Lord Narasimha opposed to demigod worship and concocted worship

[Paramananda das]

Krsna has stated clearly in Bhagavad Gita ,demigodworship is not wanted
ye 'py anya-devatā-bhaktā yajante śraddhayānvitāḥte 'pi mām eva kaunteya yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam"Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kuntī, but they do so in a wrong way."

Bhagavad Gita 9.23

anta-vat tu phalaḿ teṣāḿ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām
devān deva-yajo yānti mad-bhaktā yānti mām api... See More

"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."
BG 7,23

kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ prapadyante 'nya-devatāḥ

taḿ taḿ niyamam āsthāya prakṛtyā niyatāḥ svayā... See More

"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."
BG 7.20
In Skanda Purana it is stated:

yas tu nārāyaṇaḿ devaḿ brahma-rudrādi-daivataiḥsamatvenaiva vīkṣeta sa pāṣaṇḍī bhaved dhruvam"Whoever thinks Lord Viṣṇu and the demigods are on the same level is to be immediately considered a rogue as far as spiritual understanding is concerned."

There is so many quotes.I once opposed some temples in US that introduced demigod worship as a way to increase donations even in the temple room,Satya Naryana Pujas ,and reading of Ramacarita Manasa in the temple room, though this a very popular book in India and has many nice lilas of Lord Rama ,the problem is this book as has ideas not accepted by vaisnavas namely that the jiva can become Lord Rama.So Srila Prabhupada did not want this book recieted in the temple rooms in ISKCON.

69-09-06. Letter: Raktaka
Regarding the two books you have mentioned, Sri Ramacharitamanasa by Goswami Tulasi das is not very authorized, and Ramayana is authorized. One thing is though, you have got enough other books to study. Did you appear in the examination held on Janmastami Day? Why should you go to Ramayana when you have got Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam and Teachings of Lord Caitanya? Don't divert your attention in that way. The author of Ramacharitamanasa, Goswami Tulasi das, has a tint of Mayavadi philosophy. He belongs to the Ramananda Sampradaya. They are mixed up combination of personalist and impersonalist. Therefore, the author is not considered as pure Vaisnava. Pure Vaisnava is free from all material contamination of fruitive activities and mental speculation. The pure Vaisnava is simply, purely disposed to transcendental loving service to Krishna. The pure Vaisnava rejects anything which has no pure idea of serving the Personality of Godhead.

The GBC passed some rules in 1996 to stop and limit these practices upon our complaint, and some proper
rules was given.

this is part of the GBC resolution of 1996



A. That the following activities are not allowed as part of ISKCON
functions, whether conducted on ISKCON property or elsewhere:

B. Satya Narayana Katha. (This is a concocted form of worship).

C. Garbha dance, when it is conducted in association with the worship of
Durga. (Garbha dance is usually performed as part of Nava-ratri, a Durga
festival. However, there are also Garbha dances in glorification of Krishna.
Temple authorities permitting a Garbha dance must be confident that the
performance is entirely Krishna centered.)

D. The reading of Tulsidasa's Rama-carita-manasa. (Ramayana readings should
be from Valmiki Ramayana, as Tulsidasa's work is tinged with impersonalism.)

E. Lectures advocating Mayavada or other offensive philosophies.

F. The singing of the Hindi arati song "om jaya jagadisha hari". (This is
a prayer for material benedictions).

2. Regarding worship of demigods:

A. Worship of demigods as independent gods is not permitted in
Krishna consciousness. However, the Nectar of Devotion says that demigods
should be respected. Worshipping demigods as Vaisnavas is authorized. For
preaching, in order to teach people the right position of the demigods as
great Vaisnavas, ISKCON temples may hold on special occasions ceremonies or
pujas respecting and worshipping demigods as great Vaisnavas, provided:

i) The worship is only as a Vaisnava (This means that the
deva/devi shall be offered: the prasadam arotika items immediately after
they are offered to Lord Krishna, Krishna prasadam flower garlands, and
Krishna prasadam foodstuffs. No independent worship is offered. Only the
chanting of Hare Krishna and Vishnu's names is done, as Lord Caitanya did in
South India.)

ii) Their status as servants of Krishna is made as clear as
possible through signs, symbols, and iconography, and

iii) Offerings are of Krishna prasadam.

B. Deities of demigods (incl. Lakshmi where no Vishnu is
established), shall not be established without permission of the GBC. Where
they are permitted or where ISKCON aquires a temple with already established
murtis of demigods, they may remain, provided they are worshipped as
Vaisnavas, as provided above.

3. It is permitted for other groups, at the discretion of the local
ISKCON authorities, to rent space in ISKCON premises, outside the temple
room, for their own ceremonies and functions, even for functions listed
above (1.A-E), provided that the public understand clearly that the function
is not being sponsored or conducted by ISKCON. However, no function on
ISKCON property shall include any activity contrary to the four regulative
principles. The GBC recommends that temples provide outside groups rental
contracts clearly stipulating the above restrictions.

However sadly at least one temple is currently allowing Satya Naryana Pujas to be done by initiated devotees and the recitation of Ramacarita manasa on Ramanavami.As followers of the line of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Madhavacarya who was strictly opposed to the ideas that the jiva can become God.
Lord Caitanya stated :"Mayavadi Krsna aparadhi" ,the mayavadis are offenders to Lord Krsna.
Srila Madhavacarya has stated in his Mayavadi Sata Dushani:
"O individual spirit soul, your intelligence has been stolen by the darkness of the Mayavada theory, and for this reason you continually mutter brahmaham asmi (”I am the Supreme Brahman... ”) as if you have become mad. I say to you, “If you are the Supreme Brahman, where is you unparalleled opulence? Where is you supreme dominion over all? If you are the Supreme Brahman, where is you all-pervasiveness and all-knowledge? Your equality with the Supreme Brahman is like the equality of a mustard seed with Mount Meru!”
Just as Lord Caitanya and Lord Krsna and all the acaryas are opposed to concocted worship and demigod worship,so is Lord Narasimha .In his Bhakti Sandarbha Jiva Goswami has quoted in 312 Anuucheda:
32 The Supreme Personality of Godhead declares (in Brahma-yamala, also quoted in texts 9 and 24 of this anuccheda):

"The Sruti and Smrti sastras are My commands. Therefore one who disobeys the scripture disobeys Me. Such a person hates Me. He may claim to be devoted to Me, but in truth he is not."
There is also a pastime mentioned by Srila Jiva Goswami in his Bhakti Sandarbha :

31 Therefore, because He is a Vaishnava, Lord Siva should be worshipped. Some Vaishnavas say that if the worship of Lord Siva is compulsory, still one can worship the Supreme Lord Vishnu instead of Lord Siva. That is described in the following story from the last part of the Vishnu-dharma Purana:

A pure devotee brahmana names Visvaksena used to live on the earth. One day he sat down at the edge of a forest. Then the son of a village leader approached him and said, "Who are you?" When the brahmana had told his story the leader's son said to him, "Today I have a headache and therefore it is not possible for me to worship Lord Siva. You please worship him in my place. At that point there is the following passage of one and a half verses:

32 "When this was said, he replied, 'We are pure devotees of Lord Hari. Only Lord Hari, who expands in four forms, or His devotee, should be worshipped. We will worship no one else. Go away."

33 Then the leader's son took a sword and raised it to cut off the brahmana's head. Stunned and not wishing to die in that way, the brahmana thought for a moment and said, "Very well, I will go there." In his mind the brahmana thought, "Because he destroys the universe and expands the mode of ignorance, Lord Siva is the deity of ignorance. However, because Lord Nrsimhadeva kills the demons situated in the darkness of ignorance, and because He thus dispels the darkness of ignorance, Lord Nrsimhadeva is like a sun risen to dispel the darkness of ignorance. Therefore, instead of worshipping Lord Siva, I will worship Lord Nrsimhadeva to dispel ignorance."

Then, taking a handful of flowers, the brahmana said, "Obeisances to Lord Nrsimha!" Filled with anger, the village leader's son at once raised his sword. At that moment the Siva-linga opened and Lord Nrsimhadeva appeared and killed the village leader's son and his associates. This Siva-linga, famous by the name "Linga-sphota" (the linga that opened), is situated in the southern provinces.

For those who are interested in this subject of why Vaisnavas do not worship the demigods unless it is to see them as devotees, or engage in concocted worship such as Satya Narayana pujas,Srila Jiva Goswami has given many references in his Bhakti Sandarbha, of course Srila Prabhupada has extensively explained this in his books as well.

[Paramananda das]

below is some discussion with Pancaratna Prabhu about Satya Narayana pujas"
well you said it was in some Purana, I am the one that gave you the information of Skanda Purana Reva khanda from my internet research.But as said there is no mention of SatyaNaryana puja there.It glories the holy river Reva which I believe is in Nepal Bihar ,Actually I need to get a copy of the Skanda Purana as this Purana also glorifes Ahovalam, where Lord Narasimha appeared to kill Hiranyakasipu ( it is possible this lila sometimes takes place in Svarga also at Indra loka..this we have to see if we can find in sastra),In Skanda Purana there is a statement that all the earth there is sacred and you can use it for Vaisnava Tilak due to Lord Narasimhadeva appearing there .Back to Satya Narayana pujas ,this link http://www.slideshare.net/avinilima/satyanarayan-poojaclaims Satya Narayana pujas are also mentioned in Bhavisya purana and I believe the one sanskrit sloka is from there.I am not sure it seems to me this is not concocted worship as we might have first taught, that is is indeed a bonafide Karma kanda worship in the Satya Narayana katha it mentions Suta Goswami..it is hard to imagine that anyone would be such a rascal and manufacture something like that, to me it is very likely bonafide karma khanda but vaisnavas do not do these things..for commen people they will easy get confused who is Bhagavan really which is very common in India,......for all the confused people of Kali yuga this Satya Narayana puja is just more confusion, best is to teach them to chant Hare Krishna and take prasadam,read Bhagavad Gita as it is

[Paramananda das]

dear Pancaratna Prabhu
PAMHO
AGTSP
Everyone will take the Satya Narayana puja as something Vedic, if we can prove or not people will do it .Prabhu I am no scholar in sanskrit all I know is this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyanarayan_Puja : there it is stated:


.A volume of Skanda PuranIt is told that Satyanarayan Katha is in REVA volume of Skanda Purana. But this volume is devoted to pilgrimages on the valley of river REVA. In Satyanarayana there is no Reva river. In original Skanda Purana there is nothing like Satyanarayana. Recent Skanda Puranas added it with clear note of its new addition in Skanda.a. But this volume is devoted to pilgrimages on the valley of river REVA. In Satyanarayana there is no Reva river. In original Skanda Purana there is nothing like Satyanarayana. Recent Skanda Puranas added it with clear note of its new addition in Skanda.

Some Sri Vaisnavas also do not accept it as bona fide ,so wether it is concocted or Karma kanda, my humble point is that I do not believe it is ok for ISKCON devotees to do them, and I am 100% (ok 99.99999 % Srila Prabhupada would not approve of them).
So where is the prove it is bona fide even , you mentioned some Puranas, all I know is this quote.If you know anyone in Gita press.Well I guess Satya Narayana puja is better than nothing, but better is to make people chant Hare Krishna.For strict vaisnavas to do this Satya Narayana pujas is really a stretch,what do you think! So if I have been down on this practise, I think you can understand.
One devotee wrote me I spread ashes please let me know as soon as some devotees and congregation die,so I have some business.
Yackkk...ok come on folks die so this Prabhu can spread your ashes in Ganga and make money,,,,
Hinduization of ISKCON is not needed,this is my humble point .I pray everything is well with your health and preaching etc..Any way I think this answers your question, no Sri Vaisnavas I talked with accept Satya Narayana pujas as bonafide maybe Gaura Kesava Prabhu has some comments ,Gita press will sell it anyway I am sure..Satya Naryana pujas are popular in India to make them go away will not be possible I think, so better to tell people we have something better......not do them.To do them is to compromise ones integrity .It is not allowed to be done by devotees anyway according to GBC rules of 96....rent the culture halls and people can do these things themselves is allowed, as long as devotees and congregation has nothing to do with them..it is in the GBC resolution of 96.In ISKCON why should any devotees do Satya Narayana pujas ,a simple point.But important.
your servant
Payonidhi das