God Is The Supreme Cause - The Original Cause of All Causes
Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the natural curiosity of human life should lead one to inquire into the ultimate origin of everything. While scientists and philosophers search for the fundamental building blocks of the universe, the Vedic literatures provide the conclusive answer: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original, supreme cause of all causes.
The Cause of All Causes
Every effect in this world has a cause, which in turn has another cause. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that if we trace this chain of causality to its absolute origin, we will find the Supreme Person, upon whom the entirety of existence rests.
- Akrura offered his prayers as follows, "My dear Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because You are the supreme cause of all causes and the original inexhaustible personality, Narayana."
- Everything rests on the Lord, just like pearls strung together on a thread. The thread is the principal Brahman. He is the supreme cause, the Supreme Lord upon whom everything rests.
- As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita, mamaivamsah: both the living entity and the Supreme Lord are unborn, but it has to be understood that the supreme cause of the part and parcel is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- It is stated in Bhagavad-gita that those who are advocates of knowledge alone, without any religious ritualistic processes, advance in knowledge after many, many lifetimes of speculation and thus come to the conclusion that Vasudeva is the supreme cause of everything.
The Cause and the Effect
To understand the relationship between God and the material world, one must understand the relationship between cause and effect. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that while the Lord and His material creation are intimately connected, the Lord always remains the superior, underlying cause.
- The word param means "the supreme cause," and aparam means "the effect." The supreme cause is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the effect is material nature.
- The material nature is ever existing, and the Lord is the supreme cause for both the subtle and gross manifestations of this material world.
- If the material world were not a part of His body, the Supreme Lord, the supreme cause, would be incomplete.
- Because the Lord is differently situated from everything material, He is the Supreme Brahman, the supreme cause, the supreme controller.
The Illusion of Immediate Causes
Materialistic science excels at studying the immediate mechanisms of nature but completely misses the director behind them. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that those who are absorbed in the illusion of material energy are unable to see the remote, supreme cause of the cosmos.
- Because the Lord is perfect, everything works as if He were directly supervising and taking part in it. Atheistic men, however, being covered by the three modes of material nature, cannot see Narayana to be the supreme cause behind all activities.
- They (persons with the vision of differentiation) are influenced by the immediate cause, which they are busy counteracting, because they have no knowledge of the remote, supreme cause, the Personality of Godhead.
- The Lord has employed His wonderful material energy in manifesting many, many wonderful distractions in the material world, and the conditioned souls, illusioned by the same energy, are thus unable to know the supreme cause.
- Different people have different theories regarding the supreme cause, but none of them are genuine. The only supreme cause is Visnu, and the intervening impediment is the illusory energy of the Lord.
Realization Through Devotion
The absolute truth cannot be forced into the tiny human brain through intellectual gymnastics. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that understanding the supreme cause requires the abandonment of mental speculation and the adoption of humble devotional service.
- One should not try to understand the supreme cause by argument or reasoning.
- One can know the supreme cause, the Personality of Godhead, by the causeless mercy of the Lord, which is bestowed upon the Lord's pure devotees like Brahma and those in his disciplic succession.
- Impersonalist Mayavadis always try to defy Vaisnavas because Vaisnavas accept the Supreme Personality as the supreme cause.
- Vaisnavas accept the Supreme Personality as the supreme cause and want to serve Him, talk with Him and see Him, just as the Lord is also eager to see His devotees and talk, eat and dance with them. These personal exchanges of love do not appeal to the Mayavadi sannyasis.
Conclusion
A person who sees a complex machine working may marvel at its gears and pulleys, but a truly intelligent person knows there is an engineer behind its design. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that similarly, atheists and materialistic scientists become captivated by the immediate causes and effects within the material universe, remaining utterly blind to the remote, supreme cause. The entire cosmic manifestation is simply the effect (aparam) generated by the supreme cause (param), the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because the Lord's potencies are perfect, nature appears to work automatically, tricking the foolish into atheistic conclusions. However, pure devotees reject mental speculation and impersonalism, recognizing Lord Kṛṣṇa as the original cause of all causes (sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam). By serving Him with love and devotion, they attract His causeless mercy, which is the only true way to understand the supreme cause of all existence.
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