Understanding and Serving God's Mission
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Supreme Lord never acts without purpose. By studying his instructions, we can understand the specific reasons the Lord and His incarnations descend to the material world, how His pure devotees assist Him, and why dedicating our lives to this divine mission is the highest perfection.
The Purpose of Divine Descent
The material world is a place of suffering, but Kṛṣṇa does not abandon the conditioned souls. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally descends to execute His mission of saving the righteous, destroying the miscreants, and re-establishing the principles of true religion.
- As declared in Bhagavad-gita, the Lord appears in the mortal world to execute His much-needed mission of killing the miscreants and giving protection to the suffering faithful.
- A Vaisnava comes, God also comes and God's son or very confidential devotee also comes - their only mission is how to save these sinful men who are suffering so much. That is their mission.
- He (God) is the all-powerful, omnipresent Personality of Godhead, and by His supreme will He can not only create, maintain and annihilate the whole cosmic manifestation but also descend as an ordinary human being to execute the highest mission.
- It so appeared that Arjuna and the Lord were engaged in the Battle of Kuruksetra as the other party was also engaged, but factually the Lord was executing His mission of incarnation and association with His eternal friend Arjuna.
The Specific Missions of Incarnations
Whenever the Lord appears, He does so in a specific form tailored to a specific need. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that every avatāra (incarnation) of Godhead, such as Lord Buddha or Lord Rāmacandra, has a unique mission documented in the Vedic scriptures.
- Avatara means "one who descends." All the incarnations of the Lord, including the Lord Himself, descend on the different planets of the material world as also in different species of life to fulfill particular missions.
- Each and every avatara, or incarnation of the Lord, has a particular mission, and they are all described in the revealed scriptures.
- Buddha appeared to stop this nonsense (animal sacrifice) and to establish the Vedic principles of nonviolence. Therefore each and every avatara, or incarnation of God, has a particular mission, and they are all described in the revealed scriptures.
- Lord Ramacandra exemplifies an incarnation of Godhead who descends for the mission of paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam (Bg. 4.8) - protecting the devotees and destroying the miscreants.
The Associates Who Execute the Mission
The Supreme Lord is never alone; He is always surrounded by His loving devotees. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord's eternal associates (nitya-siddhas) often descend alongside Him, or act as empowered preachers, specifically to assist in propagating His mission all over the world.
- Amongst the devotees there are several divisions, mainly nitya-siddhas and sadhana-siddhas. The nitya-siddhas never fall down to the region of the material atmosphere, even though they sometimes come onto the material plane to execute the Lord's mission.
- Child Pariksit is described here as spotlessly white because he is an unalloyed devotee of the Lord. Such unalloyed devotees of the Lord appear on the earth just to execute the mission of the Lord.
- Anyone, even up to date, who is trying to help the propagation of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission, preach this sankirtana movement all over the world, he is also associate of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They are not ordinary human being.
- Anyone preaching the mission of the Lord in the line of the Brahma-sampradaya is always dear to the Lord, and the Lord, being satisfied with such a preacher of the authorized bhakti cult, shakes hands with him in great satisfaction.
The Highest Perfection of Life
To be successful in spiritual life, one must not invent their own religious ideas. Śrīla Prabhupāda insists that the highest perfection is to understand Kṛṣṇa's desires from authorized sources and actively dedicate one's body, words, and wealth to serving that divine mission.
- If you want to be servant of God, you must take instruction from God. That is wanted. You cannot manufacture idea that "God wants this." So first of all try to understand what is God's mission.
- One should adjust the activities of life in pace with the mission of the Lord, and by doing this one is sure to return back home, back to Godhead. This is the highest perfection of life.
- One's own body and the bodies of his friends and relatives, as well as one's own riches and everything else one has, should be engaged for the benefit of others. This is the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
- His (King Ambarisa's) legs in going to places of pilgrimage and the temple of God, his head in offering obeisances unto God and his desires in executing the mission of God. All these transcendental activities are quite befitting a pure devotee.
Conclusion
Śrīla Prabhupāda establishes that God's mission in the material world is one of supreme compassion. While the Lord is completely self-satisfied in the spiritual sky, He and His various avatāras purposefully descend to protect His faithful devotees, annihilate the miscreants, and re-establish forgotten religious principles. Whether it is Lord Buddha teaching non-violence or Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu distributing the holy names, each descent is a calculated execution of the Lord's will to save the suffering conditioned souls. The eternal associates of the Lord, out of their own unalloyed devotion, join Him in this great endeavor. For the aspiring devotee, the path is clear: one must stop manufacturing independent plans for happiness and instead wholeheartedly dedicate one's life, energy, and resources to understanding and serving the mission of Kṛṣṇa. Doing so is the highest perfection of life, guaranteeing one a swift return back home, back to 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 God's Mission. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.