Concept of God in Vaishnavism as per ancient Hindu scriptures

Faith and religion majorly revolve around the idea of God or the supreme entity.

Image of an idol of Lord Vishnu (from pexels.com)

Different religions throughout the world have varying worship methods, regulatory principles and popular practices.

Vaishnavism is the idea that the supreme entity or the ultimate truth is Lord Vishnu/his forms and involves thier worship.

Scriptures like Vishnu Purana describes the spiritual adobe ‘Vaikuntha’ as the residence of Lord Vishnu.

The literal translation of Vaikuntha is “absence of misery or suffering”. Thus according to this, the adobe of Lord Vishnu is a place with no suffering.

The believes here vary from places to places and different organizations. One such vaishnav organization is ISKCON (International society for Krishna consciousness) started by HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada in USA.

Who is God?

According to this verse in Bramha Samhita spoken by Lord Bramha:

“ishvarah paramah krishna sac-cid-ananda-vigrahaha
anadir adir govindaha sarva-karana-karanam”

Translation: Krsna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.

Here, Bramha says that Krsna is the supreme personality of godhead and he is the ultimate truth.
As per the scriptures, Lord Krishna initiated 4 people with the authority to distribute the spiritual knowledge and from them started the 4 vaishnav sampraday or groups, these are:
1. Sri sampraday- From Goddess Lakshmi (wife of Vishnu)
2. Bramha sampraday- from Lord Bramha
3. Rudra sampraday- from Lord Shiva
4. Kumar sampraday- from 4 Kumaras (believed to be sons of Bramha)

picture of Krishna by ISKCON TV Dhaka (from pexels.com)

(The famous organization ISKCON is a part of Bramha sampraday)

Another such verse from the Bhagwat Purana gives insight on the position of ‘Supreme personality of Godhead’ :

“ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ mṛḍayanti yuge yuge”

Translation by Swami Prabhupada:

All of the incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Krsna is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.

Some common believes in Vaishnavism:

1. Krishna is the ultimate truth and he is the supreme personality of godhead.
2. Vishnu/his incarnations are indifferent from one another and Sri Krishna is the source of all the expansions.

3. The holy name is indifferent from god himself, and constant chanting of the holy name should be practiced to generate love for god in our hearts and repent for our sins.

4. The lord appears whenever there is a need to protect the righteous, destroy the evil forces and to establish dharma.

5. The ‘Material realm’ is run by ‘Maya’ or illusion, it’s temporary and filled with miseries.

6. The only form of eternal salvation that one should desire for is the devotional service of Radha-Krishna in their spiritual adobe (Goloka).

7. The soul is eternal part and parcel of the supreme lord and just like an individual changes clothes, the soul changes bodies upon birth and death according to the ‘Karma’.

The Four regulatory principles:

Vaishnavas follow 4 regulatory principles as described in the scriptures:

1. No meat eating
2. No gambling
3. No intoxication
4. No illicit sex

These principles are followed so as to be spiritually inclined and keep the consciousness pure.

Common practices:

• Initiation (Diksha) - This is the process of accepting a guru or spiritual master and surrendering unto them. Traditionally, th guru is from any of the 4 vaishnav groups.
• Chanting- Chanting of the holy name such as the Hare Krishna Mahamantra is practiced on daily basis

“HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE”

• Following the 4 regulatory principles along with no onion-garlic and tea-coffee consumption, as they are considered tamasik (spiritually unfit food item).
• Serving the lord through deity worship.
• Consuming only prasadam (food that has been offered to the deities)
• Wearing a necklace (kanthi) of Tulsi wood or the holy basil as Tulsi Devi is believed to be very dear to Krishna.
• Fasting from grains, lentils etc. on auspicious days such as the appearance day of Lord Rama (Rama Navmi) and Ekadashi.

The detailed description of God’s appearance, duties and expansions are described in huge detail in various ancient Hindu scriptures and texts.

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