God Is Unborn - The Beginningless Cause of All Causes
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that one of the defining characteristics of the Absolute Truth is that He is aja, or unborn. In the material world, every entity and object has a specific date of creation or birth, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead exists eternally. Although the Lord sometimes appears in this world as an incarnation, His appearance is completely transcendental and is never subjected to the material laws of nature.
The Meaning of Unborn
The concept of being unborn is difficult for the conditioned soul to grasp because everything within our material experience has a beginning and an end. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that the Supreme Lord is completely different from the material creation; He is the original, beginningless cause of all causes.
- Understanding of God, or Krsna, is that one should be firmly convinced that God is never born, nor He is caused by anything. He is the cause of all causes. But He is not caused by anything. This is the difference.
- God is unborn; this indicates that He is different from this material world because in the material world we have no experience that anyone is unborn. Everyone is born. Not only everyone, everything is born.
- The entire cosmic manifestation is the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, who has millions of names and unlimited potencies. He is self-effulgent, unborn and changeless. He is the beginning of everything but He has no beginning.
- There is a nice statement in the Visnu Purana, where it is said, "let me always remember the Lord, who is unborn and eternal."
The Divine Appearance
If the Lord is never born, how does He appear as the son of Devakī and Vasudeva? Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord’s descent is not a forced material birth dictated by karma, but a transcendental pastime enacted through His own spiritual potency.
- Although the Lord is unborn (aja) and His body never undergoes material changes, He nevertheless appears as an incarnation, maintaining Himself always in the transcendental stage - suddha-sattva.
- The Supreme Lord is unborn, there is no cessation to His appearance in different forms as incarnations like Lord Krsna and Lord Rama. Since His incarnations are eternal, the various activities performed by these incarnations are also eternal.
- O brahmanas, do not think this to be especially wonderful in the activities of the mysterious and infallible Personality of Godhead. By His own transcendental energy, He maintains and annihilates all material things, although He Himself is unborn.
- Ajo 'pi sann avyayatma bhutanam isvaro 'pi san. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, the Lord is aja, unborn, and He is the supreme controller of everything. Nonetheless, He appeared as the child of Devaki.
The Illusion of the Conditioned Souls
Because the Lord performs activities that resemble those of ordinary humans, foolish people mistake Him for a mundane historical figure. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that only those covered by the illusory energy fail to recognize the unborn, eternal nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- A bewildered human being is described as mudha, or grossly ignorant, because he is unable to understand the transcendental form of the Lord as being unborn and unchangeable.
- Kuntidevi knows that Krsna is unborn. Krsna does not take birth, but it appears like that to some fools. Therefore they say that Krsna has taken birth.
- As stated in Bhagavad-gita: I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency (yogamaya); and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible.
- The reason is that I reserve the power of not being exposed to the nondevotees by My mystic curtain. The less intelligent fools are unaware of My eternal form, which is never to be vanquished and is unborn.
The Unborn Parts and Parcels
The Vedic literatures declare that not only is God unborn, but the individual spirit souls are also eternal and unborn. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that while both share this spiritual quality, the Supreme Lord remains the infinite maintainer, and the living entity remains the infinitesimal dependent.
- 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.
- Both the Lord and the living entity exist as unborn and inexhaustible personalities. Thus Hiranyakasipu's conclusion that Visnu was dead was wrong.
- Because both the material nature and the Supreme Lord are unborn, it is not possible that they can beget the living entities.
- One may argue that an ordinary living being is eternal and unborn like the Lord and also takes birth in different species of life, and so there is no difference between the Lord and an ordinary living being.
Conclusion
To understand the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one must clearly distinguish between material bodies and the supreme spiritual reality. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, is the absolute, beginningless source of everything. He is eternally aja, or unborn. When the Lord descends to the material world, He is not forced by the laws of karma; rather, He appears by His own sweet will through His internal potency, yogamāyā. Less intelligent men, relying on their imperfect senses, mistake His transcendental pastimes for ordinary material activities. However, pure devotees understand that the Lord is the eternal, unborn father of all living entities. Although the minute jīva souls are also spiritually unborn, they are subordinate parts and parcels. By fully taking shelter of the unborn Supreme Lord, the conditioned soul can awaken from the illusion of material birth and death and return to their eternal, spiritual home.
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 Unborn. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.