God Is Neutral - The Supreme Impartial Witness
Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the perfectly impartial well-wisher of all living entities. Although He provides everyone with the facilities to fulfill their desires, the Lord remains completely neutral, acting as the supreme witness and judge who is never entangled in the material activities of the cosmic creation.
The Impartial Witness
Because the living entities are granted minute independence, the Lord does not force them to act in a certain way. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that God sits within the heart of every living being, acting as the neutral witness who observes all desires and activities without interference.
- It may be said that He (God) sits in the core of everyone's heart as the neutral witness of the causes and effects of one's activities, good and bad.
- The Lord can fulfill all desires, and the Lord, being neutral to everyone, does not interfere with the desires of the minute independant living entities.
- The Lord, being the source of all beings, is like the mother and the maintainer. As the mother is neutral to all different kinds of children, the Supreme Father (or Mother) is also.
Unaffected by Material Activities
Although the entire universe operates under the supreme direction of God, He is never entangled in its complex workings. Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights that while the Lord's various potencies carry out the functions of the material world, He remains blissfully aloof and neutral.
- Material activities are being carried on by His different potencies. The Lord is always neutral in the material activities of the created world. This neutrality is explained here (in BG 9.9).
- Although He (the Lord) has control over every minute detail of matter, He is sitting as if neutral.
- The Lord is always neutral, although He has His hand in every sphere of activity.
The Supreme Judge
Neutrality does not imply that the Supreme Lord is inactive or unaware of justice. Śrīla Prabhupāda compares the Lord's position to that of a high-court judge (udāsīna), who remains personally unaffected by the litigants but perfectly administers the law according to their deeds.
- Udasina, neutral, does not mean that God takes no action. Rather, it means that He is not personally affected. For example, a court judge is neutral when two opposing parties appear before him, but he still takes action as the case warrants.
- In the sastras, we have the Yamaraja, or there is justice department. Everything is there. So he is neutral. It is not that God is kind to somebody and unkind to some other, no. His position is always neutral.
- The Supreme Lord is neutral to everyone, but for the maintenance of law and order His supreme government has various departments, which control the activities of the living entities.
Transcendental Neutrality
Every quality found in the material world has its original, pure counterpart in the Absolute Truth. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that the Lord's neutrality is a completely spiritual attribute, allowing Him to be equally present everywhere without ever becoming materially contaminated.
- Neutrality and partiality are both among the transcendental qualities of the Lord, and they are properly adjusted by His inconceivable energy. The Lord is Para-brahman, or the source of the impersonal Brahma, which is His all-pervading feature of neutrality.
- Partiality, neutrality and all such qualities are present in God; otherwise they could not be experienced in the creation.
- The perfect yogi knows that the Lord is eternally transcendental and is not materially affected by His presence in either a dog or a brahmana. That is the supreme neutrality of the Lord.
Conclusion
To properly understand the actions of the Absolute Truth, one must abandon mundane conceptions of partiality and favoritism. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that the Supreme Personality of Godhead perfectly exhibits the quality of neutrality by acting as the impartial witness, the loving maintainer, and the ultimate judge for all living entities. Because the Lord remains eternally unaffected by the material energy, His neutrality perfectly upholds the independence of the soul while simultaneously maintaining the flawless execution of cosmic justice.
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 Neutral. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.