“One time, that wicked king of the Daityas saw his son of lotus-like face and beautiful eyes, surrounded by women, having returned from the home of the guru. In his hand, that boy was holding a slate which had the mark of a chakra at the top and the name of Krishna written with great adoration.” (Narasimha Purana, 41.35-36)

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तं पद्मवक्त्रं दैत्येन्द्रः कदाचित् स्त्रीवृतः खलः
बालं गुरुगृहायातं ददर्श स्वायतेक्षणम्
गृहीत्वा तु करे पुत्रं पट्टिका या सुशोभना
मूर्ध्नि चक्राङ्किता पट्टी कृष्णनामाङ्कितादरात्

taṃ padmavaktraṃ daityendraḥ kadācit strīvṛtaḥ khalaḥ
bālaṃ gurugṛhāyātaṃ dadarśa svāyatekṣaṇam
gṛhītvā tu kare putraṃ paṭṭikā yā suśobhanā
mūrdhni cakrāṅkitā paṭṭī kṛṣṇanāmāṅkitādarāt

Can we blame others for being a little confused? There are so many names. There are different visual manifestations, to receive the prayers, the well-wishes, and the offerings. The worship in this particular tradition, though steady across centuries, is not uniform. Still, there is acknowledgment of a central controller. One figure at the top. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada describes that person as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

That person is the topmost. He is supreme. He is also a person; similar to the way we understand the concept of an individual. He is also Godhead, meaning that there are divine attributes across the board. From start to finish. From top to bottom. Being Godhead, He is not limited to a single manifestation. This is where the confusion begins. An outsider sees different individuals collectively grouped into a single religion engaged in worship of different physical objects. One painting depicts a small boy of bluish complexion raiding the stores of butter kept in a pantry in a place of residence. In some other place, there is worship of a sculpture of a beautiful youth holding a bow in one hand and an arrow in another, with the quiver resting on His shoulder.

To assist in our understanding of the diversity in worship, which is actually unity in the proper perspective, we present the story of a modern father taking responsibility for his young daughter. As recently as one or two generations ago, such interaction was unheard of. The fathers typically went to work. The mothers took care of the home, which included the children. Times change, and with them responsibilities might shift.

In this story, our father is the shy and quiet type. The classic introvert, he does not like to make waves. He also has specific objectives he would like to meet. He wants the child to socialize properly, to get out of the house, to avoid the dreaded addiction to screens. The child is more outgoing than the father. The child will go up to any stranger and ask to play. They are eager to make friends.

The first significant challenge for the father is the drop-off engagement. Leaving the daughter with others, for an hour or more. Everything goes well the first time around, except he notices something interesting. The other children are saying goodbye to the daughter, except they are using a different name. Come to find out that the daughter chose a new name to identify herself with.

A few months later, after returning from a different engagement, the father notices the same trend. Except this time the daughter has created a new alias. In one place, she is known by one name. In a different place, she is known by a different name. In none of the places are people calling her by her name given at birth. The father cannot help but smile. The daughter obviously prefers a name that fits in with the local area, rather than some name that no one has ever heard of.

We can take the same concept and apply it to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The name is the way He is known to certain people. As Krishna, He is the all-attractive one. As Shyamasundara, He is the most beautiful person with the dark complexion. As Govinda, He gives pleasure to the cows. As Yashodanandana, He gives boundless joy to the mother named Yashoda. As Hare, we associate with God through His pleasure potency, who is always dedicated to Him in thought, word, and deed.

The names are not contradictory. One person repeating a specific mantra is not contradicting the worship of another person using a different mantra. There is no harm in the variety, provided the worship flows in an authorized way. The highest form of worship is to be simple in devotion, not asking anything in return. Nevertheless, a person can still approach God for fulfilling desires. Such worship falls into one of four general categories.

चतुर्-विधा भजन्ते मां
जनाः सुकृतिनो ऽर्जुन
आर्तो जिज्ञासुर् अर्थार्थी
ज्ञानी च भरतर्षभ

catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ
janāḥ sukṛtino ‘rjuna
ārto jijñāsur arthārthī
jñānī ca bharatarṣabha

“O best among the Bharatas [Arjuna], four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me – the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.16)

The variety in names also safeguards devotion against the potential for interference. We have the historical example of Prahlada Maharaja. He meditated on God as Vishnu since the time of birth. Such worship was not encouraged in the kingdom. Prahlada’s own father was strongly against such worship. He not only detested the idea of assigning attributes to a divine figure, he objected to the placement of such a figure on the highest pedestal. Hiranyakashipu was trying to reach the top on his own, in violation of the laws supposedly created by that highest figure.

In the face of such interference, Prahlada could still worship. It was once observed that Prahlada had drawn a chakra on a slate. Prahlada had written the name of Krishna on the same slate. This was enough to satisfy devotion in a formal sense, though the process was informal. The devotion was pure. There was nothing personal to be gained. Prahlada could worship because of the variety in names, which is a great boon to the individual struggling in the ocean of suffering.

In Closing:

Satisfied equal to way formal,
Though casual and informal.

Where the name to write,
And drawn beautiful chakra sight.

The father strongly against,
Since towards sinful path bent.

But variety in addressing to call,
Prahlada with highest being of all.

Categories: prahlada and his slate

Tags: dailyprompt, harinama, life, poem, poems, poetry, yoga