Inquiries Into the Absolute: Digest 148, Lord Visnu and Lord Krsna,

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Digest 148, December 20th, 2005. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami

Maharaja

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Lord Visnu and Lord Krsna, Isavasya - God is the proprietor

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Q: What are the similarities and differences between Vishnu and Krishna.

 

 

Answer: Vishnu is a plenary expansion of Krishna or Lord Narayana for the

purpose of material creation. He is the same as Krishna in the sense that all

plenary expansions are equally powerful as Krishna. In that sense, all the

expansions such as Narayana in Vaikuntha are called 'Vishnu tattva' as opposed

to the jiva-tattva or the miniscule living entities.

 

The difference is that Vishnu is worshiped in awe and reverence while the

pastimes of Krishna with His pure devotees are very intimate and sweet. Srila

Prabhupada compared Lord Vishnu as God in an official mood, and Krishna as God

at home -- just as a king may be venerated, worshiped and obeyed by all

citizens including great ministers, while at his own home the king acts

subordinate to his beloved children, while both are the same person, exhibiting

different aspects of their relationships. Similarly Krishna becomes subjugated

by the intimate loving dealings of His pure devotees, as we see in the

Damodara-lila and other pastimes.

 

The Nectar of Devotion (Ch 21) gives a list of 64 transcendental qualities of

Krishna. It is explained that all living entities can have upto 50 qualities in

minute degrees of perfection and Lord Shiva upto 55 qualities. Lord Vishnu has

60 of these qualities unlimitedly in their fullness whereas svayam bhagavan

Krishna alone has four special unique qualities not manifested even in Vishnu

viz. His superexcellent beauty, the attraction of His flute playing, the

wonderful varieties of His intimate pastimes (such as childhood pastimes) and

His being surrounded many devotees endowed with wonderful love of God.

 

(For further details please refer to Digest 132 & Digest 39)

http://www.iskcondc.org/cgi-bin/renderphilo.pl?digestname=digest132

http://www.iskcondc.org/cgi-bin/renderphilo.pl?digestname=digest39

 

Q: How would you explain the concept of "isavasya" given in Isopanisad?

 

Ans. I am not sure if you have some specific angle or point of clarification on

this. The basic idea of 'isavasya' is to recognize the Lord's proprietorship

over everything, since everything in the universe including all spirit souls

(us!) are emanations from Him, and therefore conducting our life accordingly.

 

When we recognize the Lord as proprietor, we would work only for His interest,

and use everything at our disposal - including our body, our mental faculties,

social relationships etc, in His service. We should take steps to mold our life

in such a way that this becomes possible. This means being satisfied with

whatever priveleges are given to us by God's grace and not endeavor

ever-increasingly for greater material gains (this is called prayasa, in the

language of Upadesamrita, and it destroys bhakti). As Krishna says in the Gita,

we are to perform our prescribed duties without claiming proprietorship over

the results. One who is living by the principles of isavasya would not envy or

covet the position or possessions of others but is satisfied to execute the

duties given to him nicely to his utmost ability, for the pleasure of the Lord.

Isavasya also implies conducting our activities according to the laws of God as

given in Vedic scriptures, without being affected by undue attachments and

aversions -- in oth

er words, we not only offer the results to Krishna but also do the work itself

according to His directions, not whimsically.

 

Srila Prabhupada gives some examples of application of this idea in the purport

to Isopanisad Mantra 1 - such as offering all our food to the Supreme Isa and

accepting only Krishna prasadam. Another example is that a laborer cannot claim

proprietorship over a building he has constructed simply because he worked hard

to manufacture it. Thus a devotee does not think that he/she is being

maintained or evaluated by the results of their own hard labor or personal

abilities, rather one recognizes that all the ingredients including one's

physical and intellectual capabilities come from Krishna, and thus Krishna is

the actual doer, proprietor and maintainer.

 

Srila Prabhupada often described nicely how young brahmacaris were trained

within the Vedic system in this spirit within the Gurukula: the students would

collect and bring alms for the Guru, and whatever they bring becomes the

property of the spiritual master. The student will eat only when invited by the

spiritual master and if the guru neglects to call him, he will fast; although

it was the student that labored to collect the alms, he was trained to see it

as Guru's property and not think of eating without permission. Thus from the

outset they are trained to later on see everything as the property of Guru and

Krishna.

 

 

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This digest on the web:

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All previous digests in one file (with responses to about 400 questions):

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Responses to Some Frequently Asked Questions (Karma, free-will, demigods, Lord

Siva, why are we here, how to control the mind, Deity worship, marriage, Jesus

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

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

http://www.iskcondc.org/cgi-bin/renderphilo.pl?digestname=digest999_faq

 

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