Demigods And Controlling Deities

Quotes fom Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita on the demigods

"These different demigods, or directors, such as Candra, Varuna and Vayu, are called adhikari-devata. The demigods are departmental heads. The government of the Supreme Lord consists not only of one planet or two or three; there are millions of planets and millions of universes. The Supreme Personality of Godhead has a huge government, and He requires assistants. The demigods are considered His bodily limbs. These are described in Vedic literature. The sun-god, moon-god, fire-god and air-god are working under the direction of the Supreme Lord. It is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (9. 10), mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram. The natural laws are being conducted under His superintendence. Because He is in the background, everything is being performed punctually and regularly."

Srimad-bhagavatam 3:25:42

"The administrative posts occupied by the demigods for maintaining the regulations of the material world are offered to the highly elevated pious living beings. When there is a scarcity of such pious living beings, the Lord incarnates Himself as Brahma, Prajapati, Indra, etc., and takes up the charge.

Srimad-bhagavatam 1:3:12 Purport

"Factually there is no need of offering sacrifices to the demigods for their services if one is engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord. Sacrifices recommended in the Vedic literature for satisfaction of the demigods are a sort of inducement to the sacrificers to realize the existence of higher authorities. The demigods are engaged by the Lord as controlling deities of material affairs, and according to the Bhagavad-gita, when a demigod is worshiped the process is accepted as the indirect method for worshiping the Supreme Lord. But when the Supreme Lord is worshiped directly there is no need of worshiping the demigods or offering them sacrifices as recommended in particular circumstances."

Srimad-bhagavatam 2:7:32 Purport

"All the controlling deities like Visnu, Brahma and Siva are different manifestations of the Paramatma feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, who exhibits himself in such manners by entering into each and every universe generated from Him. But still apparently there are divisions of the controller and controlled. For example, in the food-controlling department the controller of food is a person made of the same ingredients as the person who is controlled. Similarly, each and every individual in the material world is controlled by the higher demigods. For example, we have our senses, but the senses are controlled by superior controlling deities. We cannot see without light, and the supreme controller of light is the sun. The sun-god is in the sun planet, and we, the individual human beings or any other being on this earth, are all controlled by the sun-god as far as our eyes are concerned. Similarly, all the senses we have are controlled by the superior demigods, who are also as much living entities as we are, but one is empowered while the other is controlled. The controlled living entity is called the adhyatmic person, and the controller is called the adhidaivic person. All these positions in the material world are due to different fruitive activities. Any individual living being can become the sun-god or even Brahma or any other god in the upper planetary system by a higher grade of pious work, and similarly one becomes controlled by the higher demigods by lower grades of fruitive activities. So every individual living entity is subject to the supreme control of the Paramatma, who puts everyone in different positions of the controller and the controlled."

Srimad-bhagavatam 2:10:8 Purport

"In the Bhagavad-gita, worship of different demigods or rendering service to them is not approved. It is stated in the Seventh Chapter, twentieth verse:

kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah
prapadyante 'nya-devatah
tam tam niyamam asthaya
prakrtya niyatah svaya

"Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures." Here it is plainly said that those who are directed by lust worship the demigods and not the Supreme Lord Krsna. When we mention the name Krsna, we do not refer to any sectarian name. Krsna means the highest pleasure, and it is confirmed that the Supreme Lord is the reservoir or storehouse of all pleasure. We are all hankering after pleasure. Ananda-mayo 'bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). The living entities, like the Lord, are full of consciousness, and they are after happiness. The Lord is perpetually happy, and if the living entities associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him and take part in His association, then they also become happy.

The Lord descends to this mortal world to show His pastimes in Vrndavana, which are full of happiness. When Lord Sri Krsna was in Vrndavana, His activities with His cowherd boyfriends, with His damsel friends, with the inhabitants of Vrndavana and with the cows were all full of happiness. The total population of Vrndavana knew nothing but Krsna. But Lord Krsna even discouraged His father Nanda Maharaja from worshiping the demigod Indra because He wanted to establish the fact that people need not worship any demigod. They need only worship the Supreme Lord because their ultimate goal is to return to His abode."

Bhagavad-Gita as it is, Introduction

The Lord Himself said (Bhagavad-gitå 9.25): “The worshippers of ‘other gods’ (demigods) gain entrance into the corresponding abode of the god worshipped; the worshippers of the forefathers who regularly perform the sråddha ceremonies reach the forefathers’ abode, Pitruloka; and My devotees reach Me.” “My devotees attain to My abode. My devotees are transcendental to the three qualities of mundane nature: goodness (truthfulness, illumination), passion (agitation, activation), and ignorance (foolishness, stupefaction)—(sattva-guna, rajo-guna and tamo-guna).”

(Bhagavad-gitå 14.18) “The good go upwards (as far as Satyaloka); the passionate remain in the middle (in the human plane); and the ignorant must fall (to the hellish regions).” So those who remain in those particular qualities will receive a corresponding result.

Benedictine Tree Of Divine Aspiration by Srila Sridhar Maharaja

The first offense is to abuse the devotees who are the agents of spreading the greatness and nobility of the Supreme Lord, Krishna. If we abuse and dishonor His agents, then the name is dissatisfied. Only the devotees of Krishna are real saints, because they are after eternal life. Those persons who worship demigods for temporary gain are not considered saints. They may be neglected, for they are not devotees. Saint means Vaishnava, or devotee. All others, such as the worshipers of demigods, are not considered saints. We avoid them. A saint is one who has no ambition in his life but to have a connection of loving service with the Supreme Lord. Only those who are agents of eternal truth, absolute good, are to be con- sidered saintly. We should not abuse such saintly persons.

The second offense concerns how we should treat the demigods, including Shiva, Shakti, the Sun-god, and others. They are not to be considered equal to or greater than Vishnu, or Krishna. They are under Him, and they are all inferior to Him. They are given engagements by the Supreme Lord, Krishna, and they have to discharge their duties according to His order. They are never equal or superior to Krishna.

Search For Sri Krishna by Srila Sridhar Maharaja

“One should understand the Spiritual Master to be as good as I am”, said the Blessed Lord. “Nobody should be jeal- ous of the Spiritual Master or think of him as an ordinary man, because the Spiritual Master is the sum total of all demigods.” That is, the Āchārya has been identified with God Himself.

If I am devoid of flesh and blood and I exist only in a subtle body, then I shall also find my Guru there, in a subtle body. The demigods, Gandharvas, and siddhas, the perfected beings in the heavenly planets, also have their gurus, but they do not have a material body, nor does their guru have a material body.

Sri Guru And His Grace by Srila Sridhar Maharaja

Some of the more well known demigods

Devotee: Maharaj, you mentioned that the material world is like a prison-house. Are the demigods such as Brahma and Indra also
prisoners?

Srila Guru Maharaj: They are also prisoners, but as officers. Even prisoners may become officers on the sanction of the jail government. In the prison government, senior and qualified prisoners are also given a chance for a post. Is it not a fact?

Devotee: Yes.

Srila Guru Maharaj: So their position is like that. They are also imprisoned, but their position is a little higher. A duty is deputed to them, but they are nonetheless prisoners.

Sermons of the Guardians of devotion 2

sudurdarsam idam rupam, drstavan asi yan mama deva apy asya rupasya, nityam darsana-kanksinah (Srimad Bhagavad-gita 11.52)

"This saccidananda two-armed human-like form of mine which you are seeing is very, very rarely seen. Even the demigods constantly aspire for a glimpse of this form."

Sermons of the Guardians of devotion 3