I feel the better bhAvam is to
bow to all, assume that the other devatA is also a manifestation
of shrIman nArayANa or Lord shiva. I remember one saint saying,
one can have a iShTa devata but should not have dveSha devata.


AUM namo bhagavate vAsudevAya

Ravi