God Is Puruṣa - The Original Supreme Enjoyer
Śrīla Prabhupāda frequently establishes that the Absolute Truth is the supreme puruṣa, the original person and ultimate enjoyer. While conditioned living entities falsely try to act as predominators in the material world, the Vedic conclusion is that all souls are eternally subordinate to the supreme male, the Personality of Godhead.
The Original Supreme Male
The conception of God in the Vedic literature is never impersonal or female. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord is the eternal, original male person, and understanding this truth is the foundation of all spiritual knowledge.
- Supreme Absolute Truth is a purusa. Purusa means enjoyer, man. Man is supposed to be the enjoyer. He's not woman. Woman is supposed to be enjoyed. Therefore this very word is used: purusa. And purana, the oldest man.
- Here in this verse (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.47) the word purusam is very significant. The Lord is never female. He is always male (purusa). Therefore the impersonalist who imagines the Lord's form as that of a woman is mistaken.
- The Absolute is mentioned here as the purusa, or person. The Absolute Personality of Godhead is mentioned in so many Vedic literatures, and in the Bhagavad-gita, the purusa is confirmed as the eternal and original person.
- In the Brahma-samhita Lord Brahma offers his respect to the adi-purusa, Govinda, the original person, who has no beginning, whereas the creation of this material world has a beginning.
The Enjoyer and the Enjoyed
The living entities and the material energy are both feminine (prakṛti), meaning they are meant for the pleasure of the Lord. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that the root cause of material existence is the soul's futile attempt to imitate the supreme enjoyer.
- God is purusa, male, not female. Purusa means "the enjoyer," and prakrti means "the enjoyed." Everything is enjoyed by the supreme purusa.
- A man, thinking of enjoying himself, tries to imitate purusa, but actually he is prakrti. As a consequence, he is cast into this material world.
- Sakti is feminine, and the Lord is purusa, masculine. It is the duty of the female to serve under the supreme purusa. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, all living entities are marginal energies of the Supreme Lord.
- You cannot enjoy Krsna, or God, for your sense gratification. That is not possible. He can use you for His sense gratification. That is bhakti-marga. The bhaktas, they never claim to be purusa. They are always subordinate.
The Three Puruṣa-avatāras
To manage the cosmic manifestation, the Lord expands from His original form into three distinct Viṣṇu features. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes these three puruṣa-avatāras as the source of all material creation, maintenance, and destruction.
- The first purusa is Karanodakasayi Visnu, the second purusa is Garbhodakasayi Visnu, and the third purusa is Ksirodakasayi Visnu.
- As the creator or original cause of innumerable universes, or the first purusa, who is lying on the Causal Ocean, He is called Maha-Visnu. The three purusas direct the affairs of the material world.
- The purusa, after creating innumerable universes in the mahat-tattva, entered in each of them as the second purusa, Garbhodakasayi Visnu.
- In the Satvata-tantra it is said that the third purusa incarnation, Ksirodakasayi Visnu, is situated as the Supersoul in everyone's heart. This Ksirodakasayi Visnu is an expansion of Garbhodakasayi Visnu for pastimes.
The Ultimate Controller of Nature
The material energy is completely inactive without the touch of the supreme puruṣa. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that the vast material cosmos is set into motion simply by the glance of Mahā-Viṣṇu over the unmanifested material nature.
- Material nature gets the power to supply the material elements from the glance of the supreme purusa, Maha-Visnu, and when empowered by Him she is called the cause of the material manifestation.
- This impregnating process is performed by the first purusa incarnation, Karanarnavasayi Visnu. Simply by His glance over material nature, the whole matter is accomplished.
- It is clearly explained by Him (Lord Kapiladeva) that the Purusa, or the Supreme Lord, is active and that He creates by looking over the prakrti. This is accepted in the Vedas and in the Gita.
- Even in His (God's) incarnation of purusa-avatara He is the Lord of the creative energy. The creative material energy is working under His direction, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita.
Conclusion
To accurately comprehend the Absolute Truth, one must abandon all impersonal and feminine conceptions of the Supreme. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that God is the eternal ādi-puruṣa, the supreme male enjoyer who expands into the three puruṣa-avatāras to orchestrate the cosmic manifestation. The fundamental disease of the conditioned soul is the false desire to imitate this supreme predominator. Only when the living entity realizes their constitutional position as prakṛti—the subordinate energy meant solely for the pleasure of the Lord—can they be freed from the cycle of birth and death. By dedicating all activities to the satisfaction of the yajña-puruṣa, Viṣṇu, a sincere soul Abandons the illusion of material lordship and joyfully returns to their eternal, loving service in the spiritual sky.
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 Purusa. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.