Q: Someone recently claimed that the guru is superior to Lord Śiva. What are your views on this?
A: Why would anyone want to attempt such a comparison? What is the point of this kind of competition?
Q: According to them, one should not divert one’s attention to Lord Śiva and away from guru.
A: Why would offering respect to Lord Śiva imply diverting attention away from guru? I do not get the logic.
Q: They say one should not observe Śivarātri.
A: That is an offense to bhakti. Please check this article. In any case, how does observing Śivarātri divert attention from the guru? Does observing Ekadasi or other vratas divert one’s attention? I do not understand the logic.
Q: They say that the guru is superior to Lord Śiva. So one should worship the guru and not Lord Śiva. They also say that the guru is superior even to Kṛṣṇa.
A: By this logic, one should not observe Kṛṣṇa’s festivals like Janmastami even. One should not fast on the appearance day or disappearance day of the Goswamis. This is just arrogant fanaticism born out of a total ignorance of the scriptures.
Q: How is the guru superior to Kṛṣṇa?
A: He is not. He is a servant of Kṛṣṇa. How can the servant be superior to the master?
Q: They say that Lord Śiva is inferior to the guru because He does not preach.
A: Are the Goswamis also inferior? They did not preach. Sri Jiva Goswami did not have a single disciple. How about King Yudhishthira? Is he inferior to the guru? The gopis do not preach to anyone. Are they inferior?
Q: So preaching is not a metric to decide who is great.
A: No.
Q: Is Lord Śiva inferior or superior to the guru?
A: This question is ridiculous. The Bhāgavata itself states that Lord Śiva is an exemplar of devotion. Kṛṣṇa Himself offers respects to Him.All devotees in our line offer their deepest respects to Him beginning with the Goswamis. Read Sridhar Swami’s opening prayers in his commentary on the Bhāgavata. As just one example, here is Sri Sanatana Goswami’s prayer:
anyo’nyabhaktidānārthamanyo’nyopāsanākarau | vande hariharau devāvanyo’nyaprematatparau ||
I praise the devas Hari and Hara, who are eager for prema for each other. Each engages in worship of the other for the purpose of the award of bhakti for the other.
In fact, Lord Śiva is Kṛṣṇa Himself in a different mood. There is no question of comparing Lord Śiva to the jivas or even the guru. Those who make such comparisons have missed the whole point of bhakti, and are offenders to Śiva, Kṛṣṇa and the guru. The guru is a devotee. He or she worships Kṛṣṇa and also offers respect to Lord Śiva. Read the Bhakti Sandarbha if you want to know more.
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