God's Going Accompanies the Soul Through Every Lifetime
When we think of movement or traveling, we automatically think of physical bodies, vehicles, and the constraints of time and space. However, when the Vedic literatures describe the movements of the Absolute Truth—God's "going"—they describe a phenomenon that completely shatters material logic. The Supreme Personality of Godhead does not require muscles or machines to travel. His going is an expression of His absolute will, His supreme mercy, and His sweet, personal pastimes. Śrīla Prabhupāda meticulously explains how the Lord travels faster than the mind without material legs, how He intimately accompanies every living entity through the cycle of birth and death, and how His historic journeys on earth set the ultimate standard of love and duty. By understanding the transcendental nature of God's going, we can realize just how close He is to us at every single moment.
Transcendental Movement Without Material Legs
The Upaniṣads famously state that the Absolute Truth has no legs, yet walks swiftly. Impersonalists interpret this to mean God is just a formless energy, but Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that it actually means the Lord has no material legs. His spiritual body can go anywhere instantly, entirely independent of material mechanics.
- The Vedic 'apani-pada' mantra rejects material hands and legs, yet it states that the Lord goes very fast and accepts everything offered to Him.
- The Pracetas spoke as follows: Dear Lord, You relieve all kinds of material distress. Your magnanimous transcendental qualities and holy name are all-auspicious. This conclusion is already settled. You can go faster than the speed of mind and words.
- Krsna can eat through His eyes, or Krsna can go somewhere simply by thinking. The Absolute is advaita. There is no duality in the Absolute. Everything is one.
- In order to please both of them (Srutadeva and King Bahulasva), Lord Krsna expanded Himself into two and went to the houses of each one of them; yet neither the King nor the brahmana could understand that the Lord had gone to the house of the other.
The Eternal Companion in the Heart
One of the most touching aspects of the Lord's movement is His role as the Paramātmā (Supersoul). Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights the incredible, causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord, who refuses to abandon the conditioned souls, willingly going with them from one material body to another as their constant, waiting friend.
- The Supersoul is said to be friendly because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is so kind to the original soul that when the original soul transmigrates from one body to another, the Lord goes with him.
- God is always beside us, present in our hearts. When we leave the body, God also goes with us, and when we take on another body, He goes with us there just to see what we are doing. When shall we turn our face towards Him? He is always waiting.
- In order to please the demigods, He (the Supreme Lord) wanted to go Himself to Dhruva Maharaja to stop him from this severe austerity.
- The Lord's presence on the spot was very pleasing to the hearts of the devotees. The Lord understood that the trouble was due to His lotus feet not being seen by the sages, and therefore He wanted to please them by personally going there.
Pastimes of Duty and Renunciation
When the Lord descends in a human-like form, His movements are designed to set the perfect example for society. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes the historic and heartbreaking moment when Lord Rāmacandra, to honor His father's word, gave up His entire kingdom and went to the forest, demonstrating the detachment of a fully liberated soul.
- The Lord (Ramacandra), as an obedient son, accepted the order (of His father, to go to the forest) immediately. He left everything without hesitation, just as a liberated soul or great yogi gives up his life without material attraction.
- My (Dasaratha) dear boy, You'll have to go to forest for fourteen years. That is the desire of Your youngest mother. And I promised that I shall fulfill her promise, uh, request. So please accept.
- Carrying out the order of His father, who was bound by a promise to his wife, Ramacandra left behind His kingdom, opulence, friends, well-wishers, residence and everything else, just as a liberated soul gives up his life, and went to the forest with Sita.
- The goddess of fortune mother Sita followed her husband, Ramacandra, when He went to the forest.
The Deity is Not a Statue
Materialists view the temple Deity as a mere statue made of stone or wood. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that to a pure devotee, the Deity is identical to the Supreme Lord. Because the Lord is fully potent, the Deity can reciprocate with love, speak, and even physically go with a surrendered devotee.
- He did not think that He's a statue; it is image. He knew God. That was his conviction. So God said, "How do you think that a statue can go with you? I am a statue. I cannot go." Then this boy replied, "Well, if a statue can speak, He can go also."
- Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu then took His bath in a lake called Govinda-kunda, and while He was there, He heard that the Gopala Deity had already gone to Ganthuli-grama.
- After taking His bath early in the morning, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would go see Lord Jagannatha in the temple. Then He would perform sankirtana with His devotees.
- I go there and eat the food My mother offers, but she cannot understand that I am eating it directly. She thinks that this is a dream.
Conclusion
A systematic study of the Vedic literatures completely liberates the mind from the tendency to measure the Absolute Truth with material rulers. As Śrīla Prabhupāda vividly explains, the going of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is an absolute, spiritual phenomenon. Because His body is fully transcendental, He does not require material legs to move; He can travel faster than the speed of mind simply by His supreme will. He can even expand Himself into identical forms to simultaneously go to the homes of multiple devotees without compromising His oneness. This divine movement is not merely a display of mystic power; it is deeply rooted in His causeless love. As the Paramātmā (Supersoul), the Lord patiently and faithfully goes with the conditioned soul from one material body to another, lifetime after lifetime, waiting for the soul to finally turn back to Him. When the Lord descends into human society, His movements become the perfect standard for religious behavior. Lord Rāmacandra's willingness to instantly leave His opulent kingdom and go to the dangerous forest to uphold His father's honor perfectly illustrates the detachment of a liberated soul. Furthermore, the Lord's going is profoundly experienced by His pure devotees in the form of the temple Deity. To those who possess pure conviction, the Deity is never a dead statue; He is the living Supreme Person who can speak, eat the offerings of His mother, and even physically go with His surrendered servant. Ultimately, by meditating on the transcendental going of the Supreme Lord, the conditioned soul is inspired to stop wandering aimlessly through the material world and finally direct their own footsteps back home, back to Godhead.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category God's Going. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.