God's Doing - The Omnipotent Will of the Supreme Lord
When people conceive of God as the creator of the universe, they often imagine Him as a grand architect tirelessly laboring over His construction, much like a human engineer. However, the Vedic literatures present a vastly superior and scientifically perfect understanding of the Absolute Truth. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is so complete that He actually has nothing to do personally. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord’s multi-energies are so efficient that His mere desire translates instantly into reality. Yet, paradoxically, the Lord is the ultimate doer of everything. By exploring how God acts effortlessly through His potencies, how He expertly manages the cosmos, how He enjoys transcendental pastimes, and how He interacts with His pure devotees, we can understand the absolute perfection of God's doing and learn our own proper duty in relation to His supreme will.
The Effortless Actions of the Supreme
The Upaniṣads declare that the Supreme Lord has no prescribed duties and no required labor (na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate). Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that because the Lord's diverse energies function automatically and perfectly, He is free to simply enjoy.
- He (God) has nothing to do personally, for since His potencies are perfect, everything is immediately done by His will.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead does not need to do anything personally, for He has such potencies that anything He wants done will be done perfectly well through the control of material nature - svabhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca.
- We should know that He (God) is complete. Everything is done systematically by His energies (parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate), and therefore He has nothing to do - na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate.
- He (one European gentleman) said that "I find in this temple there is God." "Why? Why you conclude like that?" "That in every temple I saw, that the god, deity, is doing something. But here I see the God is enjoying. He has nothing to do."
The Inconceivable Omnipotence of the Lord
When the Supreme Lord chooses to act, He is not bound by the anatomical or physical limitations that restrict conditioned souls. Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights the Lord's title as Yogeśvara, the master of all mystic power, who can perform any action with any part of His spiritual body.
- He (God) can see with His hands and legs. He does not need a particular bodily part to perform a particular action. Angani yasya sakalendriya-vrttimanti (SU): He can do anything He desires with any part of His body, and therefore He is called almighty.
- Since the Supreme Lord is all-powerful, He can do things that seem wonderful for a common man.
- Yogesvara is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all mystic yoga, who can do anything and everything He likes. This is the omnipotence of the Supreme Lord. For one who pleases the Supreme Lord, no achievement is wonderful. Everything is possible for him.
- Because He is all-powerful, the Lord can do anything and everything. He can excuse all sinful reactions. He can immediately transfer a person to Vaikunthaloka. That is the inconceivable power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is favorably disposed to the pure devotees.
The Supreme Doer Behind the Cosmos
Atheists often attribute the complex mechanics of the universe to blind chance or dead matter. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that nothing happens accidentally; every sunrise, every season, and every cosmic movement is expertly done under the supreme management of the Lord.
- Krsna is the ultimate resting place and source of everything. Everything is done by Him, everything belongs to Him, and everything is offered to Him. He is the ultimate objective, and whether acting or causing others to act, He is the ultimate doer.
- Nothing is accidental. Everything is done by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as the Lord Himself confirms in Bhagavad-gita (BG 9.10). Mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sacaracaram.
- The creation is actually done by the Supreme Lord, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (BG 9.10). Mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram: "Under My direction does material nature create all moving and nonmoving objects in the cosmic creation."
- Whatever is being done, it is being done by the expert management of Krsna. The sun is rising exactly in the time, and it is setting exactly in the time. And the temperature - everything is managed so expertly under the order of the Supreme.
Giving Credit to the Devotees
One of the most endearing qualities of the Supreme Lord is His relationship with His pure devotees. Although God is the actual doer orchestrating all victories and spiritual movements, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord mercifully steps back to give all the glory and credit to His servants.
- Everything is done by Krsna, but Krsna . . . and Arjuna is devotee. As the devotee wants to serve Krsna, similarly, Krsna also wants to give credit to His devotee. That is the business between the Lord and His devotee.
- What the Lord wants to do Himself by His transcendental plans, He executes through His confidential devotees. That is the way of the Lord's mercy towards His pure unalloyed devotees.
- The Lord is so satisfied with His pure devotees that He wants to give them the credit for missionary success, although He could do the work personally. This is the sign of His satisfaction with His pure, niskama devotees, compared to the sakama devotees.
- Within 8 or ten years we have developed so much. Is it humanly possible? It is Krsna's plan. But Krsna says that "You go and preach. Take the credit." Yes. It is His plan. Actually everything is done by Krsna. He gives the credit to His devotee, that's all.
His Transcendental Pastimes (Līlā)
Because the Lord has no obligatory work, whatever He chooses to do within the material or spiritual worlds is considered His pastime (līlā). Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights that whether He is playing as a warrior or performing impossible feats, His actions are purely transcendental and joyful.
- The Lord has nothing to do (na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate); whatever He does is His pastime.
- When He (Krsna) was playing the part of a ksatriya as the son of Maharaja Vasudeva, He displayed all the skill of a martially spirited ksatriya.
- We accept Ramacandra as God. He brought big, big stones and floated over the ocean. Does a stone float over the ocean? Yes, it floats under the order of God. He can . . . He can do it. The law of gravitation will not act there.
- Narayana said. - When they (the brahmana and the cobbler) ask you (Narada) what I am doing in My abode, tell them that I am threading the eye of a needle with an elephant.
Our Duty is to Serve God's Will
Ignorant people often approach God merely as an order-supplier, demanding that He do things to satisfy their material whims. Śrīla Prabhupāda strictly corrects this mentality, teaching that a true devotee understands everything is already done by Kṛṣṇa, and our only duty is to surrender and serve.
- A God conscious person does not say, "God, You please do everything for me and let me smoke ganja." Rather, a God conscious person must work for God.
- If God does not do anything for me, then I don't want God. He must be my order-supplier. This is going on. This is going on in the name of religion.
- Our only duty is to carry out the order of the Supreme. Other things is already done by Him. So if we abide by the orders of the Supreme, then we get the credit. We should know that.
- You have to do your own duty. But result, depend on Krsna. This is Krsna Consciousness. You don't be sorry if there is failure, you don't be unhappy if there is success, uh, you don't be too much, I mean to say, jubilant if there is success. Everything is done by Krsna.
Conclusion
To understand the nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is to understand the absolute perfection of His actions. As Śrīla Prabhupāda meticulously explains, the Lord is never forced to work by the modes of material nature. Because His multifarious energies are unimaginably potent and efficient, His mere desire is immediately manifested as reality. Thus, the Lord factually has nothing to do. Yet, paradoxically, He is the supreme doer behind every action in the cosmos. The sun rises, the seasons change, and the universal machinery operates strictly under His expert management. When the Lord chooses to act personally, He exhibits His omnipotence as Yogeśvara, effortlessly bypassing physical laws to float massive stones on the ocean as Lord Rāmacandra, or playfully threading an elephant through the eye of a needle as Lord Nārāyaṇa. Because He has no obligatory duties, whatever He does is simply His joyous pastime (līlā). The most beautiful aspect of God's doing, however, is His interaction with His devotees. While the Lord is the actual architect behind every victory and every successful preaching movement, He graciously steps into the background, preferring to give all the credit and glory to His sincere servants. Therefore, Śrīla Prabhupāda warns against the cheap, materialistic religion that treats God as an order-supplier meant to do our bidding. True spiritual life begins when we recognize that everything is already done by the Supreme Lord, and our only duty is to abandon our independent whims, surrender to His divine will, and joyfully act as instruments in His magnificent plan.
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 Doing. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.