[Advaita-l] Which upAsanA is best?

[V Subrahmanian]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://adbhutam.wordpress.com/2017/04/24/worship-of-shiva-or-vishnu-lead-to-the-same-result-mahabharata/amp/&ved=2ahUKEwicm4Os-qPnAhX8_XMBHTAuDDQQFjAAegQIBRAC&usg=AOvVaw0JgZpqXcejYHmhcnyV2uCZ&ampcf=1&cshid=1580134225115

The above article addresses the issue.

Regards
Subbu

On Mon, 27 Jan 2020, 12:48 pm Raghav Kumar Dwivedula via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> 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.
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