Understanding the Scope of God's Responsibilities
The relationship between the Supreme Lord and the concept of responsibility reveals the intricate balance between His absolute detachment and His supreme love. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that while God is never responsible for the material suffering or karmic bondage of the rebellious conditioned souls, He gladly accepts voluntary responsibilities to protect His surrendered devotees and to perfectly execute His transcendental pastimes.
The Unattached Controller
Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the source of all material and spiritual worlds, He remains completely aloof from the karmic entanglement of the living beings. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that while the Lord provides the cosmic facility for the conditioned souls to act out their desires, He is never responsible for the happiness or distress they experience as a result of their choices.
- Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate doer of everything, in His original transcendental existence He is not responsible for the happiness and distress, or bondage and liberation, of the conditioned souls.
- Certainly He (Lord) is indirectly responsible for the creation and maintenance of this material world, but He is never responsible for the different conditions of the living entities.
- The Lord gives proper facility, but He is never responsible for the past and present activities of the created beings.
- The sufferings of humanity are not to be equated with the pastimes of the Supreme Being, nor is the Supreme Being responsible for them. The Lord is never responsible for anyone's vices or virtues.
The Free Will of the Living Entity
The miseries of material life are strictly the product of the living entity's misuse of independence. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that if we rebel against the Lord's instructions, we must take full responsibility for our gradual degradation; however, if we surrender and act according to His order, the Supreme Lord assumes all responsibility for our well-being.
- If you act according to the order of God, then He's responsible. And if you act against the will of God, then you are responsible.
- In the beginning you may come in this material world as Brahma, and gradually, by your propensities, you may glide down to become the insect of stool. That responsibility is yours, ours. That is not God's responsibility.
- The Lord only gives them (living entities) the proper facilities for such activities and the regulations of the modes of nature, but He is never responsible for their past and present activities.
Voluntary Responsibilities in Transcendental Pastimes
The Supreme Lord is entirely self-sufficient, meaning He is not forced to work or assume duties under the laws of nature. Yet, Śrīla Prabhupāda beautifully notes that out of His causeless love, Kṛṣṇa voluntarily accepts various responsibilities in His līlā (pastimes) to exchange sweet, intimate mellows with His pure devotees.
- The responsibility of the Lord is also unique. The Lord has no responsibility because all His work is done by His different appointed energies. But still He accepts voluntary responsibilities in displaying different roles in His transcendental pastimes.
- He (Krsna) displayed full responsibility in every action of His different transcendental pastimes.
- As a boy, He (Krsna) was playing the part of a cowboy. As the son of Nanda Maharaja, He discharged responsibility perfectly.
Taking Responsibility for His Devotees
When the Lord assumes a role, He fulfills it with unparalleled perfection. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how Lord Kṛṣṇa perfectly executed His duties as a chivalrous kṣatriya husband to His sixteen thousand queens, and how He mercifully takes the burden of responsibility when His intimate devotees commit accidental offenses.
- Lord Sri Krsna discharged such responsibility fully because although He had more than sixteen thousand wives, in each and every case He fought like a chivalrous ksatriya and thus secured a wife.
- The Lord is so kind to His devotees that He took all the responsibility for the doormen's offense and requested the sages to give them facilities to return to Vaikuntha as soon as possible.
- The first four of these forms (Maha-sankarsana, Karanodakasayi, Garbhodakasayi and Ksirodakasayi) are responsible for the cosmic manifestations, whereas Sesa is responsible for personal service to the Lord.
Conclusion
A proper understanding of the Supreme Lord's responsibilities resolves the dilemma of why suffering exists in the world. As the neutral observer and provider, the Lord allows the conditioned souls the freedom to fulfill their material desires; thus, the souls themselves are entirely responsible for their own karma and resulting miseries. The Lord's true responsibilities are not mandated by the laws of nature, but are voluntarily and joyfully embraced within His spiritual pastimes. By acting as the perfect son, friend, and husband, Kṛṣṇa displays the supreme standard of duty. Ultimately, the easiest way to become free from the crushing responsibilities of material life is to completely surrender to the will of God, for when a soul dedicates its life to serving Kṛṣṇa, the Lord personally takes full responsibility for that soul's eternal deliverance and protection.
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 Responsibilities. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.