Krishna, The Supreme Aspect of the Absolute

Srimad-Bhagavatam is Srila Vyasadeva’s transcendental thesis to prove that the supreme aspect of the Absolute Truth is a Supreme Person, Vasudeva, and he
takes the required steps to philosophically reach this siddhanta. In the beginning of Bhagavatam it was established that Vasudeva is the source of all
manifestations, both in the material world as well as in the spiritual world:

om namo bhagavate vasudevaya
janmady asya yato 'nvayad itaratas carthesv abhijnah svarat
tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye muhyanti yat surayah
tejo-vari-mrdam yatha vinimayo yatra tri-sargo 'mrsa
dhamna svena sada nirasta-kuhakam satyam param dhimahi

“O my Lord, Sri Krsna, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Sri Krsna because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmaji, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Sri Krsna, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.1.1



It was also defined that the Supreme Absolute Truth possesses three
main aspects, and that ultimately Krishna is the Original Person, from Whom all incarnations emanate:

vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
bhagavan iti sabdyate

“Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.2.11

ete camsa-kalah pumsah
krsnas tu bhagavan svayam
indrari-vyakulam lokam
mrdayanti yuge yuge

“All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Sri Krsna is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.3.28

Now, from chapter seven of the first canto onwards, the author proceeds further to
present how the Personal Aspect of the Absolute is the Supreme One, what He is, what are His attributes , how He acts, and particularly, how He deals with His devotees,
such as Queen Kunti, the Pandavas, Bhismadeva, and the inhabitants of Dvaraka.

Foolish people devoid of spiritual knowledge cannot understand how the Supreme can descend to this earthly planet and still remain the Supreme, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita:

avajananti mam mudha
manusim tanum asritam
param bhavam ajananto
mama bhuta-mahesvaram

“Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Bg 9.11

To illustrate this point, His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Svami Srila Prabhupada, founder acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, used to tell an anecdote : Once an important man went to see the Prime Minister of England
in his residence. The servant told him: “You have to wait. The Minister is busy now.” Then he waited and wait for a long time, after which he became curious to know in which kind of affairs the Prime Minister was so busy. Upon looking through the door of the Minister’s quarters, the visitor saw that he was playing the role of a horse while his children were riding on his back. Srila Prabhupada explains that it is not that the Minister is a horse, but he is assuming such a role just for the sake of enjoyment.
In the same way, Krishna, although the Supreme Absolute Truth, regularly descends to this planet in innumerable forms for the sake of enjoyment, both His and of His
devotees. But His descent is not like ours, for it does not affect His supremacy at all, therefore He is never under the clutches of the illusory energy, that is
actually only one of His multifarious energies, as confirmed in the Svetasvatara Upanisad, 6.8 :

parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate
svabhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca

"His potencies are multifarious, and thus His deeds are automatically performed as a natural sequence."

The mayavadi theory that the Absolute Truth, or Brahman, when in contact with the material energy, becomes saguna, impregnated with material qualities is completely smashed in the Bhagavatam in the words of Queen Kunti:

kunty uvaca
namasye purusam tvadyam
isvaram prakrteh param
alaksyam sarva-bhutanam
antar bahir avasthitam

Srimati Kunti said: “O Krsna, I offer my obeisances unto You because You are the original personality and are unaffected by the qualities of the material world. You are existing both within and without everything, yet You are invisible to all.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.8.18

This is also corroborated by Sankaracharya in his commentary on Gita: “narayanah paro ‘vyaktat.” In the S.B.1.10.19, Sri Krishna is defined as both nirguna and
gunatma, that means, He does not possess any material attribute, but He is full of all spiritual qualities, and is also the origin of all spiritual and material qualities. But as stated above, some people will not accept even common sense. Once in Varanasi I was discussing about Bhagavad Gita with a so-called scholar, and he told me that he had never seen a translation that was purely literal, without any addition of some personal philosophical view. I told him that the language in the Gita is so clear that there cannot be two different meanings, and just to prove my point, I started to translate the verse 10.8 – aham ‘I (am)’; sarvasya ‘of everyyhing’; prabhavah ‘the source’. Then he immediately objected: “That is OK, but we have to understand what is meant by the ‘I’. Everybody knows that there are no horns in the head of a rabbit, but still some people will make research to find them out. Srila Prabhupada used to mention the case of a famous writer, who was a big scholar in Indian philosophy, but in his commentary onBhagavad-gita he tries to find out some meaning for words like ‘aham’, I, or ‘mam’, to me. The vaisnavas, however, accept the common sense shared by all great acharyas: ‘I’ means Krishna, since He was the One speaking. And it is this Krishna who is revealing His confidential pastimes with His devotees in the pages of Bhagavatam.
The Personal Aspect of the Absolute Truth is not only an impartial observer and ruler, chastising the impious and rewarding the pious , but He is the supreme
source of all rasas, the reservoir of all mellows, able to reciprocate the loving feelings of His unalloyed devotees. And here we have the main reason for His descent- to enjoy unlimited pastimes with His beloved ones. Srila Prabhupada emphasizes that the mayavadis want to become one with God, but the vaisnavas are not only one with God- they are more than God . In the Bhagavatam we see how Lord Krishna
appears in an apparent menial position as Partha-sarathi, the chariot driver of Arjuna. It is only apparent because when Arjuna was in a fearful situation, facing the
brahmastra released by Asvatthama, he immediately addressed Krishna :

tvam adyah purusah saksad
isvarah prakrteh parah
mayam vyudasya cic-chaktya
kaivalye sthita atmani

“You are the original Personality of Godhead who expands Himself all over the creations and is transcendental to material energy. You have cast away the effects of the material energy by dint of Your spiritual potency. You are always situated in eternal bliss and transcendental knowledge.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.7.23

Apparently He may play as an ordinary child or chariot-driver, but whenever there is need, Lord Krishna shows His supremacy lifting Govardhana Hill or saving Pariksit Maharaja. Thus, Lord Krishna, out of transcendental affection for the Pandavas, played the role of maternal cousin, friend, counselor, messenger, benefactor, etc. This personal features of the Supreme Absolute Truth are so amazing that even exalted devotees like Kunti Devi admit to be bewildered at the sight of Krishna crying out of fear of Mother Yasoda, so what to speak of non-devotees who cannot even conceive the Supreme Truth as a person…

Even though superficially He exhibits Himself in what may seem to be human affairs, the position of the Lord is always distinctly transcendental. For example, in Dvaraka, Lord Krishna played exactly like a king and henpecked husband, keeping 16.108 wives, but they were all Goddesses of Fortune. Whatever riches there may be in the material world are but a small gift of the Goddess of Fortune, but in Dvaraka we see that Laksmi works as a maidservant of the Lord. Laksmi is know as Cancala, for nobody can keep Her for a long time, but Laksmi herself cannot leave the Lord even for a moment. This evinces the Lord’s supreme opulence and beauty.

Out of the three aspects of the Absolute, Krishna is the Original Person, from Whom Paramatma is an expansion(S.B.1.3.18), the support of Brahman (B.G.14.27) , He is attractive to all liberated persons (S.B.1.7.10), He possesses unlimited opulences, He performs wonderful activities, He is always surrounded
by loving devotees, His flute and exquisite beauty attract the whole creation . Srila Vyasadeva clearly elaborates on all these points to present Sri Krishna as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, and Srila Prabhupada in his purports gives us the formula to realize Him through the process of bhakti-yoga: Chanting the Personal Names of
God-
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

As well as reading, hearing and remembering His Personal Pastimes with His personal devotees; worshipping His Personal Form in the temple, etc. Thus Srila Prabhupada
makes clear the meaning of his pranama:

namaste sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine-nirvisesa-sunyavada-pascatya-desa-tarine

He is the servant of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and went to the western countries, which are filled with impersonalism , voidism and atheism, to propagate the
message of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and establish Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead – the Supreme Aspect of the Absolute Truth.




This essay was originally submitted for assessment during the first year of the Bhakti Vaibhava course at VIHE, first canto of Bhagavatam, on 27/10/02