God Is Lord Nārāyaṇa - The Supreme Shelter of All
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Absolute Truth is realized in His majestic feature as Lord Nārāyaṇa. Residing eternally in the spiritual sky, He is the supreme shelter of all living entities, the origin of the Vedas, and the ultimate controller of both the material and spiritual worlds.
The Transcendent Supreme Person
The Supreme Lord is not a product of material nature. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that Lord Nārāyaṇa exists eternally in the Vaikuṇṭha planets, completely beyond the temporary cosmic manifestation, and is endowed with inconceivable spiritual opulences.
- Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is always transcendental. He is not a creation of this material world.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is beyond the material creation. It is admitted even by impersonalists like Sankaracarya that Narayana is transcendental to this material creation.
- In that (spiritual) sky innumerable planets float, and these are called Vaikunthalokas. In every Vaikunthaloka, Narayana presides with His four expansions: Sankarsana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Vasudeva.
- He is called Narayana, and He is the shelter of living entities after the annihilation of this material world. He is full of all opulences, and He is the resting place of everything material. He is therefore known as Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Source of Vedic Knowledge
True knowledge does not come from mundane speculation. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that the original Vedic instructions and the pure principles of religion emanate directly from the breathing of Lord Nārāyaṇa.
- From Vedic literatures we understand that the Vedas originated from the breathing of Narayana.
- Narayana exists eternally and breathes eternally, and therefore dharma, the injunctions of Narayana, also exist eternally.
- Dharma is not actually manufactured by Narayana. the injunctions of dharma emanate from the breathing of Narayana, the supreme living entity.
- A Vedic injunction states, the Vedas are meant for understanding Narayana, the Supreme Lord. Similarly, the Bhagavad-gita also confirms, vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah: (BG 15.15) by all the Vedas, Krsna is to be known.
The Power of His Holy Name
The holy name of the Lord is non-different from the Lord Himself. Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights the history of Ajāmila, whose life was saved simply by unconsciously chanting the name of Nārāyaṇa at the time of death, demonstrating the name's supreme purifying potency.
- Ajamila, for example, was saved by the Supreme Personality of Godhead from the greatest danger, that of going to hell. He was saved simply because he chanted the name Narayana at the end of his life.
- Although he (Ajamila) was referring to the small child and not to the original Narayana, the name of Narayana is so powerful that even by chanting his son's name he was becoming purified.
- Because Ajamila had chanted the holy name of Narayana, the Visnudutas not only immediately arrived on the spot but also at once ordered the Yamadutas not to touch him.
- Because of chanting the holy name of Narayana in this way (without offenses), he had already vanquished the accumulated sinful reactions of many, many lives.
Refuting Daridra-nārāyaṇa
A popular misconception attempts to equate the Supreme Lord with poverty. Śrīla Prabhupāda fiercely rejects the concocted term "daridra-nārāyaṇa," explaining that the Lord is the husband of the goddess of fortune and is full of all wealth.
- Narayana is the master of Laksmi, the goddess of fortune, and only fools think that He somehow becomes poverty-stricken.
- Narayana is Laksmipati, the husband and controller of the goddess of fortune. How, then, can He be daridra? This is all due to misunderstanding.
- Narayana never becomes poor, and therefore He can never be called daridra-narayana.
- You are making some authorities. You're trying to follow. Even if you follow . . . That, the same example, just like Vivekananda was advocating daridra-narayana. First of all this is a concocted word. How Narayana can be daridra.
The Impossibility of Becoming Nārāyaṇa
The living entity can never become equal to God. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that impersonalist philosophers foolishly believe they can merge and become Nārāyaṇa, completely ignoring the eternal subordination of the soul to the Supreme.
- They (big mudhas) are falsely thinking that they have become liberated, they have become Narayana. How you can become Narayana.
- Because the Mayavadis think that they have become one with Narayana, they address one another as Narayana. They say, "You are Narayana, I am Narayana, everyone is Narayana." From this misconception, the idea of daridra-narayana (poor Narayana) arises.
- We shall be very careful to avoid these kind of mahatmas, who are thinking themselves as Narayana, equal to Narayana, or sometimes they claim greater than Narayana.
- Narayana is asamordhva. This means that no one can be equal to or greater than Him.
The Fearless Nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa
A true devotee is undisturbed by external circumstances. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that a soul fully surrendered to Lord Nārāyaṇa (a nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa) sees no difference between heaven, hell, or liberation, as long as they are engaged in the Lord's service.
- Devotees solely engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana, never fear any condition of life. The heavenly planets, liberation and the hellish planets are all the same to a devotee.
- A person who is devoted to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana, is not afraid of anything. Elevation to the heavenly kingdom, condemnation to hell and liberation from material bondage all appear the same to a devotee.
- Anyone who is narayana-parayana, he does not fear whether he is going to hell or heaven, because wherever he goes he is with Narayana, he is safe. It doesn't matter whether it is hell or heaven.
- Devotees do not mind reverses in life because in the service of Narayana they have learned to tolerate whatever hardships there may be. They do not care whether they are in heaven or in hell: they simply engage in the service of the Lord.
The Supersoul in Everyone's Heart
Although the Lord resides in the highest spiritual planets, He is simultaneously present everywhere. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that Lord Nārāyaṇa exists within the core of every living entity's heart as the Supersoul, guiding them according to their desires.
- In Vedic literature we understand that Narayana, the Supreme Person, is residing both outside and inside of every living entity.
- After changing the body, a living creature forgets everything of his past life, but because Narayana, the Supersoul, is present within his heart, he is reminded by Him to act according to his past desire.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana, is the original Supersoul, the father of all living entities. Consequently there are no impediments to pleasing Him or worshiping Him under any conditions, whether one be a child or an old man.
- Without material desires, Maharaja Yayati worshiped the Supreme Lord, who is situated in everyone's heart as Narayana and is invisible to material eyes, although existing everywhere.
The Goal of All Spiritual Paths
Every authorized system of elevation ultimately points to the same supreme destination. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that whether one is engaged in karma, jñāna, or mystic yoga, the true perfection is to realize and surrender to Lord Nārāyaṇa.
- Whatever way of spiritual realization we accept (karma, jnana, mystic yoga), the ultimate goal is Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The living entities are eternally connected with Him via devotional service.
- In the beginning, the Vedic purpose is pursued in three ways (trayi) - by karma-kanda, jnana-kanda and upasana-kanda. When one reaches the complete, perfect stage of upasana-kanda, one comes to worship Narayana, or Lord Visnu.
- Real yoga is to fix the mind on the form of the Lord, the four-handed Narayana who is sitting in everyone's heart.
- All austerities are aimed at achieving Narayana. Culture of transcendental knowledge is for getting a glimpse of Narayana, and ultimately salvation is entering the kingdom of Narayana.
Conclusion
To properly understand the Absolute Truth, one must completely abandon the atheistic and impersonal conceptions of God. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that Lord Nārāyaṇa is the supreme master of all energies, forever free from material poverty and dualities. By rejecting the foolish idea of becoming equal to Him, and instead chanting His holy name and engaging in His pure devotional service, the fearless soul is automatically delivered from the darkest hellish conditions and elevated to the eternal Vaikuṇṭha planets.
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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 Is Lord Narayana. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.