God's Influence over All Energies and Living Beings
The Supreme Personality of Godhead exerts absolute influence over every corner of creation through His diverse and inconceivable potencies. While ordinary living entities may possess fractional capabilities to control their immediate surroundings, it is explained by Śrīla Prabhupāda that the Lord's supreme control is entirely different, acting simultaneously on both macroscopic and microscopic levels. From the grand cosmic orchestration of time and material nature down to the intimate functioning of individual memory and forgetfulness, nothing operates independently of His divine will. Recognizing the profound depth of this absolute influence is the foundational step in understanding the true nature of the Absolute Truth.
The Supersoul's Inner Direction
The universal control of the Supreme Lord is not merely a distant, external force; it operates intimately within the heart of every individual. Residing as the Supersoul alongside the individual living entity, the Lord acts as the supreme director of all consciousness. According to Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings, the physical brain is nothing more than a lump of inert matter, completely dependent on the divine grace of the Supersoul to function. It is solely through this internal influence that every living being receives the necessary intelligence, memory, and even the forgetfulness required to navigate their material existence.
- A common living being cannot extend its influence over another common living being by its all-pervasiveness, but the Supreme Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is unlimitedly able to exert His influence over all places and all times and over all living beings.
- He (the Lord) is dictating or giving intelligence to the individual soul from within. It is clearly stated in the Gita that the Lord gives intelligence to the individual soul and that both memory and forgetfulness are due to the influence of the Supersoul.
- In the Bhagavad-gita (15.15) also the same thing is confirmed; the Lord is present within the heart of every living entity, and all the living entity's consciousness and forgetfulness are influenced by the Lord.
- Since the brain is a lump of matter, it does not have independent power with which to act. It can act only when favored by the influence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is Brahman or Parabrahman.
The Boundless Opulences of the Lord
To comprehend the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is to acknowledge His absolute perfection in all attributes. He is uniquely characterized by the possession of six primary opulences in full: wealth, fame, strength, beauty, knowledge, and renunciation. Among these, His unmatched strength and influence stand paramount, allowing His actions to remain forever untainted by the material energy. Because the Lord is absolute, Śrīla Prabhupāda confirms that these majestic qualities are entirely nondifferent from the Lord Himself, rendering His complete prowess eternally incalculable even to the greatest demigods.
- In defining the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we say that He is full in all six opulences - wealth, fame, strength, influence, beauty and renunciation.
- In the Visnu Purana it is said that all the qualities attributed to the Supreme Lord, such as knowledge, opulence, beauty, strength and influence, are known to be nondifferent from Him. This is also confirmed in the Padma Purana.
- Lord Brahma prayed: My Lord, You are unlimited, and You possess unending potencies. No one can estimate or calculate Your prowess and wonderful influence, for Your actions are never polluted by the material energy.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is full in six opulences. His position is unique, for He possesses all riches, strength, influence, beauty, knowledge and renunciation.
Transcendental Ecstasy and Internal Potency
Beyond the mechanics of the material world, the Lord's influence takes on a profoundly sweet and intimate nature when directed toward His pure devotees. This is the realm of His internal pleasure potency, or yogamāyā. Rather than inducing ignorance, this divine energy orchestrates a transcendental forgetfulness of the Lord's majesty, immersing the devotee completely in the bliss of loving exchanges. As Śrīla Prabhupāda points out, it is through this ecstatic influence that figures like Lord Nityānanda inundated the world with love, revealing a feature of the Absolute Truth that remains completely inaccessible to those merely seeking impersonal Brahman realization.
- Although the Pandavas, because of the influence of Krsna's yogamaya, could not think of their fortunate position, every saintly person, including the great sage Narada, could understand it, and therefore they constantly visited Maharaja Yudhisthira.
- Lord Nityananda Prabhu first influenced all the devotees to dance, and finally He Himself began dancing, thus inundating the entire world in ecstatic love.
- Lord Siva smiled when he joked with his wife in that way, for others cannot speak like that. "The Supreme Lord," Siva continued, "is always exalted in His activities, and here is another example of His wonderful influence upon King Citraketu, His devotee.
- The pleasure feature of the Lord is understood by the pure devotees only, and not by others. The impersonalist is satisfied simply by understanding the all-pervasive influence of the Lord. This is called Brahman realization.
Time and the External Energy
For the rebellious living entities who wish to imitate the supreme controller, the Lord exerts His influence through the external energy, known as māyā. This bewildering potency covers the pure soul's original consciousness, creating the deep illusion of false bodily relationships and material ownership. To regulate this temporal realm, the Lord's influence manifests as the inescapable, destructive factor of time (kāla). It is emphasized by Śrīla Prabhupāda that the terrifying prospect of death is simply the action of this supreme time factor, dissolving all material creations and forcing the conditioned soul to recognize its utter dependency.
- By that confidential knowledge, I (Narada Muni) could understand clearly the influence of the energy of Lord Sri Krsna, the creator, maintainer and annihilator of everything. By knowing that, one can return to Him and personally meet Him.
- It is by the influence of the Supreme Lord's maya that I (mother Yasoda) am wrongly thinking that Nanda Maharaja is my husband, that Krsna is my son.
- The fear of death is the action of the kala, or the time factor, which represents the influence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Time is destructive. Whatever is created is subject to destruction and dissolution, which is the action of time.
- Sukadeva said: O King, unless one is influenced by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no meaning to the relationship of the pure soul in pure consciousness with the material body. That relationship is just like a dreamer's seeing his own body working.
Conclusion
The profound nature of God's influence encompasses all states of being, regulating both the material cosmos and the spiritual realm. Through the external energy, rebellious souls are strictly governed by illusion and the destructive force of time, while all living entities are continuously guided from within by the Supersoul. As clearly outlined in the teachings of Śrīla Prabhupāda, understanding the Lord's unlimited opulences and His ecstatic internal potencies is the key to breaking free from material bewilderment. By recognizing the absolute, all-pervasive influence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, a sincere soul can step out of the darkness of māyā and enter the eternal path of pure, loving devotional service.
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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 Influence. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.