God's Functions Reveal His Absolute Transcendental Nature
When people are ignorant of the science of the Absolute Truth, they often formulate absurd philosophies, such as the idea that "God is dead" or that God created the universe and then went to sleep. The Vedic literatures thoroughly reject these ignorant theories. God is the supreme, energetic person, and His functions are dynamic, ongoing, and entirely transcendental. Śrīla Prabhupāda perfectly explains that God is not dead; rather, our material senses are dead to the appreciation of His divine functions. By understanding the absolute nature of the Lord's physical body, how He delegates cosmic functions to His expansions, the primary purpose of His earthly incarnations, and the urgent need for spiritual education, we can reawaken our consciousness and understand the flawless, functioning reality of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Absolute Nature of His Functions
The bodily functions of the Supreme Lord are not restricted like those of a conditioned soul. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that because the Lord's body is purely spiritual, it operates on the platform of absolute omnipotence, where any organ can perform the function of any other organ without limitation.
- Each and every part of His transcendental body can perform each and every function of the other parts.
- The Lord can see with His ears. The material ear can hear but cannot see, but we understand from the Brahma-samhita that the Lord can also see with His ears and hear with His eyes. Any organ of His transcendental body can function as any other organ.
- Simply by His glance He (the Lord) impregnates the material energy for functioning. It is going on. So He has got all the potencies in all the parts of His body.
- Nothing of the cosmic energies is different from Him because everything is an emanation from Him; but all such expanded energies have specific functions and display as designed by the Lord, and therefore they are simultaneously different from the Lord.
The Functions of His Incarnations and Names
Because the Lord is infinite, He executes His myriad cosmic and transcendental functions through His various names, expansions, and authorized representatives. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that while Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Person, He expands into countless forms and demigods, each perfectly designed to execute a specific function.
- The Lord has different names, and these names indicate different functions. The aspect of the Supreme Lord as the creator is different from the aspect of the Lord as Narayana. Some of the names of the Lord as the creator are conceived by materialistic men.
- He (Krsna) is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead and Narayana, the purusas and all other incarnations accompany Him to function as different parts of His pastimes.
- When Lord Sri Krsna descends into the material world, all His plenary portions also appear with Him to exhibit different functions of the Lord. But for the pastimes at Vrndavana, all functions are performed by the Lord's different plenary expansions.
- The demigods like Brahma, Visnu, Mahesvara, Indra, Candra and Varuna are undoubtedly different forms of the Lord for execution of different functions; the different elemental ingredients of material creation, as well as the multifarious energies.
The Ultimate Purpose of His Functions
When the Lord personally descends into the material world, He comes with a highly specific agenda. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that regardless of which incarnation appears, the primary function of the Supreme Lord is always twofold: to give joy and protection to the devotees and to annihilate the disruptive demons.
- The purpose of an incarnation (of the Supreme Personality of Godhead) is to liberate His devotees and to stop the demoniac activities of nondevotees. These are the two functions of the Supreme Lord when He incarnates.
- This verse explains why the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears as an incarnation again and again. The incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead all function differently, but their main purpose is paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam.
- The incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead all function differently, but their main purpose is to protect the devotees and annihilate the miscreants. Yet even though the duskrtis, or miscreants, are annihilated, this is ultimately good for them.
- When the Lord appeared to pick up the earth, the demon of the name Hiranyaksa tried to create a disturbance in the methodical functions of the Lord, and therefore he was killed by being pierced by the Lord's tusk.
Educating Society About God's Functions
The root cause of atheism and worldly suffering is a complete lack of genuine spiritual education. Śrīla Prabhupāda stresses that society urgently needs the process of bhakti-yoga—specifically chanting and hearing—to awaken from its spiritual death and finally comprehend the true functions of God.
- How you can say God is dead? God is not dead, but we are dead to appreciate the function of God. We are dead.
- Unfortunately you do not know God. We do not try to understand what is God. Neither there is any education, to teach actually what is God, what is His function, how does He live, where does He live, what does He order. That is the missing part.
- This chanting and hearing is so pious that it will gradually cleanse your heart, and you will understand what is God - what is God, what is your relationship with Him, what is His function, what is your function.
- You can know Him, you can see Him, what He is, what is His function. Just to mitigate all our doubts, God is present here. And Krsna says in the beginning of the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita how you can understand God.
Conclusion
A systematic study of the Vedic literatures thoroughly cures a person of the foolish conclusion that God is dead, inactive, or merely an impersonal force. As Śrīla Prabhupāda clearly explains, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the most active person in existence. His functions are entirely absolute and defy the restrictive laws of material nature. Because His body is fully transcendental, He does not require separate sense organs to perform different tasks; He can see with His ears, and He can impregnate the entire material creation simply by His powerful glance. To manage the infinite complexities of the cosmic manifestation, the Lord expands Himself into innumerable plenary portions, incarnations, and empowered demigods, assigning each a specific function. Yet, Śrī Kṛṣṇa remains the original Supreme Person. When the Lord personally descends into the material world, He is never idle. His primary, twofold function is always to lovingly protect the pious devotees (sādhus) and to swiftly annihilate the demoniac elements that disturb the peace of the universe. Even this act of destruction is absolute, as the demons killed by the Lord achieve liberation. The great tragedy of the modern world is that it has lost the ability to perceive these divine activities. Without authentic spiritual education, human society remains functionally dead to the reality of the Supreme Lord. Therefore, the highest welfare work is to distribute the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. By sincerely chanting and hearing authorized Vedic knowledge, the conditioned soul is gradually cleansed of material ignorance, allowing them to finally understand the Supreme Lord, His absolute functions, and the eternal, loving function of the living entity.
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 Functions. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.