Pradyumna: "The Lord incarnated Himself as Dattātreya, the son of Ṛṣi Atri and Anasūyā. The history of the birth of Dattātreya as an incarnation of the Lord is mentioned in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa in connection with the story of the devoted wife. It is said there that Anasūyā, the wife of Ṛṣi Atri, prayed before the lords Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva as follows: 'My lords, if you are pleased with me and if you desire me to ask from you some sort of blessings, then I pray that you combine together to become my son.' This was accepted by the lords, and as Dattātreya the Lord expounded the philosophy of the spirit soul and especially instructed Alarka, Prahlāda, Yadu, Haihaya, etc."
Prabhupāda: So here we see that you can have God as your son. There are so many instances. Just like Devakī got Kṛṣṇa as his (her) son: Mother Yaśodā got God as his (her) son—Śacī-mātā, (s)he also got Caitanya Mahāprabhu as son. So this is better philosophy than to accept God as father. That is especially in the Vaiṣṇava philosophy. Others, the impersonalist, voidist, they have no conception of God.
Voidists—"Ultimately everything is zero," and the impersonalists, "God has no form." Both are the same thing, in a different language. The voidists, they say, "Ultimately there is nothing but zero," and the impersonalist statement that, "Maybe something, but it is not person, it is imperson."
Therefore in the Padma Purāṇa this Buddhist theory, voidism, and the Śaṅkara's theory, impersonalism, they are taken as one and the same. Pracchannaṁ bauddham ucyate. Pracchannaṁ bauddham. The Buddhists, they decline to accept the authority of Vedas, and the Māyāvādī, the impersonalist, they wanted to accept the authority of Vedas, but under the garb of Buddhism.
Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given His remark, veda nā māniyā bauddha haya ta' nāstika (CC Madhya 6.168). According to Vedic line of thought, anyone who does not accept the authority of Vedas, he is called atheist. Just like the Muhammadans, they also call kafir. One who does not accept the authority of Koran, they call kafir. And the Christians also, they call heathens. So there are different terms.
So according to our Vedic line of thought, anyone who does not accept the Vedic way of life, he is called atheist. Therefore Buddhist, according to Vedāntist, Buddhist are called atheist. Actually Buddha philosophy does not accept God, neither soul. They simply philosophize on the material elements, and they want to finish the material exis . . . dismantle the material elements. Nirvāṇa. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu has remarked that the Buddhists are honest. They frankly say that "We don't accept your Vedas." But the Śaṅkarites, they are cheaters, because they are accepting Vedas, but on the basis of Buddha philosophy. That is cheating.
So there are many conception of God. But here is a conception of God: to accept God as son. That is only in Vaiṣṇava philosophy. Because we are eternal servants of God. That is our philosophy. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). The living entity, his real constitutional position is to serve God. We have several times explained this fact, that the part and parcel of God must be engaged in the service of the Lord.