Why ISKCON only advocates Krishna?

Question

Why do ISKCON saints only preach about God Krishna and say that we should only worship him and no one else?

Welcome to Hinduism.SE! It's because they believe that Krishna is the supreme god, and they think Vishnu is an incarnation of Krishna. This is in contrast to other Vaishnavas who think that Vishnu is the supreme God and that Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu. — Keshav Srinivasan, Sep 13 '15 at 20:03
Thanks for your information, but we know 8 other incarnation of Vishnu (Narayana) are also there. So, why we only need to worship Krishna? — hmjha, Sep 13 '15 at 20:12
Like I said, according to ISKCON Krishna is not an incarnation of Vishnu, rather Vishnu is an incarnation of Krishna. So in their worldview Krishna is supreme and everyone should worship him. — Keshav Srinivasan, Sep 13 '15 at 20:17
Nopes, they also used to say Krishna is incarnation of Narayan (the supreme God) but we can't worship him directly so need to worship the incarnation who had all the 16 arts. So, we should worship Krishna. — hmjha, Sep 13 '15 at 20:24
No, ISKCON never calls Krishna an incarnation of Narayana. Other Vaishnavas do and other Hindus do, though. — Keshav Srinivasan, Sep 13 '15 at 20:26
@KeshavSrinivasan both Devi Bhagawatam and Brahma Vaivarta say that Vishnu was a part of Krishna. Krishna divided his body and left half became Vishnu and right half remained as Krishna — , Mar 21 '18 at 09:11
@AnuragSingh Yes, I'm aware of that. But I don't consider the Devi Bhagavatam to be an authentic Mahapurana or an authentic Upapurana. And I think the Brahma Vaivarta Purana is full of interpolations. Apart from those two, Hindu scripture is filled with countless references to Krishna being an incarnation of Vishnu rather than the other way around. — Keshav Srinivasan, Mar 21 '18 at 14:45
@Keshav Devi Puraana is authentic. In fact 9 book of Devi bhagawatam and Prakriti Khanda of Brahma Vaivarta are same. Just like all Puraanas share some verses like Shiva Purana, Brahma Vaivarta, Padma, and Skandha share many verses. Devi Puraana shares verses with Brahma Vaivarta and Shiva Puraana. So no way it is unauthentic. Also its all details accede with other Scriptures. It's your view, and you have full right to have it. It does not matter. — , Mar 21 '18 at 15:42
@AnuragSingh The Devi Bhagavatam is not present on the scriptural lists of Mahapuranas and Upapuranas. And the fact that part of the Devi Bhagavatam matches the content of part of the Brahma Vaivarta Purana doesn't add to its credibility, but subtracts from it. Because there's strong reason to believe that the Brahma Vaivarta Purana is heavily interpolated. — Keshav Srinivasan, Mar 21 '18 at 15:46
@Keshav by the way, it maybe off topic from our current discussion. But did you find any mention of Vishnu becoming Shaligrama in Bhagawatam or Vishnu Puranam. Shaligrama is such important things to Vaishnavas. And needless to say we can call Vishnu Puranam the main Purana for Vishnu Bhaktas. Was there even hint of mention of Tulasi ShankhaChuuda story? Or in Bhagawatam — , Mar 21 '18 at 15:49
@Keshav Brahma Vaivarta maybe interpolated but at least Prakriti Khanda (PK) seems not to be much interpolated. The reason I believe it is because if PK was interpolated then exact same verses would not be in Devi Bhagawatam, especially considering the fact that Prakriti Khanda almost shows only Krishna as supreme, and Devi Bhaktas would have refuted to add it, or at least removed the Part showing Krishna Supreme, but no such thing was done. And Even if we consider that BV.Puran was interpolated before Devi.B. and added later to it, then again the story of ShankhaChuuda is exactly copied..... — , Mar 21 '18 at 15:54
....verse to verse in Shiva Purana. Which is even more unlikely to happen, that a Shiva Puraana will aDd part from Brahma vaivarta . And clearly Shiva Puraana is a mahapuraana , so it being interpolated with a Vishnu centered part of BV.Purana is highly unlikely. — , Mar 21 '18 at 15:56
Also the very Story of Vishnu becoming Shaligrama is in the very Prakriti Khanda of Brahma Vaivarta, and 9 th book of Devi Puraana. So if we consider it as interpolated and incredible then it means Shaligrama worship is an interpolation. And the other purana in which Shaligrama story is, is Shiva Puraana (the very copied verses of BVPurana and Devi.B.) . So this means all worship of Shaligrama is baseless aNd interpolation. — , Mar 21 '18 at 16:06
@KeshavSrinivasan You should really make your comment an answer. This is a bad habit Hinduism.SE has fallen into. If you prefer not to, I shall do so later. — Rubellite Yakṣī, Apr 30 '18 at 23:45
@RubelliteYakṣī haha, Oh I think you misunderstood my question. I know very well what is ISKCON, I'm studying their books since 1990, but you see their name is ISKCON and not "ISCKON"! That's why I said I never heard of ISCKON. The poster of this question asked about ISCKON, see revisions history of this question. — brahma jijnasa, May 16 '18 at 18:58

score 6 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:59

6

Because only Lord Krishna has displayed vishvaroopam (universal form) so far. No other god or goddess has done that so far. This is also confirmed in the Vedas specifically Atharva Veda.

In the Atharva-veda it is said,

yo brahmāṇaṁ vidadhāti: pūrvaṁ yo vai vedāṁś ca gāpayati sma kṛṣṇaḥ.

यो ब्रह्माणं विदधाति: पूर्वं यो व्ऐ वेदांश् च गापयति स्म कृष्णः.

It was Kṛṣṇa who in the beginning instructed Brahmā in Vedic knowledge and who disseminated Vedic knowledge in the past.

Then again it is said,

atha puruṣo ha vai nārāyaṇo kāmayata prajāḥ sṛjeya ity upakramya.

अथ पुरुषो ह व्ऐ नारायणो कामयत प्रजाः सृजेय इत्य् उपक्रम्य.

Then the Supreme Personality Nārāyaṇa desired to create living entities.

Therefore Lord Krishna is God almighty.

Bg 10.8 Bhagavad-gita As It Is (1972)

edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:59

Community

1

answered Sep 14 '15 at 05:13

Bhavin

4,913
3
31
64

This question contests the vishvaroopam you talk about: Did Sri Krishna really show Viswarupa Darsan to Arjuna (or) was it projection of Arjuna's mind?. – Say No To Censorship Nov 09 '15 at 00:45
1

"No Other God Goddess did it" ..... No, Devi Bhagawati Also Showed Her Supreem Ultimate Virat form to all the Devas. – Mar 01 '18 at 18:36
1

This answer is wrong. Many of the names of God are nentioned in the Vedas and Shiva and Shakti etc also showed Visvarupa. – Mar 03 '19 at 07:56
1

Not sure of this. I have heard that Shiva and Devi Durga (perhaps, pardon my ignorance) have also shown the Vishwaroopam. – D. Chatterjee Mar 03 '19 at 14:00

score 6 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:59

6

That is so because ISKCON stands for International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

It is their personal recommendation, nothing else.

Sources here

edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:59

Community

1

answered Nov 05 '15 at 11:35

user1912695

89
6

The question is why only Krishna consciousness. Not Vishnu consciousness and others. – Sarvabhouma Mar 01 '18 at 13:54
This answer is tautological. The name came after the belief. – Rubellite Yakṣī Apr 30 '18 at 23:47

score 3 · Answer 3 · 2019-03-03T07:57:54.103

1.Why do ISKCON authorities only preach about God Krishna?

Because it comes from a Gaudiya Vaishnava Lineage that consider Sri Krishna as the Supreme God.

2. Why do ISKCON say that we should only worship him and no one else?

Because they are of an opinion that as Sri Krishna is the highest God, to worship him, one should not worship other forms of God.

I am mentioning Sri Krishna's and Mahaprabhu's views here as thses are relevant for anyone following a Gaudiya Vaishnava sect.

Mahapprabhu ordered His Vaishnava-devotees to worship every form of God and ask from them their grace so that the devotee can have single-minded devotion to Sri Krishna.

(According to the Gaudiya Vaishnava Mahajanas, **Mahaprabhu appeared on earth to preach the aspect of sweetness (maadhurya-bhava) of God in place of the greatness (Aisharya-bhava) of God.

"prabhu kahe: Maadhurya bhagavatta-saar" meaning sweetness is the essence of the Divinity.

Sweetness is best expressed in the Gopijanapriya Krishna form, Who is ever beautiful, charming and not holding any weapon. The santa,dasya, sakhya, batsalya and madhura--hese five bhavas are the most beauiful relations one can have with Sri Krishna. So having single-minded devotion to Sri Krishna is the most sweet and beautiful form of the Sanatana Dharma.Reference: Gaudiyamate Brahma-Tattva in Gaudiya Vaishnava Darshan,Principal Radhagovinda Nath,D.Lit.,page 119-139)

By the way it is not that Sri Krishna alone showed Visvarupa. Lord Shiava showed Visva-rupa to Sri Rama (as mentioned in Shiva-Gita) and Devi showed Visvarupa to King Daksha (as mentioned in Bhagavati-Gita).Mahaprabhu never focussed on the Aiswarya-bhava of Visvarupa as I mentioned earlier.)

As per Mahaprabhu's teachings, to attain this single-minded devotion to Sri Krishna, one has to be a pure soul and so devoid of any bigotry or hatred towards anyone, be it a form of God or a human or non-human being. This has been repeatedly said by Sri Krishna also in Srimad-Bhagavatam and Gita.

Reference: Mahaprabhu Sri Chaitanya,Radhagovinda Nath, Sadhana Prakashani.

The edit looks fine. Btw, it would be more useful if you add some citation for sweetness (Madhurvabhava). — Pandya, Mar 02 '19 at 15:52

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 01 '18 at 12:31

Because they are an off-shoot of Gaudiya Vaishnavism and Gaudiyas believe Krishna is the supreme God. The basis may be the Brahma Vaivarta purana about which wiki says

"The text is notable for identifying Krishna as the supreme Reality and asserting that all gods such as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Ganesha are same, and all are incarnations of Krishna."

They also claim a scripture called "brahma samhita" was discovered by Chaitanya that asserts Krishna is the supreme God.

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 02 '19 at 11:33

It is based on Chaitanya Vaishnavism. They have their Vedanta system as per which Krishna is the supreme, source of other avatars. He is said to give special rasa. They worship Chaitanya also, who is Krishna according to them.

And devata worship is not prohibited, though they don't have any deities of other devatas in their temples. And they worship Narasimha daily and in some temples they have murtis of Rama as well. AFAIK on yatras, they go to other devas(i mean other than vishu related like siva, ganesa, durga etc.) temples also to pray for bhakti like Chaitanya did on his south indian tour.

Why ISKCON only advocates Krishna?

5 Answers5