The Actual concept of God

[Maverique]

UPANISHADS:

 

The following verses from the Upanishads refer to the Concept of God:

 

"Ekam evadvitiyam"

"He is One only without a second."

[Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1]

 

"Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah."

"Of Him there are neither parents nor lord."

[svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9]

 

"Na tasya pratima asti"

"There is no likeness of Him."

[svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19]

 

 

The following verses from the Upanishad allude to the inability of man to imagine God in a particular form:

 

"Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam."

 

"His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye."

[svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20]

 

 

THE VEDAS

 

Yajurveda

The following verses from the Yajurveda echo a similar concept of God:

 

 

"na tasya pratima asti

"There is no image of Him."

[Yajurveda 32:3]

 

"shudhama poapvidham"

"He is bodyless and pure."

[Yajurveda 40:8]

 

"Andhatama pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste"

"They enter darkness, those who worship the natural elements" (Air, Water, Fire, etc.). "They sink deeper in darkness, those who worship sambhuti."

[Yajurveda 40:9]

 

Sambhuti means created things, for example table, chair, idol, etc.

 

The Yajurveda contains the following prayer:

"Lead us to the good path and remove the sin that makes us stray and wander."

[Yajurveda 40:16]

 

 

The following verse from the Rigveda Book 8, hymn 1, verse 1 refer to the Unity and Glory of the Supreme Being:

 

"Ma cid anyad vi sansata sakhayo ma rishanyata"

"O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One. Praise Him alone."

[Rigveda 8:1:1]

 

"Devasya samituk parishtutih"

"Verily, great is the glory of the Divine Creator."

[Rigveda 5:1:81]

 

Brahma Sutra of Hinduism:

 

The Brahma Sutra of Hinduism is:

 

"Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan"

 

"There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not at all, not in the least bit."

 

Thus only a dispassionate study of the Hindu scriptures can help one understand the concept of God in Hinduism.

 

[Manni]

The first few quotes there from the Upanishads and Yajur Veda seem to be portraying an Advaitic idea of a formless God.

 

Would anyone like to elaborate on this, please? By the way, did Srila Prabhupada ever do translations of the Vedas, e.g. Yajur Veda, or of other Puranas, e.g. Visnu/Shiva Purana?

[Guest guest]

Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan

 

By Jayadvaita Swami

 

 

Three stages of Truth, Absolute Truth

 

 

According to the Vedic literature, the Supreme, the Absolute Truth, is one, yet it can be understood in three progressive stages of realization.

 

 

FIRST STAGE

In the first stage, one realizes the Supreme as an all-pervading reality, beyond words, beyond the mind, beyond matter, beyond all dualities. We may call it the One, the White Light, the Absolute, God, the Force, or whatever. That Supreme, one sees, is all that truly exists. In the Vedic literature, that Supreme is called Brahman.

 

SECOND STAGE

In the second stage, one perceives that the Supreme is not only all-pervading but present within one's own heart. What is that greater source within from which we derive inspiration, intuition, inner guidance? By meditation one can realize that it is God, or the Supreme Absolute. The Vedic writings call this aspect of God the Paramatma, or Supersoul. The Vedic sages distinguish between the Supersoul and the small individual soul. Both reside within the heart, but one is infinite, the other infinitesimal. The soul, the tiny spark of consciousness within, is my true self. It is by nature eternal, blissful, wise. But it is small, and so it may get lost in illusion and entangled in material life. But the Supersoul, great and infinite, is ever beyond illusion. And so it is this Supersoul to whom the minute soul turns, realizing that Supersoul to be the Supreme.

 

THIRD STAGE

In the third stage, one realizes that the same Supreme Absolute, the same God, that pervades everything and resides within one's heart exists also as the supreme individual person. Just as I, the soul, that small spark of consciousness, exist as a person, a conscious individual, so too does the supreme consciousness, the Absolute. Just as I have thoughts, feelings, intentions, so does the Supreme. And just as I have specific qualities and activities, so again does the Supreme. The Supreme, in the personal feature, has all the attributes found in other living beings--but His are all infinite, unlimited, unrestricted by the conditions of matter. That Supreme, the Personality of Godhead, exists in His own realm, beyond all dualities and illusions. In the Vedic literature, this personal feature of the Absolute is called Bhagavan. The Vedic teachers illustrate these three stages of realization by an example. When we look all around us we see the sun by its all-pervading light, the sunshine. When we look up into the sky we see the source of that light, the sun planet, powerful and brilliant. And if we could somehow go to that planet we could meet the sun-god, the person who rules the sun. All of these three are the sun. Yet one who sees only the sunlight has yet to see the sun planet, and one who sees only the sunlight and sun planet has yet to meet the sun-god. In a similar way, one who realizes only Brahman has yet to realize the Paramatma, one who realizes the Paramatma has yet to realize Bhagavan, but one who has realized Bhagavan has attained full realization, for he knows all three features of the Absolute.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Both impersonal and personal aspects of God exist and are transcendental to this material world, Krishna, the authority, recommends worship of His personal form, the source of the all-pervading, impersonal spirit, which is merely the effulgence of His body.