God Is Original - The Primeval Cause of All Causes
Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the Absolute Truth is the ultimate, primeval source of all existence. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original cause of all causes, the original energetic, and the original foundation upon which both the material and spiritual worlds rest.
The Primal Cause of All Manifestations
Nothing in the cosmic manifestation is created independently; everything emanates from the Supreme Lord. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that God is the original reservoir of all ingredients and the efficient cause who perfectly maintains all universal affairs.
- The efficient cause of this material world, manifested with its many varieties as the original tree, is You, O Lord. You are also the maintainer of this material world, and after annihilation You are the one in whom everything is conserved.
- In the Taittiriya Upanisad it is clearly stated, yato va imani bhutani jayante: The Absolute Truth is the original reservoir of all ingredients, and this material world and its living entities are produced from those ingredients.
- Everything is true and complete (purnam), but the original purnam, the complete Absolute Truth, always remains the same.
The Source of All Incarnations
The Supreme Lord expands Himself into unlimited forms for His transcendental pastimes, yet He remains the primeval person. Śrīla Prabhupāda confirms that the original Personality of Godhead is the source of all infallible incarnations, maintaining His eternal, youthful form.
- Govinda, whom I worship, is the original Personality of Godhead. He is nondifferent from His innumerable plenary expansions, who are all infallible, original and unlimited and who have eternal forms. Although He is primeval, the oldest personality, He is always fresh and young.
- Devaki said - My dear Lord, Your eternal forms, like Narayana, Lord Rama, Sesa, Varaha, Nrsimha, Vamana, Baladeva, and millions of similar incarnations emanating from Visnu, are described in the Vedic literature as original.
- Lord Visnu is the original personal expansion of Krsna, and Krsna is the original source of all incarnations. As far as power is concerned, Lord Visnu is as powerful as Lord Krsna because He possesses all the opulences.
- Devaki said - You (Lord Visnu) are original because all Your forms as incarnations are outside of this material creation. Your form was existing before this cosmic manifestation was created.
The Origin of Brahman and Paramātmā
Less intelligent philosophers mistakenly believe the impersonal effulgence is the ultimate reality. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that the Supreme Person, Bhagavān, is the original source from which both the Brahman effulgence and the localized Paramātmā emanate.
- From the Rg Veda we understand, om tad visnoh paramam padam: the original substance is the all-pervading Lord Visnu, who is also Paramatma and the effulgent Brahman.
- Your multienergies are continually manifest, but the impersonal Brahman, which is undivided, original, changeless, unlimited and blissful, is the cause of the material manifestation.
The Original Light and Form
The living entities and the material energy have no independent power to illuminate or act. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes the Supreme Lord as the original energetic and the original light, stating that we can only overcome ignorance by receiving knowledge directly from Him.
- No one can make a solution of the darkness of ignorance simply by the reflection of light. Similarly, no one can come out of material existence simply by the reflected light of the common man; one has to receive the light from the original light itself.
- If such a material stone (touchstone) can maintain its inconceivable energy after producing volumes of gold, certainly the Supreme Personality of Godhead can remain in His original sac-cid-ananda form after creating the cosmic world.
- The conclusion is that the material conception of the body of the Lord as virat is imaginary. Both the Lord and the living beings are living spirits and have original spiritual bodies.
Conclusion
To properly grasp the absolute nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one must recognize Him as the origin of all that exists. Śrīla Prabhupāda establishes that God is the primeval cause of all causes, the original energetic, and the original light from which all living entities derive their existence. By rejecting the misconception that the impersonal Brahman is the ultimate reality, and understanding that even Paramātmā and Bhagavān are merely emanations resting upon the original Supreme Person, a sincere soul learns to take complete shelter of Kṛṣṇa, confident in His absolute supremacy and eternal protection.
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