God Is The Supreme Eternal - The Chief of All Eternals
Śrīla Prabhupāda frequently quotes the Kaṭha Upaniṣad to establish the exact nature of the Absolute Truth and the living entities. The Vedas declare that God is the supreme eternal being who maintains all other eternal beings. By understanding this precise constitutional relationship, one is naturally guided toward the perfection of spiritual life.
Nityo Nityānāṁ - The Chief Eternal
While we often think of eternity as an abstract concept, the Vedic literature defines it in personal terms. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that among the vast, uncountable number of eternal living entities, there is one chief, supreme eternal who leads and maintains all the rest.
- In the Katha Upanisad it is said, nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the supreme eternal and the supreme living force.
- According to the Vedic version, the Lord is the supreme eternal, the supreme living being.
- In the Vedas the Supreme Lord is called the supreme eternal of all eternals. Both the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entities are eternal. The supreme eternals are the visnu-tattva, or Lord Visnu and His expansions.
- The Lord is the supreme eternal amongst all eternals and the supreme living entity amongst all living entities. He is maintaining all others, as confirmed in the Vedas.
Qualitative Oneness and Quantitative Difference
The impersonalist philosophy often confuses the living entity with God because both share the quality of eternity. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda makes a clear distinction: while we are qualitatively one with God as eternal spirit, we are quantitatively minute and subordinate.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is sanatana, eternal, and the individual living entities are also eternal. The difference is that Krsna, or God, is the supreme eternal, whereas the individual souls are minute, fragmental eternals.
- The living entities are also eternal and are also living forces, but they are very minute in quantity, whereas the Supreme Lord is the supreme living force and the supreme eternal.
- Krsna is the supreme eternal, and we are subordinate eternals. Krsna is the supreme living entity, and we are subordinate living entities.
- Everyone is infinitesimal, and therefore in the Vedas the Supreme Lord is called the supreme eternal amongst all eternals. He is the proprietor of the material and spiritual worlds and the supreme cause of manifestation.
The Unborn Controller vs. The Conditioned Soul
Because the tiny living entities are infinitesimal, they are prone to falling under the influence of the material energy. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that the supreme eternal, conversely, is the master of the material energy and never accepts a temporary, material body.
- In the Srimad-Bhagavatam the personified Vedas pray to God, "O supreme eternal, if the living entities were equal with You and thus all-pervading and all-powerful like You, there would be no possibility of their being controlled by Your external energy, maya."
- "O Supreme Eternal! If the embodied living entities were eternal and all-pervading like You, then they would not be under Your control."
- The supreme eternal never accepts a body of a temporary material nature, whereas the living entities, who are part and parcel of the supreme eternal, are prone to do so.
- Kunti says, kecid ahur ajam jatam: the supreme eternal, the supreme unborn, has now taken His birth. But although Krsna takes birth, His birth is not like ours. That we should know.
Reviving Our Eternal Relationship
When the soul stops identifying with the temporary material body and awakens to its spiritual nature, it immediately seeks its source. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that the perfection of life is to reestablish our joyful, serving relationship with the supreme eternal.
- We are sons also of this supreme eternal, param avyayam. So we are also avyayam. The sons of gold is also gold. But we are in this miserable condition. Why? Because we are bewildered by these material three modes of nature.
- He is full with all opulences, and as such He possesses all riches, all strength, all reputation, all knowledge, all beauty and all renunciation. He is eternally a person and eternally supreme.
- A devotee is simply interested in the supreme eternal, Sri Krsna. The Supreme Lord is the supreme leader of the nityas, the eternal living entities. We are all nityas, eternal, and Krsna guides and plays with us.
- O supreme eternal, please, let my mind be fixed at Your lotus feet so that eternally I may be able to relish the taste of Your transcendental service.
Conclusion
A spark of fire possesses the exact same qualities as the blazing fire itself, yet its power and duration are completely dependent on its connection to the source. Śrīla Prabhupāda uses such profound analogies to explain the relationship between the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Both are eternal and full of consciousness, but Lord Kṛṣṇa is the supreme eternal (nityo nityānāṁ), the infinite maintainer of all existence. The attempt by the minute soul to claim equality with God is a product of material illusion. True liberation begins when the conditioned soul gives up the temporary designations of the material body and recognizes its constitutional position as a subordinate, eternal servant. By fixing the mind on the lotus feet of the supreme eternal, the tiny spark of the soul is protected from the extinguishing winds of māyā and reenters its natural, joyful existence 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 The Supreme Eternal. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.