Category:Considering God
Theme Analysis
The process of considering God must be guided by authorized Vedic conclusions, not by the blunt instruments of mental speculation or mundane vision. A primary pitfall for conditioned souls is the tendency to equalize the Supreme Personality of Godhead with ordinary living entities. Because the Lord mercifully descends to the material world and displays human-like pastimes—such as accepting matrimonial bondage or acting as a child—less intelligent people (mūḍhas) disrespectfully consider Him an ordinary man. Similarly, materialistic men, bewildered by the gigantic cosmic manifestation, falsely consider the Supreme Absolute Truth to be ultimately impersonal or void. These misconceptions arise purely from a poor fund of knowledge and a lack of spiritual vision.
Another grave offense in spiritual life is considering the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa, to be on the same level as the demigods. While demigods like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are highly exalted servants, they are fallible living entities acting under the direction of the Supreme Lord. Those who consider Lord Viṣṇu to be in the same category as the devas, or who think there are many equal gods, are classified as faithless nonbelievers (pāṣaṇḍīs). The true Vaiṣṇava never makes this atheistic mistake; a devotee clearly understands that God is one, and He is the supreme master of all.
Even the Deity in the temple is often misunderstood by those lacking faith. A typical idol worshiper considers the arca-vigraha to be merely wood or stone, but a pure devotee knows that the Lord's body and the Lord Himself are completely non-different. Because our present blunt eyes cannot see spirit, the Lord kindly appears in a form we can perceive. While pure devotees in Vṛndāvana may consider the Lord to be their equal friend or even their dependent child, this is not due to mundane ignorance. Rather, it is a transcendental illusion orchestrated by the Lord's internal energy, allowing the devotee to relish the most intimate, loving reciprocation with the supreme father.
- The Folly of Humanizing God: Less intelligent persons mistakenly consider Kṛṣṇa an ordinary human being because He exhibits human-like pastimes when He descends.
- The Supreme Position of Viṣṇu: It is a severe offense (pāṣaṇḍī) to consider Lord Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa to be on an equal level with demigods like Lord Śiva or Lord Brahmā.
- The Transcendental Form: The Deity in the temple and the Lord's incarnations (like the boar) must never be considered material; they are eternal and completely spiritual.
- Divine Illusion: When pure devotees consider the Lord their child or friend, it is a manifestation of transcendental love, distinct from the ignorance of mental speculators.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Considering God - Avoiding the Pitfalls of Mundane Vision.
Subcategories
This category has the following 3 subcategories, out of 3 total.
Pages in category "Considering God"
The following 86 pages are in this category, out of 86 total.
A
- A devotee never considers Lord Narayana to be on the same platform with Lord Brahma and Lord Siva
- A neophyte considers the arca-vigraha (the statue of the Lord) to be different from the original Personality of Godhead; he considers it a representation of the Supreme Lord in the form of a Deity
- A Vaisnava's visit to the temple of Lord Siva, for example, is different from a nondevotee’s visit. The nondevotee considers the deity of Lord Siva an imaginary form because he ultimately thinks that the Supreme Absolute Truth is void
- Another significant word in this verse (SB 4.20.34) is acyuta, which means "infallible." Although the Lord appears in this material world, He is never to be considered one of the conditioned souls, who are all fallible
- As stated in Bhagavad-gita, the Lord is always in a transcendental position, even when He is within the material world. But ignorant men consider the Lord one of the great personalities of the world, and thus they are misled by the illusory energy
- As stated in the Brahma-samhita (BS 5.52): I (Brahma) worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, under whose control even the sun, which is considered to be the eye of the Lord, rotates within the fixed orbit of eternal time
B
- Bali Maharaja appreciated the actions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although all the members of the demoniac families except Prahlada Maharaja and Bali Maharaja considered Visnu their eternal traditional enemy
- Bali Maharaja considered the Supreme Personality of Godhead a better friend to the demons than to the demigods. In the material world, the more one gets material possessions, the more he becomes blind to spiritual life
- Bali Maharaja was very pleased to see the features of Vamanadeva and was ready to give Him as much land as He could ask, but because Lord Vamanadeva asked only three paces of land, Bali Maharaja considered Him not very intelligent
- Because demons like Ravana have no spiritual vision, they consider Lord Ramacandra an ordinary ksatriya king. Ravana therefore attempted to kidnap Lord Ramacandra's eternal consort, Sitadevi
- Because they (the karmis) consider Lord Visnu to be on the same level with the demigods, they contend that surrendering to the demigods is as good as surrendering unto Vasudeva
- Because we cannot see the Supreme Lord with our present blunt eyes, the Lord has kindly consented to come before us in a form we can see. Therefore the Deity in the temple should not be considered material
- Being overcome by the mode of passion, he (Hiranyakasipu) considered Lord Nrsimhadeva an ordinary living entity, not understanding His form
- By the cooperation of material nature, which is considered to be prakrti, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is considered the purusa, all the affairs of the universe are going on nicely in their proper order
C
- Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is not only considered to be a realized soul but an incarnation of Krsna Himself, has pointed out that in this age of Kali, although men have no real facilities for self-realization, Krsna is so kind that He has given this sabda
- Considering the Lord's appearance very auspicious, all the stars and planets, from the sun to Saturn, were munificently charitable
- Considering the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be his own son, Maharaja Nabhi was certainly in illusion, but this was transcendental illusion. This illusion is required; otherwise how can one accept the supreme father as his own son
D
- Devotees in this stage consider the Lord to be present at the place of worship and nowhere else. They cannot ascertain who is in what position in devotional service, nor can they tell who has realized the Supreme Lord
- Disrespectfully, one who does not know this (The Supreme Personality of Godhead is not affected by the material qualities) considers the Supreme Personality of Godhead an ordinary living being (avajananti mam mudhah) - BG 9.11
E
- Even though the energies and the energetic are identical, the living entity, individual soul, being prone to be influenced by the external energy, considers the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be one with himself
- Everyone is God's creature, although in different bodies or dresses. God is considered the one supreme father
G
- Garga Muni said: My dear Nanda Maharaja, I am the priestly guide of the Yadu dynasty. This is known everywhere. Therefore, if I perform the purificatory process for your sons, Kamsa will consider Them the sons of Devaki - SB 10.8.7
- God is one, and God does not belong to this or that religion. In Kali-yuga, different religious sects consider their God to be different from the God of others. God is one, and He is appreciated according to different angles of vision
- God's body and God Himself are one and the same, and when God's activities are displayed, they are certainly nondifferent from the Lord in all respects. The conclusion is that persons who consider the Lord's activities material are certainly mistaken
- Gopinatha Acarya continued, "There is certainly an incarnation in every age, and such an incarnation is called the yuga-avatara. But your heart has become so hardened by logic and argument that you cannot consider all these facts"
H
- He (son of the elderly brahmana) did not believe in the spiritual position of the Deity, nor did he have any faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, as a typical idol worshiper, he considered the form of God to be made of stone or wood
- He (the devotee in dasya-rati) considers the Lord to be a worshipable object, and this means that his attachment for the Lord increases. Thus dasya-rati is characterized as bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra ca - SB 11.2.42
- Here the Lord is significantly described as yajnavayava. One should not consider the Lord to have the body of an ordinary boar. He can assume any form, and He possesses all such forms eternally
- Hiranyakasipu, being a demon, would always consider Lord Visnu and His devotees to be his enemies. Therefore the word para-paksa ("on the side of the enemy") is used here - in SB 7.5.6
I
- If Kamsa were to come, she (Devaki) thought, upon seeing the Visnu form he would immediately kill the child, but if he saw a human child, he might reconsider
- If one by chance sees his (one who considers the body of Krsna to be material) face, he should at once take bath in the Ganges to rid himself of infection. BG 1972 purports
- If you simply study Veda, you will never be able to understand Krsna. Therefore so many so-called Vedantists, they do not know what is Krsna. They consider Krsna as ordinary human being
- Indeed, a devotee of Krsna who is attached to the sublime attractive features of the Lord does not consider Narayana very important. When the gopis sometimes saw Krsna in the form of Narayana, they were not very much attracted to Him
- It is His (God's) causeless mercy that He appears in every society or species of life, but He is never to be considered one of them
O
- One can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service. There is no other way. We have to hear from the authorities and from the sastras and consider the Supreme Lord in terms of their statements
- One considers the Lord’s names material due to a poor fund of knowledge
- One gentleman was arguing with me... He was supporting Rama-Krishna Mission. He said, "Even stool I consider God. It is God"
- One should be careful not to consider the Supreme Personality of Godhead in every body and individual soul to be the jiva. This is something like equalizing the potent and the impotent. BG 1972 purports
- One should not consider Lord Visnu and things related to Him as being different. All this is offensive
- One should not consider the Supreme Lord an ordinary human being. Material names and forms are contaminated, but spiritual name and spiritual form are transcendental
- One should not make the mistake of considering Lord Siva and Lord Visnu to be on the same level. That is also an atheistic idea
- One who considers Lord Narayana on a level with great demigods like Lord Brahma and Lord Siva is immediately listed among nonbelievers. The fact is that by performing sankirtana-yajna one can immediately please the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- One who considers Lord Visnu to be in the same category with devas like Lord Brahma or Lord Siva or who thinks Lord Brahma and Siva to be equal to Lord Visnu is to be considered as pasandi - a faithless nonbeliever
- One who considers Visnu to be a demigod is certainly mistaken and misled. How this is so is explained in Bhagavad-gita: Deluded by the three modes, the whole world does not know Me who am above the modes and inexhaustible
- One who foolishly considers Narayana like other living beings should take a lesson from this. Narayana is not an ordinary living being. He is the SPG Himself, and He has all the potencies of all the senses in all parts of His transcendental body
- Ordinarily the body of a hog is considered impure, but one should not consider that the hog incarnation assumed by the Lord is also impure. That form of the Lord is the personified Vedas and is transcendental
P
- Param bhavam ajanantah: such a conclusion (considering the Supreme Personality of Godhead an ordinary living being) is reached by the unintelligent because they are unaware of the transcendental qualities of the Lord
- People with less intelligence consider the Supreme Truth to be impersonal, but He is a transcendental person, and this is confirmed in all Vedic literatures. BG 1972 Introduction
S
- Sankaracarya preached Mayavadi philosophy in order to bewilder a certain type of atheist. He never considered the Supreme Lord to be impersonal or to have no body or form. It is best for intelligent persons to avoid lectures on Mayavadi philosophy
- Sankaracarya says (sutra 43) that devotees think that Pradyumna, who is considered to represent the senses, has sprung from Sankarsana, who is considered to represent the living entities. But we cannot actually experience that a person can produce senses
- Serving the lotus feet of God, offering God respectful worship, offering prayers to God, becoming His servant, considering God one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him - these processes are accepted as pure devotional service - SB 7.5.23
- Similarly (how children play), many foolish persons, due to ignorance, select another fool as God, and then the rascal actually considers himself God, as if God could be created by childish play or by the votes of men
- Sometimes materialists consider Lord Visnu a material conception. Impersonalists think that above Lord Visnu is the impersonal Brahman
- Sometimes the common man is bewildered by all this and considers such activities (of God) contradictory, but they are not contradictory. There is a great plan behind all the Lord's activities
- Sometimes the Mayavadis worship Lord Visnu, but they do not actually believe in the form of Lord Visnu. They consider His image to be some imaginary form to utilize as a means for self-realization
- Sometimes, when there is a scarcity of living entities to take charge of Brahma’s post, Maha-Visnu expands Himself as Lord Brahma. This Brahma is not considered to be a living entity; He is an expansion of Visnu
- Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura remarks that although Citraketu criticized Lord Siva, he did not offend Lord Siva like Daksa. Daksa considered Lord Siva insignificant, but Citraketu expressed his wonder at Lord Siva's being situated in that way
- Still there are so many stubborn commentators on Bhagavad-gita who consider the Supreme Absolute Truth and the living entities to be one and the same. BG 1972 purports
T
- The Lord is glorified because He is considered to be the chief of all self-realized souls. As said in the Vedas (Katha Upanisad 2.2.13): the Supreme Being, the Personality of Godhead, is the chief living being amongst all living beings
- The mental speculators compare everything from the standpoint of experimental knowledge of their own selves. Thus when the Lord is found to act like an ordinary person in matrimonial bondage, they consider Him to be like one of them
- The offenses against the holy name are as follows: (1) to blaspheme a devotee of the Lord, (2) to consider the Lord and the demigods to be on the same level or to think that there are many gods, (3) to neglect the orders of the spiritual master
- The parents of the Lord (who are all pure devotees) consider Him a child only. The Lord accepts the chastisements of the parents more cheerfully than the prayers of the Vedic hymns
- The right philosophy is that God is simultaneously one and different from the living being. Those, who therefore consider God and living beings are identical in every respect, are polluted in thought
- The science of learning a subject matter seriously is different from the sentiments of fanatics. Fanatics or fools may consider the Lord's activities in relation with the external energy to be useless for them
- The Supreme Lord is considered to be the impersonal Brahman by great sages, the Supreme Personality of Godhead by the devotees, and an ordinary human being by common men
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself in the plenary forms of the visnu-tattva, and although they are equally powerful, the original powerful Personality of Godhead is considered the source
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead has some plan, and we should not consider such activities contradictory. The best course is to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead wholeheartedly, and, being protected by Him, remain peaceful
- There are many persons who worship different demigods, considering all of them to be separate gods, which in fact they are not. The fact is that every demigod, and every living entity, is part and parcel of Krsna - mamaivamso jiva-loke jiva-bhutah
- These fools (who consider krsna-lila to be a subject of art) take pleasure in material sense gratification, but one who wants to make advancement in spiritual life must scrupulously avoid their literature
- These offenses (while chanting the holy name) are: (1) blaspheming a devotee of the Lord, (2) considering the Lord and the demigods on the same level or thinking that there are many gods, (3) neglecting the orders of the spiritual master
- They (Mayavadi sannyasis) never consider why Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, would accept an inferior position as a human being and then again become Narayana when He is perfect
- They make God as order-supplier for their material needs. Or some of them are taught to love God because He is considered to be order-supplier. But our principle is not to make God our order-supplier - we want to execute the order of God
- This is generally the calculation of less intelligent philosophers who consider the position of the Lord and that of the living entities to be on the same level
W
- We are proud of possessing a few acres of land, and Bhagavan means who is the proprietor of the whole universe. Therefore He is considered the richest. Similarly, He is considered the strongest. And similarly, He is considered the wisest
- We should be satisfied with those things He has kindly set aside for us, and we should always consider to whom those things we possess actually belong
- We should never consider that the Supreme Lord Visnu and the demigods are on an equal footing
- We should not consider that the Lord is one of us. It is by His potency that He presents Himself in His real form before us and displays His pastimes, which are prototypes of those pastimes found in His abode. BG 1972 Introduction
- When the devotee is further advanced, he has nothing to fear. He considers the Lord and himself on an equal level
- When the Lord is found to act like an ordinary person in matrimonial bondage, mental speculators consider Him to be like one of them, without considering that the Lord can at once marry sixteen thousand wives or more
- When the Supreme Personality of Godhead - Rama or Krsna - descends to act transcendentally for our benefit, we should not consider Him an ordinary human being