Category:God's Legs
Theme Analysis
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is often described in the Vedas as having no hands or legs, yet He accepts all offerings and runs faster than anyone. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies this apparent contradiction by explaining that while God has no material legs like ours, He possesses transcendental legs that are omnipotent and spiritual. These legs are not limited by material laws; with them, He can not only walk but also perform the functions of other senses, such as eating or seeing. The impersonalists who deny the Lord's form are considered offenders, for the scriptures vividly describe His lotus feet, ankles, and the service rendered to His legs by the goddess of fortune. Furthermore, the universal form depicts the sūdras and the lower planets as generated from His legs, signifying their importance in the cosmic body. Ultimately, realizing that God has a form with two hands and two legs is the natural conclusion of the statement that man is made in the image of God.
- Spiritual vs. Material: God has no material legs, but He has spiritual legs that can travel anywhere.
- Omnipotence: His limbs are interchangeable; He can eat with His eyes or see with His legs (angani yasya sakalendriya-vrtti-manti).
- Refuting Impersonalism: To say God has no legs is blasphemy; if man is made in God's image, God must be a person with two legs.
- Universal Form: The lower planets and the laborer class (sūdras) are represented by the Lord's legs.
- Service: The goddess of fortune constantly massages the Lord's legs, and devotees are advised to meditate on His limbs from the feet up.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: God's Transcendental Legs.
Subcategories
This category has the following 8 subcategories, out of 8 total.
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Pages in category "God's Legs"
The following 69 pages are in this category, out of 69 total.
A
- A creator must possess an all-pervasive body, as pointed out in the Bhagavad-gita (3.14): Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Supersoul exists, pervading everything
- A yogi is advised to meditate on the form of Lord Visnu from point to point, from ankles to legs to knees to thighs to chest to neck, and in this way gradually up to the face and then to the ornaments. There is no question of impersonal meditation
- A yogi is advised to meditate on the form of Lord Visnu from point to point, from the ankles to the legs to the knees to the thighs to the chest to the neck, and in this way gradually up to the face and then to the ornaments
- According to Svetasvatara Upanisad, although Brahman has no material hands and legs, He nonetheless walks in a very stately way and accepts everything that is offered to Him. This suggests that He has transcendental limbs and is therefore not impersonal
- All the forms of that Supreme Person are eternal. (Maha-varaha Purana) The Supreme Person has a form, with hands and legs and other personal features, but His hands and legs are not material
- Although we do not see His head, face, hands, or legs, He has them, and when we are elevated to the transcendental situation then we can see the Lord's form. BG 1972 purports
- Apparently it is contradictory. If He has no leg, then how He can walk more speedily than anyone? These are Vedic mantra
- As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, His (The Lord's) hands and legs are everywhere, for He is all-pervasive. The hands, legs, ears & eyes of all living entities are acting and moving by the direction of the Supersoul sitting within the living entity's heart
B
- Because of His desiring to control movement, His legs became manifested, from the legs the controlling deity Visnu was generated. By His personal supervision of this act, all varieties of human being are busily engaged in dutiful occupational sacrifice
- Because they are constantly blaspheming the Supreme Personality of Godhead by saying that He has no head, hands or legs, Mayavadi philosophers remain offenders for many, many births, even though they have partially realized Brahman
- Brahmanas are born from the mouth of the universal form of Visnu, the ksatriyas are born from His arms, the vaisyas from His abdomen or waist, and the sudras from His legs. In the formation of a body, the head is the principal factor
E
- Every part of His (the Lord's) body is pleasing for everyone to see. Apart from His smiling face, every part of His body - His hands, His legs, His chest - is pleasing to the devotees, who cannot at any time stop seeing the beautiful form of the Lord
- Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes and faces, and He hears everything. In this way the Supersoul exists. BG 13.14 - 1972
G
- God has a form just like a human being, two hands, two legs, and He Himself comes to show Him. That is Krsna. He is not nirakara. Isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah (Bs. 5.1). Vigraha means form
- God has His eyes, heads, legs, hands everywhere. Therefore He is all-pervasive. So just like government has got vigilance
- God is served by the sixteen, namely the five elements (earth, water, air, fire & sky), the five perceptive sense organs (the eye, ear, nose, tongue & skin), & the five working sense organs (hand, leg, stomach, evacuation outlet & genitals), & the mind
- Goddess of fortune, Laksmi, who engages in massaging the legs, ankles and thighs of the Lord, is called the mother of Brahma, but actually Brahma is born from the abdomen of the Lord, not from the abdomen of his mother
H
- He (God) can see with His hands and legs. He does not need a particular bodily part to perform a particular action. Angani yasya sakalendriya-vrttimanti (SU): He can do anything He desires with any part of His body, and therefore He is called almighty
- He is known as Trivikrama because once, in His incarnation of Vamana, He expanded His leg beyond the highest planetary system, Satyaloka, and reached the neutral state of the modes of nature called the covering of the material world
- He is well decorated with an ornamental wreath about His waist and rings studded with valuable jewels on His fingers. His leglets, His bangles, His oiled hair, curling with a bluish tint, and His beautiful smiling face are all very pleasing
I
- In the Brahma-samhita it is said that the Lord has a transcendental form and that He can utilize any one of His senses for any purpose. For example, He can eat with His eyes, and He can see with His leg
- In the sruti-mantras it is also said that although the Lord has no hands and legs like ours, He has a different type of hands and legs, by which He can accept all that we offer Him and run faster than anyone
- In the Svetasvatara Upanisad (3.19) it is clearly explained that the Absolute Truth has no material legs and hands, but in that scripture it is indicated that He has spiritual hands by which He accepts everything offered to Him
- In the virat-rupa the material manifestations of different planets have been conceived as His legs, hands, etc. Actually all such descriptions are for the neophytes. The neophytes cannot conceive of anything beyond matter
- It is further stated that with each and every part of His body He can do the work of the other senses. This means that the Lord can walk with His hands, accept things with His legs, see with His hands and feet, eat with His eyes, etc
- It is He only who in His form of Trivikrama moved His leg effortlessly beyond the topmost planet, Satyaloka, up to the neutral state of the three modes of material nature. And all were moved
- It is said in the Bible, "Man is made after the image of God." So God has got two hands, two legs, exactly. But He is the omnipotent, almighty. Our power is limited; His power is unlimited. Otherwise, He has got form
- It is said that the Supreme Lord has no legs like us, but He can travel throughout space because He has spiritual legs. BG 1972 purports
- It is stated in the Svetasvatara Upanisad (3.19): Although the Supreme Lord is described as having no hands and legs, He nonetheless accepts all sacrificial offerings. He has no eyes, yet He sees everything. He has no ears, yet He hears everything
L
- Laborer class of men, they are considered to be the legs of the Supreme Lord. So anyone in this society, or in this human society or material world, they must have some situation. There is some positive position of everyone in the body of the Supreme
- Lord Brahma and Lord Siva saw the belt on the Lord's waist, the bangles on His arms, the necklace on His chest, and the ankle bells on His legs
O
- One should take the remnants of the Lord’s food. (59) One should sit before the Lord and think that he is massaging the Lord’s legs. (60) One should decorate the Lord’s bed with flowers before the Lord takes His rest
- One thorn, which causes pinpricks on the leg of the Lord, is certainly disturbing to the Lord, and the other thorn, which takes out the disturbing elements, certainly gives service to the Lord
- One's hands and legs are distributed locally, but Krsna's hands and legs are distributed everywhere. This is confirmed in the Svetasvatara Upanisad: sarvasya prabhum isanam sarvasya saranam brhat. BG 1972 purports
S
- Seeing You in the form of Lord Visnu, Your symptoms and form being transcendental, Your legs extending from the lower planets, Lord Brahma achieved transcendental bliss
- Service was manifested from the legs of the Personality of Godhead for the sake of perfecting the religious function. Situated on the legs are the sudras, who satisfy the Lord by service
- She can always be found massaging the legs and thighs of the transcendental Lord, very carefully serving Him in this way
T
- The brahmanas are born from the mouth of the universal form of the Lord, the ksatriyas are born out of the arms, the vaisyas out of the waist, and the sudras out of the legs. As such, they are qualified in the different modes of material nature
- The brahmanas represent His mouth, the ksatriyas His arms, the vaisyas His thighs, and the sudras are born of His legs
- The conception of the Absolute without hands and legs and the conception of the Absolute with hands and legs are apparently contradictory, but they both coincide with the same truth about the Supreme Absolute Person
- The demigods are various assistants who act like the hands and legs of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- The kingdom of God is unlimited; therefore the number of the assisting hands of the Lord is also unlimited. The Bhagavad-gita (BG 13.14) asserts that the Lord has His hands, legs, eyes and mouths in every nook and corner of His creation
- The ksatriyas are said to be created from His arms (of Virat-Purusa), the vaisyas are created from His waist, and the sudras are created from His legs
- The Lord (Maha-visnu), although lying in the Causal Ocean, came out of it, and dividing Himself as Hiranyagarbha, He entered into each universe and assumed the virat-rupa, with thousands of legs, arms, mouths, heads, etc
- The Lord is not impersonal; He has His eyes, legs, hands and everything else, and because we are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord we also have these things. But His hands, legs, eyes and senses are not contaminated by material nature. BG 1972 purports
- The lower part of the universe is considered the feet and legs of the Lord's universal form, the middle part of the universe is considered the navel or abdomen of the Lord
- The mountain's waterfalls, herbs, etc., with a panorama of flowers, seem like garlands, but the Lord's gigantic body, and His hands and legs, decorated with jewels, pearls, tulasi leaves and flower garlands, mocked the scene on the mountain
- The other parts of Maha-Visnu's legs, the joints and lower extremities, were all very beautiful, the nails of His feet were dazzling, and His toes were as beautiful as the petals of the lotus flower. His helmet was decorated with very valuable jewels
- The personified Vedas continued their prayers, "Dear Lord, Your impersonal feature is explained in the Vedas. You have no hands, but You can accept all sacrifices offered to You. You have no legs, but You can walk more swiftly than anyone else"
- The principle of service was generated from the legs of the Lord for the sake of perfecting the religious process, but this transcendental service is different from the idea of service in the material world
- The purusa incarnation lying on the Causal Ocean is called the original purusa in the material creations, and in His virat form, in whom all the planets and their inhabitants live, He has many thousands of legs and hands
- The Supreme has legs and hands distributed everywhere, and this cannot be said of the individual soul. Therefore that there are two knowers of the field of activity, the individual soul and the Supersoul, must be admitted. BG 1972 purports
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is decried by the Mayavadi philosophers, who are almost demons. They say that God has no head, no form, no existence and no legs, hands or other bodily limbs
- The Vedic mantras say: the Supreme Lord has no legs and hands, but He can accept whatever is offered to Him. Such statements accept that God has hands and legs, but deny that He has material hands and legs. This is why the Absolute is called aprakrta
- The Visnu form called Ananta-sayana has thousands of hands and legs and thousands of eyes, and He is the active generator of all the incarnations within the material world
- The whole is the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His virat-rupa, or universal form. The brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras are respectively the mouth, arms, abdomen and legs of the universal form of the Lord
- There is no need to serve the demigods, who are just like the hands and legs of the Supreme Lord. When the Supreme Lord is served, the hands and legs of the Supreme Lord are automatically served. There is no need of separate service
- Thereafter, from the head of the gigantic form, the heavenly planets were manifested, and from His legs the earthly planets and from His abdomen the sky separately manifested themselves
- Thus the Vedic statements describe that the Absolute has no legs, no hands, no eyes, no ears and no mind, and yet He can act through His potencies and fulfill the needs of all living entities
U
- Unless God has got form, two hands, two legs, like that, how man has got two hands, two legs? If we are imitation of God, then God must be person. This is natural conclusion
- Upon being purified, Brahma could see the supreme form of the Lord. The impersonal Brahman cannot have heads, noses, ears, hands and legs. This is not possible, for these are attributes of the Lord's form
W
- When it is stated that the Supreme Lord has no hands and legs, one should not think that He is impersonal. Rather, He has no mundane hands or legs like ours
- When Krsna and Balarama, with the strength of Their legs, crawled in the muddy places created in Vraja by cow dung and cow urine, Their crawling resembled the crawling of serpents, and the sound of Their ankle bells was very charming - SB 10.8.22
- When the Deity is laid down, His legs should be massaged. Before laying the Deity down, a pot of milk and sugar should be offered to Him. After taking this thick milk, the Deity should lie down and should be offered betel nuts and spices to chew
- Within a very short time both Rama and Krsna began to walk very easily in Gokula on Their legs, by Their own strength, without the need to crawl - SB 10.8.26