God Is Cognizant - The Supreme Conscious Source of Everything
Material science often attempts to trace the origin of life back to dead, unconscious matter. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Vedic literatures provide a completely different paradigm: the ultimate source of all creation is a supremely conscious, fully cognizant person who understands and directs everything perfectly.
The Cognizant Source of Creation
The fundamental definition of the Absolute Truth is that He is completely aware of His creation. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes the Vedic conclusion that the Supreme Being is abhijña (cognizant), establishing that consciousness, not dead matter, is the original source of everything.
- Source is abhijna, cognizant. Matter is not cognizant; therefore the theory of modern science that life comes from matter is incorrect. The identity from whom everything emanates is abhijna, cognizant, which means He can understand.
- The Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is smrti, explains, janmady asya yato 'nvayad itaratas carthesv abhijnah sva-rat: (SB 1.1.1) The Supreme Being, from whom everything has emanated, is directly and indirectly cognizant of everything and is fully independent.
- In this way (the Supreme Being is directly and indirectly cognizant of everything and is fully independent, everthing has emanated from Him) the smrti explains the sruti.
- The Personality of Godhead, who is fully cognizant of everything in His creation, informs us in our best interest that we must desire to get rid of this material existence. We must detach ourselves from everything material.
The Internal Potency of Knowledge
The cognizance of the Lord is a manifestation of His supreme spiritual energy. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord possesses three primary internal potencies, among which the saṁvit-śakti is responsible for His absolute, ever-expanding knowledge and cognition.
- Hladini is His aspect of bliss; sandhini, of eternal existence; and samvit, of cognizance, which is also accepted as knowledge - CC Adi 4.62.
- The activities of the samvit-sakti produce the effect of cognition. Both the Lord and the living entities are cognizant.
- The idea is that because God and His knowledge are both unlimited, as soon as God is cognizant of some of His energies, He perceives that He has still more energies. In this way, both His energies and His knowledge increase.
- Lord Sri Krsna, Lord Sri Rama and Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, all incarnations of Godhead, accepted formal spiritual masters, although by Their transcendental nature They were cognizant of all knowledge.
Infinite Versus Infinitesimal Cognizance
While both God and the living entity share the quality of consciousness, there is an insurmountable difference in their capacity. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that while our awareness is strictly localized and prone to illusion, the Supreme Lord's cognizance is unlimited and all-pervading.
- So far knowing capacity is concerned, you are one with God. Because Krsna or God is cognizant, you are also cognizant. But you are cognizant with very limited sphere, and He is cognizant unlimitedly everywhere. That is the difference.
- We are also cognizant, and God is also cognizant. The difference is that I am cognizant with a limited space, and God is cognizant throughout the whole universe.
- The individual soul is called atma. But there is another soul, Supersoul. He is called Paramatma. Paramatma is God, but atma and Paramatma, both of them are cognizant. Both of them know things.
- The individual self can never be equal to the Lord in cognizance; otherwise he could not be placed in the state of forgetfulness.
The Eternal, Cognizant Form
God is not an abstract, formless awareness; His cognizance is embodied in a perfect, spiritual form. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how the Supreme Personality of Godhead possesses a self-effulgent body composed entirely of eternity, absolute knowledge, and pure bliss.
- That Supreme Lord has an eternal, cognizant, blissful body, and His spiritual energy is distributed as eternity, knowledge and bliss.
- Devaki said - Such (self-effulgent, changeless and uncontaminated by the material qualities) eternal forms (of Lord Visnu) are ever-cognizant and full of bliss; they are situated in transcendental goodness and are always engaged in different pastimes.
- The eternal, blissful, cognizant form of the Supreme Lord is to be found within the glaring effulgence of the brahmajyoti, which emanates from the body of the Supreme Lord.
- We are predominated and God is the predominator. That is the difference. Otherwise He is a person, we are also persons. He is eternal, we are eternal. He is cognizant, we are cognizant.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Śrīla Prabhupāda completely dismantles the materialistic theory that life and consciousness originate from dead matter. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam establishes that the Absolute Truth, the source of all emanation, is abhijña—supremely and perfectly cognizant. This absolute cognizance is a function of the Lord's saṁvit-śakti, the internal potency of knowledge, which exists eternally alongside His potencies of existence (sandhinī) and bliss (hlādinī). While it is true that both the Supreme Lord and the minute living entities share the qualitative nature of being conscious persons, their quantities of awareness are vastly different. The conditioned soul's cognizance is extremely limited, localized to a single body, and highly susceptible to the forgetfulness of material illusion. Conversely, the Supreme Lord is cognizant everywhere and at all times, simultaneously aware of every detail within His infinite creation. Because He possesses an eternal, blissful, and perfectly cognizant spiritual body, He is never subjected to the ignorance of material nature. Recognizing this vast difference between the infinite predominator and the infinitesimal predominated soul is the essence of spiritual knowledge. By submissively hearing from the fully cognizant Supreme Personality of Godhead, the conditioned living entity can awaken their own dormant consciousness and attain freedom from the miseries of the material world.
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 Is Cognizant. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.