God's Exhibiting - The Supreme Displays of the Absolute Truth
The human mind naturally demands proof. When confronted with the concept of an all-powerful, all-knowing Supreme Being, people ask, "If God is so great, why doesn't He show us?" The Vedic literatures answer this challenge by revealing that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is constantly exhibiting His unlimited potencies; the defect lies only in our vision. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord exhibits different energies according to the audience. To the materialist, He exhibits the vast, awe-inspiring cosmic manifestation and the terrifying universal form. To the demons, He exhibits superhuman strength to crush their false pride. Yet, to the pure devotees whose eyes are smeared with love, He exhibits His most confidential, sweet, and eternal pastimes. By studying the various ways God exhibits Himself—from the creation of universes to His intimate dealings in Vṛndāvana—we can learn how to properly recognize and appreciate the Absolute Truth.
Exhibiting the Cosmic Manifestation
The material universe is not an independent phenomenon; it is a direct display of the Supreme Lord's external energy. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord exhibits this temporary cosmic creation to accommodate the conditioned souls, while His eternal, spiritual kingdom remains vastly superior.
- All these universes are exhibition of the energy of Krsna, just like the fire can distribute its heat and light from one place.
- In the spiritual sky there is neither anxiety nor fear. It is eternally existing, and it consists of three fourths of the Lord's energy. The material world is an exhibition of only one fourth of the Lord's energy.
- The material creation is but a temporary exhibition of the material energy of the Almighty God.
- The universal form of the Lord is the cosmic manifestation, which is an exhibition of the external energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Exhibiting Superhuman Supremacy
To silence atheists and dismantle the claims of cheap, mundane imposters, the Lord occasionally exhibits terrifying and impossible feats of power. Śrīla Prabhupāda details how the Lord displays His universal form (virāṭ-rūpa) and executes superhuman acts to conclusively prove His absolute authority.
- When He descends, He exhibits superhuman acts just to prove His supreme right, and materialists like Ravana, Hiranyakasipu and Kamsa are sufficiently punished.
- The virat-rupa was particularly exhibited by the Lord just to give lessons to such foolish men, so that one can accept a person as the incarnation of Godhead only if such a person is able to exhibit such a virat-rupa as Lord Krsna did.
- When Maharaja Bali actually gave the land, Vamanadeva exhibited His all-powerful position by covering the three worlds with three steps.
- To prove that the statement of His servant Prahlada Maharaja was substantial - in other words, to prove that the Supreme Lord is present everywhere, even within the pillar of an assembly hall - the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, exhibited a wonderful form never before seen.
Exhibiting Transcendental Mercy
The Lord's power is absolute, but His compassion is even greater. Because we cannot see spiritual realities with our blunt physical eyes, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord mercifully exhibits His holy names, pastimes, and even appears in the form of the Deity to accept our service.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is inconceivably opulent, devoid of all material names, forms and pastimes, and who is all-pervading, is especially merciful to the devotees who worship His lotus feet. Thus He exhibits transcendental forms and names with His different pastimes.
- He exhibits His transcendental forms, names and activities. That is His special mercy toward His devotees.
- We can only see material things like stone and wood, and He accepts a form of stone and wood and thus accepts our service in the temple. This is an exhibition of the Lord's causeless mercy.
- O my Lord, sustainer of all that lives, Your real face is covered by Your dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove that covering and exhibit Yourself to Your pure devotee.
Exhibiting Submission to Pure Love
While the Lord exhibits awe and reverence to the universe, He reserves His most confidential exhibitions for His pure devotees. Śrīla Prabhupāda beautifully illustrates how the supreme controller actually desires to be subdued by love, exhibiting His highest internal potencies in the eternal pastimes of Vṛndāvana.
- The manifestation of His internal potency is not even exhibited in the kingdom of God or on the planets of Vaikuntha, but He does exhibit that internal potency within the universe when, through His inconceivable mercy, He descends from His personal abode.
- This transcendental situation comprises His dealings with devotees engaged in transcendental loving service, as exhibited at Dvaraka and Vrndavana.
- To pure devotees throughout the world who could understand His activities, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, exhibited how much He can be subdued by His devotees, His servants.
- Undoubtedly the Lord has the supreme potency to exhibit Himself in multifarious forms, but the pure devotees of the Lord are interested in His forms as eternally exhibited in the abode of the Lord, known as the tripad-vibhuti or kingdom of God.
Conclusion
A systematic study of the Vedic literatures completely cures the conditioned soul of the desire to see cheap magical displays from mundane imposters. As Śrīla Prabhupāda masterfully explains, the Supreme Personality of Godhead's exhibitions are absolute and unmatched. For the rebellious living entities who wish to lord over nature, the Lord exhibits the vast cosmic manifestation, representing a mere one-fourth of His total energy. To establish His supreme authority and give a severe lesson to atheists and demons, He exhibits the terrifying, all-encompassing virāṭ-rūpa (universal form) and performs impossible superhuman feats, such as Lord Vāmanadeva covering the three worlds with three steps, or Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva bursting from a stone pillar. However, the Lord does not only exhibit wrath and power; He is an ocean of causeless mercy. Knowing that conditioned souls possess blunt material senses, He mercifully exhibits Himself as the Deity in the temple so that we may offer Him direct service. Ultimately, the most confidential and beautiful exhibition of the Absolute Truth is reserved exclusively for His pure devotees. When the Lord descends from His eternal abode, He pulls back the curtain of His dazzling brahmajyoti to exhibit His sweet, personal form and His intimate pastimes in Vṛndāvana. It is there that the supreme controller of all universes exhibits His highest internal potency: the profound willingness to be completely conquered and subdued by the unalloyed love of His devotees.
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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 Exhibiting. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.