God is Great - an essential subject

The highest summit of spiritual perfection is knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unless one is firmly convinced of the different opulences of the Supreme Lord, he cannot engage in devotional service. Generally people know that God is great, but they do not know in detail how God is great. Here are the details. If one knows factually how God is great, then naturally he becomes a surrendered soul and engages himself in the devotional service of the Lord. When one factually knows the opulences of the Supreme, there is no alternative but to surrender to Him. This factual knowledge can be known from the descriptions in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā and similar literatures.

Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes God is Great category. An introduction from his teachings is given below in the following 8 quotes.

Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's teachings


vanipedia.org 		This transcendental science, bhakti-yoga, means to surrender unto the Supreme Lord. This is the simple thing. God is great and we are small. God is prabhu, and we are aṇu. We have got the God's quality as part and parcel, mamaivāṁśa jīva-bhūtaḥ. Kṛṣṇa says that "These jīvas, they are My part and parcel." So gold mine and gold earring, both of them are gold, but the quantity of gold in the earring and the quantity of gold in the mine is not the same. (General Lecture, 4 January 1976, Nellore)



vanipedia.org 		This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is bhāgavata-dharma, to teach throughout the whole world that God is great and we are small particle part and parcel of God, our duty is to serve God, that is bhakti. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam (CC Madhya 19.167), when you favorably serve Kṛṣṇa, be ready to get orders from Kṛṣṇa and serve Him, that is perfection of life. (Bhagavad-gītā Lecture, 20 December 1975, Bombay)



vanipedia.org 		Any person who has special qualifications becomes immediately very attractive to women.A devotee made the following statement about the queens of Dvārakā: "How shall I describe the glories of the queens of Dvārakā, who were personally engaged in the service of the Lord? The Lord is so great that simply by chanting His name all the great sages like Nārada can enjoy transcendental bliss. So what can be said about those queens, who were at every moment seeing the Lord and serving Him personally?" (Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 22)



vanipedia.org 		It is explicitly stated here that the devotees are very fortunate to be delivered very soon from material existence by the Lord. In pure devotional service one comes to the realization that God is great and that the individual soul is subordinate to Him. His duty is to render service to the Lord—and if he does not, then he will render service to māyā. (Bhagavad-gītā 12.6-7)



vanipedia.org 		If simply we understand that "Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Person. He is great, and we are all subordinate. So our duty is to serve Kṛṣṇa," these two lines, if we understand, then our life is perfect. If we simply learn how to worship Kṛṣṇa, how to please Him, how to dress Him nicely, how to give Him nice foodstuff, how to decorate Him with ornaments and flowers, how to offer our respectful obeisances unto Him, how to chant His name, in this way, if we simply think, without any so-called education we become the perfect person within the universe. (General Lecture, 3 March 1975, Dallas)



vanipedia.org 		Whenever there is deterioration of the real truth, there is necessity of movement. But the same movement, not a new movement. The movement means God is there, He is great, we are all subordinate; therefore our duty is to abide by the order of God. Then we are happy. The movement is very simple. There is no misunderstanding. The same movement was preached by Lord Kṛṣṇa. (General Lecture, 9 October 1968, Seattle)



vanipedia.org 		We have to trace out the whole natural course, why water, fire has become hot. Similarly, every living being is a servant. That is the natural sequence. How it has become, that will take some time to understand. It is not very difficult to understand. Because the small is meant for rendering service to the great. If God is great, and we are part and parcel of the Supreme, so our natural sequence, natural life, is to render service. That is our nature. (Bhagavad-gītā Lecture, 20 July 1966, New York)



vanipedia.org 		Living entities are part and parcel of God. Suppose God is the big fire and living entities are just like sparks. The sparks, they are also fire. Sparks also, if one spark falls on your body, on your garment, it burns. But it is not as powerful as the big fire. Similarly, God is all powerful. God is great. We are part and parcel of God. Therefore, our greatness is very, very small, infinitesimal. God is great. (Bhagavad-gītā Lecture, 8 April 1973, New York)


God is Great - 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.


   
 

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