Brahm-The Supreme God
According of Bible of Bibles by Kersey Graves at present there are 11 major prevalent religions in the world. All of these religions believe in The Supreme God.
The Supreme God is the Lord of the entire creation. That Supreme God is addressed by various names like God, Paramatma (Devanagari: परमात्मा ISO15919: ), Khuda (Devanagari: ख़ुदा ISO15919: paramātmā), Allah (Devanagari: अल्लाह ISO15919: allāha). So, these are all synonyms.
Vedas call The Supreme God Brahm (Devanagari: ब्रह्म ISO15919: brahma). Vedas say There are only three eternal entities in existence namely Brahm, jeev and the Maya.
All three are eternal and everlasting. Still, Brahm is the Master of both jeev and Maya. Brahm and the jeev are conscious whereas Maya is inert. Although, Maya is eternal yet the sansar created by Maya is temporary.
The jeev and Brahm are both conscious and eternal. Other than these two similarities there are vast number of differences between them. Listed in Table 1 are a few of those differences.
Vedas define of word Brahm as the one with 2 powers -
वृहति वृंहयति इति तत्परं ब्रह्म । - रहस्य अग्नाय ब्राह्मण
vr̥hati vr̥ṁhayati iti tatparaṁ brahma ।
- rahasya agnāya brāhmaṇa
- "the one who is infinitely big and
- who makes others big".
But how big is He? And who does He make big? How big does he make them?
Let us explore answers to each questions first. After that we will explore
How big is Brahm?
Big is a relative term. A mountain is big, the sea is bigger than a mountain. The sky are bigger than the sea. How big is He?
He is not only bigger than other big things, He is the biggest of all.
That is obvious for if He was not so then during pralay, how would infinitely large sansar merge Him?
So in comparison He is bigger than everything else. But how big is He? The Vedas say-
सत्यं ज्ञानमनंतम् ब्रह्म । -वेद
satyaṁ jñānamanaṁtam brahma । - veda
"He is infinitely big", means He is limitlessly big. So big that He cannot be measured.
So, now the next question. Who does He make big?
Who does He make big?
Brahm bestows all His powers upon those jeev who fully surrender to Him. Such jeev are called Mayateet jeev are also referred to as genuine saint.
जानत तुमहिं तुमहिं है जाई ॥
jānata tumahiṁ tumahiṁ hai jāī ॥
"Those who know You become You". Although, according to Vedas
न तत्स्मश्चाभ्यधिकश्च दृश्यते । श्वेताश्वतरोपनिषद् ६-८
na tatsmaścābhyadhikaśca dr̥śyate । śvetāśvataropaniṣad 6-8
"No other entity is even equivalent to God, let alone being greater!"
Yet out of sheer graciousness of the Supreme Lord, He makes insignificant jeev as great as Himself.
Saint Ved Vyas says that Supreme Brahm has three aspects. Other scriptures say there are 2 primary forms of Brahm. Letus explore those next
Forms of Brahm
There are many forms of the same Almighty Supreme God. We can divide them mainly into two forms:
Nirakar Brahm
The imperceptible, formless aspect of Supreme God is called Nirakar Brahm (Devanagari: निराकार ब्रह्म ISO15919: nirākāra brahma). All powers of God are dormant in this state except for the power of
- sat (Devanagari: सत् ISO15919: sat) which means the unlimited power of existence,
- chit (Devanagari: चित् ISO15919: cit) which means the unlimited knowledge and
- anand (Devanagri: आनंद ISO15919: ānanda) which means unlimited divine bliss.
That is why the Nirakar Brahm is called the form of Sachidananda (Devanagari: सच्चिदानंद ISO15919: saccidānaṁda). The followers of the path of gyan worship this aspect of God to attain the ultimate goal of absolute liberation called sayujjya mukti. After being liberated from the clutches of Maya, their soul merges into the formless aspect of Supreme God. From then on is drowned in divine bliss. The extent of that bliss never changes.
Sakar Brahm
This is the perceivable divine personal form of God called Sakar Brahm (Devanagari: साकार ब्रह्म ISO15919: sākāra brahma). Supreme God appears in two types of personable forms.
Paramatma
Parmatma (Devanagari: परमात्मा ISO15919: paramātmā) is endowed with form, name, attributes and abode. It is a majestic form of God with four arms also known as MahaVishnu (Devanagari: महाविष्णु ISO15919: mahāviṣṇu).
Those who pursue the path of yoga worship this form of God. MahaVishnu's divine abode is called Vaikuṇṭha. Devotees of this form attain unlimited divine bliss, unlimited divine knowledge and go to Vaikuṇṭha. There they enjoy the association and the vision of God constantly. This bliss is superior to the bliss of sayujjya mukti.
Bhagavan
The appearance of the same Sakar Brahm on the earth in a human-like form is called Bhagavan (Devanagari: भगवान् ISO15919: bhagavān).
As Bhagavan, the Supreme Lord hides all of His divine powers and reveals the unique power of divine love through His form, name, attributes, pastimes and associates.
Bhagavan is adored by devotees because potency of divine love is predominant in this form. So, the devotees forget about His Godliness, instead they drown in their feelings of love for Him. They enjoy intimate loving relationships with Him with any of the four bhav.
The nectar of this form of God and freedom of loving Him, without an inkling of His divine status as almighty God, is unfathomable. That is why devotees reject the bliss of liberation and the bliss of Vaikuṇṭha.
Even atma gyanis (see Gyan) reject their brahmanand and become devotees e.g. being Shukdev Paramhans, King Janak, Shri-Krishna's friend Uddhav etc. But there hasn't been a single bhakt who became a gyani.
Lord Rama offered Hanuman Ji mukti as a reward for his selfless service. Hanumān Jī refused to take it, saying:
भवबंधच्छिदे तस्मै स्पृहयामि नमुक्तये। भवान्प्रभुरहं दास इति यत्र विलुप्यते॥
बा. रामायण
bhavabaṁdhacchide tasmai spr̥hayāmi namuktaye। bhavānprabhurahaṁ dāsa iti yatra vilupyate॥
bā. rāmāyaṇa
"If I accept mukti, I will be bereft of that inexplicable joy of being a servant of my Lord Rama!! Hence, I have absolutely no desire to attain liberation."
Descensions of Brahm
Brahm has existed in all these 3 forms since eternity. Vedas reveal that The Supreme God is known as Lord Krishna. He is referred to as Lord Krishna Himself or Swayam Shri Krishna (Devanagari: स्वयं श्रीकृष्ण ISO15919: svayaṁ śrīkr̥ṣṇa).
Time after time Swayam Shri Krishna descends in earth. That’s why all other forms of God are called Avatar (Devanagari: अवतार ISO15919: avatāra) or descents, whereas Swayam Shri Krishna is called Avatārī (Devanagari: अवतारी ISO15919: avatārī) which means source of the descents.
All Avatars are swansh of Shri Krishna and are endowed with all of His powers. However, they reveal only those powers which are needed in that Avatar.
At the time of creation The Supreme Lord reveals one of His powers called kala (Devanagari: कला ISO15919: kalā). Karanarnavashayi Mahavishnu (Devanagari: कार्णार्णवाशायी महाविष्णु ISO15919: kārṇārṇavāśāyī mahāviṣṇu).
The Bhagavatam says,
यस्यैक निःश्वसितकालमथावलम्ब्य जीवन्ति लोमविलजाः जगदण्ड नाथा।
विष्णुर्महान्स इह यस्य कलाविशेषो, गोविंदमादि पुरुषं तमहं भजामि ॥
भागवत
yasyaika niḥśvasitakālamathāvalambya jīvanti lomavilajāḥ jagadaṇḍa nāthā।
viṣṇurmahānsa iha yasya kalāviśeṣo, goviṁdamādi puruṣaṁ tamahaṁ bhajāmi ॥
bhāgavata
Since, He is the first manifestation of Shri Krishna He is also referred to as Pratham Purush (Devanagari: प्रथम पुरुष ISO15919: prathama puruṣa).
Garbhodashayi Mahavishnu (Devanagari: गर्भोदशायी महाविष्णु ISO15919: garbhodaśāyī mahāviṣṇu) is in turn the revelation of one power of Karanarnavashayi MahaVishnu. Since, He is the second manifestation of Shri Krishna He is also referred to as Dwitiya purush (Devanagari: द्वितीय पुरुष ISO15919:
dvitīya puruṣa).
Kshirodashayi MahaVishnu (Devanagari: क्षीरोदशायी महाविष्णु ISO15919: kṣīrodaśāyī mahāviṣṇu) is the revelation of one power of Garbhodashayi Mahavishnu. Since, He is the third manifestation of Shri Krishna He is also referred to as Tritiya Purush (Devanagari: त्रितीय पुरुष ISO15919: tritīya puruṣa).
Each chatur yug is 4,320,000 human years. In each chatur yug several Avatars of God descend on this earth. Since, these Avatar descend in every yug those descents are called Yugavatara (Devanagari: युगावतार ISO15919: yugāvatāra).
The Dashavataras (Devanagari: दशावतार ISO15919: daśāvatāra), which means the 10 descensions, are the descensions of Kshirodashayi MahaVishnu in one chatur yug.
Does Brahm ever descend on earth?
Swayam Shri Krishna descends only once in every kalp.
Please Note: In every kalp there are 994 dwapar yug. Yugavatara Shri Kṛishna descends in every dwapar yug but in 993 (out of 994) Kshirodashayi Mahavishnu.
Yugavatara Shri Kṛishna does leelas of majesty e.g. Mahabharat. But the most intimate pastimes of the Supreme Brahm - Shri Krishna are not done by Yugavatara Shri Kṛishna.
The intimate leelas happen only when Radha Krishna - The Divine Couple descend together in the 28th dwapar yug of the 7th manvantar of the kalp.
5000 years ago in this kalp Supreme Brahm Swayam Shri Krishna descended with Shri Radha. Together They performed the leela of Maharas along with many other intimate leelas.
Being uninformed of this secret, many think Mahavishnu is "Supreme God."
Scriptures clarify that Kshirodashayi MahaVishnu is on the fourth level of supremacy.
Bhagavan-Shri Krishna is the Supreme-Brahm. One can attain divine-love-bliss only upon attaining Lord Krishna. Attainment of divine-love-bliss is possible only with His grace.
His grace is attained by exclusively, sincerely and constantly practicing Sadhana Bhakti. Also, one must desire exclusively for the Lord's happiness. Selfless love is essential (3) to practice devotion and receive the grace of Brahm Lord Krishna.