One of the very early pastimes of Krishna, when He was on this planet, was the lifting of Govardhan Hill. This pastime was done for the purpose of establishing that there is not only no need of worshiping demigods, but also, that it displeases Krishna when we worship demigods.
The residents of the village Krishna lived in were accustomed to worshiping the demigod Indra every year, with a special ceremony. They thought they were dependent on Indra, because he supplied them with the much needed rain. Krishna told them to deny Indra his "due sacrifice" and instead, bring all the items of worship, and worship a hill.
The point was not to prove that a hill was more valuable than Indra, it was to show that worshiping (trying to please) a demigod, does not please Krishna, who is God. It was to show that Krishna is God, the only actual God, and that all others are subordinate to Him. Krishna clearly made that distinction.
~I am God. I am the Supreme God. Indra is under me, entrusted by me, to manage a particular area of the "universal government".~
Srila Prabhupada writes in Krishna book:
"There are thirty-three million demigods, and each of them is entrusted with a particular department of universal management."
The demigods, whether they are more significant or less significant are really only managers, department managers, for God.
This rejection by the people of Indra, of course made him very angry, and he tried very hard to destroy the residents of Vrindavan, all their cows, their village, everything. Krishna protected them, and in the end Indra came to worship Lord Krishna, bowing down before Him, and acknowledging Him as being God.
There is a big difference between being Hindu, and being Krishna conscious. Hindus recognize all the various demigods and their powers, and they worship certain demigods depending on their own preferences or needs or proclivities.
A young Hindu gentleman wrote to me once saying:
"We who are Hindu's are proud of the fact that we have the freedom to choose whatever god we like to worship, and we enjoy that individuality and freedom of choice to worship which ever god appeals to us".
I realize this is not a statement for the entire Hindu population, but that's the general difference between being Hindu, and being Krishna conscious.
Of course persons who are Krishna conscious are also informed and aware of the various demigods, but we do not worship them.
Krishna consciousness means acknowledging Krishna as the Supreme God, above all other lesser gods. We serve/worship only Krishna as God. Their are not "other gods" that we acknowledge as being somehow independent or outside of the jurisdiction of Krishna. We do not worship them, anymore than we would worship the President of The United States, just because he is a powerful representative entrusted to manage this country.
The rest of this section of Krishna book, by Srila Prabhupada:
"There are thirty-three million demigods, and each of them is entrusted with a particular department of universal management.
All the demigods took the opportunity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead's constructing a city of His own choice to present their respective gifts, making the city of Mathura unique within the universe.
This proves that there are undoubtedly innumerable demigods, but none of them are independent of Krishna.
As stated in the Caitanya-caritamrita, Krishna is the supreme master, and all others are servants.
So, all the servants took the opportunity of rendering service to Krishna when He was personally present within this universe.
This example should be followed by all, especially those who are Krishna conscious, for they should serve Krishna by their respective abilities."
~ "This example should be followed by all especially those who are Krishna conscious"~
When there is not a clear, strong distinction made between Hinduism and Krishna consciousness, people cannot see God. People cannot focus on God.
Krishna (God, the One God, that we all can love and serve and worship) is hidden amongst the pantheon of various Hindu demigods, who are in fact, just servants of the Supreme God, or:
The Only One God
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