Category:All Over the Creation

Theme Analysis

A common stumbling block for material philosophers is reconciling the concept of a personal God with the concept of an all-pervading Absolute Truth. Śrīla Prabhupāda perfectly resolves this paradox by explaining how the Supreme Personality of Godhead distributes His potencies. Just as a fire remains in one localized place but distributes its heat and light everywhere, Kṛṣṇa remains in His supreme abode, Goloka Vṛndāvana, while His spiritual and material energies are expanded all over the creation. The vast, impersonal Brahman effulgence (brahma-jyotir) is simply the shining rays of Kṛṣṇa's personal body spread throughout the cosmos.

Beyond His impersonal energy, Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes the Lord's localized presence. As Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu (the Paramātmā or Supersoul), the Lord personally enters into the heart of every single living entity and into the core of every atom all over the creation. This allows God to be fully conscious of everything happening everywhere, contrasting sharply with the tiny individual soul, whose consciousness is limited to its own single body. Unfortunately, when the living entity misuses its minute independence and abandons the shelter of Kṛṣṇa, it wanders aimlessly all over the creation, taking various bodies and suffering under the illusion of being an independent lord (prabhu). However, Śrīla Prabhupāda assures us that everything operates under a supreme divine plan. Even while enjoying intimate pastimes with the gopīs and cowherd boys, Kṛṣṇa's potencies are flawlessly managing the entire cosmic manifestation, extending His causeless mercy to His devotees everywhere.

• The Sun and Its Rays: Kṛṣṇa expands His spiritual and material energies universally, just as fire distributes heat and light. The impersonal Brahman is merely the effulgence of His body spread all over the creation.
• The Localized Paramātmā: Through His plenary portion, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the Lord is personally present within every atom and every heart all over the material creation.
• Supreme Consciousness: While the individual soul is conscious only of its own body, Kṛṣṇa's superconsciousness is perfectly aware of everything happening all over the creation.
• The Simultaneous Paradox: The supreme mystic opulence of God is defined by the Brahma-saṁhitā (goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ): He remains permanently enjoying pastimes in His abode, yet perfectly manages and pervades the entire cosmos.

• Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: All Over the Creation - The All-Pervading Energies of Kṛṣṇa.