Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of ALL causes, who has 64 qualities in full.
This means those 64 qualities of Krishna ARE His full potential, having 100% of His own attributes.
However, the Vishnu-tattva (also God) expansions of Krishna have only 60 qualities or attributes out of the full 64 which is 93.75% of Krishna’s qualities.
Some Vedic scholars and academics and other Sangas cannot understand why Krishna has more qualities than Vishnu or Narayana, and why Krishna IS the original Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of ALL causes.
To start with, Vishnu or Narayana are expansions of Krishna and NOT the other way around as many Hindus wrongly believe.
In other words, Krishna is NOT an expansion of Vishnu, Krishna IS the original Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of ALL causes.
This including being the source of all Vishnu/ Narayana forms of God.
And the 4 qualities or attributes Vishnu or Narayana do NOT have in full that Krishna DOES have in full is as follows –
(61) Krishna is the performer of wonderful varieties of pastimes (especially His childhood pastimes).
(62) Krishna is surrounded by devotees endowed with wonderful love of Godhead.
(63) Krishna can attract all living entities all over the universes by playing on His flute.
(64) Krishna has a wonderful excellence of beauty which cannot be rivaled anywhere in the creation.
These four qualities Krishna has in full is important to understand because all Vishnu/Narayana forms of God do NOT have these 4 qualities “in full”, only sometimes exhibited partially.
Shiva-tattva has 54 qualities or attributes which is 84.375% of Krishna’s qualities.
Jiva-tattva has 50 qualities or attributes which is 78.125% of Krishna’s qualities.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Krishna has all sixty four transcendental qualities in full.
And their are four extra qualities that not even Vishnu has in full, mentioned above.
So for those who ask what is the difference between Krishna (64 qualities) and Vishnu/Narayana (60 qualities) read the four extra qualities above that only Krishna has in full.
In actual fact, the full extent of Krishna’s wonderful qualities or attributes are inconceivable.
Here are Krishna’s 64 qualities or attributes –
(1) Beautiful features of the entire body
(2) Marked with all auspicious characteristics
(3) Extremely pleasing
(4) Effulgent
(5) Strong
(6) Ever youthful
(7) Wonderful linguist
(8) Truthful
(9) Talks pleasingly
(10) Fluent
(11) Highly learned
(12) Highly intelligent
(13) Genius
(14) Artistic
(15) Extremely clever
(16) Expert
(17) Grateful
(18) Firmly determined
(19) An expert judge of time and circumstances
(20) Sees and speaks on the authority of Vedas, or scriptures
(21) Pure
(22) Self-controlled
(23) Steadfast
(24) Forbearing
(25) Forgiving
(26) Grave
(27) Self-satisfied
(28) Possessing equilibrium
(29) Magnanimous
(30) Religious
(31) Heroic
(32) Compassionate
(33) Respectful
(34) Gentle
(35) Liberal
(36) Shy
(37) The protector of surrendered souls
(38) Happy
(39) The well-wisher of devotees
(40) Controlled by love
(41) all-auspicious
(42) Most powerful
(43) all-famous
(44) Popular
(45) Partial to devotees
(46) Very attractive to all women
(47) all-worship able
(48) all-opulent
(49) all-honourable
(50) The supreme controller.
Besides all of the above-mentioned fifty qualities, Lord Krishna possesses five more, which are sometimes partially manifested in Lord Brahma or Lord Shiva.
These transcendental qualities are as follows:
(51) Changeless
(52) all-cognizant
(53) Ever fresh
(54) sac-cid-ananda
(possessing an eternal blissful body)
(55) Possessing all mystic perfections.
Krishna also possesses five other qualities, which are manifest in the body of Narayana/Vishnu, and they are listed as follows:
(56) He has inconceivable potency.
(57) Uncountable universes generate from His body.
(58) He is the original source of all incarnations.
(59) He is the giver of salvation to the enemies whom He kills.
(60) He is the attractor of liberated souls.
Besides these sixty transcendental qualities, Krishna has four more, which are not manifested even in the Vishnu/Narayana form of Godhead, what to speak of the demigods or living entities.
They are as follows:
(61) He is the performer of wonderful varieties of pastimes (especially His childhood pastimes).
(62) He is surrounded by devotees endowed with wonderful love of Godhead.
(63) He can attract all living entities all over the universes by playing on His flute.
(64) He has a wonderful excellence of beauty which cannot be rivaled anywhere in the creation.
The Absolute Truth is anandamaya (desiring to increase His joy), hence from His original form He expands and becomes many.
These emanations from the Supreme Person are of two categories: full expansions and partially manifested expansions.
The Lord’s various full and partial expansions and the Lord Himself simultaneously co-exist, only appearing to manifest under the influence of time.
These expansions of Krishna are known as Vishnu-tattva Forms of God, and they are also the Supreme Absolute Truth.
While non-different from Lord Krishna, the Vishnu-tattvas like
Balarama,
Pradyumna,
Ramachandra,
Narsingadeva
Vishnu,
Narayana,
Maha Vishnu, Garbhodakashayi Vishnu etc
All accept their own role as Godhead in the mood of Servitor to the “original” Supreme Being Lord Krishna, for example Vishnu and Narayana Forms, all with different names, are found on all Vaikuntha Planets in the Spiritual sky.
This relationship is the foundation of Vedic monotheism, which encompasses the inconceivable, absolute personal nature of the original Godhead.
Lord Krishna possesses two other expansive qualities known as Shiva-tattva and jiva-tattva.
Together with Vishnu-tattva, these three qualities are representative of the Absolute Person’s internal, external and marginal energies.
The Lord has expanded Himself as Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma, and we, the living entities, are also expansions.
Like us, Lord Brahma is also jiva-tattva.
Lord Siva is between Vishnu-tattva and jiva-tattva.
And Lord Visnu is Vishnu-tattva.
So clearly Vishnu-tattva and jiva-tattva are all expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Krishna.
Therefore as a reminder we can summarize as follows
Lord Krishna. 64 qualities or 100%
Vishnu tattva. 60 qualities or – 93.75%
Shiva tattva. 54 qualities or – 84.375%
Jiva tattva. 50 qualities or – 78.125%
This is the reason why Krishna is called Param Purushottam, Purnavatar or Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Reference from Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.29 –
Learned scholars in transcendental subjects have carefully analyzed the summum bonum Krsna to have sixty-four principal attributes.
All the expansions or categories of the Lord possess only some percentages of these attributes. But Sri Krsna is the possessor of the attributes cent percent.
And His personal expansions such as svayam-prakasa, tad-ekatma up to the categories of the avataras who are all visnu-tattva, possess up to 93.75% of these transcendental attributes.
Lord Siva, who is neither avatara nor avesa nor in between them, possesses almost 84.375% of the attributes.
But the jivas, or the individual living beings in different statuses of life, possess up to the limit of 78.125% of the attributes.
In the conditioned state of material existence, the living being possesses these attributes in very minute quantity, varying in terms of the pious life of the living being.
The most perfect of living beings is Brahma, the supreme administrator of one universe.
He possesses 78.125% percent of the attributes in full.
All other demigods have the same attributes in less quantity, whereas human beings possess the attributes in very minute quantity.
The standard of perfection for a human being is to develop the attributes up to seventy-eight percent in full.
The marginal living entities or jiva-tattvas can never possess attributes like Shiva, Vishnu or Lord Krishna.
A living being (jiva-tattva) can become godly by developing their full potential of 78.125% of their transcendental attributes but he can never become a God like Krishna or Vishnu or Shiva.
Although he can become a Brahma in due course.
The godly living beings who are all residents of the Vaikuntha planets in the spiritual sky, are eternal associates of Vishnu in different spiritual planets called Hari-dhama and Mahesa-dhama.
However, the abode of Lord Krishna is above all these Vaikuntha planets and is called Krsnaloka or Goloka Vrndavana, and the perfected living being, by developing 78.125% of the above attributes in full, can enter the planet of Krsnaloka after leaving the present material body.
From your servant Gauragopala dasa
Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=93350
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