Category:Describing God's Qualities
Theme Analysis
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is often misunderstood by empiric philosophers as being devoid of all attributes. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly clarifies that when the Vedas describe the Lord as aguṇa, it means He has no material qualities born of the modes of nature (goodness, passion, and ignorance). Instead, He possesses an unlimited ocean of transcendental, spiritual qualities. These qualities are so vast and inconceivable that even Lord Śeṣanāga, who has been describing the Lord's glories with thousands of mouths since time immemorial, cannot reach their limit.
Because the Lord's attributes are infinitely glorious, the ultimate perfection of human life is to glorify them. The perfection of education is not the accumulation of mundane facts, but the ability to describe the greatness of the Lord. Similarly, the highest perfection of the tongue is to vibrate descriptions of His transcendental qualities. Pure devotees and great sages like Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Prahlāda Mahārāja dedicate their lives to this very purpose, relishing transcendental bliss through such descriptions. Conversely, those who stubbornly refuse to use their tongues to describe the Supreme Lord are considered less than human and are destined to face the severe punishment of Yamarāja, the lord of death.
To realize these divine qualities, one must adopt the authorized process of devotional service. It begins with śravaṇam—giving submissive aural reception to the descriptions of the Lord's form, qualities, and pastimes from the lips of pure devotees and revealed scriptures. After receiving these messages, one must memorize and repeat them (kīrtanam). This combined process of hearing and describing acts as a powerful purifying agent. Ultimately, the exact qualities and pastimes described in the scriptures are factually televised within the purified heart of the sincere devotee, granting them direct realization of the Absolute Truth.
- Spiritual vs. Material Qualities: The Lord is completely free from material qualities, but He is the eternal reservoir of unlimited, transcendental spiritual qualities.
- The Perfection of Faculties: The ultimate purpose of human education and the faculty of speech is to describe the greatness and qualities of the Supreme Lord.
- The Infinite Nature of God: The Lord's qualities are so wonderfully inconceivable that even His highest incarnations cannot fully comprehend or reach the limit of describing them.
- Realization in the Heart: By submissively hearing and repeating the descriptions of the Lord's qualities, these transcendental realities are factually televised within the devotee's heart.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Describing God's Qualities - The Perfection of Human Speech.
Pages in category "Describing God's Qualities"
The following 16 pages are in this category, out of 16 total.
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- A person whose tongue never describes the qualities & holy name of the SPG, whose heart never throbs as he remembers Krsna & His lotus feet, and whose head never bows in obeisances to the Supreme Lord must be brought before me (Yamaraja) for punishment
- After aurally receiving such messages (the holy name and descriptions of the Lord's form, qualities, entourage and pastimes), one should memorize these vibrations and repeat them - kirtanam
- 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 the universal elements are both within and without, similarly the Lord's name, form, quality, pastimes, entourage, etc., as they are described in the revealed scriptures, are factually being televised in the heart of the devotee
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- The ability to talk can be perfected only by describing the transcendental qualities of the Lord. The ability to work with one's hands can be successful only when one engages himself in the service of the Lord with those hands
- 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 highest perfection of transcendental realization is to take pleasure in hearing and describing the transcendental qualities of the Lord and not in merging into His impersonal Brahman existence, for which the impersonalist monist aspires
- The Lord's name, form, quality, pastimes, entourage, etc., as they are described in the revealed scriptures or as performed in the Vaikunthalokas, far, far beyond the material cosmic manifestation, are factually being televised in the heart of the devotee
- The reciters of these prayers are describing the transcendental qualities of Prthu. These qualities are summarized in the words saksad bhagavan. This indicates that Prthu is directly the SP of Godhead and therefore possesses unlimited good qualities
- The wise man is always very eager to glorify the Lord by chanting and hearing (nama-gane sada rucih), and he is always eager to describe the transcendental qualities of the Lord - asaktis tad-gunakhyane