God Is Omnipotent - The Inconceivable Power of the Supreme Lord
Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that to properly understand the Absolute Truth, one must grasp the true meaning of omnipotence. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is not bound by the physical laws of the material world; His supreme, inconceivable power allows Him to act perfectly everywhere, through every energy, without ever losing His transcendental position.
The Transcendental Senses
The physical limitations of an ordinary living being do not apply to the Supreme Lord. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that because God is omnipotent, each of His transcendental senses is fully capable of performing the functions of all the others.
- The Brahma-saḿhita describes each of His (God's) senses as omnipotent. The mundane eye can see but not hear, but His eyes can see, hear, eat, generate offspring, and so on.
- He (the Supreme Personality of Godhead) can enjoy anything through any part of His body, and therefore He is omnipotent. The limbs of a material body can perform only a particular function; for example, the hands can hold but cannot see or hear.
- The Lord, being omnipotent, can speak by breathing air, as it is confirmed in the Brahma-samhita, for the Lord has the omnipotence to perform through each of His senses the actions of all other senses.
- In the Brahma-samhita the Lord's senses are described as omnipotent; i.e., with any sense He can perform the activities of the other senses.
All-Pervading Presence
God's omnipotence means He is never restricted to one specific location. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that while the Lord eternally enjoys pastimes in His supreme abode, He simultaneously expands Himself to be present within every atom and within the heart of every living entity.
- As a fire, although existing in one place, can expand its light and heat everywhere, so the omnipotent Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although situated in His spiritual abode, expands Himself everywhere, in both the material and spiritual worlds, by His various energies.
- The Lord's omnipotency is displayed by His simultaneous presence in every place. He is present always in His eternal abode Goloka Vrndavana, and still He is present in everyone's heart and even within every invisible atom.
- The Lord can hear from such a distant place (Vaikunthaloka), He can eat from there, and He can appear simultaneously in all places at a moment's notice. Such is the omnipotency of the Lord.
- The Supersoul in all living entities is the same Supreme Personality of Godhead. By His omnipotency, He can live anywhere, and He can create His Vaikuntha situation everywhere. That is His inconceivable potency.
The Deity Form
The Lord is so powerful that He can transform material energy into spiritual energy at will. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that the arcā-vigraha (Deity) in the temple is not a material idol, but a direct manifestation of the omnipotent Lord who has appeared to accept our service.
- The Lord is omnipotent and all-powerful; therefore, by His incarnation as arca-vigraha, He can accept the services of the devotee, just to make it convenient for the man in conditioned life.
- Arca-vigraha form may be seen as material by the imperfect eyes of foolish people or kanistha-adhikaris, but such people do not know that the Lord, being omnipotent and omniscient, can transform matter into spirit and spirit into matter, as He desires.
- The arca-vigraha of the Lord descends at the request of the acaryas, the holy teachers, and works exactly in the original way of the Lord by virtue of the Lord's omnipotence.
- When arca-murti, the Deity worship in the temple, if one thinks it is made of stone, it is made of wood, that is very offensive. One should not think like that. God is omnipotent, all-powerful. He can accept your service even in this form.
The Supreme Controller
As the master of all mystic powers, the Supreme Lord perfectly conducts the affairs of the entire cosmic manifestation. Śrīla Prabhupāda asserts that the Lord is the ultimate cause of all causes, effortlessly creating and annihilating universes simply by His divine will.
- Lord Sri Krsna is the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead (Para-brahman). He is omnipotent by His inconceivable energies, and therefore He is the Yogesvara, or the supreme master of all mystic powers.
- By the omnipotency of the Supreme Lord, the whole material creation evolves by the process of transformation and reactions one after another, and by the same omnipotency, they are wound up again one after another and conserved in the body of the Supreme.
- The Lord is omnipotent; simply by His will He can perform anything and everything. When the Lord appeared as Lord Krsna, He played the part of the son of Yasoda and Nanda, and He lifted the Govardhana Hill, although lifting a hill is not His concern.
- Yogesvara is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all mystic yoga, who can do anything and everything He likes. This is the omnipotence of the Supreme Lord. For one who pleases the Supreme Lord, no achievement is wonderful. Everything is possible for him.
Conclusion
To properly worship the Absolute Truth, one must deeply appreciate His unparalleled power. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that because God is omnipotent, He cannot be restricted by material logic or the mundane limitations of space and time. His inconceivable potencies allow Him to exist everywhere, perceive everything through transcendental senses, and mercifully accept the service of His devotees in His deity form. By faithfully acknowledging and meditating upon the omnipotence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, a sincere soul overcomes the darkness of material illusion and attains pure, unalloyed devotional service.
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