Who or What is God?

The Wisdom of Srila Prabhupada: Lesson 3

Question:

Who or what is God? How can we understand Him?

Answer:

God is Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srila Prabhupada explains that Krishna is not an abstract concept or impersonal force but the ultimate source of all energies, the original person, and the cause of all causes. To know Krishna is to know everything.

Explanation:

In the Bhagavad-gita (10.8), Krishna declares: “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.” This verse establishes Krishna as the supreme origin of everything, both material and spiritual.

Srila Prabhupada emphasized that Krishna is not an ordinary historical figure or a mythological deity. He is the eternal Supreme Being, possessing infinite qualities such as beauty, strength, knowledge, fame, wealth, and renunciation. Krishna’s activities, as described in the Vedic scriptures, are not like the activities of ordinary persons but are transcendental and meant to attract the hearts of all living beings.

Understanding God as Krishna transforms our relationship with Him. This understanding is supported by countless great acharyas and sages throughout history, such as Madhvacharya, Ramanujacharya, and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who have all confirmed Krishna’s supremacy through their teachings and personal realizations. Srila Prabhupada explained that Krishna is not a distant, impersonal force but a loving, personal God who desires a relationship with each of us. By hearing about Krishna and engaging in devotional service, we can begin to understand His nature and experience His presence in our lives.

Srila Prabhupada would often say that knowing Krishna is the culmination of all knowledge. Just as knowing the root of a tree nourishes all its branches, knowing Krishna allows us to understand all aspects of life. This is why the Bhagavad-gita repeatedly emphasizes surrender to Krishna as the ultimate path to spiritual realization.

Suggested Reading:

For more on this subject, refer to Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is, 10.8, including the purport. This verse highlights Krishna’s supreme position and how understanding Him transforms our lives.