God Is Mentioned - Within the Revealed Scriptures
Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is never a product of mundane imagination. His divine forms, qualities, and pastimes are explicitly mentioned throughout the authorized Vedic literatures, providing perfect guidance to protect humanity from accepting cheap, fraudulent incarnations.
Authorized in the Scriptures
We must never accept unauthorized imposters as God. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that a genuine incarnation is always mentioned in the revealed scriptures, complete with specific details regarding His appearance, family, and extraordinary activities.
- All the incarnations of the Lord are mentioned in the revealed scriptures.
- No one can be accepted as an incarnation of the Lord if his father's name, as well as the name of the village or place in which he appears, is not mentioned by the authorized scriptures.
- The symptoms of the Lord's activities are all mentioned in the sastras, and after one understands them one can accept the Lord as He is.
The Supreme Father and Maintainer
The Vedic texts establish the Lord's absolute position over the entire cosmic creation. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that the scriptures frequently mention the Supreme Lord as the original seed-giving father and the ultimate maintainer of all living creatures.
- In every scripture the supreme powerful is addressed as father, and in the Bhagavad Gita also the supreme powerful is mentioned as the supreme seed Giving father.
- The Vedic hymns... confirm this truth. In Bhagavad-gita also, the Lord is mentioned as bhuta-bhrt, or the maintainer of all living creatures.
- As mentioned above, the cosmic creation is the property of the Supreme Lord.
Beyond Material Perception
To properly understand the Absolute Truth, one must recognize that God cannot be perceived through blunt material senses. Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights that the Lord is specifically mentioned as adhokṣaja (beyond sense perception) and anādi (without beginning).
- There are many terminology of understanding God, but here (SB 1.2.6) in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, God is mentioned as adhoksaja. Adhoksaja means beyond your sense perception.
- When we think of a person in our present experience, that person has a beginning... But the Lord is particularly mentioned here as anadi, beginningless.
- The Visnu-sahasra-nama prayers mention the Lord's name as sanat and sanatanatama. The Lord and the living entities are both qualitatively sanatana, or eternal, but the Lord is sanatana-tama or the eternal in the superlative degree.
Specific Incarnations Mentioned
The Vedic literature provides detailed histories of the Lord's various descents into the material world. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that specific incarnations, such as Lord Rāmacandra and Lord Buddha, are explicitly mentioned along with their distinct divine missions.
- Whenever there is mention of an incarnation of God, Krsna, there is specific duty. When Lord Ramacandra, His specific duty was to kill Ravana and to construct a bridge over the ocean, this is not possible by ordinary man.
- Lord Buddha is mentioned specifically in Srimad-Bhagavatam as incarnation of Godhead, and yet Vaisnavas do not accept his philosophy, which is classified as atheism.
- The Lord is addressed in this verse (SB 3.16.22) as tri-yuga, or one who appears in three millenniums - namely the Satya, Dvapara and Treta yugas. He is not mentioned as appearing in the fourth millennium, or Kali-yuga.
Conclusion
To advance in spiritual life, one must rely entirely on the authority of the Vedic texts. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that because the Supreme Lord and His specific incarnations are perfectly mentioned in the revealed scriptures, sincere seekers can safely bypass fraudulent incarnations and directly attain the pure devotional service of the Absolute Truth.
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 Mentioned. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.