Describing God's Qualities - The Perfection of Human Speech
The Absolute Truth is not an empty void, but a supreme person possessing an infinite array of magnificent attributes. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the ultimate success of our education, our voice, and our very existence is achieved only when we engage our faculties in describing the transcendental qualities of the Lord.
The Perfection of Speech and Education
Human society places great value on eloquence and academic achievement. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that true education and the ability to speak are entirely wasted unless they are utilized to glorify and describe the supreme, transcendental qualities of the Personality of Godhead.
- The ability to talk can be perfected only by describing the transcendental qualities of the Lord. The ability to work with one's hands can be successful only when one engages himself in the service of the Lord with those hands.
- By your education you just describe the quality, the greatness of the Lord, yad-uttamasloka-gunanuvarnanam and that is the perfection of your education.
- The wise man is always very eager to glorify the Lord by chanting and hearing (nama-gane sada rucih), and he is always eager to describe the transcendental qualities of the Lord - asaktis tad-gunakhyane.
- The highest perfection of transcendental realization is to take pleasure in hearing and describing the transcendental qualities of the Lord and not in merging into His impersonal Brahman existence, for which the impersonalist monist aspires.
Unlimited and Transcendental Attributes
A common misunderstanding is that if God is absolute, He must be devoid of all characteristics. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that while the Lord has no mundane material qualities, His spiritual qualities are so unlimited and wonderfully inconceivable that even the greatest cosmic entities cannot reach their end.
- Whenever the Lord is described as aguna, or without any quality, it does not mean that He has no quality, but that He has no material quality, such as the modes of goodness, passion or ignorance, as the conditioned souls have.
- The reciters of these prayers are describing the transcendental qualities of Prthu. These qualities are summarized in the words saksad bhagavan. This indicates that Prthu is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead and therefore possesses unlimited good qualities.
- Although the great activities and transcendental qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead's various incarnations are wonderfully described, sometimes we are unable to understand them. Yet everything is possible for Lord Visnu.
- Even the first incarnation of the Lord, namely Sesa, has not been able to reach the limit of such knowledge, although He is describing the qualities of the Lord with ten hundred faces.
The Duty of the Living Entity
To remain silent about the Lord is a severe spiritual failure. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that great devotees consider it their primary duty to describe the Lord's attributes, whereas those who stubbornly refuse to engage their tongues in this way are destined for harsh punishment.
- A person whose tongue never describes the qualities and holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose heart never throbs as he remembers Krsna and His lotus feet, and whose head never bows in obeisances to the Supreme Lord must be brought before me (Yamaraja) for punishment.
- I (Sukadeva Gosvami) shall describe the uncommon activities He (Lord Vamanadeva) performed, His qualities, His power and how He took birth from the womb of Aditi.
- Prahlada Maharaja, in his prayers, has described the transcendental qualities of the Lord and has also described how the various abodes of the demigods and demons, regardless of how materially opulent, are destroyed by the mere direction of the Lord.
- The great sage Maitreya continued: In this way the reciters who were glorifying Maharaja Prthu readily described his qualities and chivalrous activities. At the end, Maharaja Prthu offered them various presentations with all due respect.
Aural Reception and Internal Realization
Knowing the Lord begins with hearing about Him. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that by submissively receiving and repeating the scriptural descriptions of the Lord's qualities, a devotee's heart is cleansed until those very descriptions are vividly perceived as direct reality.
- Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura gives the following explanation in his Tathya. The word sravana refers to giving aural reception to the holy name and descriptions of the Lord's form, qualities, entourage and pastimes as explained in Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad Gita etc.
- After aurally receiving such messages (the holy name and descriptions of the Lord's form, qualities, entourage and pastimes), one should memorize these vibrations and repeat them - kirtanam.
- As the universal elements are both within and without, similarly the Lord's name, form, quality, pastimes, entourage, etc., as they are described in the revealed scriptures, are factually being televised in the heart of the devotee.
- The Lord's name, form, quality, pastimes, entourage, etc., as they are described in the revealed scriptures or as performed in the Vaikunthalokas, far, far beyond the material cosmic manifestation, are factually being televised in the heart of the devotee.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Śrīla Prabhupāda eloquently demystifies the nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, confirming that while He is completely free from all mundane, material qualities, He possesses an infinite ocean of transcendental, spiritual attributes. These qualities are so staggering that even the greatest expansions of the Lord, such as Lord Śeṣa, cannot reach the end of their descriptions. Therefore, the highest perfection of human life, education, and the faculty of speech is to simply engage in glorifying these divine traits. While the ignorant refuse to speak of the Lord and consequently invite the punishment of Yamarāja, pure devotees and wise sages experience unalloyed transcendental bliss by constantly narrating His glories. By diligently following the authorized process of śravaṇam and kīrtanam—aurally receiving and repeating the scriptural descriptions of the Lord's form and qualities—a sincere soul undergoes profound purification. Ultimately, the supreme reward for this devotion is that the magnificent qualities and pastimes of the Lord, exactly as described in the Vedas, are factually and continuously televised within the devotee's pristine heart.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Describing God's Qualities. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.