Nature of God - Understanding the Absolute Truth
The search for the Absolute Truth is the defining purpose of the human form of life. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that to understand the true nature of God, one must abandon mundane mental speculation and instead embrace the authorized descriptions provided by the Vedic literatures and realized pure devotees.
The Material and Spiritual Natures
The Supreme Lord is the energetic source of all existence. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that God possesses two distinct energies—the inferior material nature and the superior spiritual nature—and by understanding our own spiritual identity, we can begin to comprehend the nature of the Supreme.
- God has got two nature. One is called material nature and the other is called spiritual nature. So this cosmic manifestation which we experience is combination of material nature and spiritual nature. The material nature is called inferior nature.
- The living entity, as will be explained in the Seventh Chapter (of Bhagavad Gita), is one in nature with the Supreme Lord, distinguished from matter, which is another nature-called inferior-of the Lord.
- If one can understand the position of the living entity as a separated portion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by studying the nature of the living entity one can understand the nature of the Supreme Godhead, since the living entity is a fragmental sample of the Godhead.
- Mad-bhavam refers to the supreme nature of the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha - eternal, full of knowledge and bliss.
The Failure of Mental Speculation
The personal form and qualities of the Supreme Lord cannot be captured by the blunt instruments of the material mind. Śrīla Prabhupāda observes that mundane philosophers and nondevotees are fundamentally disqualified from understanding the esoteric and personal nature of the Absolute Truth.
- Nondevotees, because of their meager knowledge and speculative habits, cannot understand the real nature of the Lord.
- In the Mayavada school of philosophy, discussions on pure knowledge can throw some light on the real nature of the Absolute Truth, but they are unable to fully reveal the esoteric and personal aspects of the Supreme Absolute Being.
- It is very difficult for a person who is too materially affected to understand the personal nature of the Supreme Absolute Truth.
- Nondevotees who are engaged in Vedanta and speculation on Vedic literature without any tinge of true Krsna consciousness are also less intelligent, and for them it is not possible to understand God's personal nature.
Revelation Through Devotion
God reveals Himself only to those who serve Him with love. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that while speculators may guess at the nature of God for millions of years without success, a sincere devotee quickly realizes the Lord's supreme nature through the purifying process of bhakti-yoga.
- The demigods said: Actually, only a person who has a little taste for the service of Your lotus feet can understand Your transcendental nature or form and qualities. Others may go on speculating for millions of years.
- The demigods said: Our dear Lord, the way of understanding is not to study Your absolute nature, form and activities by mental speculation. One must engage himself in devotional service; then one can understand Your absolute nature.
- Pure goodness is transcendental; in purified goodness one can understand the real nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Those who are factually engaged in the loving service of the Lord have attained the ultimate goal of life, and for them there is no need of mental speculation to find out the true nature of God or His activities.
The Absolute Nature of the Lord's Form
The presence of the Supreme Lord is not limited by material calculations. The Vedic scriptures confirm that the Lord's absolute nature allows Him to be personally present in His name, His pastimes, and His deity form, making Him fully accessible to His devotees.
- The form of the Lord, though represented by material qualities such as stone, wood or oil paint, is not actually material. That is the absolute nature of the Supreme Lord.
- No one has to discover the nature of the Lord. It is already spoken by the Lord Himself in the Bhagavad-gita especially and in all other Vedic literatures generally. We have simply to accept them in toto and abide by the orders of the Lord.
- One who does not understand the real nature of the Lord as the eternal, blissful, all-knowing Personality of Godhead, is certainly fool number one. Ignorance can be removed by gradual acceptance of the principles of Krsna consciousness.
- By the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, even a foolish child can fully describe the real nature of Lord Krsna, the enjoyer of the pastimes of Vraja, according to the vision of the revealed scriptures.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Śrīla Prabhupāda clearly establishes that the nature of God cannot be deciphered through the flawed tools of material science or the mental gymnastics of impersonalist philosophers. The Supreme Lord exists eternally in His sac-cid-ānanda form—full of knowledge, bliss, and supreme personality. While the living entities share this superior spiritual nature as fragmental parts of the complete whole, they can never fully comprehend the magnitude of the Lord's absolute nature through mere academic study. It is only when the conditioned soul abandons speculative habits and submissively engages in unalloyed devotional service that the true nature of God is revealed. By the grace of the Lord and the disciplic succession, a sincere devotee realizes that the Absolute Truth is not a formless void, but the supremely attractive Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, whose absolute nature allows Him to be personally present and accessible to those who worship Him with love.
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 Nature Of God. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.