God Is Ananta - The Unlimited Supreme Personality of Godhead
The capabilities, forms, and opulences of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be measured by human calculation. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord is known as Ananta because His nature is entirely unlimited, and He expands as the incredibly powerful incarnation Lord Anantadeva to effortlessly uphold the entire cosmic manifestation.
The Meaning of Ananta
The word ananta signifies that which has no end or limit. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that unlike the infinitesimal living entities, the Supreme Lord possesses an innumerable variety of forms, qualities, and attributes, making Him completely beyond the comprehension of ordinary men.
- The Lord Himself and all His qualities, forms, pastimes and paraphernalia are also unlimited. Because Lord Visnu has unlimited attributes, He is known as Ananta.
- As we understand from Brahma-samhita, advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam (BS 5.33). Ananta means "innumerable."
- The Lord, being ananta, has an unlimited number of forms. Therefore, how is it possible for an ordinary, common man to understand Him.
- As stated in Bhagavad-Gita (13.3), ksetra-jnam capi mam viddhi sarva-ksetresu bharata. Although the Lord is a living being and the individual souls are living beings, the Supreme Lord, unlike the individual souls, is vibhu, all-pervading, and ananta, unlimited.
Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, the Expansive Anantadeva
The title Ananta specifically applies to the mighty incarnation known as Lord Śeṣa or Saṅkarṣaṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that this direct expansion of Kṛṣṇa acts as the foundation of the universe, holding all the planetary systems on His hoods as if they were virtually weightless.
- The foremost manifestation of Krsna is Sankarsana, who is known as Ananta. He is the origin of all incarnations within this material world - SB 10.1.24.
- Ananta, Sankarsana, belongs to the second catur-vyuha, or quadruple expansion. This is the opinion of experienced commentators.
- The incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead known as Sesa or Ananta has unlimited strength, fame, wealth, knowledge, beauty and renunciation.
- According to our sastra the planets are held on the hood of Ananta. He is carrying. But they say they are staying on account of law of gravitation.
The Inconceivable Greatness of Ananta
The scope of Ananta's power defies all material logic. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that the universe is unimaginably heavy to us, but to the unlimited Lord, it is nothing. In fact, His glories are so infinite that even He Himself cannot fully describe them.
- By our calculation, a universe may be very, very heavy, but because the Lord is ananta (unlimited), He feels the weight to be no heavier than a mustard seed.
- The living being, even if advanced, cannot understand the Supreme Being, the Personality of Godhead, for He is ananta, unlimited, in all six opulences.
- It is not possible to measure the complete glories of the Supreme Lord, who is unlimited. Even the Lord Himself in His incarnation as Ananta, or Sesa, cannot describe His own glories.
- He (Sankarsana) is the shelter of everything. He is wonderful in every respect, and His opulences are infinite. Even Ananta cannot describe His glory.
Glorifying the Unlimited Lord
Because God is unlimited, the only perfect use of words is to glorify Him. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that great authorities like Nārada Muni continuously sing the glories of Anantadeva, and hearing these narrations is the key to escaping material bondage.
- In that literature where simply there is glorification of the ananta, the Supreme Lord. Not dry philosophy, simply jugglery of words. That is garbage.
- Narada Muni, the son of Lord Brahma, always glorifies Anantadeva in his father's assembly. There he sings blissful verses of his own composition, accompanied by his stringed instrument (or a celestial singer) known as Tumburu.
- If persons who are very serious about being liberated from material life hear the glories of Anantadeva from the mouth of a spiritual master in the chain of disciplic succession.
- Maharaja Yudhisthira has compared the Yadu dynasty to the ocean of milk and Sri Balarama to the Ananta where Lord Krsna resides. He has compared the citizens of Dvaraka to the liberated inhabitants of the Vaikunthalokas.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Śrīla Prabhupāda reveals the absolute, infinite nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the concept of Ananta. The word itself means unlimited and innumerable, perfectly describing the Lord's ananta-rūpam—His endless forms, attributes, and six opulences. In contrast to the tiny, limited living entities, Kṛṣṇa is all-pervading and boundless. This unlimited nature is physically personified in His direct expansion as Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, or Anantadeva. Acting as the ultimate shelter of the material creation, Lord Ananta effortlessly holds all the planetary systems on His innumerable hoods, feeling their immense weight to be as light as a mustard seed. The greatness of Ananta is so inconceivably vast that even He Himself, with thousands of mouths, cannot reach the end of describing His own glories. Therefore, any literature or philosophy that ignores the glorification of the unlimited Lord is simply a useless jugglery of words. True spiritual perfection is found by following the example of great sages like Nārada Muni, who constantly sing the blissful glories of Anantadeva. By submissively hearing these infinite glories from a bona fide spiritual master, the conditioned soul is guaranteed liberation from the material world and entrance into the eternal association of the Supreme Lord.
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