You say that the Gods and the Goddesses shouldn’t be worshipped Isn’t it an act of condemning them?
The first thing to note is that the people here have misrepresented the meaning of the Gods and the Goddesses. I asked my Namis why there were less temples in the names of the Gods and the Goddesses. Brahma, Vishnu and Maheash are called as the Tridevas. Then why do the people say we are speaking against their worship? The Namis told me that first of all here the Hatya of the deceased person is observed as per the prevalent rites and then that very fellow is taken as the God. I mean to say the people are not worshipping the Tridevas even.
Let’s turn to the basic question. Among the Vedas the Rigved is considered as the oldest one. It says 'Eko Brahm dutia nasty' There is only one God.
The people have a great faith in the Gita. There Vasdev Krishan tells Arjun in no uncertain terms that the worshipper of Pitars goes to pitar Lok, the worshipper of the gods goes to Dev Lok while the worshipper of the evil spirits attains the Prait Yuni after his departure from the world. As such, leaving all sorts of other modes of worship he should worship him alone. He said so because he was the Guru of Arjun. Would you call this as well an act of denunciation? Worship of any deity is not wrong. It is a fact that a devotee finds the virtues and the powers of the deity he worships. However, the basic purpose of worship is to seek liberation. At this point, all seem to agree that —
Guru Bin Geyan Na Upje,Guru Bin Mitey Na Dosh
Guru Bin Lakhe Na Satya Ko, Guru Bin Miley Ne Moksh
None can attain the spiritual knowledge without the grace of the Guru and none can free himself from the sins without his grace. In fact, it is the Guru who shows the path of Truth and enables the disciple attain liberation. That is why Vasdev Krishan has spoken in favor of the worship of a Guru and this is what we have been saying. Two things Devotion and Faith are required in the field of worship. Devotion is polluted when it is divided on more then one. In such a case, the faith will vanish and there can be no devotion without faith and no worship without devotion.
Just as a wife does not want that her husband should have love for any other woman and the husband does not want that his wife should have love for any other man, in the same manner, God doesn’t want that His devotee worship any other deity then Him.
For instance, if a devotee goes to some other person for finding relief from his sufferings, he does a sort of insult to his Guru or God. Such a behavior is a clear indication of his lack of faith in his Guru or God. Moreover, it reflects that he thinks some other person as more powerful than his Guru or God.
Similarly, for attaining salvation if the disciple goes to some other person ignoring his Guru, it is a clear indication of the fact that he underestimates the power of his Guru. In this regard, he is right in doing so if his Guru really has no power to give him salvation, but if the Guru has the power to do so, then the disciple shows disgrace to him.
Paltoo Sahib says —
Bada Hoye Tehi Poojiye Santan Kiya Vichar
The sants after giving a good thought have said that
only one, who is great in Spiritual knowledge, should be
worshiped.
He has also said that with the lamp of tualism in hand they began the search for finding such a great soul. Out of the 33 crore Gods they found out three _ Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Even out of these three they found Vishnu and Mahesh as great. However, they selected Vishnu (Hari) whom they thought could help the devotees in attaining salvation. Further, with the help of that very lamp they found Hari in-between the virtues like Satgun, Rajgun and Tamgun. However, the Sants are beyond the reach of these Virtues.
Now it is up to the devotee to decide as to whose worship he should do. Paltoo Sahib has tried to bring to light that none in the entire Brahmand is greater than the Sants and as such it is they who deserve to be worshipped.
That is to say, the stress is on the worship of the Competent Guru. It should not be described, as an act of denunciation. It is rather, an attempt to explain as to what a devotee can attain from the worship of different kinds of deities.
The devotee will have to worship Param Purush if he desires to attain salvation and the medium for this worship is the Satguru. You cannot worship Param Purush as you have not sighted Him.
The worship of the Gods and the Goddesses will keep you within their limit. It is not the worship of Param Purush. However, the worship of the Satguru is taken as the worship of Param Purush because He is within him in an awakened state.
Still, if you are engaged in the worship of any other deity, you are under misconception.