Representative of God - an essential subject: Difference between revisions
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The Lord being very merciful to all living beings sends His representatives all over the universe to engage in various services. The lord does not have to endeavor or use His energy to run the affairs of this world. He empowers special souls to take control of this universe. Just like in this material world, every country has a president and the president has a lot ministers working under his direct control. Those ministers are assigned to do different jobs for the government without the president being physically present or involved. Similarly the Lord appoints different souls like demigods and pure devotees to perform specific duties in this universe. These pure devotees are very merciful to all living entities. Therefore it is our duty to be respectful and obedient to all these pure devotees, who are representatives of God. By following the representatives of God we get the same result as following God directly. | |||
Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes '''[[Vaniquotes:Category: | Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes '''[[Vaniquotes:Category:Representative of God |Representative of God ]]''' category. An introduction from his books is given below in the following 8 quotes. | ||
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== Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books == | == Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books == | ||
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{{VaniQuotebox| | {{VaniQuotebox|A devotee or a disciple should never attempt to criticize the Lord or His representative, the spiritual master|Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was considered the guide and spiritual master of all the devotees living with Him. Dāmodara Paṇḍita was one of them, and the Lord rendered Dāmodara Paṇḍita a special favor by warning him to avoid criticizing Him any further. A devotee or a disciple should never attempt to criticize the Lord or His representative, the spiritual master. '''(Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.25)'''}} | ||
{{VaniQuotebox| | {{VaniQuotebox|A representative of God never claims that he is God, although he is paid all the respect ordinarily paid to God because he has knowledge of God|A person may be in full knowledge that he is not this body but is transcendental to the body, he still may not be able to discriminate between the soul and the Supersoul. However, he can know everything well if he cares to take shelter of the perfect, bona fide Kṛṣṇa conscious spiritual master. One can know God and one's relationship with God only when one actually meets a representative of God. A representative of God never claims that he is God, although he is paid all the respect ordinarily paid to God because he has knowledge of God. '''(Bhagavad-gītā 5.16)'''}} | ||
{{VaniQuotebox| | {{VaniQuotebox|According to Vedic civilization, a qualified ksatriya monarch is given the respect of the Lord because he represents the Lord by giving protection to the prajas. Modern elected presidents cannot even give protection from theft cases|According to Vedic civilization, a qualified kṣatriya monarch is given the respect of the Lord because he represents the Lord by giving protection to the prajās. Modern elected presidents cannot even give protection from theft cases, and therefore one has to take protection from an insurance company. The problems of modern human society are due to the lack of qualified brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas and the overinfluence of the vaiśyas and śūdras by so-called general franchise. '''(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.6.31)'''}} | ||
{{VaniQuotebox| | {{VaniQuotebox|Devotees are simply determined to execute the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His representative, the spiritual master. In all circumstances, even amidst the greatest dangers, they undeviatingly carry on with the greatest determination|Devotees are simply determined to execute the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His representative, the spiritual master. In all circumstances, even amidst the greatest dangers, they undeviatingly carry on with the greatest determination. This definitely proves the intense love of the servitor. '''(Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 4.186)'''}} | ||
{{VaniQuotebox| | {{VaniQuotebox|In the material world, Brahma is the complete representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and transcendental sound, pranava, comes from him|In the material world, Brahmā is the complete representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and transcendental sound, praṇava, comes from him. He is therefore invested with multifarious energies, from which all the demigods like Indra, Candra and Varuṇa are manifested. His transcendental value is not to be minimized, even though he exhibited a tendency to enjoy his own daughter. There is a purpose for the exhibition of such a tendency by Brahmā, and he is not to be condemned like an ordinary living entity. '''(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.12.38)'''}} | ||
{{VaniQuotebox| | {{VaniQuotebox|It should be accepted that the acaryas are on the same platform as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such neither Krsna nor His representative acarya should be subjected to any adverse criticism by the neophyte devotees|Because a pure devotee follows in the footsteps of the ācāryas, any action he performs to discharge devotional service should be understood to be on the transcendental platform. Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore instructs us that an ācārya is above criticism. A neophyte devotee should not consider himself to be on the same plane as the ācārya. It should be accepted that the ācāryas are on the same platform as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such neither Kṛṣṇa nor His representative ācārya should be subjected to any adverse criticism by the neophyte devotees. '''(Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 87)'''}} | ||
{{VaniQuotebox| | {{VaniQuotebox|One should strictly follow this sastric injunction and worship the Deity, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without offenses. The spiritual master is the direct representative of the Lord, and no one should consider him an ordinary human being|No one should treat the Deity in the temple as stone or metal, nor should one think that the spiritual master is an ordinary human being." One should strictly follow this śāstric injunction and worship the Deity, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without offenses. The spiritual master is the direct representative of the Lord, and no one should consider him an ordinary human being. By avoiding offenses against the Deity and the spiritual master, one can advance in spiritual life, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness. '''(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.17.14)'''}} | ||
{{VaniQuotebox| | {{VaniQuotebox|One's whole advancement of material happiness immediately terminates along with his body as soon as his life is over. Death is therefore taken as the representative of God for the atheistic class of men|Advancement of material happiness immediately terminates along with his body as soon as his life is over. Death is therefore taken as the representative of God for the atheistic class of men. The devotee realizes the presence of God by devotional service, whereas the atheist realizes the presence of God in the shape of death. At death everything is finished, and one has to begin a new chapter of life in a new situation, perhaps higher or lower than the last one. In any field of activity—political, social, national or international—the result of our actions will be finished with the end of life. That is sure. '''(Nectar of Devotion, Preface)'''}} | ||
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Latest revision as of 17:22, 22 November 2020
The Lord being very merciful to all living beings sends His representatives all over the universe to engage in various services. The lord does not have to endeavor or use His energy to run the affairs of this world. He empowers special souls to take control of this universe. Just like in this material world, every country has a president and the president has a lot ministers working under his direct control. Those ministers are assigned to do different jobs for the government without the president being physically present or involved. Similarly the Lord appoints different souls like demigods and pure devotees to perform specific duties in this universe. These pure devotees are very merciful to all living entities. Therefore it is our duty to be respectful and obedient to all these pure devotees, who are representatives of God. By following the representatives of God we get the same result as following God directly.
Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes Representative of God category. An introduction from his books is given below in the following 8 quotes.
Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books
Representative of God - explore more within this category.
Vanipedia has now over 903 introductory articles compiled from Srila Prabhupada's books under the series titled Essential Subjects. All these articles can be seen in the Table of Content on the right side of this article and also here in this Umbrella Category. Browse through them to relish the breadth and depth of Srila Prabhupada's teachings - There is a subject for everyone.