Importance Of Worshipping Only One God.

 Hare Krishna

All Glories To Sri Guru And Sri Gauranga.

Vaishnava devotees always get to hear things like, you are abrahamic, and if you are an iskcon devotee, things get much worse, you'll be accused of misguiding people and hurting their emotions and beliefs and you are also accused of being biased and being demonic and being what not? and all for what?.........

Are the vedas monotheistic?

First of all in order to learn the vedas one must read the bramha sutras and interpret the vedas in the light of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa's bramha sutras.

Brahma Sutra:

"Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan"

There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not at all, not in the least bit.

Madhvacharya says, “Any proposition which is inconsistent with the sovereign independence of God should be rejected as false. Consistency with Divine majesty is itself the criterion of truth. All proof and authorities should be interpreted in the light of the Supremacy or Sarvotthamatva of God, which should not be compromised at any cost”.

Let us see at the upanishads.

"Ekam evadvitiyam"

"He is One only without a second."

        [Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1] 

Krishna says in the bhagavad gita 7.7 

O conquerer of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.

Who is god?

The divine Lord Nārāyaṇa alone is the ONE mainstay of all creation (Subāla Upaniṣad 6: 1)

Nārāyaṇa alone is God the eternal Supreme Being. (Lakṣmi tantra 13;18.)

Brahman is Nārāyaṇa, the one, the void, pure and immaculate, Everything in this universe consists of Brahman whatever is seen, heard off or inferred. (Lakshmi Tantra. 8:5)

Nārāyaṇa is the Supreme Brahman. (ahirbudhnya saṃhita 4;77)

Gita Mahatmya says,

ekam shastram devaki-putra-gitam

eko devo devaki-putra eva

eko mantras tasya namani yani

karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva

There need be only one holy scripture-the divine Gita sung by Lord Shri Krishna: only one worshipable Lord-Lord Shri Krishna: only one mantra-His holy names: and only one duty-devotional service unto that Supreme Worshipable Lord, Shri Krishna.

Sri Yamnunacharya Bhagavatpada says, – “what vaidika would deny nArAyaNa is the parabrahman?"

vede ramayane punye bharate bharatarshabha।

adau madhye tatha chante vishnu sarvatra giyate।। (Harivamsha, 3.132.95)

In the Vedas, the Ramayana and in the Mahabharata, O chief of the Bharata clan, the glories of Vishnu alone are sung in the beginning, the middle, and the end.

"eko nArAyaNa AsInna brahmA neshAno nAgnIshhomau neme dyAvapR^ithivI" |

(mahopanishhad.h 1.1.1).

Aitareya Brāhmaṇa(of rig veda) 1.1.1 

अग्निर्वै देवानामवमो विष्णुं परमं तदन्तरं सर्व देवताः ||

Agni is the lowest and Vishnu is the highest among devas. All other gods occupy positions that are in between.”

Yajurveda Taittiriya Samhita 5.5.1: 

देवताणं विष्णु परमः ||

~Vishnu is the supreme amongst devatas.

 Satpath Brahmana(of yajur veda) 14.1.1.5: 

तदविष्णु प्रथमा प्रपद सा देवानाम श्रेष्ठो भवतत्समाहुर्विष्णुरदेवनम् श्रेष्ठ ||

Viṣṇu first attained it, and he became the most excellent of the gods; whence people say, 'Viṣṇu is the most excellent of the gods.

Lord Hari is the supreme among gods. So vedas do say that Lord Vishnu is supreme.

Narayana Sukta of Yajur Veda says 

nārāyaṇaḥ paraṁ brahma tattvaṁ nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ,

nārāyaṇaḥ paro jyotirātmā nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ.

nārāyaṇaḥ paro dhyātā dhyānam nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ.

The Lord Narayana is the Supreme Absolute; Narayana is the Supreme Reality; Narayana is the Supreme Light; Narayana is the Supreme Self; Narayana is the Supreme Meditator; Narayana is the Supreme Meditation.

He is the parabrahman. Vedas do tell this.

All the yagnas are for lord narayana only.

Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 3.6.3.3: 

yajño vai viṣṇuḥ — All yajñá-s are offering to Śrī Viṣṇu.

 Rig Veda says 

paro mātrayā tanvṛ vṛdhāna na te mahitvam anv aśnuvanti |

ubhe te vidma rajasī pṛthivyā viṣṇo deva tvam paramasya vitse ||(RV 7.99.1)

Men come not nigh thy majesty who growest beyond all bound and measure with thy body.

Both thy two regions of the earth, O Viṣṇu, we know: thou God, knowest the highest also.

Lord vishnu is the highest(inferior to none) and he is the supreme one.

 Katha upanishad 1.3.9 says 

vijñānasārathiryastu manaḥpragrahavānnaraḥ |

so'dhvanaḥ pāramāpnoti tadviṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padam || 9 ||

But the man who has a discriminating intellect for the driver and a controlling mind for the reins, reaches the end of the road, i.e., that highest place of Vishnu.

Commenting on this Shankaracharya says

What that goal is, is now explained; but the man who has discerning intelligence for the driver, whose mind is under control, and who is clean, i.e., the knowing man reaches the end of the road of Samsara, i.e., realises the Supreme; i.e., is absolved from all the ties of Samsara. The man of knowledge attains the highest place of Vishnu, i.e., the nature of the all-pervading Brahman, the Paramatman known as Vasudeva (the Self-luminous).

 The narayana sukta says 

yacca kiñcijjagatsarvaṁ dṛśyate śrūyate'pi vā,

antarbahiśca tatsarvaṁ vyāpya nārāyaṇaḥ sthitaḥ.

Whatever all this universe is, seen or heard of—pervading all this, from inside and outside alike, stands supreme the Eternal Divine Being (Narayana).

Nārāyaṇa is the Supreme Reality designated as Brahman. Nārāyaṇa is the Highest. Nārāyaṇa is the Supreme Light (described in the Upaniṣads). Nārāyaṇa is the Highest. (Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad Anuvāka 13 Verse 4.)

But what about shiva?

योगनिद्रासमारुढं शेषपर्यंकशायिनम् ।

नारायणं महात्मानं ब्रह्माण्डकमलोद्भवम् ।।

तमसा कालरुद्राख्यं रजसा कनकांडजम् ।

सत्त्वेन सर्वगं विष्णुं सर्वदेवनमस्कृतम् ।।

Narayana the great Atman who is in Yoga Nidra sleeping in couch of Sesha. He is the source of origin of cosmic egg. He takes the form of KalaRudra through Tamasa, Brahma through Rajas and Vishnu through Satwa. He is saluted by all Devas.

(Linga Purana)

yasya prasAdAdahamachyutasya mUrtiH prajAsRRiShTikaro .antakArI .

krodhAchcha rudraH sthitihetubhUto yasmAch cha madhye puruShaH parasmAt

[By whose grace I (brahmA), the creator of beings, am born as the form of Acyuta, and by whose anger, Rudra the annihilator was born as his form . And in addition, from Whom the Purusha (Vishnu) was born in between these two, for the purpose of protection.]

(Vishnu Purana-4.1.85)

Another from Tamasa Purana i.e Linga Purana:

tvatkrodhasaMbhavo rudras tamasA cha samAvRRitaH .

tvatprasAdAjjagaddhAtA rajasA cha pitAmahaH ..

tvatprasAdAtsvayaM viShNuH sattvena puruShottamaH .

[Rudra, who was born from Your (Vishnu’s) wrath is covered with tamas, and Brahma, the grandsire of the universe, who was born from Your grace is covered with rajas.By your grace (again), You Yourself was born as Vishnu, the Purushottama, through sattva.]

Madhvacharya says in his Vishnu tatva vinirnaya,

The Parama-sruti has the following: 'Brahma, Siva and all others beginning with the gods are Ksaras, because their bodies are perishable, Lakshmi is aksara because her body is imperishable. Hari is above both these, because he is infinite in all his glorious attributes like independence, power, knowledge and bliss. They are all under his control. He, all by himself, brings about the creation, subsistence, destruction, regulation, illumination, ignorance and bondage of all ksaras and the liberation of sattivika jivas. To the aksara he grants manifestation, subsistence, regulation, illumination and eternal bliss. The supreme Hari alone is the source of the activities of all these. There is no one else who brings about his creation etc. He is free from all imperfection.

The skanda purana says,

"brahmasheshhasuparNeshashakrasUryaguhAdayaH  |

sarve xarA axarA tu shrIrekA tatparo hariH" |

-iti skAnde  || 440||

 440. The Skanda-purana says: 'Brahma, Sesa, Suparna, Isha, Sakra, Surya, Guha and others are all ksaras. Only Sri is aksara. Hari is beyond both.

"vAsudevo vA idamagra AsInna brahmA na cha  shaN^karaH  |

nendrasUryau na cha guho na somo na vinAyakaH " ||

-ityAdishrutibhyashcha  || 446||

 446. 'Before the universe was created Vasudeva alone was, neither Brahma nor Sankara. There was no Indra or Surya or Guha or Soma or Vinayaka'. By Sruti texts like these the position is substantiated.

Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭatiri, an Advaitin himself, in his most famous work 'Narayaneeyam' 90.9-10 states and explains how even Shastras have this—

ye svaprakṛtyanuguṇā giriśaṃ bhajante

teṣāṃ phalaṃ hi dṛḍhayaiva tadīyabhaktyā / vyāso hi tena kṛtavānadhikārihetoḥ skāndādikeṣu tava hānivaco'rthavādaiḥ // 90.9

bhūtārthakīrtiranuvādaviruddhavādau

tredhārthavādagatayaḥ khalu rocanārthāḥ / skāndādikeṣu bahavo'tra viruddhavādās-tvattāmasatvaparibhūtyupaśikṣaṇādyāḥ // 90.10

"Those who, in conformity with their natural inclinations, or tendencies worship Lord Siva, do obtain the desired ends by firm devotion to you (Vishnu) only. It is with a view to encourage and motivate such persons that Sage Vyasa has eulogised Siva in his works like Skanda Purana, and made statements degrading you (Vishnu). Arthavadas, or exaggeratory declarations, are of three kinds, namely, those which are neither contrary to available pramanas (proofs or authority) nor verifiable by experience; those which are verifiable by experience; and those which are contrary to experience, bordering on perverted interpretations. These are all devices employed by their proponents with a definite objective in view, or to score debating points, and are not to be taken in the literal sense. Statements in the Skanda and other similar Puranas fall in this category and are motivated by the objective of intensifying devotion to one's chosen deity, and are not to be understood as belittling you"

Agni purana (216.8)

śivaṃ kecit paṭhanti sma śaktirūpaṃ paṭhanti ca

kecit sūryaṅkecidagniṃ vedagā agnihotriṇaḥ

agnyādirūpo viṣṇurhi vedādau brahma gīyate

“Some say brahman is lord shiva. While others say it is shakti. Yet others say it refers to the sun and still others say it refers to fire. While chanting brahma-gayatri, the brahmanas who perform Vedic fire sacrifices (Agni-hotras) worship various demigods. But it is Vishnu alone who being present in the forms(as paramatma) of Agni (fire) and other demigods, is praised by the Vedas as the Brahman(Supreme Absolute truth ,as mentioned in various upanishads)

But why did lord Rama worship Shiva?

Madhvacharya says,

Mahabharat tatparya nirnaya 2.133— 134— 

“Lord Vishnu sometimes worships Shiva; Sometimes He worships Rishis; Sometimes He worships Devatas; Sometimes He worships humans; He bows to them and praises them; He asks boons from them; He establishes Lingas; He asks boons from Asuras; He, who is eternally the Supreme Lord, independent, infinitely capable, infinitely knowledgeable and above all beings, does so to cause illusion to (some) people”

Why worship only one god?

 Krishna says in bhagavad gita 7.20,

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.

Only people in the mode of ignorance worship other deities,...

The Kurma Purana 2.43.49+ Skanda Purana 7.1.2.87-88 + Matsya Purana (53.68-69) together states as follows:

sättvikesu purānesu mähätmyamadhikam hareh

rājasesu ca māhātmyam adhikam brahmano viduh

tadvadagnesca mahatmyam tämasesu sivasya ca

"In the Puranas in the mode of goodness, the focus is the glories of Lord Hari. Those in the mode of passion, the focus is on the glories of Lord Brahma, Similarly, those in the mode of ignorance, the focus is on the glories of Lord Siva and Agni,"

What is worshipping other [so-called] gods according to Madhvacharya?

Śrī Kṛṣṇāmṛta Mahārṇava

Sloka 144: A person who neglects worship of Vishnu and worships other Gods is an ignorant who is discarding Amruta and accepting the deadly poison Halahala

Sloka 145: One who ignores Amruta and drinks ordinary water is a fool. Similarly, one who leaves Lord Hari and worships other Gods is also a fool

Sloka 146: That person who ignores Lord Hari and worships other Gods is like the person who leaves his own Dharma (work – Kaarya) and performs other Dharma

Sloka 147: The sorry state of an ignorant who ignores Lord Hari and worships other Gods is like that of one who doesn’t worship a cow but prays to a donkey!

Sloka 148: One who ignores Lord Hari and worships other Gods is like a thirsty fool who digs a well on the banks of the river Ganga

Sloka 149: Worshiping other Gods while leaving aside worship of Lord Hari is like drinking the water from a well leaving the holy water of Ganga!

Sloka 150: Worshiping other Gods ignoring Lord Hari is like ignoring one’s own mother while bowing to a characterless woman! 

Hare Krishna!

ṣri kṛṣnārpaṇamasṭu