Category:God's Characteristics
Theme Analysis
The philosophical essence of this category focuses on the defining, transcendental characteristics of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies a common misunderstanding regarding the Vedic literatures: when the Vedas describe God as formless or impersonal, they are strictly denying that He possesses mundane, material characteristics, not denying His spiritual form. In reality, the Absolute Truth has unsurpassed, eternal features and beautiful bodily characteristics, such as holding the conch, disc, mace, and lotus. Furthermore, authentic incarnations (avatāras) are never identified by cheap, egotistical claims. Instead, their specific characteristics—such as their mission, complexion, and activities—are meticulously recorded in advance within the authorized śāstras. By thoroughly analyzing these divine traits, the Six Gosvāmīs scientifically concluded that Lord Kṛṣṇa exhibits one hundred percent of all Godly characteristics. Hearing about, glorifying, and studying these absolute characteristics in literatures like the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the ultimate perfection of Vedic knowledge and the direct path to liberation from material bondage.
- Denying Mundane Traits: When the Vedas use impersonal terms to describe the Absolute Truth, they are specifically negating the presence of limited, material characteristics, not denying the Lord's supreme spiritual personality and form.
- Recognizing Avatāras: An actual incarnation never frivolously declares, "I am God." Their primary and marginal characteristics (svarūpa and taṭastha) are already documented in the scriptures. For instance, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is identified by His yellowish complexion and His mission to distribute love of Godhead.
- Cent Percent God: While other exalted entities like Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, or Lord Nārāyaṇa possess varying degrees of divine qualities, the deep analysis of the Six Gosvāmīs proves that Kṛṣṇa alone possesses the full one hundred percent of all supreme characteristics.
- The Two Bhāgavatas: The characteristics of the Lord are deeply intertwined with the bhāgavata. The book (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam) describes His characteristics, and the person (the pure devotee) embodies the practical application of serving those characteristics.
- Liberation Through Glorification: Aurally receiving the narrations of the Lord's activities and glorifying His auspicious characteristics frees the conditioned soul from envy, fruitive bondage, and all material limitations.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: God's Characteristics - The Supreme Personality of the Absolute Truth.
Subcategories
This category has the following 3 subcategories, out of 3 total.
C
G
K
Pages in category "God's Characteristics"
The following 26 pages are in this category, out of 26 total.
A
- Accepting the color yellow (pita), as well as other characteristics, the Lord incarnated as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This is the verdict of all Vedic authorities
- Adorned with a crown and earrings, He held His characteristic conch, disc and mace in three of His hands and a white lily in the fourth. He glanced about in a happy, smiling mood whose sight captivates the hearts of all devotees
- All God's features were very beautiful and attractive for the devotees. One of the Lord's hands rested on His carrier, Garuda, and in another hand He twirled a lotus flower. These are personal characteristics of the Personality of Godhead, Narayana
- An actual incarnation of God never says 'I am God' or 'I am an incarnation of God.' The great sage Vyasadeva, knowing all, has already recorded the characteristics of the avataras in the sastras
- As a wooden doll dances to the will of a puppeteer, everything is accomplished by the will of the Lord. Who can understand the characteristics of the Supreme Personality of Godhead?
- At the time of Their appearance, the incarnations of the Lord are known in the world because people can consult the sastras to understand an incarnation's chief characteristics, known as svarupa and tatastha
G
- Gajendra said, "Pure devotees are always satisfied simply by glorifying Your auspicious characteristics. For them there is nothing else to aspire to or pray for"
- Great saintly persons like Markandeya Rsi still glorify His (Lord Ramacandra's) characteristics in the assemblies of great emperors like Maharaja Yudhisthira
O
- O King Pariksit, anyone who aurally receives the narrations concerning the characteristics of Lord Ramacandra's pastimes will ultimately be freed from the disease of envy and thus be liberated from the bondage of fruitive activities
- O my Lord, everything within material nature is limited by time, space and thought. Your characteristics, however, being unequaled and unsurpassed, are always transcendental to such limitations
- One should either chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra or read Srimad-Bhagavatam and thereby try to understand the characteristics and instructions of the Supreme Lord, in this way one can become fully aware of the transcendental nature of the SPG
- One should either chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra or read Srimad-Bhagavatam and thereby try to understand the characteristics and instructions of the Supreme Lord, who appeared as Lord Rsabhadeva, Lord Kapila and Lord Krsna
- One should try to understand the traits of Krsna from authorities and try to understand how these characteristics are employed by the supreme will of the Lord
- One who is intelligent and who studies the characteristics of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with reference to the Vedic context cannot be bewildered by the pasandas
S
- Sanatana Gosvami said, "The color of the personality in whom the characteristics of the Lord are found is yellowish. His activities include the distribution of love of Godhead and the chanting of the holy names of the Lord"
- Seventy-eight percent. That is also very minute quantity of the characteristics and qualities of God. But Krsna is full-fledged, cent percent God. That Rupa Goswami has analyzed in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu
T
- The Gosvamis, the six Gosvamis, they have analyzed Krsna's characteristic, Narayana's characteristic, Siva's characteristic, Brahma's characteristic. They have analyzed very scrutinizingly everything, and they have found it that Krsna is cent percent God
- The impersonal descriptions in the Vedas intend to deny mundane characteristics in the Supreme Lord. They do not intend to establish the Supreme Lord as impersonal
- The real identity of the Absolute Truth must be understood in terms of both His knowledge and His characteristics. Simply to understand the Absolute Truth to be full of knowledge is not sufficient
- There are certain characteristics of different limbs which are considered to be very auspicious and are fully present in the body of the Lord
- There are two kinds of bhagavata: one is grantha-bhagavata and one is person bhagavata. A devotee, he is called bhagavata, and the book in which the pastimes or characteristics of Bhagavan is described, that is called Bhagavata