Inquiries Into the Absolute: Digest 144, Understanding how and why

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Digest 144, November 13th, 2005. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami

Maharaja

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Understanding how and why God becomes many

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Question:

I was listening to Srila Prabhupada's lecture on BG 2.7-12 where he mentions

about why God became many. Srila Prabhupada states that God became many

individual beings to enjoy His pleasure potency. But we also learn that our

material existence is due to our propensity to own, control and enjoy

independent of the Lord. How to connect these two understandings?

 

Answer:

The Vedic statement quoted by Srila Prabhupada that God becomes many is

understood as follows: the Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself into

many categories of individual beings in order to enjoy loving exchanges with

them. In doing so, however, He does not lose His original identity, His

absloute independence, or His complete supremacy; the infinitesimal living

entities expanded from Him are thus able to enjoy in their relationship with

Him and in service to Him, however not independent of Him.

 

When one hears that the Lord becomes many, one might imagine it to be something

like ripping a large sheet of paper into many small pieces there being nothing

left of the original sheet anymore --- implying now that God has become many,

each of us being one such "fragment" of God, each of us are rightfully enjoying

in our own ways. This is NOT the idea presented by the Vedic statement,

however, nor can such a theory ever explain the suffering and perplexity faced

by so many Gods!! The actual understanding is presented in the invocation

mantra of Sri Isopanishad. (http://www.vedabase.net/iso/invocation/en) Lord

Krishna is perfect and complete in Himself, and although innumerable complete

units emanate from Him, He still remains Complete; all the emanations from Him

are also complete in relation to Him.

 

We mentioned earlier that when the Personality of Godhead expands He does so in

many categories, into many integrated and separated forms. The integrated forms

are Vishnu-tattva or different plenary expansions of Godhead, such as Lord

Balarama, Narayana and incarnations such as Rama and Narasimha, all of them

equally powerful as the Lord. There are also expansions of His internal energy,

called sakti-tattva expansions, such as Srimati Radharani and Her expansions.

The separated forms are the jiva-tattva or spirit souls, qualitatively one with

the Lord but quantitatively infinitesimal.

 

As explained in the invocation mantra quoted above, the jivas or living

entities, although complete units, are dependent on the Supreme Whole for their

completeness. Just as the finger in the body or a part in a machine is a

complete functioning unit as long as it is attached to the whole, but becomes

dysfunctional when detached, similarly the living entities are in their natural

sac-cid-ananda condition when they are functioning in their relation with the

Lord. But when they become forgetful of this relation due to misuse of their

tiny freewill, and think themselves to be independent controllers and enjoyers,

that unconstitutional state is manifested as material existence. I hope this

addresses your question.

 

Another important contrast is that the expansions of the Lord are eternal, not

time-bound, like whatever we may try to create and enjoy.

 

Ultimately, in effect He is enjoying Himself by way of expansions of Himself,

as opposed to the bondage we experience when we try to enjoy something or

someone outside of ourselves. For us, such immitation enjoyment creates bondage

and suffering. For Krishna, His enjoyng His expansions is part of His

ever-expanding eternal bliss.

 

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Christ, spiritual and material relationships and morality of Lord Krsna's

conjugal pastimes, spiritual master, spirit soul/jiva/living entity):

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