Category:God's Greatness
Theme Analysis
The philosophical essence of this category explores the true meaning of the phrase "God is great." While many people accept this statement superficially, the Vedic literatures provide exact details on how He is great. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the greatest (vibhu) because He is absolute, full in all six opulences, and all-pervading. He is simultaneously greater than the largest universal manifestation and smaller than the smallest atom (aṇor aṇīyān). Because He is the supreme whole, the living entity—who is a minute, eternal part and parcel—can never become equal to or greater than Him. To falsely claim equality with God is the height of foolishness (mūḍha). Appreciating the greatness of God is the foundational stage of spiritual life (śānta-rasa). However, true spiritual civilization requires moving beyond mere passive awe and reverence. When one factually understands the supreme greatness of the Lord, a natural inclination to serve Him (dāsya-rasa) awakens. Ultimately, in the highest stages of pure devotional service (like sakhya or mādhurya), awe and veneration are sometimes considered impediments, as the Lord prefers the intimate, spontaneous love that covers His majestic greatness.
- Defining Greatness: The Supreme Lord is the greatest because He is full in wealth, power, fame, beauty, knowledge, and renunciation. Nobody is equal to or greater than Him (asamaūrdhva).
- The Small and the Great: While the living entity is an infinitesimal spark of spirit (aṇu), the Supreme Lord is the infinite whole (vibhu). The part can never become equal to the whole, completely refuting the Māyāvādī philosophy of absolute equality.
- The Foundation of Devotion: Appreciating the greatness of God (śānta-rati) is the beginning of spiritual realization. It is good, but it is not the perfection of love. It must evolve into active service.
- Education is Required: Human society cannot understand how great God is simply by looking at mountains or the sky. Systematic education through authorized scriptures like the Bhagavad-gītā is required to understand the actual activities of His greatness.
- Awe vs. Intimacy: While acknowledging God's greatness is essential, in the highest, most intimate spiritual relationships, feelings of awe and veneration are sometimes viewed as obstacles because they restrict spontaneous, loving exchanges.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Understanding God's Greatness is the Foundation of True Religion.
Subcategories
This category has the following 3 subcategories, out of 3 total.
Pages in category "God's Greatness"
The following 74 pages are in this category, out of 74 total.
A
- A certain class of philosophers, they are astonished simply by seeing the great magnitude of God. But there is smaller, smallest, anor aniyan. These are much smaller than the atom magnitude. But that is beyond our experience. Therefore we say nirakara
- A human being, if he tries, if he consults books of knowledge just like Bible or Bhagavad-gita or similar other scriptures, he can know what is God, how great He is, how omnipotent He is, and what is our relationship with God
- A wise man who simply realizes the greatness of God is also counted among the neophytes. Such beginners can be elevated to the second-class or first-class platform if they associate with pure devotees
- Actually, to be one with the Supreme Lord means to be one with the interest of the Lord. Becoming one with the Supreme Lord does not imply becoming as great as the Supreme Lord. It is impossible. The part is never equal to the whole
- Advaita Acarya, greatly pleased, began to dance, saying - His (Lord Caitanya's) affection for Me is so great that He wanted to save Me from the hands of the Mayavadis
- After talking with the gopis and bestowing upon them the greatest benediction, Lord Krsna welcomed King Yudhisthira and other relatives who had come to see Him
- Although the Lord is present everywhere, He cannot be seen with ordinary eyes. As Aryama says, the Lord is anupalaksita-sthana: no one can locate Him. This is the greatness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- Although there are many foolish Mayavadi philosophers who think that they are even greater than Krsna, Krsna is asamaurdhva: no one is equal to or above Him
- An appreciation of the greatness of the Lord is called santa-rati. This is attachment not to the personal feature but to the impersonal feature. Generally, one in this stage is attached to the Paramatma feature of the Supreme
- An atheist may argue that God is no more expert than a watchmaker, but of course God is greater because He can create machines in duplicate male and female forms
- Ananta's strength is so great that the innumerable universes rest on His hoods
- Anyone who does not appreciate the greatness of God, they're asses, mudha. As good as the ass. And lowest of the mankind, naradhama. And their so-called scientific knowledge, useless
- Arjuna prayed, "My dear Krsna, I thought of You as my cousin-brother, and so I have shown disrespect to You in so many ways, calling You Krsna, or friend. But You are so great that I could not understand"
E
- Everyone is thinking that his understanding is the greatest. He has no idea that how greatest God is. We say "God is great," but we do not know how great He is
- Everyone should know how God or Krsna is great, and everyone should know the factual position of the living entities. BG 1972 Preface
- Everywhere there is knowledge of God consciousness. That teaching should be introduced in every schools & colleges so that children, from the very beginning, may understand what is God, how great he is, how we are related with God, & how we have to live
G
- Generally, a devotee who has achieved the causeless mercy of the Lord on account of following the strict rules and regulations of devotional service becomes attracted by the supreme greatness of the Lord
- God is great. That is the definition of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So at least within this material world, while He was present, Krsna proved that there was no greater personality within the universe
- God is so great, so big, how we can pack up in the ratha? But this is a chance, that you get Him sit on the ratha and prepare it, manufacture it. Because your energy is engaged for His service, that is accepted
- God is so great, so I must render some service to God. This sense of service is further development. Just like from the sky the air develops, similarly, from the idea of greatness of God the sense of service develops
- God proved, "Yes, you (Hiranyakasipu) have cheated Brahma in so many ways with the idea that you will live forever. Now see. I am here. How great I am." So that is the appreciation of the greatness of God
H
- He (Ambarisa Maharaja) engaged his hands in cleansing the temple, he engaged his tongue in tasting the foodstuff offered to the Lord, and he engaged his ears for hearing the great pastimes of the Lord. In that way all his senses were engaged
- He (The Supreme Personality of Godhead) is complete in greatness. God is great, and how He is great is explained here - in SB 8.1.12
- Hiranyakasipu murmured to himself, "Lord Visnu, who possesses great mystic power, has made this plan to kill me, but what is the use of such an attempt? Who can fight with me?" Thinking like this and taking up his club, Hiranyakasipu attacked the Lord
- His first incarnation was that of a great fish. O most powerful Sukadeva Gosvami, I wish to hear from you the pastimes of that fish incarnation
- How he is greater than everyone and nobody is equal to Him - everyone is subordinate, everyone is creation of Him - If you understand these factors of the greatness of God perfectly well, then you become fit for being transferred to the spiritual world
- However you may be great in the estimation of others, you will find somebody is greater than you, and somebody is lower than you, and somebody is equal to you. But so far the greatest Absolute PG is concerned, na tasya samah adhikas ca drsyate
I
- If we give so much credit to the artist who has manufactured this Sputnik, how much credit we shall give to the person who has manufactured this arrangement. This is Krsna consciousness, to appreciate the greatest artist
- If we simply try to explain how Krsna is great, how God is great, that is sufficient service. That is complete service: sravanam kirtana
- If you understand these factors of the greatness of God perfectly well, then you become fit for being transferred to the spiritual world. That is called daivi sampad. This is cultivation. This is education. This is not sentiment
- If you want to know in detail how great He is, to what extent He greatly is, how the actions of His greatness are going on, how His activities of greatness are going on, then you read BG
- In the five principal transcendental relationships, awe and veneration are sometimes impediments obscuring the Lord's actual greatness and sometimes they actually impede one's service to the Lord
M
- May Krishna give you more and more strength my dear child. I am very poor but Krishna is very rich. I can simply pray to Krishna. But Krishna is very great and magnanimous; He can do everything for you and for us all
- My dear Lord, O supreme great, You have created this material world of sixteen constituents, but You are transcendental to their material qualities. In other words, these material qualities are under Your full control, and You are never conquered by them
O
- O best of the great personalities, I am not at all afraid of material existence, for wherever I stay I am fully absorbed in thoughts of Your glories and activities
- O great one, as far as I am concerned, I have preferred only to engage in the loving service of Your lotus feet
- O great one, O Supreme Lord, because of combination with pleasing and displeasing circumstances and because of separation from them, one is placed in a most regrettable position, within heavenly or hellish planets, as if burning in a fire of lamentation
- On the platform of dasya-rasa, the greatest quantity of awe and veneration of the Supreme Lord is exhibited. That is, in the dasya-rasa, the greatness of the Supreme Lord is appreciated
- One should have complete faith in the words of Krsna, who says that He is the great well-wishing friend of everyone (suhrdam sarva-bhutanam). A devotee considers Krsna the only friend. This is called sakhyam. Pumsarpita visnau
- Our imperfect senses cannot think of the greatness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, nor can we bring Him within the limitations of time or our thinking power. His position is accordingly described by the word ullanghita
S
- Simply appreciation of the greatness of God, that is good, in God consciousness, but that is not love
- Sravanam kirtanam, hearing and chanting, are especially important. By hearing from her husband about the greatness of Lord Vasudeva, Devayani certainly became convinced and surrendered herself unto the lotus feet of God - om namo bhagavate vasudevaya
- Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is certainly a great, uncommon devotee, but we cannot accept Him as an incarnation of Lord Visnu because, according to sastra, there is no incarnation in this Age of Kali
- Such nondevotees are not actually melted; they are hard-hearted. But the influence of the glories of the Lord is so great that even the nondevotees sometimes shed tears
T
- That is a real civilization of life, to understand, to appreciate, to appreciate the greatness of God. That is real civilization
- The Absolute Personality of Godhead, He has nothing to do personally. He hasn't got to perform any work, although He is the greatest worker. And nobody is found greater than Him or equal to Him
- The greatest, who is full in six opulences, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- The greatness of the Supreme Lord is so great that it cannot be imagined even by the great brahmacaris or sannyasis, but such happiness is factually attained by the unalloyed devotees of the Lord, by His divine grace
- The living entity is eternal (nitya) like the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the difference is that the Supreme Lord is the greatest, no one being equal to or greater than Him, whereas the living entity is suksma, or extremely small
- The Lord is naturally endowed with His six opulences. Specifically, He is the richest, He is the most powerful, He is the most famous, He is the most beautiful, He is the greatest in knowledge, and He is the greatest renouncer as well
- The only difference is that the Lord is the greatest personality of all and absolute in all His affairs. If, therefore, the Lord is attracted by the pure devotee's chanting of His glories, there is nothing astonishing
- The simple way to worship the Supreme Lord in this age of disturbance is to hear and chant about His great activities
- The Supreme Lord is all-pervading (Bs. 5.35)). Relatively, if the living entity is accepted as the smallest, there should naturally be inquiry about the greatest. The greatest is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the smallest is the living entity
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is greater than all, is attainable by unalloyed devotion. Although He is present in His abode, He is all-pervading, and everything is situated within Him
- The universal cosmic manifestation is also the virat-rupa that was shown to Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita. Therefore, since the Lord is present everywhere and all the time, He is the Absolute Truth and the greatest
- The universe, which emanates from Him, is another feature of the Lord. Therefore the Supreme Lord is the ultimate truth, and He is complete in greatness
- There are five kinds of relationship. Just like "God is great." That is simply feeling the greatness of God. Then, when he feels exactly how God is great, then naturally there will be an inclination to serve God. That is called servitude
- There are five transcendental rasas, or mellows. The initial stage is called santa-rati, wherein one who is liberated from material contamination appreciates the greatness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- There are many instances of harassment of the peaceful devotees by the itaras. When such friction takes place, God, out of His great compassion towards His pure devotees, appears in person, accompanied by His plenary portions controlling the mahat-tattva
- There are those who can simply think of God as being great but do not know how great He is. When they think of greatness, they think of very high mountains, the sky, and other planets
- This is the greatness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; even the wavering of His little finger appears to be a great and very dangerous movement in the eyes of the inhabitants of the universe
- This universe (jagat) is situated on the strength of one part of Krsna's yogic powers. In this way we must understand the greatness of God and our own identity as minute particles
V
- Vibhu, the greatest, must be all-inclusive. If one has a large bag one can hold many things, whereas in a small bag one cannot
- Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura quotes the prayer by Brahma from the Bhagavatam: One whose heart has become completely purified, my Lord, can understand the transcendental qualities of Your Lordship and can understand the greatness of Your activities
W
- We are all brahma. Brahma means spirit soul. You are brahma, I am brahma, everyone. Or you can say we are all God. But the greatest God is different. He is different. That is Krsna
- We should not falsely claim that, "I am as great as the Supreme God." No. We should understand this, animanam. I am as effulgent. Just like spark. Spark is jyoti, but not as brilliant, effulgent, as the original fire
- We should not foolishly claim that we are as great as the Supreme God. We should understand that we are like sparks of the original fire
- When Krsna was swimming about just like a great strong elephant, He made a tumultuous sound, which the great black serpent Kaliya could hear. The tumult was intolerable for him, and he could understand that this was an attempt to attack his home
Y
- You are the friend of all suffering humanity, and for great personalities it is necessary to show mercy to the foolish. Therefore I think that You will show Your causeless mercy to persons like us, who engage in Your service
- You cannot do (to become smaller than yourself); you are fixed up. Your position is fixed up, because you are not God. But God can become. That is greatness