The gods are real for sure and they continue to labour in creation as cosmic powers managing all its various aspects. However, their forms are not fixed since the substance in the higher worlds is largely composed of the aerial and fire element. They generally assume the form that the devotee has in his or her mind. Some of these gods extend to other planes and accordingly their form changes. Also, in the Supreme Divine they enter into their formless essence as powers and aspects of the Divine.
When we relate with the gods as powers and aspects of the One Divine then we actually enter into the highest possible relation with them which is also in complete harmony with all the other powers and aspects of the One. On the other hand, the lower we come down from the supreme heights the chances of a disharmony between the different aspects can be there. In Savitri Sri Aurobindo says that ‘the quarrel of the Gods ceased in a Truth that sees in its own light’. The Mother is not denying or cancelling the gods and their actions but asking us to relate with them in the highest sense, in and through Her.
This means that whenever needed She can send the gods to help Her children beyond their designated sphere of action and influence. That is what we see in Her stories of stopping of the rain or bringing it about, sending the Aswins to heal Prithwi Singh Nahar and many other such incidents. The gods may come to help because someone prayed to Her and She sent them, and this may or may not be different if they were called directly. It is the difference between the President of a sovereign nation mobilising its resources and the military to help another, and an independent request by someone made to the commander of a battalion to help. Even there he would still take the final orders from the President!
The Gita says that to whatsoever god we pray and whatsoever boon we ask ultimately it comes from the One Divine. The Mother also says that if you pray to Durga you pray to Me, and other similar things. Therefore, if and once we connect directly with the Representative of the Divine, be it a Guru or the Avatar there is no further need to connect with the gods. It is then a whole package which includes the gods and goddesses and all other forces and powers and beings of the cosmos and beyond.
Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu Gurur devo Maheswara.
Gurur Sakshat Parabrahma tasmaye Sri Guruvaih namah.
