God on Planet Earth - The Divine Appearance of the Supreme Lord
Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not an aloof creator who abandons His creation. Out of His supreme compassion, the Lord repeatedly descends to the material universes, including this very planet earth. By studying the authorized Vedic literatures, we can understand the exact purpose of the Lord's appearance, the transcendental nature of His pastimes, and how He miraculously delivers the conditioned souls from the clutches of material existence.
The Mission of His Descent
The primary reason for the Lord's appearance on earth is to reestablish the balance of the universe. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord descends to protect the pious devotees, annihilate the disruptive demons, and invite the conditioned souls back to the spiritual world.
- As soon as there is some discrepancy in the execution of duties, the Lord appears on earth, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (4.7): yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata.
- Every reformer or every great religious leader or God Himself, He comes on this earth to reclaim these conditioned soul to back to Godhead, back to the kingdom of Godhead. That is the whole idea of incarnation.
- Since the Lord is absolute, everything done by Him is good for everyone. But when He descends on earth, He acts for the protection of the devotees and for the annihilation of the impious nondevotees.
- The Lord, being thus unapproachable by any material assets, out of unbounded and causeless mercy descends on the earth as He is in order to show His special mercy upon His unalloyed devotees and to diminish the upsurges of the demoniac persons.
Accompanied by Eternal Associates
When a king visits a city, he arrives with his royal retinue. Similarly, when the Supreme Lord descends to this planet, He is never alone. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how the Lord is accompanied by His eternal spiritual associates and various demigods who assist in His divine mission.
- The Lord appears on the earth or any other mortal planet along with His associates who live with Him eternally.
- The Lord and His eternal associates appeared on earth to help the administrative demigods in eradicating the burden of the world. He called for some of the confidential demigods to appear in the Yadu family and serve Him in His great mission.
- For as long as the Lord moves on earth to diminish its burden by His own potency in the form of time, all of you demigods should appear through plenary portions as sons and grandsons in the family of the Yadus.
- When an incarnation of Godhead descends on this planet, demigods like the sun-god, the moon-god or the King of heaven, Indra, all join Him. Consequently the incarnation is able to act for the departmental demigods to keep the planetary systems in order.
Delivering the Planet Earth
The Vedic histories document extraordinary events where the Lord personally intervened to save the earth itself. Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights the famous pastime of Lord Varāha, the boar incarnation, who fought a great demon to rescue the planet from the depths of the cosmic ocean.
- Brahma said: When the unlimitedly powerful Lord assumed the form of a boar as a pastime, just to lift the planet earth, which was drowned in the great ocean of the universe, Garbhodaka, the first demon appeared, and the Lord pierced him with His tusk.
- When the Lord was coming out of the water, taking the earth in His arms to deliver it, the demon derided Him with insulting words, but the Lord did not care because He was very conscious of His duty.
- Appearing as Nrsimhadeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Hari, killed Hiranyakasipu. When the Lord delivered the planet earth, which had fallen in the Garbhodaka Ocean, Hiranyaksa tried to hinder Him, then the Lord, as Varaha, killed Hiranyaksa.
Overcoming the Misconceptions of Fools
Because the Lord often accepts a mother and father when He appears, mundane thinkers mistakenly assume He has taken a material body. Śrīla Prabhupāda strongly refutes this illusion, asserting that the Lord's presence on earth is always fully transcendental.
- Those with a poor fund of knowledge cannot accept the idea that the Lord appears in person on the face of the earth. Because they are not conversant with the intricacies of the Lord's transcendental position.
- Vidura is clearing the misconception that when the Lord either descends on the earth in His incarnation or appears Himself with all His potencies, He too is subjected to the influence of maya, just like an ordinary living entity.
- When God comes, appears on this planet, He appears just like ordinary man. He is born, and He accepts His devotee as father. These are the intricate questions there.
- Bhagavad-gita is to be accepted as a revealed scripture spoken by the Absolute Truth Himself when He descended to this planet.
Conclusion
The supreme kindness of the Personality of Godhead is demonstrated by His willingness to leave the spiritual sky and appear on this mortal planet earth. Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly emphasizes that the Lord's descent is never a product of material obligation or karma. He comes of His own sweet will, accompanied by His eternal associates and empowered demigods, to restore the principles of dharma and favor His devotees. Whether He is lifting the entire planet as Lord Varāha or speaking the supreme philosophy of the Bhagavad-gītā as Lord Kṛṣṇa, His activities are always flawlessly spiritual. Conditioned souls with a poor fund of knowledge may mistake His appearance for that of an ordinary human, but those who submissively hear from the authorized scriptures can recognize His transcendental position. By appreciating the Lord's divine mission on earth, a sincere devotee quickly becomes eligible to leave this temporary planet and return to the eternal kingdom of God.
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 on Planet Earth. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.