God Within the Universe - The Active Principle of the Cosmos
It is a common mistake for mundane thinkers to assume that if God created the universe, He must now be standing outside of it, watching it operate like a wound-up clock. Śrīla Prabhupāda strictly refutes this deistic view through the Vedic conclusion. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is intimately involved with His creation. While He remains eternally situated in His spiritual abode, He simultaneously expands Himself to enter within the universe. By understanding how God is present within the cosmos, within the atom, and within the historical timeline as an incarnation, a sincere soul realizes that the Lord is the true active principle of all existence.
Entering the Universe
To facilitate the material creation, the Supreme Lord expands into three specific forms known as the puruṣa-avatāras. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that after the universes are generated from the pores of Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the Lord then personally enters into each and every universe to maintain it.
- The second visnu-tattva within the universe is Garbhodakasayi Visnu, the collective Supersoul of all living entities. Beyond these two is Karanodakasayi Visnu, who lies in the Causal Ocean. He is the creator of all universes.
- He is lying within the half of the universe which is full with the water of His body.
- During the creation the Lord also exists as He is in the Vaikunthas, and He also exists as the Supersoul within the material universes. This is confirmed in the Brahma-samhita.
- Within the universe the Lord is situated in different spiritual manifestations. These are situated on seven islands in nine sections. Thus Their pastimes are going on.
Within Every Atom
The Lord's all-pervasive nature is not merely a poetic concept; it is a literal reality. The Brahma-saṁhitā confirms that the Lord expands even further as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, entering into the heart of every living entity and into the core of every single atom.
- Andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham. The Lord resides within this universe, He resides within the hearts of all living entities, and He resides even within the atom.
- Every universe is full of atoms, and the Lord is not only within the universe but also within the atoms. Thus within every atom the Supreme Lord exists in His Visnu feature as Paramatma, but all the visnu-tattvas emanate from Krsna.
- He enters all the elements, including every atom of matter, as Ksirodakasayi Visnu. Such manifestations of cosmic creation are innumerable, both in the universes and in the individual atoms.
- The Brahma-samhita says, andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham: by virtue of His all-pervasive nature, the Supreme Lord is within the universe as well as within all elements of the universe.
The Active Principle of the Cosmos
Material scientists study the laws of nature but fail to recognize the supreme intelligence directing them. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that without the presence of the Lord within the universe, no physical or chemical changes could occur.
- Indeed, it is due to the presence of the living entity that the body exists and bodily changes take place. Similarly, it is because the Supreme Lord is within this universe that the changes dictated by the material laws occur.
- Andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham: the Lord is within the universe and within the atom by His different energies. This is the real vision of the Supreme Lord for the intelligent man.
- God's name, God's form, God's quality, God's pastimes, activities, are not understandable by our blunt material senses. We cannot see God with these eyes. God is present everywhere. God is present within your heart, God is present within this universe.
- He is within the universe and within our heart, and He is even within the atom. Why are we saying that we cannot see Him? God says, Try to see Me in this way, but if you are too dull, then try to see Me another way.
Descending into the Universe
Beyond His unmanifested presence as the Supersoul, the Lord also descends visibly into the universe in various incarnations. Whether appearing as a human being or a gigantic boar, He comes specifically to protect His devotees and reestablish spiritual principles.
- When the Lord appears in this universe in the form of a human being, He has two purposes, as stated in Bhagavad-gita, paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam: to destroy the demons and protect the devotees.
- When Lord Krsna was within this universe, He seemed to be a human being because He appeared in a manner just suitable for His pastimes in the mortal world.
- The Lord's appearance as a child in the house of Devaki takes place continuously in one universe after another. Therefore, the devotee is first transferred to that particular universe where the pastimes of the Lord are current.
- My Lord, as the original boar within this universe, You fought and killed the great demon Hiranyaksa. Then You lifted me from the Garbhodaka Ocean on the end of Your tusk, exactly as a sporting elephant plucks a lotus flower from the water.
Conclusion
A true understanding of the cosmic manifestation reveals that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the active, sustaining principle behind all existence. Śrīla Prabhupāda systematically explains that the Lord creates the multitude of universes and then mercifully enters within each one as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. But His pervasiveness does not stop there; as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, He enters the heart of every living entity and the core of every atom (aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham). Just as a body cannot function without a soul, the universe cannot operate its complex material laws without the Lord situated within it. Furthermore, the Lord continually descends into the universe in His various avatāras to protect the pious, annihilate the miscreants, and attract the conditioned souls through His blissful pastimes. By recognizing the Lord's presence within the universe, within the atom, and within our own hearts, a sincere devotee develops a perfect, spiritual vision of reality and constantly feels the sheltering embrace of the Supreme Lord.
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