Category:God's Expansions
Theme Analysis
The philosophical essence of this category delves deeply into the Vedic science of how the one Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, manifests Himself as many. Because the Lord is by nature joyful (ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt), He desires to expand Himself to increase His transcendental bliss and enjoy dynamic loving relationships. He expands Himself in two distinct categories: svāṁśa (personal expansions) and vibhinnāṁśa (separated expansions). The svāṁśa expansions, known as viṣṇu-tattva, are fully or partially potent forms of God Himself. These include the first expansion, Balarāma, who expands into the catur-vyūha (Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha), and further into the puruṣa-avatāras who manage the cosmic creation. The vibhinnāṁśa expansions are the jīvas (living entities), who are qualitative parts and parcels of the Lord but quantitatively infinitesimal. A crucial element of this philosophy is the principle of pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya: despite expanding into innumerable personal forms and energies, the Supreme Lord never diminishes or loses His original personality. Just as one candle can ignite thousands of others without losing its own brilliance, the original Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa expands infinitely while remaining the complete, supreme whole.
- The Purpose of Expansion: The Lord expands Himself to enjoy transcendental bliss. He is one without a second, but He becomes many (eko bahu syām) to facilitate loving exchanges, pastimes, and the maintenance of the cosmos.
- Svāṁśa Expansions (Viṣṇu-Tattva): The personal expansions of the Lord are completely spiritual and fully potent. There is no difference in power between the original Lord and His viṣṇu-tattva expansions, though they may display different features for specific pastimes.
- Vibhinnāṁśa Expansions (The Living Entities): The individual spirit souls are separated expansions of the Lord's marginal potency. Unlike the viṣṇu-tattva forms, the living entities are infinitesimally small and meant to render service to the complete whole.
- Expansions for Creation: To execute the creation, maintenance, and annihilation of the material world, the Lord expands into the puruṣa-avatāras (Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu) and the guṇa-avatāras (Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva).
- The Expansion of Energies: The Lord does not need to physically stretch Himself across the universe. He remains in His eternal abode while simultaneously expanding His energies everywhere, exactly as a fire distributes heat and light throughout a room.
- Defeating Māyāvādī Logic: Impersonalists falsely conclude that if God expands into everything, He must be broken into pieces and lose His original form. The Vedas definitively refute this, confirming that the Lord's expansions are not bound by mundane laws of cause and effect; He expands infinitely while remaining the perfect, unchanged Supreme Person.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: God's Expansions - The Infinite Forms of the Supreme Lord.
Subcategories
This category has the following 12 subcategories, out of 12 total.
G
K
S
V
Pages in category "God's Expansions"
The following 248 pages are in this category, out of 248 total.
A
- A class of so-called devotees known as sahajiyas try to imitate the Lord's pastimes, although they have no understanding of the amorous love in His expansions of pleasure potency
- A conditioned soul, by mystic power, can sometimes expand into eight forms, but the Lord's bodily expansions are unlimited. This means that the bodies of the Lord have no beginning and no end, unlike the bodies of the living entities
- A detailed description of the ways in which the various expansions and incarnations of Godhead are developed is to be found in the author's Teachings of Lord Chaitanya (New York: 1968) in Chapters VI, VII and VIII
- A devotee sees everyone and everything in relationship with Narayana (narayanam ayam). Everything is an expansion of Narayana's energy
- A nitya-siddha is one who is eternally Krsna's associate, an expansion of Krsna's personal body, whereas a sadhana-siddha is an ordinary human being who, by executing pious activities and following regulative principles of DS, also comes to that stage
- A poor fund of knowledge cannot comprehend the existence of an original personal form of the Lord when He is expanded in everything
- According to Pancaratra, Narayana is the primeval cause of all expansions of Godhead
- Adi-caturbhuja, the original expansions from Baladeva, are Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna & Aniruddha. All of Them are visnu-tattvas, or nondifferent Personalities of God. In the incarnation of Rama, these expansions appeared for particular pastimes
- Advaita Acarya is a separate expansion of Him. He always engages in devotional service with His thoughts, words and actions
- Advaita Acarya is isvara, He's incarnation of Maha-Visnu. Sometimes Advaita Acarya is called Sadasiva avatara. The Sadasiva is also expansion of Maha-Visnu
- Advaitacarya, another principal disciple of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's, is accepted as an expansion of the Maha-Visnu. Thus Advaitacarya is also the Lord, or, more precisely, an expansion of the Lord
- After King Vena's body was purified, a male and female came out of it, and the great sages could understand that this was an expansion of Lord Visnu. This expansion was not visnu-tattva but a specifically empowered expansion of Lord Visnu known as avesa
- Again these quadruple forms expand three times, beginning with Kesava. That is the fulfillment of the pastime forms
- Agnidhra considered Purvacitti an expansion of Lord Visnu because of the pleasing scent of her body
- All of us living beings are differentiated expansions of the Lord, but our affection for the Lord is submerged within us, artificially covered by the material quality of ignorance
- Although I am one of the principal expansions of His Lordship, even I was illusioned by His energy. What then is to be said of others, who are fully dependent on maya?
- Although Pariksit Maharaja had no need for geographical knowledge of this universe, that knowledge was also spiritual and transcendental because he was thinking of the entire universe as an expansion of the energy of the Lord
- Although the expansion of the Lord's energies is the original cause, one should not think that the Lord Himself has expanded in different ways
- Although the Lord's original form and His impersonal expansion are one, the Lord maintains His form, qualities and abode eternally
- Although the Supreme Lord maintains everything created by His expansion of energy, He always remains separate. This is accepted even by Sankaracarya, the great advocate of the impersonal form of the Absolute
- Among these expansions (Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha), Vasudeva is considered the origin of the material nature. Therefore Sankaracarya says that Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha must be creations of that original cause
- Amongst various names of the relatives, the name of Rama or Balarama, eldest brother of Lord Krsna, is added with the words "the Personality of Godhead" because Lord Balarama is the immediate expansion of visnu-tattva as prakasa-vigraha of Lord Krsna
- As an expansion of Lord Visnu he (Lord Siva) is called Hara, and he is transcendental to the material qualities
- As far as bodily construction is concerned, there is no difference between the part and parcel living entities and the expansions of Visnumurti. BG 1972 purports
- As His (Caitanya's) associate Nityananda, He is the first expansion of God; as Advaita, He is an incarnation; as Gadadhara, He is the internal potency; and as Srivasa, He is the marginal living entity in the role of a devotee - CC Intro
- As stated in BG 4.7, God appears when there are discrepancies in the discharge of factual religion. Lord Ramacandra appeared under the same circumstances, accompanied by His brothers, who are expansions of God's internal potency, and by Laksmiji Sitadevi
- As stated in the Brahma-samhita (ramadi-murtisu), there are millions and trillions of expansions of Lord Visnu, as Rama, Nrsimha, Varaha and other incarnations. All of them are called eternals
- At that time Arjuna could see in the universal form of the Lord the unlimited expansions of the universe situated in one place although divided into many, many thousands. BG 11.13 - 1972
B
- Balarama inquired from Krsna about the actual situation, "My dear Krsna, in the beginning I thought that all these calves and boys were either great sages and saintly persons or demigods, but at present it appears that they are actually Your expansions"
- Balarama, the first expansion of Krsna, expands Himself in five forms: (1) Maha-sankarsana, (2) Karanodakasayi, (3) Garbhodakasayi, (4) Ksirodakasayi, and (5) Sesa
- Because He (the Supreme Lord) is joyful by nature, He expands Himself in diverse ways, and the activities of these expansions are called His transcendental pastimes or His lila. These pastimes, however, are not blind and inert
- Being prayed for by the demigods, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth Himself, directly appeared with His expansion and expansions of the expansion
- Being the direct expansion of Lord Visnu, King Gaya was also situated in the visuddha-sattva. Because of this, Maharaja Gaya was fully equipped with transcendental knowledge. Therefore he was called Mahapurusa
- Brahma's stealing of calves & boys from Krsna may be a wonderful display of mystic power, but when Krsna exhibited His expansive power in so many calves & boys and maintained them without effort, Brahma could understand that his power was insignificant
- By His specific functional expansion He touches the material energy, and thus the living entities, who are His parts and parcels, are impregnated into material nature
- By such expansions (as the Purusas), He creates, maintains and annihilates the cosmic manifestation
- By the expansion of His opulence, He (the Supreme Lord) is present in all the Vaikuntha planets as Narayana. By expanding His material energy, He creates innumerable universes with innumerable planets within them
- By understanding the three expansions of the purusa, a living entity can transcend the position of knowing only the twenty-four elements of the material world
E
- Even after coming to the platform of understanding tattva, one must worship Bhagavan, Visnu and His expansions, or one is not yet perfect
- Even if They (Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha) are full expansions, the flaw of generation remains
- Even logically we can understand that all material elements are expansions of the energy of the Lord
- Every candle has the full potential candlepower, but there is still the distinction that one candle is the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd and another the 4th. Similarly, there is no difference between the immediate expansion of the Lord & His secondary expansion
- Every qualitative expansion of the absolute Personality of Godhead is identical with Him
- Everything and everyone, including human beings and even the Daitya demons and the Danavas, is but an expansion of Your energy
- Everything is Krsna's forms. Your form is also Krsna's form; my form is also Krsna's form. Therefore foolish rascals, they think, "Now I have become God." He has got the affinity that he is also God expansion; therefore sometimes he thinks that - I am God
- Everything rests upon Him (God), and everything is but an expansion of His energies, but this does not mean that everything is as worshipable as the Lord Himself
- Examples of svamsa expansions can be found in the quadruple forms of God residing in Their respective places, beginning with Sankarsana, Vasudeva, Pradyumna & Aniruddha, and also in the purusa-avataras, lila-avataras, manvantara-avataras & yuga-avataras
- Expansions of the Lord are limitless, but some of them are the living entities. The living entities are not as powerful as the Lord's plenary expansions, and therefore there are two different types of expansions
F
- Five tattvas: Sri Krsna Caitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead; Sri Nityananda is immediate expansion; Sri Gadadhara is incarnation; Sri Advaita is incarnation; Gadadhara is internal energy; Srivasa is marginal energy. There is no external energy
- For creation, maintenance and annihilation there are the three deities Brahma, Visnu and Mahesvara (Siva), but Brahma and Mahesvara are qualitative expansions of Visnu. Visnu is the central figure. Visnu, therefore, takes charge of maintenance
- For human intelligence it is very difficult to conceive how the whole creation rests on His (the Lord's) expansion of energy, but the Lord has given a very good example in the Bhagavad-gita
- For material creation, the expansion of the Supreme Lord for the purpose of material creation is called incarnation. That is called avatara
- From Garbhodakasayi Visnu there is expansion of the Ksirodakasayi Visnu, who is the collective Paramatma of all living beings. He is called Hari, and from Him all incarnations within the universe are expanded
- From His forehead He (Lord Sankarsana) transmits to Lord Siva the power to destroy this material world. Because Lord Sankarsana is an expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, many devotees offer Him prayers
- From Krsna's expansion into Visnu forms, Lord Brahma could understand by his limited potency that everything movable and immovable within the cosmic manifestation is existing due to the expansion of the energy of the Supreme Lord
- From this verse (SB 5.15.6) it appears that the incarnations of God are various. Some are part and parcel of the direct expansions, and some are direct expansions of Lord Visnu
G
- Garbhodakasayi Visnu is an expansion of Karanodakasayi Visnu, Karanodakasayi Visnu is an expansion of Sankarsana, and Sankarsana is an expansion of Balarama, who is an immediate expansion of Lord Krsna
- Garbhodakasayi Visnu is an expansion of Karanodakasayi Visnu, who is an expansion of Sankarsana. In this way, Krsna is ultimately the cause of all causes (sarva-karana-karanam) - BS 5.1
- God expanded into many, and we constitute those expansions. God is one without a second, but He willed to become many in order to enjoy. We have experience that there is little or no enjoyment in sitting alone in a room talking to oneself
- God expands either as kala or as amsa. Amsa means "direct expansion," and kala means expansion of the expansion
H
- Hari (Visnu, Narayana) is the formal expansion of the Lord, Mahesa (Siva) is the formal energetic expansion of the Lord, and Devi is the Lord's energetic expansion. The living entities are also energetic expansions of the Lord
- He (Brahma) could understand that although the original calves and boys were still in the cave where he had put them, Krsna had expanded Himself and so the present demonstration of calves and boys consisted of expansions of Krsna
- He (Brahma) has described expansions of the Supreme Lord, Govinda, in his Brahma-samhita (BS 5.38), - Although He is the oldest personality, He is ever youthful, unaffected by old age
- He (Brahma) has described expansions of the Supreme Lord, Govinda, in his Brahma-samhita (BS 5.38), - I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is nondual and infallible. He is the original cause of all causes, even though He expands in many, many forms
- He (Brahma) has described expansions of the Supreme Lord, Govinda, in his Brahma-samhita (BS 5.38), - The Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be known by the academic wisdom of the Vedas; one has to approach the devotee of the Lord to understand Him
- He (the Supreme Lord) is not personally attached to any of the affairs within the material cosmos. The material world is created by the expansion of His purusa-avataras, who direct the aggregate material energy and all the conditioned souls
- He (who is surcharged with transcendental love of Godhead) can see the Personality of Godhead in His own abode, Goloka, enjoying eternal pastimes with His eternal associates, who are also expansions of His transcendental existence
- How God is unlimited in His expansion of energies and activities can be roughly calculated by any sane and sober living entity
I
- If Lord Aniruddha is pleased, He can help the mind engage in the service of the Lord. It is also indicated in this verse (SB 4.24.36) that Lord Aniruddha is the sun-god by virtue of His expansions
- In Brahma-samhita the example is given of an original candle which lights a second candle. Although both candles are of equal power, one is accepted as the original, & the other is kindled from the original. The Visnu expansion is like the second candle
- In every Vaikunthaloka Narayana presides in the form of His four-armed expansions: Sankarsana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Vasudeva
- In order to please both of them (Srutadeva and King Bahulasva), Lord Krsna expanded Himself into two and went to the houses of each one of them; yet neither the King nor the brahmana could understand that the Lord had gone to the house of the other
- In that (spiritual) sky innumerable planets float, and these are called Vaikunthalokas. In every Vaikunthaloka, Narayana presides with His four expansions: Sankarsana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Vasudeva - CC Intro
- In the Brahma-samhita it is said, ramadi-murtisu kala-niyamena tisthan: (BS 5.39) Rama, Nrsimha, Varaha and many others are consecutive expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- In the category of visnu-tattva there is no loss of power from one expansion to the next, any more than there is a loss of illumination as one candle kindles another. 1,000 of candles may be kindled by an original candle, and all will have the same power
- In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (71) it is stated that Vakresvara Pandita was an incarnation of Aniruddha, one of the quadruple expansions of Visnu (Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Aniruddha and Pradyumna). He could dance wonderfully for seventy-two continuous hours
- In the reappearance of the mahat-tattva the four expansions of Godhead occur. He who is seated within as Supersoul expands first as Vasudeva
- In the Satvata-tantra it is said that the third purusa incarnation, Ksirodakasayi Visnu, is situated as the Supersoul in everyone's heart. This Ksirodakasayi Visnu is an expansion of Garbhodakasayi Visnu for pastimes
- In the Skanda Purana, in the Ayodhya-mahatmya chapter, the demigod Indra requested Lord Sesa, who was standing before him as Laksmana, “Please go to Your eternal abode, Visnuloka, where Your expansion Sesa, with His serpentine hoods, is also present
- In the Vedas the Supreme Lord is called the supreme eternal of all eternals (nityo nityanam). Both the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entities are eternal. The supreme eternals are the visnu-tattva, or Lord Visnu and His expansions
- In the Vedic literature there is mention of the Lord's expansion as the four Personalities of Godhead - Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha
- In the Visistadvaita philosophy, God's energies, expansions and incarnations are considered to be oneness in diversity. In other words, God is not separate from all of these: everything together is God - CC Intro
- In the Visnu Purana it is said that whatever we can see or experience, either in the material or spiritual world, is an expansion of the different energies of the Supreme Lord
- In the Visnu Purana it is said, Whatever we actually see in the cosmic manifestation - be it matter or the activities of the living entities - is simply an expansion of the energies of the Lord, as heat and light are the different expansions of fire
- In this sixth manvantara millennium, Lord Visnu, the master of the universe, appeared in His partial expansion. He was begotten by Vairaja in the womb of his wife, Devasambhuti, and His name was Ajita
- It is clearly mentioned here (in SB 3.28.12) that one has to meditate upon the expansion of Visnu. The word kastham refers to Paramatma, the expansion of the expansion of Visnu. Bhagavatah refers to Lord Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- It is confirmed by the Sruti-mantra that the Absolute is one alone, and yet He becomes many as soon as He so desires. These manifold expansions of the Supreme Lord are manifested as plenary and separated portions
- It is most apparent that nondevotees violate the rules and regulations of devotional service to equate the whole cosmic manifestation, which is the external feature of Visnu, with the SPG, who is the controller of maya, or with His quadruple expansions
- It is said that Sadasiva (Lord Sambhu) is an expansion from the Sadasiva in the Vaikuntha planets (Lord Visnu) and that his consort, Mahamaya, is an expansion of Rama-devi, or Laksmi
- It is stated also in the Visnu Purana that whatever we see is parasya brahmanah saktih; everything is an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Absolute Truth, Brahman
- It is the system for one to offer obeisances unto the expansion or incarnation of the Lord. Lord Siva is the incarnation of ignorance, one of the material modes of nature
K
- Krsna appeared along with Balarama (Baladeva), who is known as His elder brother. Balarama is the origin of Sankarsana, of the quadruple expansion. Balarama is also the plenary expansion of Krsna
- Krsna creates, maintains and annihilates the whole cosmic manifestation by expanding Himself in different incarnations
- Krsna is the cause of all causes, and the effects are permeated by the original cause. The entire cosmic manifestation should be understood as the expanded energy of the Supreme Lord
- Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (BG 9.4), maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina: "In My impersonal feature I pervade this entire universe." Thus the avyakta-murti, the impersonal feature, is certainly an expansion of Krsna's energy
- Krsna, in other words, means everything and includes everything. Generally, however, we should understand Krsna to mean Krsna and His personal expansions
L
- Lord Balarama said, My dear Krsna, in the beginning I thought that all these cows, calves and cowherd boys were either great sages and saintly persons or demigods, but at the present it appears that they are actually Your expansions. They are all You
- Lord Brahma is a powerful expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although Brahma is jiva-tattva, he is empowered by the Lord, and therefore he is considered a plenary expansion of the Supreme Godhead
- Lord Siva is an expansion of Lord Visnu, yet because of his taking part in the annihilation of the cosmic manifestation, he is considered to be changed, like milk converted into yogurt
- Lord Siva is simultaneously an expansion of Lord Visnu and, in his capacity for annihilating the creation, one of the living entities
- Lord Visnu agrees to send His personal expansion as the son of Merudevi, the wife of Maharaja Nabhi, who is the son of Agnidhra
M
- Maha-Visnu in the Causal Ocean and Ksirodakasayi Visnu, the Supersoul in everyone’s heart, are also transcendental expansions of the Supreme Truth
- Maha-Visnu is actually an expansion of Balarama, who is Krsna's first expansion and, in the Vrndavana pastimes, His brother - CC Intro
- Maha-Visnu is lying in the Causal Ocean, Karanarnava, and He is breathing, and from His breathing innumerable universes are coming out. And in each and every universe, Maha-Visnu, in His further expansion as Garbhodakasayi-Visnu, He enters
- Maharaja Pariksit inquired from Sukadeva Gosvami: How did the Lord conduct Himself, and how did He behave in relationship with His brothers, who were expansions of His own self? And how did His brothers and the inhabitants of Ayodhya treat Him?
- Mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te (BG 7.14). One who has fully surrendered to the Lord has no fear of the modes of material nature, for everything is but an expansion of the Lord's glories, and these glories are gradually revealed and realized
- Materially, we can directly perceive the sunshine spreading itself according to different names and activities, but ultimately the sun is one. Similarly, sarvam khalv idam brahma: everything is an expansion of the Supreme Brahman
- Mayavadi philosophers materialistically think that if the Supreme Truth expands Himself in everything, He must lose His original form. Thus they think that there cannot be any form other than the expansive gigantic body of the Lord
- My dear lord, you create this cosmic manifestation, maintain it, and annihilate it by expansion of your personality, exactly as a spider creates, maintains and winds up its web
N
- Na tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drsyate: nothing is equal to Him (the Lord), nor is anything greater than Him. Although He manifests Himself in so many ways, personally He has nothing to do, for everything is done by expansions of His unlimited energies
- No one is independent. Every one of us is an expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This accounts for unity in diversity
- Nonetheless He (God) keeps Himself distinct from such creation as the purnam (or complete), and so no one should wrongly think that His personal feature is not existent due to His impersonal unlimited expansions
- Now the author (Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami) will describe the five tattvas (truths), namely, isa-tattva (the Supreme Lord), His expansion tattva, His incarnation tattva, His energy tattva and His devotee tattva
O
- Once we accept the inconceivable energies of the Supreme Lord, we will find that there is no duality at all. The expansion of the energy of the Supreme Lord is as true as the Supreme Lord
- One should not try to compare the expansions of material nature to the catur-vyuha, the quadruple expansions of the Personality of Godhead, but unfortunately the Mayavadi school unreasonably attempts to do this
- One who does not forget this position and knows that he is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord is nitya-mukta. Such a nitya-mukta living entity represents the Supersoul as His expansion. As stated in the Vedas, nityo nityanam
- Only by devotional activity can one understand the transcendental form of the Lord, which is perfect in all respects. Although His form is one, He can expand His form into unlimited numbers by His supreme will
- Only visnu-murtis are expansions of Krsna’s personal and plenary portions. Maha-Visnu, who lies on the Causal Ocean, is an expansion of Sankarsana
- Originally Lord Ramacandra is the incarnation of Vasudeva, Laksmana is the incarnation of Sankarsana, Bharata is the incarnation of Pradyumna, and Satrughna is the incarnation of Aniruddha, expansions of the Personality of Godhead
P
- Pradyumna and Aniruddha are also expansions of the Personality of Godhead, and thus They are also visnu-tattva
- Pradyumna, the third manifestation, appears from Sankarsana. Those who are especially intelligent worship this Pradyumna expansion of Sankarsana as the principle of the intelligence
- Purusottama is the Supreme Person, and the Supreme Person by His expansion as the Supersoul is present in everyone's heart. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam. He's guiding, as friend
S
- Sankaracarya has tried to prove that Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna & Aniruddha expand through cause & effect. He has compared Them with earth & earthen pots. That is completely ignorant, for there is no such thing as cause & effect in Their expansions
- Sankarsana is the expansion of Baladeva, and Baladeva is the first manifestation of Krsna. Therefore all these incarnations are known as kala
- Sankarsana is the first expansion of Vasudeva, and because He appears by His own will, He is called svarat, fully independent. He is therefore infinite and transcendental to all limits of time and space. He Himself appears as the thousand-headed Sesa
- Sankarsana, the fourth expansion, is certainly transcendental, but because his activities of destruction in the material world are in the mode of ignorance, He is known as tamasi, the Lord's form in the mode of ignorance
- Sankarsana, the second expansion, is Vasudeva’s personal expansion for pastimes, and since He is the reservoir of all living entities, He is sometimes called jiva
- Sesa-naga is an expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead whose business is to serve the Lord with all necessary paraphernalia. When Vasudeva was carrying the child, Sesa-naga came to serve the Lord and protect Him from the mild showers of rain
- Simply by chanting omkara one can understand the whole creation to be one unit, or an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Lord
- Since both cause and effect are the Supreme Lord, there is no difference between cause and effect. Consequently the ornaments and weapons of the Lord, being expansions of His spiritual energy, are not different from Him
- Since everything is an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Lord, the expansions are as real as the Supreme Lord is
- Since the predominating deity of the sun is an expansion of Lord Aniruddha, Lord Siva also prays to the sun-god in this verse - SB 4.24.36
- 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
- Sometimes, when there is no ordinary living entity available, the post of Brahma is occupied by an expansion of Lord Visnu, but generally this post is occupied by a greatly pious living entity within this universe
- Sri Advaita Acarya is the creator of millions and millions of universes, and by His expansions (as Garbhodakasayi Visnu) He maintains each and every universe
- Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said to Maharaja Pariksit: My dear King, approximately 240,000 miles beneath the planet Patala lives another incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the expansion of Lord Visnu known as Lord Ananta or Lord Sankarsana
- Srimad-Bhagavatam states that the entire cosmic manifestation is but an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Lord. Realization of this is possible simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord, omkara
- Stated in Brahma-samhita: "I worship the SPG, Govinda, who, by expansion of His internal potency of transcendental existence, knowledge & bliss, enjoys in His own & expanded forms. Simultaneously He enters into every atom of the creation"
- Svamsa refers to a direct expansion, and kala denotes an expansion from the expansion of the original Lord
T
- That is stated by Prahlada: Beginning from the nonmoving plants and trees and extending up to the highest living creature, Brahma, the SP of Godhead is present everywhere by His expansion as the Paramatma, the feature of the Lord in everyone's heart
- The Absolute Personality of Godhead, although fixed in His transcendental abode, can diffuse His different energies everywhere
- The basic understanding is that Sada-Siva is an expansion of Maha-Visnu and that same Sada-Siva incarnates as Advaitacarya
- The Bhagavad-gita (BG 5.29) states, bhoktaram yajna-tapasam sarva-loka-mahesvaram, indicating that the Supreme Lord, acting in His expansion as the Supersoul, is the proprietor of everything
- The Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad confirms, purnam idam purnat purnam udacyate: Although He expands in many ways, He keeps His original personality. His original spiritual body remains as it is
- The Causal Ocean is created by the Lord as the mahat-tattva, as a cloud in the spiritual sky, and is only a part of His different manifestations. The spiritual sky is an expansion of His personal rays, and He is the mahat-tattva cloud also
- The Causal Ocean, Visnu is lying there, sleeping within the ocean, and from His breathing the universes are coming out. This is God. Because He is in a sleeping condition, that is expansion of God. That is not original God
- The complete manifestation of the cosmic situation is an expansion of the Lord Himself in His impersonal feature. All things are situated in Him only, yet He is not in them
- The cosmic manifestation is an expansion of one of the many energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; the creator and the created are both emanations of the same Supreme Truth, as stated in the beginning of the Bhagavatam
- The creation, first Maha-Visnu; then from Maha-Visnu there is Garbhodakasayi Visnu. From Garbhodakasayi Visnu there is Ksirodakasayi Visnu, expansion of Visnu, and from Him, Brahma comes. Brahma is born out of Garbhodakasayi Visnu on the lotus flower
- The devotees of Lord Visnu are also His expansions. They are called vibhinnamsa
- The energies, the expansions, eko bahu syama: He has expanded Himself, the Lord, in many multiforms. Some of them are called visnu-tattva. Visnu-tattva is equal to the position of the Lord
- The entire cosmic manifestation is an expansion of the Supreme Lord
- The entire cosmic manifestation is but an expansion of the Lord's energy; everything rests in Him, yet He exists separately, beyond creation, maintenance and annihilation
- The entire cosmic manifestation is nothing but an expansion of His (God's) energies; the energies are emanations from Him, and therefore the emanations are simultaneously one with and different from Him
- The expansions of differentiated parts and parcels, called jivas or living entities, are assisting hands of the Lord, and all of them are meant for rendering a particular pattern of service to the Lord
- The expansions of His (the Supreme Personality of Godhead) personal self, or visnu-tattva, are called svamsa expansions, whereas the living entities, who are not visnu-tattva but jiva-tattva, are called vibhinnamsa, separated expansions
- The expansions of Lord Visnu always retain their supremacy; they are never connected with the material qualities
- The external energy is a background, but the Supreme Lord by the expansion of His plenary portion as Paramatma is situated everywhere. He is the Supersoul of all demigods, all human beings, all animals, everywhere. BG 1972 purports
- The fact is that the entire cosmic manifestation is an expansion of the Supreme Lord's energies, which are manifested in the physical elements and the living entities
- The father of Brahma is also there: Garbhodakasayi Visnu. The Garbhodakasayi Visnu is expansion of Karanodakasayi Visnu, the original Visnu, and Karanodakasayi Visnu is expansion of Sankarsana
- The first living creature, Brahma, is called ajah because he did not take his birth from the womb of a mother materially born. He was directly born from the bodily expansion of the lotus flower of the Lord
- The first personal expansion is Sankarsana, and the others are incarnations like the fish incarnation. Sankarsana is an expansion of the Purusa, or Visnu
- The followers of the Pancaratric principles do not accept any differences in knowledge and qualities between Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. The devotees accept all these expansions to be one
- The form of the Lord known as arca-vigraha is an expansion of His unlimited potencies. When the Lord is gradually satisfied with the service of a devotee, in due course of time He accepts the devotee as one of His many unalloyed servants
- The form of the Lord, as seen by Brahma, existed before the creation of Brahma, and the material manifestation with all the ingredients and agents of material creation are also energetic expansions of the Lord
- The Garbhodakasayi Visnu purusa-avatara expansion of Lord Visnu accepts the material modes - sattva-guna, rajo-guna and tamo-guna - and thus incarnates as Lord Visnu, Brahma and Siva. These are incarnations of the material qualities
- The goddess of fortune, Laksmiji, Lord Brahma & Lord Siva are not independently powerful; they are powerful as expansions of the Supreme Lord, and all of them are engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, so also are the living entities
- The gopis are predominated expansions of the internal potency, and therefore the Lord's participation in the rasa-lila dance is never to be considered like the mundane relationship of man and woman
- The immediate expansion of Lord Krsna is Baladeva, and Brahma, born from the lotus flower from Garbhodakasayi Visnu, is an expansion of Baladeva
- The impersonal Brahman and localized Paramatma are expansions of the potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- The impersonal expansion is a manifestation of His (God's) energy, and He is always in His personal feature despite His innumerable unlimited expansions of impersonal energies
- The inconceivable expansion of the Supreme Lord's energy is called acintya-sakti. Therefore no one can understand the real form of the Lord without becoming His devotee
- The living entities are also differentiated expansions of the Lord's Self & because some of them desire to be lords & imitate the SL He allows them to enter into the cosmic creation with the option to fully utilize their propensity to lord it over nature
- The Lord (Caitanya) said to his mother: Everything in relationship with Visnu is to be considered an expansion of Visnu’s energy. Visnu, the Supersoul, is eternal and uncontaminated. How then may these pots be considered pure or impure?
- The Lord exists in His impersonal form by such expansion of energy, and the complete creation rests on His impersonal feature
- The Lord expands Himself in innumerable svamsa forms. When a devotee, hearing about these innumerable forms, becomes attached to one and always thinks of Him, the Lord appears to him in that form
- The Lord expands Himself into many personalities who are either self-expansions or separated expansions. The personalities of the individual souls are His separated expansions, whereas the self-expansions are the Lord Himself
- The Lord has innumerable expansions of His transcendental form, and according to the different positions of the symbolical representations in His four hands, He is known as Narayana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Vasudeva, etc
- The Lord is also all-pervading like the sun, and as such the word pratyak is used in this verse (SB 2.6.40-41). Nothing is excluded from the existence of the Lord's potential expansions
- The Lord is spread throughout the creation in His quadruple expansions and incarnations
- The Lord's vilasa expansions are described in the following verse from the Laghu-bhagavatamrta (1.15): When the Lord displays numerous forms with different features by His inconceivable potency, such forms are called vilasa-vigrahas
- The Lord’s clothing, bedding, slippers and everything required as an ordinary necessity are all transformations of Sesa, Visnu, the expansion of Sri Baladeva
- The Lord’s svamsa expansions are also described in the Laghu-bhagavatamrta (1.17): tadrso nyuna-saktim yo vyanakti svamsa iritah, sankarsanadir matsyadir yatha tat-tat-svadhamasu
- The Maha-varaha Purana declares: All the varied expansions of the Personality of Godhead are transcendental and eternal, and all of them repeatedly descend to all the different universes of the material creation
- The material world is nothing but an expansion of the Lord's material energy, and the entire cosmic manifestation rests upon Him (mat-sthani sarva-bhutani (BG 9.4)). Nonetheless, the Supreme Lord cannot be found here - na caham tesv avasthitah
- The Mayavadi philosophers wrongly think that Krsna loses His own separate existence in His many expansions. This thought is material in nature. BG 1972 purports
- The mundaners are more or less captivated by the unlimited expansion of the rays of the Lord, but the devotees are concerned more with His personal form, from which everything is emanating
- The nitya-mukta living entity knows that he is an expansion of the supreme nitya, or the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead. Being in such a position, he sees the material world with a different vision
- The omnipotent Personality of Godhead has primarily three potential manifestations, namely internal, external, and marginal potencies, with unlimited expansions of these three energies
- The Padma Purana gives evidence that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Vasudeva takes birth in the incarnation of Kapila and, by His expansion of theistic Sankhya philosophy, teaches all the demigods and a brahmana of the name Asuri
- The personified Vedas continued, "Because Your (Lord's) knowledge is also unlimited, there is unlimited competition between Your knowledge and Your expansion of energies"
- The potential expansions can never be calculated by anyone because even the Personality of God Himself, as the incarnation of Sesa, cannot estimate the potencies, although He has been describing them continuously with His one thousand faces
- The real fact is that bhakti can be applied only to Lord Visnu and His expansions
- The relative world is His (God's) phenomenal representation because it is nothing but an expansion of His transcendental energy. Although He is in His abode His energy is distributed everywhere, just as the sun is localized as well as expanded everywhere
- The second purusa, Garbhodakasayi Visnu, is an expansion of Pradyumna; and the third purusa, Ksirodakasayi Visnu, is an expansion of Aniruddha. All these are within the category of manifestations of Narayana, who is a manifestation of Sri Krsna
- The seventy-five percent expansion of His (God's) radiation is called His internal energy, whereas the twenty-five percent expansion is called the external energy of the Lord
- The spirit soul is one, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is manifested in svamsa and vibhinna-msa expansions. The jivas are vibhinnamsa expansions. The different incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are svamsa expansions
- The spiritual conception of life is that everything belongs to God. That is the fact. Isavasyam idam sarvam (ISO 1). Everything belongs to God - the land, water, sky. It is said, bhumir apo analo vayuh. This is expansion of the energy of God
- The Supreme Lord is one, and His expansions are various. He is therefore the Supersoul of everything
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself by svamsa (His personal expansions) and vibhinnamsa (His expansions as the living entities)
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead has multipotencies (parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate (CC Madhya 13.65, purport)). Therefore, as soon as He likes, He uses one of His potencies, and by that expansion He creates this cosmic manifestation
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Freed from all sinful reactions are those who rise from bed at the end of night, early in the morning, and fully concentrate their minds with great attention My expansion of energy the goddess of fortune
- The Supreme Soul exists everywhere. The Vedas enjoin, sarvam khalv idam brahma: everything is Brahman or an expansion of Brahman's energies
- The theory that the Lord's energies, being expansions of the Lord, are as good as the Lord is mistaken
- The transcendental bodily expansions manifested by the Lord for His pastimes in the mortal world, and the appearance and disappearance of such transcendental expansions, are difficult subject matters
- The two sons who took birth from the womb of Marutvati were Marutvan and Jayanta. Jayanta, who is an expansion of Lord Vasudeva, is known as Upendra
- The various descriptions of paramatma, isvara and puman indicate that the expansions of the Supreme Godhead are unlimited
- The various expansions of the Supreme Lord who act to empower the material energy are known as plenary expansions or incarnations. As illustrated by the example of many flames lit from one flame, all these plenary expansions are as good as Visnu Himself
- The Visnu-tattva is the personal expansion, and the living entities are separated expansions. BG 1972 purports
- The visnu-tattva living beings are expansions of the Supreme Lord, and all of them are qualitatively and quantitatively equal with the Lord. But expansions of the jiva-sakti, the category of the ordinary living beings, are not at all equal with the Lord
- Their (the varied expansions of the Personality of Godhead) bodies, composed of eternity, bliss and knowledge, are everlasting; there is no chance of their decaying, for they are not creations of the material world
- Their (the varied expansions of the Personality of Godhead) forms are concentrated spiritual existence, always complete with all spiritual qualities and devoid of material contamination
- Then in the twelfth & thirteenth verses he describes Advaitacarya, who is another principal associate of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s and an incarnation of Maha-Visnu. Thus Advaitacarya is also the Lord, or, more precisely, an expansion of the Lord - CC Intro
- There are diverse manifestations, but, at the same time, they are one in Visnu. Everything is an expansion of Visnu's energy
- There are innumerable expansions of the Lord, and all of them are purusas, or enjoyers, but neither the virat-purusa nor the purusa-avataras - Karanodakasayi, Garbhodakasayi and Ksirodakasayi Visnu - nor any of the many other expansions, is the original
- There are innumerable Vaikuntha planets predominated by the expansions of Visnu. All the Vaikuntha planets are known by a particular name of Visnu
- There are various types of incarnations or expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- There is no difference between the expansion, the expansion of the expansion, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly
- There is no end to the expansions and incarnations of Krsna. Lord Caitanya explains some of them to Sanatana just to give him an idea of how the Lord expands and enjoys
- There is no such rule as cause and effect outside of the material world. Therefore the understanding of cause and effect cannot approach the full, transcendental, complete expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedic literature proves this
- These (expansions) are Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha
- They (all the forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead) are predominating figures on the transcendental platform. There is no trace of material contamination in Their expansions because material laws cannot influence Them
- This is another feature of the mahat-tattva. The vasudeva expansion is also called Krsna consciousness: it is free from all tinges of material passion and ignorance. This clear state of understanding helps one to know the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- This is the constitutional position of the living entities. The Lord is one without a second, and He expands Himself into many for His transcendental pleasure
- This material world is an expansion of the material energy of the Lord. Therefore it is real. It is not false, as sometimes concluded from the example of the snake and the rope
- This time factor is the material cause of creation and is therefore a self expansion of the Personality of Godhead. Time is considered the impersonal feature of the Lord
- Those planets in the spiritual sky, which comprises the seventy-five percent expansion of the internal potency of the Lord, are far, far greater than those planets in the total universes composed of the external potency of the Lord
- Those who have received perfect knowledge in disciplic succession know that everything is an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Lord. Therefore they see the Lord everywhere
- Those who live within the spiritual expansion of the Lord are called liberated souls, whereas the residents of the external expansion are called the conditioned souls
U
- Unalloyed devotees of God know the glories of God in the sense that they can understand how great God is and how great is His expansion of diverse energy. Those who are attached to the perishable body can hardly enter into the realm of the science of God
- Under the circumstances, the Lord's various expansions, such as Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, Candra and Indra, all thought - Gajendra is not asking our help. He is asking the help of the Supreme, who is above all of us
- Unless we accept that there are some differences among the personalities, there is no meaning to the idea that Sankarsana is an expansion of Vasudeva, Pradyumna is an expansion of Sankarsana, and Aniruddha is an expansion of Pradyumna
- Up to this verse (CC Madhya 20.250), the many types of expansions have been described. Now the manifestations of the Lord’s different potencies will be described
V
- Vamanadeva expanding His body and extending His steps, occupied the entire planetary system
- Vasudeva and the three others are direct prabhava pastime forms of Lord Krsna. Of these quadruple forms, the pastime expansions are twenty in number
- Vasudeva, who is an expansion of Narayana, expands Himself as Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Sankarsana. From Sankarsana comes a second Narayana expansion, and from this Narayana come further expansions of Vasudeva, Pradyumna, Sankarsana and Aniruddha
W
- We are also expansion of God, vibhinnamsa. There are two kinds of expansions: svamsa, vibhinnamsa. When Krsna expands in fullness, that is called svamsa, visnu-tattva
- What is known as atma and antaryami, the Supersoul, is but an expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- Whatever we see in this universe is but an expansion of the potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just as the sunshine and heat all over the universe are expansions of the sun
- Whatever we see in this world is but an expansion of various energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is like a fire that spreads illumination for a long distance although it is situated in one place - Visnu Purana
- Whatever we see in this world is simply an expansion of different energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is exactly like a fire that spreads illumination for a long distance although it is situated in one place
- When one becomes Krsna conscious by the grace of the Lord, the fragrance of the lotus feet of the Lord expands, and in this way a materialist may gain freedom from his miseries
- When the Lord expands Himself in innumerable forms, there is no difference in the forms, but due to different features, bodily colors and weapons, the names are different
- Worshiping the expansions for pastimes, such as Nrsimha, Rama, Sesa and Kurma, promotes one to the worship of the Sankarsana quadruple. From that position one is raised to the platform of worshiping Vasudeva, the Supreme Brahman