Category:God Cannot Be
Theme Analysis
The concept of what God cannot be serves to establish the absolute, infallible, and transcendental nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. According to Śrīla Prabhupāda, the most fundamental truth is that God cannot be subjected to the laws of material nature. Because Lord Kṛṣṇa is the supreme creator and controller of all energies, it is completely illogical to suggest that He can be overpowered by māyā (illusion). If the Supreme were conditioned by illusion, then illusion would be the Supreme. Therefore, He cannot be forced to take a material body or suffer like an ordinary living entity.
Furthermore, the Supreme Lord cannot be perceived by blunt material senses. He is known as Adhokṣaja, meaning He is beyond the reach of mundane sight, hearing, and empirical research. One cannot capture Him simply through academic scholarship, mental speculation, or logic. He can only be realized when He voluntarily reveals Himself to a pure devotee engaged in unalloyed devotional service. Because He is fully spiritual and eternal, God cannot be manufactured by human imagination, nor can the Absolute Truth be dull matter or an impersonal void. He is eternally the Supreme Person.
Finally, the Lord cannot be partial, envious, or dictated to by anyone. He is situated equally in the core of everyone's heart as the supreme father and neutral maintainer. Although He sometimes appears to favor the demigods or punish the demons, this is merely the impartial action of His time factor and His perfect reciprocation with the desires of the living entities. His will cannot be checked, and whatever He does is absolute.
- The Supreme Controller: God cannot be controlled by māyā or the laws of material nature, because He is their original creator and master.
- Beyond Mundane Senses: The Lord cannot be perceived, heard, or understood by imperfect material senses, logic, or academic scholarship.
- The Supreme Person: The Absolute Truth cannot be manufactured, nor can He be impersonal, dull matter, or a product of limited human imagination.
- Absolute Neutrality: God cannot be partial, envious, or dictated to; He is the equal, neutral father of all, whose supreme will cannot be checked.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: God Cannot Be - The Infallibility of the Absolute Truth.
Subcategories
This category has the following 3 subcategories, out of 3 total.
D
G
Pages in category "God Cannot Be"
The following 36 pages are in this category, out of 36 total.
A
- A spiritual thing cannot be manufactured - as God cannot be manufactured. God is always God, and the words of God is also God
- Actually it is a fact that the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be perceived by material senses as far as His form, name, quality, pastimes or paraphernalia are concerned
- 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
- An example given in this regard (being the supreme controller of the laws of nature, the Lord cannot be under their influence) is that although the wind blows through many places, the air is not affected by the qualities of these places
- As the controller of all energies, He (God) cannot at any time be under their influence, as we are
G
I
- If I am creator of something, so I cannot be under that particular thing which is created. It is logical. So therefore, because the Supreme Brahman, or Bhagavan, is the creator of this material nature, He cannot be under the control of maya
- It is said in BG that the Lord cannot be seen by our imperfect eyes, He cannot be heard by our imperfect ears, & He cannot be experienced by our imperfect senses; but if one engages in devotional service with faith and devotion, then God reveals Himself
- It is said that "Don't read just like a academic scholar." No. That will not benefit you. It will benefit you, but it will take long, long time. Because without bhakti, God cannot be captured
S
- Since He is addressed as the primeval philosopher and maintainer and well-wisher of the universe, the Supreme Truth cannot be impersonal. This is the verdict of Sri Isopanisad
- Sometimes it appears that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is one hundred percent spiritual, cannot be the cause of the illusory potency which covers the knowledge of the individual soul
T
- The Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, educated Lord Brahma from the heart (SB 1.1.1): tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye. Therefore the Absolute Truth cannot be dull matter; the Absolute Truth must be the Supreme Person Himself
- The demon should have known that God cannot be driven out of any place, for He is all-pervading
- The fact is that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul, cannot be attained simply by explanations, logic and erudite scholarship. One cannot understand Him simply by one’s brain substance
- The foolish conditioned soul does not take into account that the Supreme cannot be conditioned by maya or illusion. If the Supreme were to become conditioned by illusion, where would be His supremacy? In that case, maya, or illusion, would be the Supreme
- The Lord is described here (in SB 8.3.10) as atma-pradipa. The Lord is like the sun, which illuminates everything and cannot be illuminated by anyone
- The Lord is equally situated in the core of everyone's heart. Thus He cannot be envious of anyone or friendly to anyone; for Him everyone is the same
- The Lord's body, being all spiritual and thus eternal, neither takes birth nor dies. Nor can the Lord be forced to take birth in some particular family due to His past deeds, as an ordinary living being is
- 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 Personality of Godhead, who conducts the creation, maintenance and annihilation of the complete cosmic manifestation, cannot be a human being. BG 1972 purports
- The protection given by the SP of Godhead cannot be compared to the protection given by the demigods. It is said that Ravana was a great devotee of Lord Siva, but when Lord Ramacandra went to kill him, Lord Siva could not give him protection
- The Supreme Brahman, who is spreading the effulgence of light, He cannot be covered. We, the small particles are covered. Mam eva nabhijanati (BG 7.13). In the Bhagavad-gita this is. They are bewildered by this external energy
- The Supreme Lord is very fond of His devotee and cannot be separated from him. BG 1972 purports
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot abide by anyone's dictation. Whatever He does is absolute
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be partial; He is always equal to everyone. Therefore when the demigods are favored and the demons killed, this is not His partiality but the influence of the time factor
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the master of the material nature (mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sacaracaram (BG 9.10)). Therefore, being the supreme controller of the laws of nature, the Lord cannot be under their influence
- The word avyakta, "unmanifested," in this verse indicates that the Absolute Truth cannot be manifested by any strain of so-called scientific advancement of knowledge. Transcendence is not the subject matter of direct experience