“The Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth very soon along with His supreme powerful potencies, and as long as He remains on the earth planet to execute His mission of annihilating the demons and establishing the devotees, the demigods should also remain there to assist Him.” (Message of Lord Vishnu to Lord Brahma and the demigods, Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 1)

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“You spend all this time denouncing the Mayavadis. This is of particular emphasis within the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, but you will find subtler hints from a wide range of teachers who are within the bhakti tradition. They particularly take issue with this focus on nirakara, nirvana, and nirguna. They think people are too much after ending things, for finishing an existence altogether, without acknowledging the time factor and how the individual, as spirit soul, has a propensity for activity.

“I will not get into the details about the ‘impersonalism versus personalism’ debate at the moment. What concerns me is the added confusion in using the names of Vishnu and Krishna interchangeably. You are trying to teach people that there is only one God, a single deity, who stands tallest. He is Supreme. All other worshipable figures are like subordinates. Loyal, dedicated, and dutiful followers, and we love them for it, but they are still not the top. Okay, Lord Shiva has his special category, where he is almost like Vishnu, but not quite. He is not really with the other devas, either.

“One day you are speaking of the glories of Vishnu. You use His standing to describe the universe, which is like His body. We are like sparks from the original fire, inhabiting different sections of the vast expanse. One day we are in one part of the body, and another day we are in a different part. These days are like lifetimes, wherein we change forms, but retain a singular identity.

“At another time, you are speaking of the glories of Krishna. Then you are worshiping Narasimha. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is supposedly non-different from Krishna. Just who exactly are you worshiping? Are you not confusing people with these different objects of worship? Will they not feel entitled to elevate their own object of worship to the highest status? The person for whom they hold the highest affection – will they not want to make them God? Why are they shut out, while only certain personalities are eligible? Do you see what I am saying?”

एक-देश-स्थितस्याग्नेर्
ज्योत्स्ना विस्तारिणी यथा
परस्य ब्रह्मणः शक्तिस्
तथेदम् अखिलं जगत्

eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner
jyotsnā vistāriṇī yathā
parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktis
tathedam akhilaṁ jagat

“Everything that is manifested within this cosmic world is but the energy of the Supreme Lord. As fire emanating from one place diffuses its illumination and heat all around, so the Lord, although situated in one place in the spiritual world, manifests His different energies everywhere. Indeed, the whole cosmic creation is composed of different manifestations of His energy.” (Vishnu Purana, 1.22.52)

In mathematics there is something known as the transitive property. We take one term and say that it is equal to the second term. We also say that the second term is equal to the third term. By rule, this means that the first term is also equal to the third term. The terms are interchangeable in their use. One person refers to a concept by the first term. Another person uses the third term in their description. Both people are talking about the same thing, though the language might be different.

Another way to illustrate the concept is to consider the following story. In an office environment, one of the longstanding members of the programming team is mentoring a junior member, who happened to join only recently. The senior member is doing a code-review for the latest software patch that needs to be released.

In explaining their methodology, the junior member happens to mention their use of the “greater than or less than” operator. This was used in a query against a database. The senior member is perplexed. In all their years, they have never heard of such an operator. They demand an explanation. Just what exactly is the junior member talking about.

The junior member then points to the relevant section in the code.

“See! There it is. That is the ‘greater than or less than’ operator.”

The senior member looks at it and immediately identifies the operator.

“No, that is called ‘not equals.’ Why are you calling it ‘greater than or less than’?”

The junior member pauses for a moment. They ask the senior member to look again.

“Try to divide the operator in half. Then look at each half. One part is ‘greater than’. The other part is ‘less than’. That is what ‘not equals’ means, if you think about it.”

The same principle applies to the appearances of the Supreme Personality of Godhead within the manifest realm. These appearances are divine in nature, divyam. The work is also divine; it is not karma in the typical sense. The human population is blessed through such appearances. They can gain a better understanding of what nirguna means through the visual of what is known as the saguna form.

जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यम्
एवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः
त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर् जन्म
नैति माम् एति सो ऽर्जुन

janma karma ca me divyam
evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma
naiti mām eti so ‘rjuna

“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.9)

At the same time, this does not mean that anything and everything somehow turns divine in nature. The appearances are specifically enumerated. There is a list. There are different categories of expansions. For instance, the three younger brothers of Shri Rama are like partial expansions of Vishnu, while Rama is a full expansion. They all appear within the same family, as sons to the illustrious king named Dasharatha.

Bhagavata Purana describes how Vishnu promises to appear within the manifest realm as Shri Krishna. There is activity which precedes Krishna’s appearance. At the same time, thousands of years prior, a young Daitya boy by the name of Prahlada was known to write the name of Krishna on his slate at school. Prahlada was a devotee of Vishnu, but he could use the name of Krishna interchangeably.

These are some of the mysteries to the understanding of true Divinity, of the one Supreme Lord. With fixed devotional service, with attention to meeting the interests of God, these mysteries can be understood. We require assistance, and Shri Krishna and those devoted to Him are ready to help.

भक्त्या त्व् अनन्यया शक्य
अहम् एवं-विधो ऽर्जुन
ज्ञातुं द्रष्टुं च तत्त्वेन
प्रवेष्टुं च परन्तप

bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya
aham evaṁ-vidho ‘rjuna
jñātuṁ draṣṭuṁ ca tattvena
praveṣṭuṁ ca parantapa

“My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.54)

In Closing:

Prior to Krishna appearance in sight,
Prahlada name on slate to write.

Narahari in front of him seeing,
Identical with Supreme Being.

Not that any object as divine to take,
Test against words of shastra to make.

Many mysteries in science involved,
Only through proper devotion resolved.

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Tags: dailyprompt, hinduism, krishna, mayavada, poem, poems, poetry, vishnu