Paramatma - an essential subject

Krishna as Paramatma is sitting within our heart and dictating. Without the sanction of the paramatma, the living entity would not be able to do anything. Krishna is so kind that He wants to help us as spiritual master in two ways. He helps us from within as Caitya Guru and He expands Himself externally as Siksa Guru (as instructor) and Diksa Guru (initiator). So the principle is that whatever you are instructed by the Caitya Guru internally may be confirmed by the instructor or initiator externally. Therefore it is very important for us to take shelter under a bona fide spiritual master.

Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes Paramatma category. An introduction from his books is given below in the following 10 quotes.

Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books


vanipedia.org 		There are three kinds of devotees of the Lord, and the neophyte is in the lowest stage. The neophyte devotee gives more attention to the Deity in the temple than to other devotees, so Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura warns that this sort of mentality should be corrected. A devotee should see that because Kṛṣṇa is present in everyone's heart as Paramātmā, every body is the embodiment or the temple of the Supreme Lord; so as one offers respect to the temple of the Lord, he should similarly properly respect each and every body in which the Paramātmā dwells. Everyone should therefore be given proper respect and should not be neglected. (Bhagavad-gītā 9.11)



vanipedia.org 		The flaw of not being Kṛṣṇa conscious is clearly stated herein. As there is punishment for disobedience to the order of the supreme executive head, so there is certainly punishment for disobedience to the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A disobedient person, however great he may be, is ignorant of his own self, and of the Supreme Brahman, Paramātmā and the Personality of Godhead, due to a vacant heart. Therefore there is no hope of perfection of life for him. (Bhagavad-gītā 3.32)



vanipedia.org 		A highly advanced mahā-bhāgavata devotee sees in this spirit: he sees the same Supersoul, Paramātmā, existing within everyone's heart, regardless of discrimination based on the different material forms of the living entities. He sees everyone as part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The mahā-bhāgavata, who experiences the Supreme Godhead's presence everywhere, is never missing from the sight of the Supreme Lord, nor is the Supreme Lord ever lost from his sight. This is possible only when one is advanced in love of Godhead. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.13.7)



vanipedia.org 		A living being may forget all that he might have done in his past or present life, but one must know that in the same tree of the material body, the individual soul and the Supreme Soul as Paramātmā are sitting like two birds. One of them, the living being, is enjoying the fruits of the tree, whereas the Supreme Being is there to witness the activities. Therefore the Paramātmā feature, the Supreme Soul, is actually the witness of all activities of the living being, and only by His direction can the living being remember or forget what he might have done in the past. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.17.20)



vanipedia.org 		Above the impersonal feature is the Paramātmā, or Supersoul, and above that is the personal aspect of the Absolute Truth. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives information about the personal qualities of the Absolute Truth, beyond the impersonal aspect. Topics concerning these qualities are greater than topics of impersonal philosophical speculation; consequently Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is given higher status than the jñāna-kāṇḍa division of the Vedas. (Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 23)



vanipedia.org 		Although the Paramātmā is aloof from the living entities, He knows their intentions, and He gives them facilities by which they can enjoy or suffer the results of their actions. Human society is exactly like a beehive, for everyone is engaged in collecting honey from various flowers, or collecting money from various sources, and creating large empires for common enjoyment. However, after these empires are created, the bites of other nations have to be suffered. Sometimes nations declare war upon one another, and the human beehives become sources of misery. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.24.64)



vanipedia.org 		Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the fullest manifestation of the Supreme Absolute Truth, and therefore one who is surrendered to the Supreme Person is a successful transcendentalist. To reach this goal of life through Brahman and Paramātmā realization takes many, many births (bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19)). Therefore the supermost path of transcendental realization is bhakti-yoga, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the direct method. (Bhagavad-gītā 6.38)



vanipedia.org 		Paramātmā is our constant companion, and therefore He knows everything, past, present and future. And because the Paramātmā feature of Lord Kṛṣṇa destines all actions and reactions, He is the supreme controller also. Without His sanction not a blade of grass can move. The living beings are given as much freedom as they deserve, and misuse of that freedom is the cause of suffering. The devotees of the Lord do not misuse their freedom, and therefore they are the good sons of the Lord. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.28)



vanipedia.org 		The Lord as Paramātmā is present both in the outcaste and in the brāhmaṇa, although the body of a brāhmaṇa and that of an outcaste are not the same. The bodies are material productions of different modes of material nature, but the soul and the Supersoul within the body are of the same spiritual quality. The similarity in the quality of the soul and the Supersoul, however, does not make them equal in quantity, for the individual soul is present only in that particular body whereas the Paramātmā is present in each and every body. (Bhagavad-gītā 5.18)



vanipedia.org 		The Paramātmā is always distinguished from the embodied soul as well as the material world. Therefore He has been described as para. That para, or Supreme Personality of Godhead, is eka, meaning "one." The Lord is one, whereas the conditioned souls embodied within the material world exist in many varieties of form. There are demigods, human beings, animals, trees, birds, bees and so forth. Thus the living entities are not eka but many. As confirmed in the Vedas: nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.20.7)




Paramatma - 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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