Devotee: Śrīla Prabhupāda, in Winnipeg there is one very pious east Indian man who for many years has been worshiping somewhat, worshiping Lord Śiva. And his wife is also a very quite chaste woman and sincere follower—and so were her parents—of Lord Śiva. And he is reading your Bhagavad-gītā. He visits our temple. And I have given him the first volume of Canto Four which discusses Lord Śiva a great deal. And he has read in one of your purports that Kṛṣṇa is more pleased when you worship His devotee than when you worship Him directly. And Lord Śiva is a very great devotee of Kṛṣṇa. So he has now interpreted that to mean that if he worships Lord Śiva so nicely, then actually he is pleasing Kṛṣṇa more. So he is experiencing some difficulty because of this and I'm not quite sure how to instruct him that actually...
Prabhupāda: Difficulty?
Brahmānanda: That... Our Godbrother has difficulty in replying to this interpretation that Kṛṣṇa says, "You can please Me by worshiping My devotee," and Lord Śiva is the devotee of Kṛṣṇa. So therefore this man says, "Then I shall worship Lord Śiva. In that way I shall please Kṛṣṇa."
Prabhupāda: But if he accepts Lord Śiva is devotee of Kṛṣṇa, then by worshiping Lord Śiva he will be benefited. If he thinks Lord Śiva is independent, then he will not be benefited.
Devotee (3): I've got him to accept that Lord Śiva is devotee of Kṛṣṇa, but there's no practical instruction in his worldly activities coming.
Prabhupāda: No, vaiṣṇavānām yathā śambhuḥ: "Amongst the Vaiṣṇavas, Śaṁbhu, Lord Śiva, is the greatest Vaiṣṇava." So we worship Lord Śiva as Vaiṣṇava. We gives respect to Vaiṣṇavas. So why not Lord Śiva? Lord Śiva is a big Vaiṣṇava. But generally, the devotees of Lord Śiva, they take Lord Śiva is independent God. That is offensive. If you know that Lord Śiva is also a devotee, you can give more respect to Lord Śiva. Kṛṣṇa will be pleased.
Devotee (3): Śrīla Prabhupāda, he does not chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, he chants oṁ śivāya namaḥ.
Prabhupāda: That's all right.
Devotee (3): It's all right?
Prabhupāda: He will gradually become devotee. When God, Lord Śiva, will be pleased upon him, he will advise to worship.