Category:Awe and Veneration
Theme Analysis
In the science of devotional service, the approach to the Supreme Lord evolves as the practitioner's love matures. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that in the neophyte stage, it is absolutely necessary to worship the Lord with strict awe and veneration. This respectful mood acknowledges the infinite greatness and opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is the defining characteristic of the lower mellows of devotion, specifically śānta-rasa (neutrality) and dāsya-rasa (servitorship), which are the predominant moods of the devotees residing in the Vaikuṇṭha planets and Dvārakā.
However, as devotion advances to higher, more intimate platforms, awe and veneration are viewed as impediments. Śrīla Prabhupāda reveals a profound transcendental secret: Lord Kṛṣṇa is not fully satisfied by devotion that is made feeble by formal reverence. The Lord craves the spontaneous, unrestricted exchanges of love found in sakhya-rasa (friendship), vātsalya-rasa (parental affection), and mādhurya-rasa (conjugal love). In the supreme spiritual abode of Vṛndāvana, the devotees are bound by such an intense compact of love that they completely forget Kṛṣṇa's exalted position as the Supreme Creator, treating Him instead as an equal, a son, or a lover.
This philosophical distinction also applies to practical Deity worship. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that worshipping Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa requires strict adherence to rules and regulations in a mood of awe and veneration, akin to the worship of Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. In contrast, the worship of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is much more accessible for the fallen souls of Kali-yuga. Because Lord Caitanya is the most merciful incarnation, He accepts even simple, sincere service without taking offense, offering a direct path to the highest intimacies of pure love.
- The Foundation of Reverence: Awe and veneration are essential in the beginning stages of devotion and characterize the worship of Lord Nārāyaṇa in the Vaikuṇṭha planets.
- The Impediment to Intimacy: As devotion matures into spontaneous love, awe and veneration become stumbling blocks that restrict the free exchange of affection with the Supreme Lord.
- The Superiority of Vrndavana: In the highest realms of devotion, devotees completely forget Kṛṣṇa's exalted position and interact with Him in pure intimacy without any formal respect.
- The Mercy of Lord Caitanya: While the worship of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa requires strict awe and veneration, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu freely accepts simple service and delivers the highest love of God.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Awe and Veneration - From Reverence to Intimacy.
Pages in category "Awe and Veneration"
The following 33 pages are in this category, out of 33 total.
A
- Although in santa-rasa there is attachment for Krsna in awe and veneration - since the two valuable transcendental qualities of this rasa are attachment for Krsna and detachment from material desires - nonetheless the sense of intimacy is lacking
- Although on such a platform of love the devotee sometimes appears to predominate over the Lord or transgress regulative principles, such dealings are far more advanced than ordinary dealings through regulative principles with awe and veneration
- Attachment to Krsna can also be broken down into two categories. On one platform there is attachment with awe and veneration
- Awe and veneration are absent on the platform of fraternity, since this rasa is predominated by confidential service. Therefore sakhya-rasa is characterized by the qualities of three rasas
I
- In Gokula Vrndavana, love is freely exchanged, and although the cowherd boys and damsels of Vrndavana know that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they do not show awe and veneration because of the great intimacy of their relationship with Him
- In the beginning we must treat the Lord with awe and veneration. Later one when we are perfectly on the spiritual platform, we treat Krsna more intimately, and therefore we forget the exalted position of Krsna
- In the five principal transcendental relationships, awe and veneration are sometimes impediments obscuring the Lord's actual greatness and sometimes they actually impede one's service to the Lord
- In the five principal transcendental relationships, awe and veneration are sometimes impediments to one’s service to the Lord
- In the transcendental fraternal relationship known as sakhya-rasa, there are three transcendental characteristics: the sense of greatness, the sense of service, and the sense of intimacy without awe or veneration
O
- On the platform of dasya-rasa, the greatest quantity of awe and veneration of the Supreme Lord is exhibited. That is, in the dasya-rasa, the greatness of the Supreme Lord is appreciated
- One sort of friendship is with awe and veneration. Just like if you have a very rich friend, you cannot talk with him so frankly although he is so..., he is your intimate friend. But a friend in the same status, you can talk with him very freely
T
- The pleasure one gives the Lord by addressing Him by such names (Devaki-nandana etc.) is many, many times greater than the pleasure He enjoys when He is addressed as Paramesvara, or anything of that nature, which indicate volumes of awe and veneration
- The qualities of santa-rasa and the service of dasya-rasa are both present on the platform of sakhya-rasa. On the platform of fraternity, the qualities of dasya-rasa are mixed with the confidence of fraternity instead of awe and veneration
- There are also other planets in the spiritual world, called Vaikuntha planets, and on these planets Lord Narayana is worshiped with awe and veneration. On these planets santa-rasa is prevalent
- There are two kinds of devotees engaged in devotional service with awe and veneration, and the servitors in the abode of Dvaraka always worship Krsna as the most respectable and revered Personality of Godhead
- This appreciation of Lord Visnu in awe and veneration by the saintly is to be understood as the sign that they are situated in the santa-rasa, or neutral stage of devotional service
- This type of attachment (with awe and veneration) might be characterized by a certain lack of freedom, and it is exhibited in Mathura and in the Vaikuntha planets. In these abodes of the Lord, the spirit of transcendental loving service is restricted
W
- Whatever we are worshiping Radha-Krsna, that is Radha-Krsna in His Narayana form - Laksmi-Narayana. In the beginning we should worship Radha-Krsna in the level of Laksmi-Narayana, with awe and veneration, very strictly following the rules and regulations
- When Krsna appeared as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki, His parents prayed to the Lord with awe and veneration because they understood that the Supreme Lord Krsna or Visnu had appeared before them as their little child
- When the Lord was on the lap of His mother, He would at once stop crying as soon as the ladies surrounding Him chanted the holy names and clapped their hands. This peculiar incident was observed by the neighbors with awe and veneration
- When there is friendship, paternal affection and conjugal love, however such awe and veneration are reduced
- When this same rasa (dasya-rasa) is developed into fraternity (sakhya-rasa), a friendly intimacy is added. There is no awe or veneration in sakhya-rasa. Therefore sakhya-rasa is invested with the qualities of three rasas - santa, dasya and sakhya