Rejecting Manufactured Deities to Surrender to the Absolute Real God
As spiritual ignorance deepens in the modern age, unscrupulous individuals frequently pose as divine incarnations to exploit the innocent. Shattering this deception, Śrīla Prabhupāda systematically establishes the undeniable supremacy and infinite potencies of Kṛṣṇa. By understanding the strict theological criteria defining the Supreme Lord, a sincere seeker avoids spiritual cheating and correctly directs their devotion to the genuine master of the universe.
Exposing Imitation Gods
Society has developed a dangerous fascination with elevating ordinary humans to the status of the Supreme. Warning against this widespread foolishness, Śrīla Prabhupāda observes that cheap mystics and charlatans frequently claim divinity without demonstrating any actual godly power. Accepting these imposters leads human society into a disastrous, godless state.
- India now has become eager to do away with the real God and replace Him with many fake Gods. This is the greatest misfortune for India.
- Inferior people cannot accept the real God, yet they are very eager to accept an imitation God who can simply bluff foolish people. All this is going on in this Age of Kali.
- It has now become fashionable for any rascal or fool to be elected God, and there are many missionaries who have concocted their own gods, giving up their relationship with the real God.
- Whole world, especially at the present moment, it is a great disastrous condition, godless civilization. They won't accept the real God, and they'll create some artificial God and become God, "Everyone is God," like that. No.
The Supreme Controller and Enjoyer
The fundamental difference between God and the living entities is their respective positions as the enjoyer and the enjoyed. While conditioned souls falsely strive to dominate nature, Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that Kṛṣṇa is the absolute puruṣa, and everything else is His subordinate energy. No one is equal to or greater than Him.
- Either man or woman, everyone is prakrti. The real purusa is Krsna.
- Na tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drsyate. These are the informations from Vedas, Upanisads, that He has nothing to do. Yes. That is real God. If God has to work, God has to do something, then what kind of God He is?
- The living entities, that is also prakrti, but he also wants to enjoy. That is called illusion. So in his enjoying temperament he may be called purusa, illusory purusa. Real purusa is Bhagavan. Purusa means bhokta. The bhokta, real bhokta, enjoyer.
The True Power of the Supreme
Unlike self-proclaimed deities whose abilities are limited by the physical body, the true Supreme Lord displays unlimited power from the moment of His appearance. Recounting the extraordinary pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights that God does not acquire His position through meditation or mystic practice. He is fully capable and supreme even as a small infant.
- Krsna, when He was a boy of seven years old, He lifted the Govardhana Hill. That is God. Not that "Here is a man. By mystic power He has become God." No. That God is different God. Real God is always God.
- Nondevotees think that because Krsna says, "I am God," they and everyone else can say the same. But if asked to show their universal form, they cannot do it. That is the difference between a pseudo god and the real God.
- When Krsna was just a small baby the gigantic demoness Putana attempted to kill Him, but when He sucked her breast He pulled out her life. That is the difference between the real Godhead and a God manufactured in the mystic factory.
Seeing the Face of God
Because the Lord's bodily effulgence is incredibly dazzling, less intelligent philosophers often mistake this light for the ultimate reality. To surpass this impersonal conception, Śrīla Prabhupāda instructs that sincere devotees must pray to remove this glaring cover. Only through such devotion can one witness the factual, personal face of the Supreme.
- The form of the Lord as worshiped in the temples is called arca-vigraha or arcavatara, the worshipable form, the Deity incarnation. This facility is offered to neophyte devotees so that they can see the real form of the Lord face to face.
- The Isopanisad mantra is a simple prayer to the Lord to remove the brahmajyoti so that one can see His real face. This brahmajyoti effulgence is described in detail in several mantras of the Mundaka Upanisad.
- The living entity should never be considered the all-powerful Supreme Truth. If he were the Supreme, he would not need to pray to the Lord to remove His dazzling cover so that the living entity could see His real face.
Conclusion
By fiercely defending the absolute nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Vedic scriptures protect humanity from the trap of cheap mysticism. Exposing these charlatans with perfect logic, Śrīla Prabhupāda ensures that sincere seekers can directly approach and surrender to the genuine, omnipotent master of all creation.
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 Real God. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.