God Is Glorious - Unconquerable and Supreme
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is fully transcendental and possessed of unlimited spiritual qualities. Because no one is equal to or greater than Him, the Lord is eternally supreme and His activities are universally glorious.
The Supreme and Unconquerable Lord
According to Śrīla Prabhupāda, the personified Vedas continuously offer praises to the Supreme Lord because He is the most glorious. His fame spans across all planetary systems, and His transcendental nature makes Him completely superior to the material creation.
- All the srutis, or personified Vedas, offered glories to the Lord again and again, singing, "Jaya! Jaya!" This indicates that the Lord is the most glorious.
- Sanandana said, "The Vedic reciters, or the personified Vedas, sing thus, 'O unconquerable Lord, You are the Supreme Personality. No one is equal to You or greater than You. No one can be more glorious in his activities.'"
- Undeterred in all circumstances, His rule was characterized by His glorious fame, which spread over the three lokas, and above them to the planetary system of Satyaloka, the topmost in the universe.
- I offer my obeisances unto Him, because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to material nature and the living entities, because He is devoid of such a material body, and because He is always glorious in His spiritual qualities.
The Glorious Activities of the Lord
Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that everything is a manifestation of the Lord's energy, making His acts of creation exceptionally glorious. Furthermore, when the Lord descends into the material world, He performs wonderful pastimes simply to give pleasure to His devotees.
- In the Vedas the Lord says: "Since everything is a manifestation of My energy, I am known as Parabrahman. Therefore everyone should hear from Me about My glorious activities."
- Lord Visnu is powerful, and His activities are so glorious that He has created the spiritual world by His internal potency and the material world by His external potency.
- When the Lord wants to take pleasure in pastimes, He comes down to this material world and acts like a human being, thus showing His wonderful, glorious activities to please the devotees.
- With His (the Lord's) strong, glorious arms, which award fearlessness throughout the universe, He took hold of Vasuki and began churning the ocean, using Mandara Mountain as a churning rod.
Hearing the Glories of the Lord
To end the regrettable conditions of material life, Śrīla Prabhupāda recommends that one must hear about the Lord's glorious activities from authorized scriptures like the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Great sages and pure devotees always relish this transcendental subject matter over mental speculation.
- By hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam in the matter of the Lord's glorious activities both in the material world and in the transcendental world, men can derive equal benefit.
- This verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.18.12) was spoken to Suta Gosvami at the meeting of great sages at Naimisaranya. The great sages were headed by Saunaka, and Suta Gosvami was speaking of the glorious activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead at that meeting.
- The mahatmas are not concerned with knowing the Lord by mental speculation because they enjoy hearing about His glorious activities in His transcendental dealings with His devotees or with the demons.
- My dear highly glorified Lord, if one, in the association of pure devotees, hears even once the glories of Your activities, he does not, unless he is nothing but an animal, give up the association of devotees.
The Glorious Devotees of the Lord
Although the Lord is eternally glorious independent of anyone else, Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights that He lovingly empowers His pure devotees. By serving the Lord, a devotee automatically becomes glorious, and the Lord often arranges for His servants to receive even greater credit than Himself.
- The Lord is always glorious, whether the devotee glorifies Him or not, but if the devotee engages in glorifying the Lord, the devotee himself automatically becomes glorious.
- Devahuti is requesting her glorious son (Kapiladeva) to illuminate the lives of the conditioned souls so that their most regrettable conditional life may be ended.
- Pure devotees of the Lord are as glorious as the Lord; they are, in fact, recommended by the Lord as more worshipable than He Himself. Worship of the devotee is more potent than worship of the Lord.
- The Lord actually wants to see His servants work more gloriously than Himself. For instance, on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, Sri Krsna provoked Arjuna to fight because all the warriors on the battlefield were to die by Krsna’s plan.
Conclusion
To understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead is to recognize that He is unequivocally glorious in all His names, forms, and pastimes. Śrīla Prabhupāda confirms that by deeply hearing about these transcendental activities, the conditioned soul awakens its dormant love for the Lord. Ultimately, engaging in the glorification of the Supreme Lord is the highest perfection, rendering the devotee equally glorious by the Lord's boundless grace.
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 Glorious. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.