God Is The Original Cause - The Supreme Cause of All Causes
Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly emphasizes that to understand the cosmic manifestation, one must trace its origins back to the absolute root. While modern scientists and atheistic philosophers speculate that the universe arose from dead matter, the Vedic conclusion is that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original cause of everything.
The Cause of All Causes
The Supreme Lord is defined by His position as the absolute origin. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that because nothing existed before Bhagavān to create Him, He is the causeless, original root of all spiritual and material phenomena.
- The Supreme Lord is the original cause of all natural events. Therefore He is described as sarva-karana-karanam, the cause of all causes.
- Whatever happens, the original cause is the Supreme Personality of Godhead - sarva-karana-karanam.
- The Lord is the cause of all causes. In other words, since there is nothing that caused Him, He is the original cause. Consequently He enjoys His own Self by manifesting His own internal potency.
- The Lord is the root of everything. Aham adir hi devanam: He is the original cause of all the devas, or demigods. Aham sarvasya prabhavah: everything emanates from Him.
Matter Cannot Create
Atheistic theories propose that the universe moves simply by the mechanical action and reaction of material elements. Śrīla Prabhupāda firmly refutes this, noting that inert matter has no creative power without the presence and direction of spirit.
- Without spiritual contact, matter cannot create. Those who are seeking the original cause of the material creation should know that the creation takes place when the spirit soul is present.
- Actually the original cause is Lord Visnu, but out of ignorance people think that matter is the cause of everything.
- The atheistic philosophers, who do not agree to accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the original cause of creation, think that the material world moves by the action and reaction of different material elements.
- Spirit and matter, which combine to manifest this gigantic universal form, are originally two energies of the Lord, and consequently the Lord is the original cause of everything.
Immediate Versus Original Cause
In philosophical discussions, one must distinguish between the immediate cause and the ultimate source. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that while material nature (prakṛti) or the impersonal Brahman may act as immediate causes, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the remote, original cause behind them.
- Material nature is the immediate cause of the cosmic manifestation, but the original cause is Narayana, Krsna.
- Although prakrti and purusa superficially appear to be the causes of the material manifestation, both are emanations of different energies of the Supreme Lord. Therefore the Supreme Lord is the cause of prakrti and purusa. He is the original cause.
- Although the Supreme Person is the original cause of all causes, His impersonal effulgence, known as Brahman, is the immediate cause of the material manifestation.
- Brahman, the impersonal Absolute Truth, is all-pervading, and Paramatma is locally situated in everyone's heart, but Bhagavan, who is worshipable by the devotees, is the original cause of all causes.
The Role of Mahā-Viṣṇu
To facilitate the material creation, the Supreme Lord expands Himself into specific forms. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how the original cause of all material universes is the plenary expansion known as Mahā-Viṣṇu, who lies within the Causal Ocean.
- That original Personality of Godhead, named Sankarsana, first lies down in the river Viraja, which serves as a border between the material and the spiritual world. As Karanodakasayi Visnu, He is the original cause of the material creation.
- 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.
- Maha-visnu is the original cause of Garbhodakasayi Visnu, and from Him comes the lotus flower from which Lord Brahma is manifested. Thus the original cause of everything is Visnu, and consequently the cosmic manifestation is not different from Visnu.
- They are all mutually the cause and effect of one another, but the original cause is the Lord Himself in plenary portion, as Maha-Visnu lying in the causal water of the mahat-tattva.
Conclusion
A person's knowledge remains fundamentally incomplete until they understand the true origin of all existence. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is the absolute, uncreated original cause of both the spiritual and material worlds. Atheistic theories fail because they cannot perceive that inert matter operates only under the direction of the supreme spirit. While nature acts as the immediate cause of the cosmic manifestation, the Lord, expanding as Mahā-Viṣṇu, is the ultimate, remote cause orchestrating the entire display. When a conditioned soul fully realizes this profound truth—that Vāsudeva is the original cause of all causes—they transcend material ignorance and happily engage their life in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord.
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