Greatest of all (CC and other books)

Expressions researched:
"greatest of all"

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 6.139, Translation and Purport:

"All the Vedas and literature that strictly follows the Vedic principles explain that the Supreme Brahman is the Absolute Truth, the greatest of all, and a feature of the Supreme Lord."

The greatest of everything is Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: "By all the Vedas, I am to be known." In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.11) it is said that the Absolute Truth is understood in three phases—namely, Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead (brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate). Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the last word in understanding the Absolute Truth, Brahman.

CC Madhya 6.140, Translation and Purport:

"Actually, the Supreme Absolute Truth is a person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, full with all opulences. You are trying to explain Him as impersonal and formless."

Brahman means bṛhattva, the greatest of all. The greatest of all is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He possesses all potencies and opulence in full; therefore the Absolute Truth, the greatest of all, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Whether one says "Brahman" or "the Supreme Personality of Godhead," the fact is the same, for they are identical. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma (BG 10.12). Although the living entities or material nature are sometimes described as Brahman, Parabrahman—the Supreme, the greatest of all Brahmans—is still Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is full with all opulences, and as such He possesses all riches, all strength, all reputation, all knowledge, all beauty and all renunciation. He is eternally a person and eternally supreme. If one tries to explain the Supreme impersonally, one distorts the real meaning of Brahman.

CC Madhya 8.57, Purport:

A great saint, the father of Śrīla Vyāsadeva, Parāśara Muni, has specifically mentioned that devotional service to the Lord can ultimately be awakened in human society by the discharge of duties in accordance with the varṇāśrama system. The Supreme Personality of Godhead instituted varṇāśrama-dharma to give human beings a chance to return home, back to Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is known in the Bhagavad-gītā as Puruṣottama—the greatest of all personalities—personally came and declared that the institution of varṇāśrama-dharma was founded by Him.

CC Madhya 21.34, Translation:

"Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore He is the greatest of all. No one is equal to Him, nor is anyone greater than Him."

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 1.108, Translation and Purport:

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as Puruṣottama, the greatest of all persons, has a pure mind. He is so gentle that even if His servant is implicated in a great offense, He does not take it very seriously. Indeed, if His servant renders some small service, the Lord accepts it as being very great. Even if an envious person blasphemes the Lord, the Lord never manifests anger against him. Such are His great qualities."

This verse is from the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (2.1.138), by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.

CC Antya 20.52, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura says that a devotee does not care about his own happiness and distress; he is simply interested in seeing that Kṛṣṇa is happy, and for that purpose he engages in various activities. A pure devotee has no way of sensing happiness except by seeing that Kṛṣṇa is happy in every respect. If Kṛṣṇa becomes happy by giving him distress, such a devotee accepts that unhappiness as the greatest of all happiness. Those who are materialistic, however, who are very proud of material wealth and have no spiritual knowledge, like the prākṛta-sahajiyās, regard their own happiness as the aim of life. Some of them aspire to enjoy themselves by sharing the happiness of Kṛṣṇa. This is the mentality of fruitive workers who want to enjoy sense gratification by making a show of service to Kṛṣṇa.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 15:

The Lord thus established the import of the eleven words in the Ātmārāma verse, and then He began to explain the import of each item as follows. The word brahman indicates the greatest in all respects. The Lord is the greatest in all opulences. No one can excel Him in wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation. Thus the word brahman indicates the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (1.12.57) the word brahman is given to indicate the greatest of all; the Supreme Lord is the greatest, and there is no limit to His expanding as the greatest. One may conceive of Brahman's greatness, yet this greatness grows in such a way that no one can estimate how great He actually is.