God Is Everything - The All-Pervading Energy of the Supreme Person
In the material world, we naturally distinguish between the creator and the creation. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that when applied to the Absolute Truth, this distinction requires a deeper philosophical understanding. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the source of all energies, and because the energy is nondifferent from the energetic, the Lord is factually everything that exists.
Vāsudeva Is All That Is
The ultimate goal of philosophical research is to recognize the absolute proprietorship and all-pervading nature of the Supreme Lord. Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights the famous verse from the Bhagavad-gītā confirming that true wisdom means surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, knowing Him to be the source and substance of everything.
- It is said in Bhagavad-gita that after many, many lives of philosophical research the wise man ultimately comes to the point of knowing that Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is everything, and therefore he surrenders unto Him.
- When one through many years of research comes to realize the Absolute Truth, he concludes vasudevah sarvam iti (Bg. 7.19) - "Vasudeva is all that is." Vasudeva is a name for Krsna, and it means - He who lives everywhere.
- The Lord is the root of everything. Aham adir hi devanam: (BG 10.2) He is the original cause of all the devas, or demigods. Aham sarvasya prabhavah: (BG 10.8) everything emanates from Him.
- Since the energy and the energetic are not different and since the material and marginal energies are both energies of the supreme energetic, the Supreme Lord, ultimately the Supreme Personality of Godhead is everything.
The Philosophy of Oneness and Difference
While the Lord expands into the entire cosmic manifestation, He simultaneously retains His distinct, individual personality. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains this concept through acintya-bhedābheda-tattva—the inconceivable, simultaneous oneness and difference of the Supreme Lord and His energies.
- We may conclude that Lord Visnu is everything, although He is also different from everything. This is the acintya-bhedabheda-tattva philosophy.
- The Lord is the cause for everything, but there is no cause for Him. Sarvam khalv idam brahma. Mat-sthani sarva-bhutani na caham tesv avasthitah (BG 9.4). Although He is everything, His personality is different from the cosmic manifestation.
- One should not conclude that because He (the Lord) is spread all over He has lost His personal existence. To refute such arguments, the Lord says - I am everywhere, and everything is in Me, but still I am aloof.
- This is described in Bhagavad-gita (God is everything but has His own separate existence): "I am spread all over the universe in My impersonal form. Everything is resting on Me, but I am not present."
Refuting the Māyāvādī Misconception
Material logic dictates that if something expands, its original form is lost. Śrīla Prabhupāda vigorously defeats the impersonalists who mistakenly apply this material limitation to the Absolute Truth, falsely concluding that God must be formless because He is everything.
- The Mayavadi philosophers think that if Krsna is everything, then Krsna's separate identity is lost. That is material thinking.
- The Mayavada conception that because the Absolute Truth is everything He must be formless is rejected here. Rather, it is confirmed that the Absolute Truth has form, and yet He is all-pervading. Nothing is independent of Him.
- The Mayavadi philosophers explain this (that there is only one God and that there is nothing else but Him) in their own way, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead asserts the truth that He is everything and yet is separate from everything.
- A poor fund of knowledge cannot comprehend the existence of an original personal form of the Lord when He is expanded in everything.
The Vision of the Pure Devotee
Realizing that God is everything profoundly changes how one interacts with the world. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes the consciousness of the mahā-bhāgavatas (topmost pure devotees), who see the Supreme Lord perfectly interwoven throughout the entire creation and utilize everything in His service.
- Those who see everything in the Lord or everything of the Lord and also see in everything an eternal relation of the Lord, so that there is nothing within their purview of sight except the Lord, are called the maha-bhagavatas.
- A pure devotee of the Lord no longer wastes valuable time in discriminating the Brahman from non-Brahman because he knows perfectly well that the Lord Para-brahman, by His Brahman energy, is interwoven in everything.
- The Lord is one and that He is expanded in everything. This is understood by the Vedic version: sarvam khalv idam brahma. One who knows this concentrates all his energy in worshiping Lord Visnu.
- The conclusion is that the time influence cannot act upon devotees who have accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead as everything.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Śrīla Prabhupāda expertly navigates the profound Vedic truth that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is everything. The ultimate goal of all philosophical research is to arrive at the Bhagavad-gītā's conclusion: vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (Vāsudeva is all that is). Because the Supreme Lord is the original cause, both the physical material elements and the spiritual sparks are simply expansions of His energy. Since the energy and the energetic are constitutionally nondifferent, the Lord is factually the substance of everything in existence (sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma). However, this absolute truth must be understood through the lens of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva—the inconceivable, simultaneous oneness and difference of the Lord. The Māyāvādī philosophers commit a grave error by assuming that because God expands into everything, He must lose His personal identity and become a formless void. This is a flawed, material calculation. In reality, the Supreme Lord remains eternally aloof as a distinct person, while simultaneously pervading the entire cosmos through His impersonal energy. The topmost pure devotees, the mahā-bhāgavatas, perfectly grasp this science. They do not waste time artificially rejecting the material world; instead, they see the Supreme Lord interwoven in every atom. By recognizing God's absolute proprietorship over everything and dedicating all energies to His loving service, the pure devotee completely transcends the illusory, material conception of life.
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