[Advaita-l] Which upAsanA is best?

[Raghav Kumar Dwivedula]

Namaste
I got the following excerpt from a blog by Shri Nikhil Gandhi. If anyone
has seen similar material in other shastras, kindly share them.
His blog is here...
http://www.vicharasagara.com/?m=1
*Question: *Upāsana is the worship of a devatā. Śāstra describes upāsana
for many different devatās, for example Viṣṇu, Śiva, Gaṇeśa, Devī, Sūrya,
and so on. Which devatā is best for a mumukṣu to worship?


*Answer: *It is best for a mumukṣu to perform upāsana of
kāraṇa-svarūpa-devatā, and not a kārya-svarūpa-devatā.
Kāraṇa-svarūpa-devatā, also known as kāraṇa-brahman or īśvara, is defined
as brahman with māyā-upādhi. Kāraṇa-brahman is the cause of the entire
jagat, including kārya-svarūpa devatās. A kārya-svarūpa devatā is a limited
individual within the jagat. The result of kārya-svarūpa-upāsana is
therefore limited*1*. Only kāraṇa-svarūpa-upāsana facilitates mokṣa. Since
a mumukṣu desires mokṣa and not any limited materialistic result, he should
perform kāraṇa-svarūpa-upāsana only.

*Question: *Which devatā is kāraṇa-svarūpa and which are kārya-svarūpa?

*Answer: *Śāstra uses the same names for both kāraṇa-svarūpa and
kārya-svarūpa. Therefore a particular name like Śiva or Viṣṇu does not
refer exclusively to either kāraṇa-svarūpa or kārya-svarūpa. Instead, it is
the understanding with which the upāsana is performed that determines
whether the upāsana is of kāraṇa-svarūpa or kārya-svarūpa. If upāsana is
performed of a particular devatā with the understanding of that devatā as
jagat-kāraṇa, then it is kāraṇa-svarūpa-upāsana. If on the other hand
upāsana is performed of the same devatā without this understanding, then it
is kārya-svarūpa-upāsana. Therefore any devatā can be kārya-svarūpa or
kāraṇa-svarūpa, depending on the understanding with which the upāsana is
performed.

*Question:* If any devatā can be kāraṇa-svarūpa, why do certain purāṇas
identify a particular devatā as kāraṇa-svarūpa and enjoin its upāsana,
while dismissing all other devatās as kārya-svarūpa? For example, in
Viṣṇu-Purāṇa and Padma-Purāṇa, Viṣṇu is identified as kāraṇa-svarūpa and
Śiva, etc. are dismissed as kārya-svarūpa.

*Answer: *When a particular devatā is identified as kāraṇa-svarūpa, it is
to enjoin and glorify the upāsana of that devatā as kāraṇa-svarūpa, not to
negate the upāsana of any other devatā. Since every devatā is seemingly
dismissed as kārya-svarupā in one purāṇa or the other, if the point of this
dismissal was to negate their upāsana, every upāsana would be negated*2*.
For example, even though Viṣṇu is identified as kāraṇa-svarūpa in
Viṣṇu-Purāṇa, Viṣṇu is seemingly dismissed as kārya-svarūpa in Śiva-purāṇa.
Therefore the point of dismissing one devatā as kārya-svarūpa is only meant
to enjoin and glorify the upāsana of another devatā as kāraṇa-svarūpa.
Therefore a mumukṣu should perform kāraṇa-svarūpa-upāsana, and any devatā
can be understood as kāraṇa-svarūpa.