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Attributes (CC and Other Books)

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 1.52, Purport:

The transcendental personal forms of the Lord are a mystery, and the symptoms of these forms, which are absolutely different from anything made of mundane elements, are also mysterious. The innumerable forms of the Lord, such as Śyāmasundara, Nārāyaṇa, Rāma and Gaurasundara; the colors of these forms (white, red, yellow, cloudlike śyāma and others); His qualities, as the responsive Personality of Godhead to pure devotees and as impersonal Brahman to dry speculators; His uncommon activities like lifting Govardhana Hill, marrying more than sixteen thousand queens at Dvārakā, and entering the rāsa dance with the damsels of Vraja, expanding Himself in as many forms as there were damsels in the dance—these and innumerable other uncommon acts and attributes are all mysteries, one aspect of which is presented in the scientific knowledge of the Bhagavad-gītā, which is read and adored all over the world by all classes of scholars, with as many interpretations as there are empiric philosophers. The truth of these mysteries was revealed to Brahmā by the descending process, without the help of the ascending one. The Lord's mercy descends to a devotee like Brahmā and, through Brahmā, to Nārada, from Nārada to Vyāsa, from Vyāsadeva to Śukadeva and so on in the bona fide chain of disciplic succession.

CC Adi 2.103, Purport:

The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.8) informs us:

na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate
na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate
parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate
svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca

(Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)

"The Supreme Lord is one without a second. He has nothing to do personally, nor does He have material senses. No one is equal to Him or greater than Him. He has unlimited, variegated potencies of different names, which exist within Him as autonomous attributes and provide Him full knowledge, power and pastimes."

CC Adi 4.60, Purport:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has three kinds of internal potency, namely the hlādinī-śakti, or pleasure potency, the sandhinī-śakti, or existential potency, and the samvit-śakti, or cognitive potency. In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (1.12.69) the Lord is addressed as follows: "O Lord, You are the support of everything. The three attributes hlādinī, sandhinī and samvit exist in You as one spiritual energy. But the material modes, which cause happiness, misery and mixtures of the two, do not exist in You, for You have no material qualities."

CC Adi 4.63, Translation and Purport:

"O Lord, You are the support of everything. The three attributes hlādinī, sandhinī and samvit exist in You as one spiritual energy. But the material modes, which cause happiness, misery and mixtures of the two, do not exist in You, for You have no material qualities."

This text is from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (1.12.69).

CC Adi 4.248, Translation:

“Thus although I am the source of happiness for the entire world, the beauty and attributes of Śrī Rādhikā are My life and soul.

CC Adi 5.14, Translation:

Beyond the material nature lies the realm known as paravyoma, the spiritual sky. Like Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, it possesses all transcendental attributes, such as the six opulences.

CC Adi 5.44, Translation:

The six attributes are all spiritual. Know for certain that they are all manifestations of the opulence of Saṅkarṣaṇa.

CC Adi 5.104, Translation:

And as Lord Viṣṇu He maintains the entire world. Lord Viṣṇu, being beyond all material attributes, has no touch with the material qualities.

CC Adi 5.233, Translation:

I have described my own story without reservations. The attributes of Lord Nityānanda, making me like a madman, force me to write these things.

CC Adi 5.234, Translation:

The glories of Lord Nityānanda's transcendental attributes are unfathomable. Even Lord Śeṣa, with His thousands of mouths, cannot find their limit.

CC Adi 6.12, Translation:

Being a reservoir of all auspicious attributes, Śrī Advaita Ācārya is all-auspicious for the world. His characteristics, activities and name are always auspicious.

CC Adi 6.33, Translation:

Śrī Advaita Ācārya is the principal limb of the Supreme Lord. His truths, names and attributes are all wonderful.

CC Adi 6.36, Translation:

The glory and attributes of Advaita Ācārya are unlimited. How can the insignificant living entities fathom them?

CC Adi 6.69-70, Translation:

What to speak of the other gopīs, even Śrī Rādhikā, who in every respect is the most elevated of them all and who has bound Śrī Kṛṣṇa forever by Her loving attributes, serves His feet as His maidservant.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 15.237, Purport:

As the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.37–38) confirms:

ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis
tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ
goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti
yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who resides in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, who resembles His own spiritual figure and who embodies the ecstatic potency (hlādinī). Their companions are Her confidantes, who embody extensions of Her bodily form and who are imbued and permeated with ever-blissful spiritual rasa. I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa Himself, with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love."

CC Madhya 20.178, Translation:

“When one compares the beauty, opulence, sweetness and intellectual pastimes of Vāsudeva, the warrior, to Kṛṣṇa, the cowherd boy, son of Nanda Mahārāja, one sees that Kṛṣṇa's attributes are more pleasant.

CC Madhya 24.330, Purport:

One must be qualified by the brahminical qualities mentioned in the śāstras, particularly the Bhagavad-gītā (18.42):

śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ kṣāntir ārjavam eva ca
jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam

"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness—these are the natural qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work."

Unless one is qualified with all these attributes, he cannot be accepted as a brāhmaṇa. It is not a question of simply taking birth in a brāhmaṇa family. In this regard, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura remarks that Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura and Śyāmānanda Gosvāmī, although not born in brāhmaṇa families, are accepted as bona fide spiritual masters because they were brāhmaṇas by qualification. Personalities like Śrī Gaṅgā-nārāyaṇa, Rāmakṛṣṇa and many others, who were actually born in brāhmaṇa families, accepted Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura and Śyāmānanda Gosvāmī as their spiritual masters.

CC Madhya 25.54, Translation:

“According to Vedānta philosophy, the Absolute Truth is a person. When the word "nirguṇa" ("without qualities") is used, it is to be understood that the Lord has attributes that are totally spiritual.

CC Madhya 25.107, Translation:

“"I shall explain to you My actual form and situation, My attributes, activities and six opulences."

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 1.139, Translation:

""O learned devotees, I am by nature ignorant and low, yet even though it is from me that the Vidagdha-mādhava has come, it is filled with descriptions of the transcendental attributes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, will not such a literature bring about the attainment of the highest goal of life? Although its wood may be ignited by a low-class man, fire can nevertheless purify gold. Similarly, although I am very low by nature, this book may help cleanse the dirt from within the hearts of the golden devotees.""

CC Antya 1.184, Translation and Purport:

“"While dancing on the stage after having killed the ruler of uncivilized men (Kaṁsa), Lord Kṛṣṇa, master of all arts, will at the proper time accept the hand of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, who is qualified with all transcendental attributes."

This verse is Lalita-mādhava 1.11.

CC Antya 1.198, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu praised the metaphors and other literary ornaments of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s transcendental poetry. Without such poetic attributes, He said, there is no possibility of preaching transcendental mellows.

CC Antya 3.12, Translation:

"You are known as Gosāñi (teacher or ācārya), but now talk about Your attributes and reputation will spread throughout the city of Puruṣottama. How Your position will be impaired!"

CC Antya 3.96, Translation:

In the Caitanya-maṅgala, Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura has described the attributes of Haridāsa Ṭhākura to some extent.

CC Antya 4.63, Translation and Purport:

“"O lotus-eyed one, great personalities like Lord Śiva desire to bathe in the dust of Your lotus feet to drive away ignorance. If I do not get the mercy of Your Lordship, I shall observe vows to reduce the duration of my life, and thus I shall give up bodies for hundreds of births if it is possible to get Your mercy in that way."

This verse was spoken by Rukmiṇīdevī in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.52.43). Rukmiṇīdevī, the daughter of King Bhīṣmaka, had heard about Kṛṣṇa's transcendental attributes, and thus she desired to get Kṛṣṇa as her husband. Unfortunately, her elder brother Rukmī was envious of Kṛṣṇa and therefore wanted her to be offered to Śiśupāla. When Rukmiṇī became aware of this, she was greatly aggrieved. Thus she wrote Kṛṣṇa a confidential letter, which was presented and read to Him by a brāhmaṇa messenger. This verse appeared in that letter.

CC Antya 4.182, Translation:

"My Lord, we are all fallen, but You have accepted us due to Your attribute of being merciful to the fallen. This is well known all over the world."

CC Antya 4.205, Translation:

After embracing both Haridāsa Ṭhākura and Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu returned to His residence. Then Haridāsa Ṭhākura and Sanātana Gosvāmī, in great ecstatic love, began to describe the Lord's transcendental attributes.

CC Antya 5.79, Translation:

I have described but a fraction of the transcendental attributes of Rāmānanda Rāya, as revealed when he instructed Pradyumna Miśra.

CC Antya 5.81, Translation:

To demonstrate the transcendental attributes of Rāmānanda Rāya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sent Pradyumna Miśra to hear discourses about Kṛṣṇa from him.

CC Antya 5.122, Purport:

Lord Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, is advaya-jñāna; in other words, there is no distinction between His body and His soul, for His existence is completely spiritual. According to the verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam beginning with the words vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam (1.2.11), the Absolute Truth is always to be understood from three angles of vision as Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. Unlike the objects of the material world, however, the Absolute Truth is always one and always the same. Thus there is no distinction between His body and His soul. His form, name, attributes and pastimes, therefore, are completely distinct from those of the material world. One should know perfectly well that there is no difference between the body and the soul of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When one conceives of a distinction between His body and His soul, one is immediately conditioned by material nature. Because a person in the material world makes such distinctions, he is called baddha-jīva, a conditioned soul.

CC Antya 6.309, Translation:

Who could list the unlimited transcendental attributes of Raghunātha dāsa? His strict regulative principles were exactly like lines on a stone.

CC Antya 7.131, Translation:

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “You are both a greatly learned scholar and a great devotee. Wherever there are two such attributes, there cannot be a mountain of false pride.

CC Antya 7.158, Translation:

"I can tolerate whatever He says, bearing it upon my head. He will automatically be merciful to me after considering my faults and attributes."

CC Antya 7.166, Translation:

Gadādhara Paṇḍita is celebrated all over the world for his gentle behavior, his brahminical attributes and his steady love for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Antya 8.81, Translation:

“Even where there are hundreds of good qualities, a critic does not consider them. Rather, he attempts by some trick to point out a fault in those attributes.

CC Antya 11.10, Translation:

I am writing this narration of the pastimes and attributes of the Lord by the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates. I do not know how to write properly, but I am purifying myself by writing this description.

CC Antya 11.50, Translation:

In front of all the great devotees like Rāmānanda Rāya and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu began to describe the holy attributes of Haridāsa Ṭhākura.

CC Antya 11.51, Translation:

As He described the transcendental attributes of Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu seemed to possess five mouths. The more He described, the more His great happiness increased.

CC Antya 12.78, Translation:

Advaita Prabhu and Lord Nityānanda Prabhu submitted these words at the lotus feet of the Lord: “The entire world is naturally obligated to You for Your transcendental attributes.

CC Antya 14.42, Translation:

Having lost His acquired gem, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu became overwhelmed with lamentation by remembering its attributes. Then, grasping the necks of Rāmānanda Rāya and Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, He cried, "Alas, where is My Lord Hari? Where is Hari?" Finally He became restless and lost all patience.

CC Antya 14.49, Translation:

“The gopīs of Vrajabhūmi always taste the nectar of Kṛṣṇa's attributes, His beauty, His sweetness, His aroma, the sound of His flute and the touch of His body. My mind's five disciples, the senses of perception, gather the remnants of that nectar from the gopīs and bring them to the yogī of My mind. The senses maintain their lives by eating those remnants.

CC Antya 15.8, Translation and Purport:

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu realized Lord Jagannātha to be Kṛṣṇa Himself, Lord Caitanya's five senses immediately became absorbed in attraction for the five attributes of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa's beauty attracted the eyes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Kṛṣṇa's singing and the vibration of His flute attracted the Lord's ears, the transcendental fragrance of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet attracted His nostrils, Kṛṣṇa's transcendental sweetness attracted His tongue, and Kṛṣṇa's bodily touch attracted the Lord's sensation of touch. Thus each of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's five senses was attracted by one of the five attributes of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

CC Antya 15.9, Translation:

Just as in a tug-of-war, the single mind of Lord Caitanya was attracted in five directions by the five transcendental attributes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Thus the Lord became unconscious.

CC Antya 16.113, Translation:

“A fragrance and taste that are uncommon and greatly enchanting and that make one forget all other experiences are attributes of Kṛṣṇa's lips.

CC Antya 20.132, Translation:

That chapter also tells how the attributes of Kṛṣṇa's sound attracted the mind of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who then described in ecstasy the meaning of the "kā stry aṅga te" verse.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 21:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to the material modes of nature, but He is fully qualified with transcendental attributes. To accept the Supreme as impersonal is to deny the full manifestation of His spiritual energies. Since the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is full with all varieties of spiritual energy, one who simply accepts the impersonal exhibition of spiritual energy does not accept the Absolute Truth in full. To accept the Supreme in full is to accept spiritual variegatedness, which is transcendental to the material modes of nature. By failing to accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the impersonalists are left with an incomplete conception of Brahman.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 24:

According to a mantra in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad—yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante—this cosmic manifestation is an emanation from the Supreme Absolute Truth and it rests in the Supreme Absolute Truth. Thus the Absolute Truth has been called the ablative, causative and locative performer, and as such He must be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for these are symptoms of personality. As the ablative performer, He is the source of all thinking, feeling and willing in this cosmic manifestation. Without thinking, feeling and willing, there is no possibility of the arrangement and design of the cosmic manifestation. Then again, He is causative, for He is the original designer of the cosmos. And He is also locative: that is, everything is resting in His energy. These attributes are all clearly attributes of His personality.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 46:

A similar statement is to be found in the Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Fifteenth Chapter, verse 48. The four sages headed by Sanaka Muni addressed the Lord as follows: "Dear Supreme Personality of Godhead, Your reputation is very attractive and free from all material contamination. Therefore You are worthy of being glorified and are actually the reservoir of all places of pilgrimage. Auspicious persons who are fortunate enough to be engaged in glorifying Your attributes and who actually know what Your transcendental position is do not even care to accept liberation offered by You. Because they are so transcendentally enriched, they do not care to accept even the post of Indra, the heavenly King. They know that the post of the King of heaven is also fearful, whereas for those who are engaged in glorifying Your transcendental qualities there is only joyfulness and freedom from all danger. As such, why should persons with this knowledge be attracted by a post in the heavenly kingdom?"

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.2:

No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality, and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually situated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality, and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.

This is confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.38):

premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti
yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa Himself with innumerable inconceivable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.

Message of Godhead

Message of Godhead 1:

The learned scholar, who is aware of this transcendental knowledge, does not try to annihilate anyone or order anyone annihilated, like a fool. One may then ask this question: What was the purpose for which Arjuna fought on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra? The answer is plain and simple. The fight that is fought in pursuance of military duty touches the body only. The effects of war or pitched upheavals touch the body only and not the soul, much as the effects of a sumptuous feast touch the hunger of the stomach only and not that of the mind. None of these material effects ever touches the eternal living entity, the spirit soul, because the living spirit is invincible, nonflammable, nonmoistenable, and nondryable. Everything that is material can be cut into pieces, can be burnt up, can be moistened, and can be dried up in the air. Thus, to illustrate that the living entity, or spirit soul, is entirely metaphysical, the above explanation is given as indirect proof by negation of material attributes.

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 1, Purport:

Persons who are infected with the disease of material attachment and who suffer from the pangs of repeated birth and death cannot relish such recitation of the Lord's glories, just as a person suffering from jaundice cannot relish the taste of sugar candy. By nature sugar candy is as sweet as anything, but to a patient suffering from jaundice it tastes as bitter as anything. Still, sugar candy is the best medicine for jaundice. By regular treatment with doses of sugar candy, one can gradually get relief from the infection of jaundice, and when the patient is perfectly cured, the same sugar candy that tasted bitter to him regains its natural sweetness.

In the same way, glorification of the transcendental name, fame, attributes, pastimes, and entourage of the Personality of Godhead tastes bitter to those who are suffering from the infection of material consciousness, but it is very sweet to those who have recovered from this infection.

Page Title:Attributes (CC and Other Books)
Compiler:Visnu Murti
Created:17 of Feb, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=45, OB=6, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:51