How to decide which God to worship?

Question by a Sadhak to H.H.Swami Mukundanandaji : There was a Ram temple in our house; I was in the habit of hearing the Tulsi Ramayan, and meditating on the form of Lord Ram.  But after marriage, in my in-laws’ house, I began reading the Durga Saptaśhati and observing Navrātras.  When I heard the Bhāgavat saptāha, I liked the leelas of Shree Krishna.  How should I decide which God to worship?

Answer by H.H.Swami Mukundanandaji :  Although Ram, Durga, Krishna are all different forms of the one Supreme Lord, yet it is advisable to focus your devotion on a single form.  There is a Hindi saying:

eka sādhe saba sadhe, saba sādhe saba jāya

 “If you focus all your attention on a single activity, you will succeed in it.  But if you try to succeed in multifarious things at the same time, you will fail in all of them.”  With the same logic, if you try to love all the forms of God, you will end up loving none.  But if you devote your mind to one form, you will develop love for all of them.  So you must choose one form to worship, which is called “Iṣhṭa Dev”, or the devotee’s chosen form of God for devotion.

Now the question you have asked is about how to choose your Iṣhṭa Dev.  In deciding this, you must consider which form of God is attractive to the mind.  If your Iṣhṭa Dev has a beautiful form, you will find it much easier to meditate on Him.  Also, if your Iṣhṭa Dev has wonderful pastimes, it will be very helpful in your devotion.  To turn your mind towards God, leelas also play an important role.  By hearing and chanting those leelas, devotees increase their love for God.  From both these view points, devotion to Shree Ram and Shree Krishna is both sweet and easy.  Hence, They are also the most popular Iṣhṭa Devs in India.  Their sweet pastimes are lovingly sung and remembered in temples and houses in every part of the country.

Amongst Them, Shree Krishna manifests four special nectars, above and beyond any other Avatar of God:

Exceptionally attractive form (His famous three-fold bending form with a flute on His lips).

1. Amazing sweetness of His flute that attracts even Lord Shankar.
2. The sweetest childhood pastimes that enchant the minds of devotees.
3. Leelas displaying the greatness of love, which reveal how God forgets His Almightiness because of the love of His devotees.
4. For all these reasons, I would highly recommend that you make Shree Krishna and His Divine Consort, Shree Radha Rani, as your Iṣhṭa Dev.  However, if you decide to choose any other forms of God, that is also fine.

How can I insulate my mood from fluctuations based on the behavior of others?

Question by a Sadhak

When anyone criticizes me or gets annoyed with me, it disturbs me to no end; so much so, that sometimes the whole day is spent in brooding. How can I insulate my mood from fluctuations based on the behavior of others?

Answer by H.H.Swami Mukundanandaji

The solution is to develop a better understanding of the world, based on scriptural knowledge. The Vedas say that this material energy, Maya, consists of three guṇas: sattva guṇa, or the mode of goodness, rajo guṇa, or the mode of passion, and tamo guṇa, or the mode of ignorance.

Everyone’s mind too is made from Maya, and so the three modes of Maya exist in the mind as well. Depending upon the environment and where we focus our thoughts, one of the guṇas becomes prominent and our mind takes on that quality. If sattva guṇa dominates, one becomes peaceful, contented, generous, kind, helpful and serene. When rajo guṇa gains prominence, one becomes passionate, agitated, ambitious, envious of others success, and desirous for sense pleasures. When tamo guṇa becomes prominent, one is overcome by sleep, laziness, hatred, anger, resentment, violence, and doubt.

For example, let us suppose you are sitting in your library, engaged in study. There is no worldly disturbance, and your mind has become sāttvic. After finishing your study, you sit in your drawing room and switch on the television. Seeing all the imagery makes your mind rājasic, and increases your hankering for sense pleasures. While you are watching your favorite channel, your family member comes and changes the channel to her liking. This disturbance causes tamo guṇa to develop in your mind, and you are filled with anger. In this way, the mind sways between the three guṇas, and takes on the corresponding qualities.

This fluctuation takes place constantly in everyone’s minds, altering their thoughts amongst the three modes. When two people’s guṇas are divergent, their ideas, interests, desires and tastes also become divergent, and that causes strife. This strife exists everywhere, between husband-wife, father-son, brother-sister, friend-companion, and so on. Congruence can happen only when two people have the same guṇas. However, since everyone’s guṇas are fluctuating, it is unreasonable to expect that the other person’s guṇas will constantly match ours.

The reason for our anxiety is that we have unreasonable expectations. We want others to always think in the same manner as we do. And when this does not happen, we get disturbed. Instead if we could realize that invariably people will have views differing from ours, and this is very natural due to the three modes of material nature, we will not be disturbed when they oppose us or criticize us.

So by increasing our understanding of the world, we can insulate ourselves from the fluctuating moods of others.