God's Cheating - The Absolute Trickery of the Supreme Lord
In mundane society, the act of cheating is universally condemned as a symptom of a flawed, conditioned soul motivated by greed and deceit. It is natural, therefore, for neophytes to become bewildered when they read Vedic accounts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead utilizing deception, trickery, and illusion. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that we cannot judge the Absolute Truth through the lens of ordinary morality. Because God is completely absolute and all-good, every action He performs—including cheating—is entirely perfect and auspicious. By examining how the Lord cheats the atheists, bewilders the demons, and ultimately glorifies His devotees, we can understand the supreme compassion hidden within His divine deception.
The Absolute Nature of Divine Deception
The fundamental principle for understanding God's actions is realizing His absolute nature. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that whether the Lord is giving a direct benediction or seemingly deceiving someone, His underlying motive is always absolute goodness.
- God is good; therefore His cheating is good, His thieving is good. Everything is absolute. Unless you cannot understand this Absolute Truth, there is no understanding of Krsna.
- It is said that God is good, and this is a fact. Whether He cheats or rewards, He is always good. Bali Maharaja therefore addressed Him as Uttamasloka.
- His business is to cheat the atheist class of men. That cheating is not cheating. It is for the good. Just like the father sometimes cheats the small child. You see? So that does not mean father is cheater.
- The Lord's purpose was to cheat him, Bali Maharaja took pleasure in understanding how the Lord will cheat His devotee to glorify the devotee's position.
Trickery for the Atheists
When human society becomes overly degraded and atheistic, the Lord adopts unique strategies to save them. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that the incarnation of Lord Buddha was a magnificent display of divine cheating, designed to rescue those who had lost their spiritual intelligence.
- He is the incarnation of God, but he is preaching amongst people who don't believe in God. So he is cheating in this way that, - Yes, there is no God. You hear me.
- People amongst whom he is preaching, they don't believe in God, but they accept Lord Buddha. But he is God. So by cheating, he is making others to worship God.
- Buddha knew everything because He is incarnation of God. But He had to cheat the people in that way because they are not intelligent enough. Why not intelligent? Because they were killers of animals, they lost their intelligence.
- Mohini-murti resembles Lord Buddha, who appeared sammohaya sura-dvisam - to cheat the asuras. The word sura-dvisam refers to those who are envious of the demigods or devotees.
Bewildering the Demons
The Lord is the supreme protector of His devotees, and He will utilize any means necessary to defeat their enemies. When the demons stole the nectar of immortality, the Lord appeared as Mohinī-mūrti, utilizing the ultimate deception of a beautiful woman to reclaim it.
- 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.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was pretending to be a woman, warned the demons against putting so much faith in Her, for She had appeared as an attractive woman ultimately to cheat them.
- The words vancayann upasancaraih indicate that the Lord's whole policy was to cheat the demons simply by speaking sweet words. The Lord's intention was to distribute the nectar only to the demigods.
- Sometimes an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cheats the atheists. Thus we see here that although Mohini-murti was speaking factually to the asuras, the asuras took Her words to be facetious.
Glorifying the Pure Devotee
The most fascinating aspect of God's cheating is how He applies it to His own pure devotees. As Śrīla Prabhupāda explains through the pastime of Lord Vāmanadeva, when the Lord cheats a surrendered soul, it is exclusively to elevate them to the highest platform of eternal glory.
- Bali Maharaja said to God: On behalf of the demigods, You disguised Yourself to cheat me, saying that You wanted only three paces of land, but later You expanded Your body to such an extent that with two footsteps You covered the entire universe.
- Sukracarya wanted to tell Bali Maharaja how he would be cheated by Lord Vamana. "You have promised three steps," he said. "But with only two steps, all your possessions will be finished. How then will you give Him a place for His third step."
- Despite his knowledge that Lord Vamanadeva was cheating him, Bali Maharaja gave everything to the Lord in charity, and thus the Lord extended His body and assumed a gigantic form as Lord Visnu.
- Although Bali Maharaja was cheated, his reputation as a great devotee able to give anything and everything in charity is still glorified throughout the three worlds.
Conclusion
A superficial reading of the Vedic pastimes may lead one to mistakenly accuse the Supreme Lord of mundane trickery. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda systematically resolves this illusion by establishing the absolute nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because the Lord is Uttamaśloka and entirely free from material defects, even His acts of cheating and thievery are manifestations of pure, absolute goodness. Śrīla Prabhupāda compares this divine deception to a loving father who cleverly tricks his foolish child merely to protect them from harm. We see this profound compassion when Lord Buddha cheated the degraded, animal-killing population; by pretending to deny God, He tricked the atheists into worshiping Him, the Supreme Lord. Similarly, when the Lord appeared as the enchanting Mohinī-mūrti, He utilized the disguise of a sweet-talking woman to successfully cheat the asuras (demons) and secure the nectar for the demigods, thereby maintaining the cosmic order. Yet, the most beautiful exhibition of God's cheating is found in His interactions with His pure devotees. When Lord Vāmanadeva approached Bali Mahārāja as a dwarf brāhmaṇa, He deceitfully asked for a mere three steps of land, only to expand into a gigantic form and seize the entire universe. Far from being angry, Bali Mahārāja recognized this deception as a supreme benediction. By allowing Himself to be completely "cheated" by the Lord, Bali Mahārāja achieved an exalted reputation of surrender that continues to be glorified throughout the three worlds.
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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 Cheating. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.