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I would like to put a question about the relation between Krsna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Paramatma and Brahman. Which is the relation between these concepts?

Expressions researched:
"Brahman. Which is the relation between these concepts" |"I would like to put a question about the relation between Krsna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Paramatma and Brahman"

Lectures

General Lectures

No. It is not different. Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān. The Absolute Truth is one, but He is realized by different persons differently.
Lecture at Upsala University Faculty -- Stockholm, September 7, 1973:

Guest: I would like to put a question about the relation between Kṛṣṇa, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Paramātmā and Brahman...

Prabhupāda: Brahman.

Guest: Brahman. Which is the relation between these concepts? They are, according to your commentaries, in Bhagavad-gītā, different. But what is...

Prabhupāda: No. It is not different. Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān. The Absolute Truth is one, but He is realized by different persons differently. Just like there is a big hill. So from very distant place you see that hill just like something like cloud. But if you go forward, then you see something green. And if you go actually to the hill, you see there are so many trees, so many houses, so many living entities. The object is the same, but realization from different angle of vision is different. That is the description of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Absolute Truth is called tattva. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam (SB 1.2.11). When I see the hill as a cloud, it is the same hill. When I see the hill as something green, that is the same hill. And when I see the hill actually, it is functioning, there are so many trees, so many animals, so many men, so many houses, this same hill. Similarly, Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān is the same thing, but it appears different according to persons' different realization. But ultimately, the Absolute Truth is Bhagavān, Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Guest: But what is this personality? It is not the same as our personality.

Prabhupāda: That I have already said, that He is different.

Guest: In which we..., way do you use the concept of personality?

Prabhupāda: He is person. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. In the Second Chapter He says, "My dear Arjuna, I, you, and all these persons who assembled, it is not that we were not existing in the past, it is not that that we shall not exist in the future." When He says "I, you and all these persons," they are all persons. God is also person, Arjuna is also person, and the all other who assembled in the battlefield, they are also persons. So Kṛṣṇa says, "All these persons, they were existing in the past, now they are existing, and in future they will exist." So there is past, present, future. In no time, God is impersonal, neither we are impersonal. We are also personal. And that is also confirmed, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān, Kaṭha Upaniṣad (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13), that He is the chief person amongst other persons. We living entities, we are many persons, and God is the chief person. And what is the difference between this person and that person, the singular number person, one, and the plural number person, many? That is explained: eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. That one singular number person is supplying all the necessities of these different plural persons. That is the distinction. These things are expressed in Upaniṣad, Vedānta-sūtra. So ultimately, God is person.

Guest: But in, when Upaniṣads say there is...

Prabhupāda: Impersonal description.

Guest: The unity is unexpressible. It is,

Prabhupāda: Unexpressible...

Guest: Nothing can be said about...

Prabhupāda: No. Why not?

Guest: ...the Supreme.

Prabhupāda: Why not? Just like this is also Upaniṣad, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). So He's a person. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). There are so many. Apāṇi-pādo javano grahītā. Sa aikṣata, sa asṛjata. So when they say... In Christian Bible also, they believe God created. So if He's a creator, He must be a person. But His body is different from our body. That I have explained. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1).

Swedish man: Well, I would like to thank you for your talk. Thank you very much.

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa. (end)

Page Title:I would like to put a question about the relation between Krsna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Paramatma and Brahman. Which is the relation between these concepts?
Compiler:Mangalavati, Rishab
Created:07 of May, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1