The Supreme Controller of All - That Is God
In the modern age, many people claim to be God, and the general public, lacking philosophical understanding, is easily cheated. To counteract this, Śrīla Prabhupāda provides a highly scientific and logical definition of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. God is the supreme controller, the original cause of all causes, and the eternal maintainer of all living entities, possessing inconceivable potencies that no ordinary being can ever imitate.
The Uncontrolled Controller
In the material world, everyone exercises some level of control over their family or business, but they are simultaneously controlled by a higher authority, such as their boss or the laws of nature. Śrīla Prabhupāda gives a very simple definition of the Supreme Lord: He is the ultimate controller of everything, but He Himself is never controlled by anyone.
- God means He is controller only, but He is not controlled. So if you find out somebody that He is not controlled but He is controller only, that is God. Simple definition of God.
- Isvara means controller. God means controller. So He is controlling you. It is material but it is not under your control. You are under its control. So if anything is controlling you, that is God.
- Supreme God, the supreme controller, is not controlled by anyone. I am controlling, but I am being controlled by somebody else. That is God. So therefore we have to admit . . . we must admit that we are not free. We are controlled.
- Like you are controller in your family, but you are controlled in the office. Similarly, everyone is dualistic. He's controller and controlled. But if you find somebody that He's only controller, not controlled, that is God.
The Eternal, Inconceivable Potency
God does not become God through meditation or mystic yoga; He is eternally God in all circumstances. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord possesses inconceivable potencies, performing miraculous feats—such as creating innumerable universes with His breath or lifting a mountain as a child—that completely defy material calculations.
- From the very beginning up to the time of His departure from this world, He is God. That is God. God is not manufactured. God is always God. Neither God falls down.
- While He was playing, He was God, and when He was fighting in the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, He is God. That is God. Not that sometimes not God, sometimes God. That is not God. God is always God, in any circumstance. That is God.
- By law of gravitation, such a big mountain, it cannot stay in one man's finger. That is our calculation. But Krsna did it. That means He counteracted the law of gravitation. That is God.
- The conception of God, greater than the greatest, and smaller than the smallest. That is God. He can produce these big, big universes simply by breathing, and again - we do not know how many atoms are there in each universe - He can enter in each atom.
The Supreme Father and Maintainer
Although the living entities are eternal persons, they are subordinate to the chief eternal person, Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that God is the original, independent father of everyone, and He effortlessly provides the economic necessities and varieties of enjoyment for all trillions of living entities across the universes.
- God is everyone's father, but He is without father. That is God. So long one has got father, he is not God.
- The cat is person. Dog is person, and the insect is person. The trees are person. Everyone is person. And there is another person. That is God, Krsna. That one person is maintaining all these varieties of millions and trillions of persons.
- So many different varieties of living entities, and they have got different demands, different necessities - everything is supplied by Visnu. Eko yo bahunam vidadhati kaman. That is God.
- We have no practical economic problem. God is maintaining everyone. The production which is being made all over the world, that is sufficient to provide all the population of the world. That is God's arrangement.
Complete and Without Equal
Because God is the supreme cause of all causes, there is absolutely no one who can be considered equal to Him or greater than Him. Śrīla Prabhupāda cites Vedic authorities to confirm that God is completely self-satisfied (ātma-tṛpta); He lacks nothing and therefore has no mandatory work or duties to perform.
- In the Bhagavad-gita Arjuna says, asamaurdhva. Asama: "There is no equal to you, asama, and urdhva, nobody is greater than You." That is God. Supreme means who has no equal, neither anyone is greater than. Everyone is under. That is called asama urdhva.
- In the Svetasvatara Upanisad (6.8) it is said, na tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drsyate: "No one is found to be equal to Him or greater than Him." That is the definition of God.
- Supreme Lord is the cause of all causes, but He is not caused by anyone. That is His supremacy. He is described in the Vedic, svarat, "self-evident." That is God.
- We want so many things. But He has no want. He's atma-trpta, fully complete. Thus He has nothing to do. Na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate. This is description of God. He has nothing to do.
Conclusion
To understand the absolute nature of the Supreme Lord, one must reject all speculative ideas and manufactured deities. Śrīla Prabhupāda unequivocally defines God as the uncaused cause, the ultimate father, and the supreme controller who directs the cosmos without ever being subjected to its laws. While every living entity possesses minute eternal qualities, Kṛṣṇa is the chief eternal, flawlessly maintaining the entire creation. He is completely self-satisfied, possessing infinite opulence, beauty, and strength, yet simultaneously remains approachable through pure devotion. By recognizing that no one can ever be equal to or greater than Him, a sincere soul Abandons all false authorities and surrenders exclusively to the true Supreme Personality of Godhead.
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 That Is God. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.