God's Attractiveness - The Meaning of the Name Kṛṣṇa
In the material world, attractiveness is fleeting and subjective. A person considered beautiful in their youth eventually loses their charm, and what one culture finds attractive, another may ignore. However, when we speak of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, His attractiveness is absolute, eternal, and universal. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the very definition of God demands that He be the most attractive person in existence. By exploring the profound meaning of the name Kṛṣṇa and the nature of His transcendental beauty, we can understand how the Lord uses His supreme magnetism not for personal exploitation, but to rescue the conditioned souls from the miseries of material existence.
The All-Attractive Supreme Person
God has unlimited names based on His various activities and relationships, but the most principal and comprehensive name is Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that this name perfectly encapsulates the Lord's absolute magnetism.
- God is all-attractive. Otherwise how He can be God? God cannot be attractive for you and not for me. This is very accurate word. God has no name. That's a fact. But we coin His name according to His dealings. Just like we call God Yasoda-nandana.
- God must be attractive and attractive for all. Therefore, if God has any name, or if you want to give any name to God, only "Krsna" can be given.
- God is so attractive, and because He is so attractive, He is called Krsna.
- The Lord was attractive for everyone, not only the King but also the priestly order, who were very much addicted to the performance of Vedic rituals. Because the Lord is all-attractive, He is called Krsna, or "one who attracts everyone."
Captivating the Liberated Souls
If the Lord's beauty were merely material, it would only attract materially conditioned people. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that the Lord's transcendental features are so profound that they captivate those who are already completely free from material desires.
- The Lord's spiritual qualities are so great and so enchanting that they can even attract a liberated person.
- God is attractive even to the topmost liberated soul, and thus He is worshipable even by Brahma and Siva, the greatest of all demigods.
- He is more attractive to the higher transcendentalists who participate in the eternal pastimes of the Lord.
- The Supreme Lord's pastimes are more attractive to liberated souls than to mundane people. He is of necessity not impersonal because it is only possible to carry on transcendental rasa with a person.
The Purpose of Displaying His Beauty
The Supreme Lord does not need to show off His opulence to satisfy His ego. When He descends to the material world and displays His beautiful form and pastimes, it is a deliberate rescue mission to draw the conditioned souls back to the spiritual sky.
- The Lord Himself comes to display His transcendental pastimes, typically represented at Vrndavana, Mathura and Dvaraka. He appears just to attract the conditioned souls back to Godhead, back home to the eternal world.
- The activities of the Lord are to be accepted and relished by all living entities. His activities are to attract the ordinary man towards the Lord.
- They are not so interested in studying the narrations of the pastimes of the Lord, Krsna. And yet the descriptions or the pastimes of Lord Krsna are so attractive that they are relishable for all classes of men.
- As soon as there is a reciprocal exchange by the living entity's free will, at once the great spiritual being attracts the small living entity, thus freeing him from all material bondage.
Transcending Material Conceptions of Beauty
Mundane beauty relies on cosmetics, youth, and physical symmetry. The Lord's beauty, however, is intrinsic and absolute. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that even when the Lord appears dirty or assumes unusual forms, His supreme attractiveness shines through.
- The demigods said: Although You appear in a color which is compared to the blackish cloud, because You are the Transcendental Absolute, Your beauty is many, many times more attractive than the delicate body of Cupid.
- The exquisite beauty of Narayana, being many times magnified by the intelligence of His devotees, was so attractive that it defeated the pride of the goddess of fortune in being the most beautiful.
- Although Lord Rsabhadeva's body was very much neglected, His transcendental features were so attractive that even married women were attracted to Him. His beauty and dirtiness combined to make His beautiful body appear as though it were haunted by a ghost.
- Rupa Gosvami, in his Laghu-bhagavatamrta, has quoted from the Padma Purana, that Laksmi-devi, the goddess of fortune, after seeing the attractive features of Krsna, was attracted to Him, and to get the favor of Lord Krsna she engaged herself in meditation.
The Purifying Power of His Attraction
Material attraction usually leads to entanglement, lust, and degradation. In stark contrast, becoming attracted to the Supreme Personality of Godhead has a completely purifying effect on the consciousness.
- As the powerful sun, by its glowing rays, can purify all kinds of impurities, so the all-spiritual Personality of Godhead can purify all material qualities in a person He attracts.
- If one is related to the Lord in fear and animosity, he also becomes purified by the spiritual attraction of the Lord.
- Upon seeing the charming forms of the Lord, smiling and attractive, and hearing His very pleasing words, the pure devotee almost loses all other consciousness. His senses are freed from all other engagements, and he becomes absorbed in devotional service.
- Thus always merged in devotional service, the yogi visualizes the Lord standing, moving, lying down or sitting within him, for the pastimes of the Supreme Lord are always beautiful and attractive.
Conclusion
To understand the Absolute Truth fully, one must recognize that God is not a neutral, formless void, but the most beautiful, magnetic person in existence. Śrīla Prabhupāda systematically establishes that because God possesses all six opulences—including unlimited beauty—in infinite quantities, He is universally attractive. Therefore, the Sanskrit word Kṛṣṇa, meaning "all-attractive," is the most perfect name for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His attractiveness is purely transcendental; it is not dependent on material conditions. This is proven by the fact that the Lord's beauty captivates even the greatest demigods, the goddess of fortune, and the liberated souls who have already rejected the highest standards of material beauty. When the Lord descends into the material world to perform His pastimes in Vṛndāvana, Mathurā, and Dvārakā, it is an act of supreme compassion. He displays His enchanting smile, His decorated form, and His sweet interactions specifically to hijack the attention of the conditioned souls, pulling them away from the frustrating cycle of material sense gratification. Unlike material attraction, which binds the soul to the cycle of birth and death, the magnetic attraction of Kṛṣṇa is inherently purifying. It cleanses the heart of all contamination and effortlessly draws the fortunate soul back home, back to Godhead, where they can relish His all-attractive association eternally.
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