A Question for all ISKON and HARE KRISHNA adherents???

Question

I have a small question for y'all.

I am a hindu (aryan samaj and sanathan Dharma) and I follow the vedic texts. According to the Vedic texts the most important deity is the mother goddess Durga. The most important mantra is the Gayatri Mantra.

The ISKON constantly repeat that they adhere to the teachings of the veda. So why then is the Mother Goddess Durga completely invisible and simply ignored within the ISKON establishment???

I visited the Watford (England) temple and trust me, there is not a trace of her in the building.

Answer 1

Dear Sir , you got everything wrong.
It is a common sense that human beings can concentrate , on one item at a time.
We Hindus have so many Gods and Goddesses. That does not mean that we have to pray and show devotion to all of them.
Our Great Swamiji himself told , all shirts do not suit everybody . You are given the choice to seek your god . Whichever god you choose , all roads lead to the same goal.
Krishna cult is a bhakti cult . Whereas Goddess Durga is of Shakti cult . Her presence or absence in the temples of ISKCON does not mean any disrespect to her.
The other is also true that in the temples of Durga , presence of Krishna may not be there.
So the gist of my saying is that whatever one does with full sincerity and devotion , helps one to achieve the desired , which may be what the ISKCON is doing.

Answer 2

The powerful material energy is represented by Goddess Durga. However Krishna is beyond the material energy and is completely spiritual. In Krishna consciousness we seek to get out of the clutches of material energy by spiritualising all our activities. So that at the time of death we can remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna and attain his abode which is beyond this material universe.
That is also the focus of Srimad Bhagvatam which is considered the ripened fruit of the vedas. Srila Prabhupada the founder of ISKCON laid more stress on his books then the temples he helped raise. As for the Gayatri mantra it is said that Krishna used to chant the Gayatri mantra first thing in the morning during the Brahma Muhurata. Goddess Durga is mentioned in Srimad Bhagvatam. This is a religion based on authority that has been passed on since time immemorial.

Answer 3

In Bengal, there was a time when Kali upasaks were in high numbers and were indulged in (human) sacrifices & sudrapoojas. Many religious heads (purely for their personal gains) misused & exploited gullible people (bhakts). Then Nimai (Chaitanya Krishna or MahaPrabhu or Gauranga) preached the non-violent way of loving &seeking God. You would find huge number of Nimai devotees in & around Nabadwip, West Bengal. Yet Shakti or Durga has equal importance (only the way of worshiping 'maa' had changed)

But the ISKON or the HareKrishna movement (pioneered by Swami Prabhupada) run worldwide (mostly by non-Indians) differ in opinions with the native Nimai-devotees of Nabadwip. And (only) they seemed to have shifted focus off the goddess.

Answer 4

The sound of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, is the sound representation of the final Lord. The sarvam khalv idam brahma. the completed ingredient, the two cloth or religious, despite we've have been given journey, no longer something is separated from the final Absolute fact. no longer something is separated. each and every thing has emanated from unquestionably the fact. (aside:) Come on. take a seat down. yet in basic terms like... the occasion... in basic terms like earth. Earth, then from earth, think ofyou've have been given wood, gasoline. From gasoline, once you get fire, first of all there is smoke. Then, after smoke, there is fire. And the fire, from fire, you are able to take paintings. Now, beginning up from earth, from earth there is wood; from wood there is smoke; from smoke there is fire. there's a hyperlink between the fire and the earth. however the paintings of the fire, the income of the fire, could be had on the final point, whilst there is real ignition of fire. further, there is hyperlink. the completed cloth cosmic subject, manifestation, what we see, it is in basic terms like the smoke. the fire is in the back of it. it is religious sky. yet nevertheless, in the smoke, you are able to sense some warmth additionally. So further, this sound vibration of the religious international is right here so as that even in this cloth international, the place there is an absence of that religious fire, we are in a position to relish, we are in a position to sense, the warmth temperature of that fireside. like to All -Hare Krshna - Hari Bol-

Answer 5

Durga is a goddess of 'shakti'. She is one of the many not the most important.
Vedic Hinduism believes in 10 incarnation of 'saguna Brahaman' Rama and Krishna are just two of them.

Answer 6

why r u searching Goddess Durga in an outside temple? Ur body is the holiest temple and Ma Durga is there within u. Why worry about grades of Gods. It is not ur domain. God will take care of his cadre himself/herself. God will manifest in u according to ur thinking. Jis ke rahi bhavna jaisi hari murti tin dekhi taisi. Follow ur heart.

Answer 7

dear friend, we must always try to understand something in fullness. half knowledge is always different. Vedas tell that god is formless n the wise worship him by different names. the problem here is if u go to a ISKON member he will tell krishna is supreme, another will tell shiva is supreme, another will tell ganesha is, SO WHO IS ACTUALLY? the truth is forms r many but god is one, stars r many sky is one, cows r many milk is one, jewels r many gold is one, nations r many humanity is one, names r many GOD is one. friend, whether u like durga devi, krishna, shiva, allah, jesus.. know that god is one. worship the form that like most n god will respond in that form, chant the name of that form. but we must not compare n contrast the different forms n say mine is better than urs. only the ignorant do that.

Answer 8

The scriptures say that four yugas have four different processes for self-realisation and God-realization
1. Satya-yuga by meditating on Vishnu,
2. Treta-yuga by performing sacrifices,
3. Dvapara-yuga by serving the Lord's lotus feet in the temples
4. Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
Srimad Bhagavatam(12.3.52),
Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Vishnu, in Treta-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvapara-yuga by serving the Lord's lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

There are similar verses
Vishnu Purana (6.2.17), Padma Purana (Uttara-khanda 72.25) and Brihan-naradiya Purana (38.97):
"Whatever is achieved by meditation in Satya-yuga, by the performance of sacrifice in Treta-yuga, and by the worship of Lord Krishna's lotus feet in Dvapara-yuga is obtained in the age of Kali simply by glorifying the name of Lord Kesava."

Brahma-vaivarta Purana also says,
"Thus in the age of Kali the practices of austerity, yoga meditation, Deity worship, sacrifice and so on, along with their various subsidiary functions, are not properly carried out, even by the most expert embodied souls.

Especially Kalisantaranda Upanisad wherein the Hare Krishna Mahamantra is mentioned declares that these sixteen names destroy the ill effects of Kali yuga and there is no other solution.

Brhad Naradiya Purana, very emphatically concludes as the process for self realization in Kali yuga, by stating three times positively "Harer Namaiva Kevalm" and three times negatively "Nasy eva gatir anyatha".
"Harer Namaiva Kevalm" =Only the holy name of Hari
"Nasy eva gatir anyatha" = No other means.

There are innumerable scriptural injunctions regarding.
Only few are quoted above.

Please see few more explanation regarding Hare Krishna,
by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of ISKCON
(International Society for Krishna Consciousness)

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA
KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA
RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

The word Hare is the form of addressing the energy of the Lord, and the words Krishna and Rama are forms of addressing the Lord Himself. Both Krishna and Rama mean the supreme pleasure, and Hara is the supreme pleasure energy of the Lord, changed to Hare in the vocative. The supreme pleasure energy of the Lord helps us to reach the Lord. . .

These three words, namely Hare, Krishna and Rama, are the transcendental seeds of the maha-mantra. The chanting is a spiritual call for the Lord and His energy, to give protection to the conditioned soul. This chanting is exactly like the genuine cry of a child for its mother's presence. Mother Hara helps the devotee achieve the Lord Father's grace, and the Lord reveals Himself to the devotee who chants this mantra sincerely. . .

No other means of spiritual realization is as effective in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy as the maha-mantra:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Answer 9

ISKON does not believe in Idol worship. That's why you won't find any idols or images inside its spiritual places of worship.

Answer 10

according to vedic texts krishna is supreme personality of godhead not durga ofcourse she is d ruler of this universe but not all universes.but vedic texts say that "krishnastu bhagavan swayam" not durgastu bhagavan swayam.so my humble reqest to u is try to know wat is really given in vedas.dont just listen from any one unauthorised.