Supremacy

A common misconception about Hinduism is that there are many Gods. There are several sects and sub sects among us and there is dispute among ourselves over who should be worshipped as Supreme and how the worship should be done.

Then there are some 'broadminded' people who say, 'Where is the need to fight or argue over this? How does it matter who is bigger or smaller?'

Well, unfortunately for them, it does matter. Religion, spirituality is no easy matter. It takes effort and time to learn things. It's not a matter of our convenience.

For an outsider there is a Trimurthi of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara.
Let's take Maheshwara or Shiva. He is also known as Gangadhara or the one who has Ganga on his head. It's known that Ganga originated from Vishnu's feet. He is called Ganga Janaka.

In our tradition, we wash the feet of people whom we consider our Guru or older than us and sprinkle that water on our head. So, if this be the case, Vishnu must be higher up than Shiva.

Then there is a contradictory story in Ramayana, where Sri Raama consecrates a Shiva Linga and prays to him. It seems that Raama indeed is seeking Shiva's blessings. But Acharya's taatparya clearly tells us that it is one of the leela of the Lord. Rama avatara's primary purpose to show man an ideal to live by. He showed the people that Shiva is a powerful God and must be worshipped by all. That does not mean that Raama needs Shiva's blessings. It is infact the other way round.

Thus Vishnu is the Supreme Lord and the several other Gods, 33 crores, in number bow down to him.