Question: On one side we hear Lord Siva is the foremost Vaisnava and should be respected. We also read in Caitanya Bhagavat it is an offense to not give him that position and respect. Then how do we understand the behavior of an Acarya like Ramanujacarya where he was fasting being upset because he thought Lord Jagannath moved him from Puri to a Shiva temple but was happy on realizing later that it was a temple of Kurma dev.
Answer by Romapada Swami:
I checked with a devotee who is very familiar with Sri Vaisnava teachings, to be sure that the Sri Vaisnava perspective on this question was correctly represented. Here was the Response:
Respect doesn’t mean one needs to worship a respectable person; on other hand one who is worshipped needs to be respected. For sure Lord Siva needs to be respected as a devata and as a great Vaisnava but need not necessarily be worshipped unless one can see the Supreme Lord within that devata. Even if one wishes the ‘loka-sangraham’ – the benefit of the society – a great acarya like Ramanujacarya will not exhibit such things which may confuse his followers.
Possible objection: “Okay, there may be no need to worship devas; but why did Ramanujacarya become upset by ending up in Siva’s temple? Is that not a kind of offensive and disrespectful behavior towards Lord Siva, who himself a great vaisnava?”
Absolutely not! Here is how we can understand the mood of Sripad Ramanuacarya – As practicing devotees, we very well know that we must respect all the devotees. Just because everyone is a devotee doesn’t mean that a devoted wife sleeps overnight with another devotee man. Respect doesn’t mean we compromise our spiritual principles. Krishna is the only Purusa, Sripad Ramanujacarya was very strong in this principle, and this shows how chaste he was to the Lord.
There is another incident that explicitly exhibited this chastity, the story is as follows.
One time when the temple Deity procession was happening on the street, there was heavy rain, the priest and others who were carrying the Deities in a palanquin wanted to save the Lord from the rain. Unable to find any better shelter they entered a close by Siva temple, whereas Ramanujacarya was also there but he did not enter the Siva temple rather stood outside of the Siva temple. The Siva bhaktas tauntingly told Ramanujacarya, that your Lord Himself entered our temple, what is your problem then, why don’t you come in?
In response, Ramanujacarya replied, “Although a Purusa (a man) can enter another woman’s house, that doesn’t mean his wife should also behave the same manner. For me, my Lord Sri Krishna/ Narayana is the only Purusa and I am his chaste wife, therefore, I can’t enter into another man’s house, though he may be great in any manner.
Relating these incidents with the question being asked we can derive to few conclusions
- that he is upset for that reason thinking his chastity is lost.
- he must have felt that his Lord rejected him by sending him off to Lord Siva’s house.
- as acharya, he wanted to set focused worship towards Narayana without getting deviated with worship done for devatas.
Per Sri Vaishnava teachings – once surrendered to the Lord, two principles need to be followed very strictly
- No worship of anya devatas – no demigod worship
- No Vaisnava aparadha
If either one is committed, then the Saranagati becomes invalid.
