Category:Describing God's Activities
Theme Analysis
The Vedic literatures, such as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Rāmāyaṇa, are dedicated exclusively to describing the transcendental activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that the Lord's activities are not mundane historical events, magic, or mythological imagination. They are the eternal, inconceivable actions of the Absolute Truth. Because the Lord is non-different from His pastimes, describing and hearing about them is a direct spiritual engagement that cleanses the heart.
Great sages like Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Maitreya Muni experience boundless transcendental bliss when asked to describe the pastimes of the Lord. They never feel fatigued, nor do their sincere listeners. However, unintelligent persons, bereft of devotional service, cannot comprehend the supreme nature of the Lord. These mundane speculators attempt to describe Kṛṣṇa's activities through faulty mental speculation, dismissing them as allegory or myth. Śrīla Prabhupāda strongly warns that one must never concoct ideas about the Supreme Lord; one must simply accept the descriptions provided by pure devotees and authorized tattva-darśīs (those who know the Absolute Truth).
The ultimate benefit of describing and hearing the activities of the Lord is liberation from the material world. By engaging the tongue in narrating these glorious pastimes and the ear in hearing them, the conditioned soul easily bypasses the illusory energy. Intelligent persons should make it their primary duty to constantly discuss the Supreme Lord's activities, for this simple yet profound process destroys the pangs of material existence and elevates the sincere soul to the eternal spiritual platform.
- The Transcendental Nature: The activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are not material or mythological; they are eternal and executed by His inconceivable potencies.
- The Ecstasy of Sages: Pure devotees and great sages derive limitless transcendental bliss from describing and hearing the glorious pastimes of the Lord.
- The Danger of Speculation: Less intelligent persons and nondevotees commit offenses by trying to describe the Lord's activities using their own imagination and mundane sentiments.
- The Ultimate Benefit: Engaging the senses in describing and hearing the activities of the Supreme Lord destroys the miseries of material existence and grants spiritual elevation.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Describing God's Activities - Transcendental Narrations.
Subcategories
This category has the following 2 subcategories, out of 2 total.
D
Pages in category "Describing God's Activities"
The following 38 pages are in this category, out of 38 total.
A
- Although the great activities and transcendental qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead's various incarnations are wonderfully described, sometimes we are unable to understand them. Yet everything is possible for Lord Visnu
- As described in this verse (SB 8.1.2) by the word mahiyasah, the activities of an incarnation are not ordinary magic or jugglery, but are wonderful activities
I
- If we engage our speech in describing the activities of the Lord and our ears in hearing about His pastimes, and if we follow the regulative principles to keep the mind intact for advancing in Kc, we shall certainly be elevated to the spiritual platform
- In the sastras - the puranas and other Vedic literatures - there are so many narrations describing the transcendental activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and everyone should hear them again and again
- In this verse (SB 3.24.17) the activities and bodily features of Kapila Muni are very nicely described
- Intelligent persons should therefore hear personally and cause others to hear the descriptive narrations of the Lord's activities, for that will destroy the pangs of material existence
- It is said that in the Vedas and in the Ramayana, only the activities of the Lord are described. Everywhere in the Vedic literature, His glories are sung
N
- Nondevotees cannot appreciate Krsna consciousness by reading the Srimad-Bhagavatam or any other Vedic literature wherein the activities of the Lord are described
- Now, if you (Sukadeva Gosvami) will, kindly describe the wonderful, glorious activities of Lord Visnu, or Krsna, who appeared in that Yadu dynasty with Baladeva, His plenary expansion - SB 10.1.2
P
- Parasurama described to his father and brothers his activities in killing Kartaviryarjuna. Upon hearing of these deeds, Jamadagni spoke to his son as follows
- Pariksit said: My lord, Sukadeva Gosvami, you have elaborately described all the periods of the various Manus &, within those periods, the wonderful activities of the S. P. G, who has unlimited potency. I am fortunate to have heard all of this from you
- Please also describe the incarnations of the material modes of nature - Brahma, Visnu and Mahesvara - and please describe the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His magnanimous activities
- Please, therefore, describe the Almighty Lord's activities which you have (Vyasadeva) learned by your vast knowledge of the Vedas, for that will satisfy the hankerings of great learned men
S
- Sometimes Lord Ramacandra's activities are described in terms of one's own imaginations, speculations or material sentiments. But the characteristics of Lord Ramacandra should not be handled as something imaginary
- Sukadeva Gosvami, the great learned persons who are completely intelligent describe the activities and appearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead during the various manvantaras. We are very eager to hear about these narrations. Kindly describe them
T
- The activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the devotees are so fascinating that neither the devotee who is describing them nor the devotee who is hearing is at all fatigued by the inquiries and answers
- The descriptions of such activities of the Lord as the purusavataras are specifically meant for persons who are in the clutches of the external energy
- The great sage Maitreya continued: In this way the reciters who were glorifying Maharaja Prthu readily described his qualities and chivalrous activities. At the end, Maharaja Prthu offered them various presentations with all due respect
- The great transcendentalists thus describe the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the pure devotees deserve to see more glorious things in transcendence, beyond these features
- The Lord's activities in association with His different energies should be described, appreciated and heard in accordance with the teachings of the S L. If this is done regularly with devotion and respect, one is sure to get out of the illusory energy
- There are also descriptions (in the Laghu-bhagavatamrta) of the difference between the powerful and the power, and the inconceivable activities of the Supreme Lord
- There are also others who are not the topmost transcendentalists but are in a lower status, and who do not take pleasure in describing the transcendental activities of the Lord
- There are full literatures describing the activities of the Lord, especially Bhagavad-gita, Brahma-samhita and Srimad-Bhagavatam
- There are some men, with a poor fund of knowledge, who desire to understand the Absolute Truth by imperfect mental speculation and faulty description of His activities
- Therefore please precisely describe all the activities and pastimes of the Personality of Godhead, who is full of self-desire and who assumes all these activities by His internal potency
- Those who are learned and spiritually advanced will never accept such notions (that Ramacandra is not God); they will accept the descriptions of Lord Ramacandra and His activities only as presented by tattva-darsis, those who know the Absolute Truth
- Thus learned men describe the births and activities of the unborn and inactive, which is undiscoverable even in the Vedic literatures. He is the Lord of the heart
U
- Unfortunate, less intelligent persons, bereft of devotional service, cannot understand the Lord's activities, & therefore such persons describe these activities as kalpana-mythology or imagination-because they are rascals and the lowest of men - BG 7.15
- Unless one is tattva-darsi, in complete knowledge of the Absolute Truth, one cannot describe the activities of the Personality of Godhead
W
- We cannot concoct the form and attributes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We must simply accept the description given in Vedic literatures about the Lord's form and activities
- Whenever the activities of Vamanadeva are described in the course of a ritualistic ceremony, whether the ceremony be performed to please the demigods, or please one's forefathers in Pitrloka, that ceremony should be understood to be extremely auspicious
- While describing the history of Lord Ramacandra, Sukadeva Gosvami told Maharaja Pariksit - You have already heard about the activities of Lord Ramacandra
- Whoever, with great reverence and adoration, regularly reads, chants and describes the history of Maharaja Prthu's activities will certainly increase unflinching faith and attraction for the lotus feet of the Lord