God's Assuming - The Limitless Incarnations of the Supreme Lord
A fundamental point of contention between the pure devotees of the Lord and the speculative impersonalists centers on the nature of God's incarnations. The impersonalists argue that the Absolute Truth is ultimately formless and that when God descends, He must temporarily assume a material body. Śrīla Prabhupāda completely shatters this misconception. Drawing from the authorized Vedic literatures, he explains that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has an eternal, spiritual form, and by His inconceivable potency, He can assume unlimited variations of that form without ever touching material energy. By understanding the science behind the forms the Lord assumes, a sincere seeker can break free from impersonal illusion and appreciate the dynamic, personal nature of the Absolute Truth.
The Myth of the Material Assumption
The idea that God is forced to accept a material body made of flesh and bones is considered a dangerous offense. Śrīla Prabhupāda constantly emphasizes that whatever form the Lord assumes, it is always a manifestation of His supreme, internal spiritual energy.
- According to Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord is full in six opulences and the rascal impersonalists says that the Lord has no form and the most dangerous accusation for the Lord that He assumes a material form when he descends.
- When the Lord descends to this earth, He assumes a form by His own internal potency. The form of the Lord, therefore, can never consist of material energy.
- Nor do they falsely think of themselves as one with God, or argue that there is no existence of God separately, or that there is no God at all, or that living beings are themselves God or that when He incarnates He assumes a material body.
- Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has no material body, but He can assume any kind of body by His supreme will. That is made possible by His internal energy.
The Supreme Actor
The Vedic scriptures describe the Lord as advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam—He is one, infallible, without beginning, and possesses unlimited forms. Śrīla Prabhupāda beautifully compares the Lord to a master actor who effortlessly assumes different roles without ever losing His original identity.
- The word natah is significant. An actor changes dress to play different parts, but is always the same man. Similarly, the Lord assumes many thousands and millions of forms.
- He is the same person, with the same potency, the same eternity and the same spiritual existence, but He can simultaneously assume various forms.
- The Lord can assume any form He likes, and in all circumstances He is the cause of all causes. Since His form is transcendental, He is always the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as He is in the Causal Ocean in the form of Maha-visnu.
- So the conclusion is that although the Lord may seem to assume a material body when He takes birth, like an ordinary being, in fact He does not, for there is no difference between Him and His body. Thus He remains the Absolute Truth.
Unconventional and Astonishing Forms
Because the Lord is not restricted by material biology, the forms He assumes often defy human logic. To accomplish specific missions, He assumes the forms of various species, yet His potencies remain absolutely undiminished.
- The primeval Lord, being all-powerful, can do whatever He likes, and therefore His assuming the incarnation of a tortoise or a fish for serving a particular purpose is not at all astonishing.
- We should not forget that the potencies of the Almighty Lord are always the same and do not decrease because the Lord assumes the form of a lower animal.
- Ordinarily the body of a hog is considered impure, but one should not consider that the hog incarnation assumed by the Lord is also impure. That form of the Lord is the personified Vedas and is transcendental.
- Because of the Supreme Lord's assuming the form of a beautiful woman to arouse the lusty desires of the demons, a description of Her complete beauty is given here.
Outsmarting the Demoniac Intelligence
Demons often execute severe austerities to gain boons of conditional immortality, calculating every possible way they might be killed. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord easily bypasses their meticulous plans by assuming forms that the demons could never have imagined.
- The Lord assumed the incarnation of Nrsimhadeva, and just to finish the enemy of the demigods, the Lord killed Hiranyakasipu in a manner beyond the demon's imagination. Materialistic plans of godless demons are always frustrated by the all-powerful Lord.
- The Lord, assumed the incarnation of half-man and half-lion, which was beyond the imagination of a materialistic demon like Hiranyakasipu, and thus, keeping pace with the benediction of Brahmaji, the Lord killed him.
- All glories to Lord Kesava, who assumed the form of a dwarf. O Lord of the universe, who takes away everything inauspicious for the devotees! O wonderful Vamanadeva! You tricked the great demon Bali Maharaja by Your steps.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: When the demons took away the jug of nectar, I assumed the form of a beautiful woman to bewilder them by directly cheating them and thus to act in the interest of the demigods.
Assuming Colors for the Ages
The Vedic texts prescribe a specific method of spiritual realization for each of the four universal ages (yugas). To inaugurate these processes, the Lord personally descends, assuming a specific body color characteristic of that millennium.
- This child formerly had three colors according to the prescribed color for different millenniums. Formerly He was white, red and yellow, and now He has assumed a blackish color.
- In the Svayambhuva millennium He assumed the color white, and in the Caksusa millennium He assumed the color red. Vidura had already heard about one of them, and he proposed to hear about the other.
- According to the sastra, in Kali-yuga the Lord would assume a golden or yellow color and would distribute love of Krsna and the sankirtana movement.
- In the Age of Kali, Lord Krsna assumes a golden color and, accompanied by His personal devotees, introduces hari-nama-sankirtana, the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra. By this process He delivers love for Krsna to the general populace.
Conclusion
A comprehensive understanding of the Supreme Personality of Godhead requires acknowledging His absolute, unlimited freedom. Śrīla Prabhupāda meticulously dismantles the impersonalist assumption that the Lord is originally a formless void who must borrow a material body to interact with the world. In truth, the Lord's form is eternally spiritual (sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha), and whatever form He assumes is an expansion of His own internal potency. Like a consummate actor who changes costumes without altering his actual identity, the Supreme Lord assumes an infinite variety of forms to execute His divine will. Whether He assumes the gigantic form of a boar to lift the earth from the Garbhodaka Ocean, the form of an enchanting woman (Mohinī-mūrti) to bewilder the demons, or the form of a half-man, half-lion (Nṛsiṁhadeva) to completely outsmart the materialistic calculations of Hiraṇyakaśipu, His potencies never diminish. In the current Age of Kali, the Lord has assumed the golden color of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. By understanding that all these astonishing forms are non-different from the original Supreme Person, a conditioned soul can quickly transcend the bewilderment of the material energy and firmly situate themselves in pure, unalloyed devotional service.
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