Which God Should I Worship?

In Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism), there are thousands of paths.
There are millions of Gods and Goddesses.
There are thousands of methods of sadhana, some external, some internal, some combining both.
You are likely to get confused, which one should I go for?
People often ask: worshiping which God is going to be beneficial for me?
Which sadhana will give me fast results?
You really don't know what your goal in spirituality is.
Unless you know the destination, how can you choose a route to reach there?
Still, all these doubts and questions come up.

So, among thousands and thousands of options, which one should you choose for yourself?

Srimad Bhagavata gives a clear and simple answer to this, vide shloka no.14 of the second chapter of the first skandha -

तस्मादेकेन मनसा भगवान् सात्वतां पतिः ।
श्रोतव्यः कीर्तितव्यश्च ध्येयः पूज्यश्च नित्यदा॥

Focus on Bhagavan Sri Krishna.
Whatever would increase your devotion towards him, affection towards him, love towards him, that is what you should do, always.
Bhakti is not the path, bhakti is the ultimate goal.
The whole idea is to develop bhakti.
If you are acquiring knowledge, that should lead you to bhakti.
If you are doing a ritual, it should lead you to bhakti.
If you are listening to a beautiful devotional song, that should lead you to bhakti.
If you are doing charity, that should lead you to bhakti.

Because bhakti is what even the omniscient Rishis aspire for.
Because bhakti is what the self-realized saints aspire for.

Because the place of bhakti in the spiritual ladder is even above moksha, even above liberation.

If someone is giving you a choice between moksha and bhakti, then you should choose bhakti.
Moksha can wait.
Bhakti is invaluable, it is rare.

That's what Bhagavata says - whatever gives you bhakti towards Bhagavan, whatever increases your bhakti towards Bhagavan, that is what you should do, that is what you should keep on doing.

Whatever distracts you, takes your attention away from Bhagavan, you should stop doing it.

That's what, even after practicing spirituality for years if you are not seeing results, then you are on the wrong path.
It is time for course correction.

You are lucky that you found Bhagavan Krishna.
He is सात्वतां पतिः - the lord of his devotees.

What does the पति do?
He protects.
He would do anything to protect his devotees.
He would not think twice.

But he would bless you with bhakti only if you are dedicated to him, devoted to him singularly, solely, exclusively, with no distractions, no diversions particularly spiritual distractions, spiritual diversions.
That's why the shloka says - एकेन मनसा.

Now, what is that you should do to develop bhakti, achieve your goal.

Four things -

1. Listen to the glory of Bhagavan.
2. Talk about the glory of Bhagavan.
See these two go together, they are the two sides of the same coin.
Unless you listen to his glory, you will not be able to talk about it.
Unless you are going to talk about it,there is no point listening.

Then -
3. Meditate upon Bhagavan.
4. Worship Bhagavan.

So you are dedicating all your jnanendriyas and karmendriyas to Bhagavan.
Not allowing them to get distracted.

When you listen to his glory, your ears are engaged and occupied with him.
When you talk about his greatness, sing his praises, then your speech is engaged and occupied with him.
When you meditate upon him, your mind is filled with him.
When you worship him, your eyes behold his beautiful figure.
Your skin touches him, your nose is immersed in the fragrance of the flowers and agarbatti that you have offered him.
Your hands, legs, the whole body is dedicated to his service.

This is what you have to do, every day, always.

Knowledge Bank

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