Hare Krsna
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Nowadays it is becoming fashionable for people to claim that they are becoming God by meditation. This means that by meditation it is possible to transform oneself into God; in other words, God meditates, and by His meditation He becomes God. This is all nonsense. God is God, and He was always God and will always be God. Even as an infant on the lap of His mother Krishna is God. No meditation was required, no austerity or penance. When Pūtanā, the demonic witch, came to poison Baby Krishna, she came as a beautiful young girl and asked Mother Yaśodā, “Oh, Yaśodāmayī, you have a very nice baby. Will you kindly give Him to me so I can nurse Him?” Yaśodā was a very simple village woman, and she said, “Oh yes, you can take my child.” Pūtanā had smeared poison on her breasts, and she intended to kill Krishna by letting Him suck them. This is the demonic spirit; demons are always wanting to kill Krishna so they can say, “God is dead. There is no God. God is impersonal.” Krishna was so kind to Pūtanā that He allowed her to nurse Him, but when He sucked her breasts He not only sucked out the poison but her life as well. Pūtanā fell to the ground dead and was immediately transformed into her original demonic form.
So this is God; in the lap of His mother He is God. He does not have to become God by meditation, penance, austerity or by following rules or regulations. He is substantially and eternally God, and He has nothing to do. If one claims that he can become God by worshiping such and such a deity or by meditating, we should immediately take it that he is not a god, but a dog.
In understanding God, we must be careful to accept the Vedic conclusion only:na tasya kāryam karanam ca vidyate: God has nothing to do. Why would God have to do something to become God? If we manufacture gold, that is artificial gold, not real gold. Gold is natural, and similarly God is natural. In His childhood pastimes, in the lap of His mother, He is God; while He is playing with His boyfriends, He is God; while He is dancing, He is God; while He is fighting at Kuruksetra, He is God; while He is married to His queens, He is God; and while He is speaking, He is God. There is no difficulty in understanding God. All that is required of us is that we listen to Krishna.
In Bhagavad-gītā Krishna tells Arjuna:
aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartateiti matvā bhajante mām budhā bhāva-samanvitāh“I am the source of everything; from Me the entire creation flows. Knowing this, the wise worship Me with all their hearts.” (Bg. 10.8)
This means that Śrī Krishna is the fountainhead of Lord Śiva and the origin of Visnu and of Brahmā, and, of course, of all other demigods and other living creatures. He says further:
mamaivāmśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtah sanātanahmanah-sasthānīndriyāni prakrti-sthāni karsati“The living entities in this conditional world are My fragmental parts, and they are eternal. But due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.” (Bg. 15.7)
In the Brahma-samhitā Lord Brahmā explains that if we are looking for God, here is God.
premānjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanenasantah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayantiyam śyāmasundaram acintya-guna-svarūpamgovindam ādi-purusam tam aham bhajāmi“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, Who is Śyāmasundara, Krishna Himself, with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.” (Bs. 5.38)
There are similar descriptions everywhere in Vedic literature, but rascals and demons are so obstinate that even though Krishna is confirmed to be the Supreme God by the twelve standard ācāryas (Brahmā, Nārada, Śiva, Bhīsma, the Kumāras, Kapila, Manu, etc.) and by Vyāsa, Devala and many other devotees, they still refuse to accept Him.
Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu also confirms that Krishna is the Supreme Godhead, and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says, Krishnas tu bhagavān svayam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives a list of all incarnations of God, and at last concludes that the name Krishna, which appears on this list, indicates the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas all other names represent manifestations or incarnations. Ete cāmśa-kalāh pumsah [SB 1.3.28]. All other names of God are either parts of God or portions of parts. The parts are called amśa, and the portions of parts are called kalāh. As living entities, we are amśa, but we are very fragmental amśa. All others are either amśa or kalāh, but Krishna is bhagavān svayam—the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
[An excerpt from ELEVATION TO KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, available at your nearest Hare Krishna Center]
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