Perceiving the Absolute Truth Through God's Representations
Śrīla Prabhupāda reveals how the Absolute Truth makes Himself accessible to the conditioned souls through various manifestations. By studying his instructions, we can understand the Lord's presence in transcendental sound, the Deity, the spiritual master, the demigods, the time factor, and why advanced devotees worship the original Supreme Person directly.
The Sacred Sound Vibration
In the absolute world, there is no difference between the Supreme Lord and His name. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the syllable oṁkāra and the holy name of Kṛṣṇa are direct, transcendental sound representations of the Personality of Godhead, carrying all of His supreme potencies.
- In the Bhagavad-gita (BG 8.13) the glories of omkara are described as follows: omkara, or pranava, is a direct representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore if at the time of death one simply remembers omkara, he remembers the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Omkara is the most auspicious representation of the Supreme Lord. Such is the description given by Mandukya Upanisad.
- Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that the holy name, or omkara, the transcendental representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has all the potencies of the Personality of Godhead.
- In the absolute world, the name Krsna is the transcendental sound representation of the Lord. There is no potential difference between His quality, name, form, etc. If we chant the name of the Lord, Hare Krsna, that has as much potency as the Lord Himself.
The Deity Manifestation
Because our present material eyes cannot see spirit, the Lord graciously accepts a form we can perceive. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the arcā-vigraha (Deity) in the temple is an authorized physical representation of the Supreme Lord, identical to His original spiritual form.
- A neophyte considers the arca-vigraha (the statue of the Lord) to be different from the original Personality of Godhead; he considers it a representation of the Supreme Lord in the form of a Deity.
- Devotees engage in the temple in the service of the Lord as arca-vigraha, a form made of material objects such as stone, metal, wood, jewels or paint. All of these are called sthula, or physical representations.
- As already discussed, there are eight kinds of representations of the original form of the Lord. These representations can be produced by the use of clay, stone, wood, paint, sand, etc., depending upon the resources of the devotees.
- Some of the arca representations of the Lord situated in different places of pilgrimage are mentioned herewith. The Lord is present at Mathura (the birthplace of Lord Krsna) as Adi-kesava.
The External and Internal Guide
The Lord directs the wandering soul simultaneously from without and within. Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights that the bona fide spiritual master is the external representation of the Lord's mercy, working in tandem with the Paramātmā, who is the Lord's localized representation in the heart.
- In all the ancient literatures of devotional service the spiritual master is always considered either one of the confidential associates of Srimati Radharani or a manifested representation of Srila Nityananda Prabhu.
- The spiritual master outside and the spiritual master within are both representations of the Lord. Unless one has contact with such bona fide representations, one cannot claim to be a spiritual master.
- In everyone's heart there is the representation of the Superconsciousness, who gives memory to the partial consciousness of every living entity.
- One should always remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His localized representation as the Paramatma, who is situated in the core of every living entity's heart. Thus one should offer respect to every living entity according to that living entity's position.
Material Representations and Demigods
To govern the massive material creation, the Lord empowers various living entities with specific administrative duties. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that powerful demigods like Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, and the sun-god are merely qualitative, material representations of the Supreme Lord's authority.
- All the different demigods (like the sun-god, the moon-god, the air-god, Brahma and Lord Siva) are material representations of the Supreme Lord. By material activities one can approach only such demigods, as stated in Bhagavad-gita 9.25.
- There are many who worship the demigods like the sun, the moon and Indra, who are only material representatives of the Supreme Lord. These demigods are indirect, qualitative representations of the Supreme Lord.
- The quality of goodness is represented by Visnu, the quality of passion is represented by Brahma, and the quality of darkness is represented by Lord Siva.
- For the fulfillment of material desires, the inhabitants of this tract of land worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead as represented by Lord Brahma. They offer prayers to the Lord as follows.
The Time Factor and the Material Creation
The universe itself operates as a grand display of God's energy. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that the phenomenal world is a representation of the Lord's diffuse external energy, and the invincible force of time (kāla) is His impersonal representation that ultimately conquers all conditioned souls.
- Everyone is afraid of the activities of time, but a devotee who knows that the time factor is another representation or manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead has nothing to fear from the influence of time.
- Time is a representation of the Lord, and it reminds us also that we must surrender unto the Lord. The Lord speaks to every conditioned soul as time.
- This time factor is the impersonal representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who gives the living entities conditioned by material nature a chance to emerge from this nature by surrendering to Him.
- The relative world is His (God's) phenomenal representation because it is nothing but an expansion of His transcendental energy. Although He is in His abode His energy is distributed everywhere, just as the sun is localized as well as expanded everywhere.
Literary Representations
God's mercy is explicitly codified in the form of transcendental literature. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the vast bodies of Vedic wisdom, particularly texts like the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Vedānta-sūtra, are potent literary representations of the Supreme Lord meant to guide humanity.
- I (Gajendra) offer my respectful obeisances unto You (God), who are the shelter of the Vedic knowledge contained in the sastras like the Pancaratras and Vedanta-sutra, which are Your representations, and who are the source of the parampara system.
- The Bhagavatam in a nutshell, spoken by the Personality of Godhead in about half a dozen verses, which will appear ahead, is the science of God, and it is the potent representation of the Personality of Godhead.
- For those who are following the impersonal way to spiritual realization, the path is difficult. They have to understand the unmanifested representation of the Supreme through such Vedic literatures as the Upanisads.
- The eyes which do not look at the symbolic representations of the Personality of Godhead Visnu (God's forms, names, qualities, etc.) are like those printed on the plumes of a peacock.
Kings and Ideal Monarchy
In the Vedic social structure, leadership is inextricably linked to divinity. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how the ideal king or monarch is meant to act as the direct earthly representation of the Supreme Lord, governing the citizens strictly according to divine law.
- According to Vedic culture, the king is honored as the Supreme Personality of Godhead because he represents Narayana, who also gives protection to the citizens. He is therefore natha, or the proprietor.
- Perfect monarchy necessitates representation of the supreme will of the Lord, and Maharaja Yudhisthira was the ideal monarch on this supreme principle.
- Sound representation of the Lord, in terms of His characteristics, is the complete form of the Lord, as was seen by Vasudeva and Maharaja Dasaratha, the fathers of Lord Krsna and Lord Rama.
- He is also represented by another energy - the living entities - and all these manifestations in the spiritual and material world combined are but representations of the different energies of the Lord.
Approaching the Original Supreme Person
While acknowledging the myriad representations of God's energy, the ultimate goal of spiritual life is to connect with the source. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that an advanced, intelligent devotee bypasses the indirect, material representations to worship the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, directly.
- A learned scholar or devotee, however, knows who is who. Therefore he directly worships the Supreme Lord and is not diverted by the material, qualitative representations.
- God is great, and He cannot be simply an order supplier of the individual selves; therefore the Superself cannot be a full representation of the Supreme Self, Purusottama, the Absolute Personality of Godhead.
- Those who are not so learned worship such qualitative, material representations, but their worship is unceremonious because it is irregular.
- He (Vyasadeva) says that the descriptions that are given of different incarnations are all parts of the representations of God. But Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.
Conclusion
Śrīla Prabhupāda masterfully maps out the entire cosmic and spiritual landscape by explaining the vast array of God's representations. Because the Supreme Lord is the absolute source of everything, nothing exists outside of His energy. He intimately represents Himself to the conditioned souls through the transcendental sound of oṁkāra and the holy name, the merciful physical form of the arcā-vigraha Deity, and the vast wisdom of the Vedic literatures. For personal guidance, He appears externally as the bona fide spiritual master and internally as the Paramātmā. On a cosmic scale, the Lord manages the material creation through His qualitative representations—the empowered demigods like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva—while His impersonal representation as invincible time (kāla) pushes all material events forward. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda strictly warns against confusing the energies with the Energetic. While less intelligent persons are captivated by the Lord's partial or material representations, the true Vaiṣṇava, guided by authorized knowledge, bypasses these indirect channels to render pure loving service directly to the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category God's Representations. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.