Does Being All-Powerful Mean God Can Do Anything?

If God is all-powerful, must even self-destruction or the creation of independent Gods be possible for Him?

JKP Literature

— 2 min read

📍 Where You Are in the Inquiry

The previous article established that the limitations of material causes cannot be imposed upon God. God is all-capable and all-powerful; His powers are unlimited, inconceivable, and Divine. Therefore, His manifestation in a personal form does not require His formless, omnipresent existence to cease.

But that immediately creates another question: If God is all-powerful and all-capable, does that mean absolutely anything whatsoever is possible for Him?

Could God, for example, destroy Himself?

Could God Destroy Himself?

Some people ask whether an all-powerful God must also possess the power to destroy Himself. Shri Maharaj Ji remarks that perhaps the intention behind such a question is that, if God destroyed Himself, we would become free from Him and His control and could engage in whatever sins we choose.

But the question misunderstands the nature of power.

Powers act in accordance with their nature, never against it.

Fire, for example, is described as capable of burning everything:

यथा नाहि दावोऽग्निरिति
yathā nāhi dāvo'gniriti
“Fire is capable of burning everything.”

Yet this does not mean that fire can burn itself. That is impossible because it would be contrary to fire's own nature.

Similarly, an acrobat may possess remarkable abilities, but an acrobat cannot climb onto his own shoulders.

Being capable does not mean possessing the ability to act contrary to one's own nature.

Could God Create Uncountable Gods?

A related question pushes the same reasoning further.

God has created uncountable Brahmandas (ब्रह्माण्ड | brahmāṇḍas). Could He therefore also create uncountable Gods?

Shri Maharaj Ji humorously observes that perhaps the hope is that many Gods would compete with one another, allowing us to bargain for some special concession.

But even the imagined existence of many Gods would provide no opportunity to obtain something contrary to the rules of the scriptures.

More importantly, the premise needs clarification.

God does take uncountable forms.

There have been uncountable Divine descensions in each Brahmand. Even within a single descension, God assumes uncountable forms for Raas (रास | rāsa) and other Leelas (लीला | līlās).

Yet multiplication of God's forms does not multiply God Himself.

Uncountable Forms, Yet One God

When God manifests Himself in many—even uncountable—forms, there is still only one God.

Thus:

Uncountable Divine forms ≠ uncountable independent Gods.

God remains one while taking uncountable forms.

If the question instead proposes the creation of separate Gods who could act independently of one another, Shri Maharaj Ji rejects such a possibility because it would be contrary to God's nature.

God does not perform material actions arising from attachment or animosity, nor does He perform unnecessary actions.

The same principle therefore resolves both questions.

God's unlimited power does not mean that He acts contrary to His own nature.

Where This Inquiry Leads

To call God all-powerful does not mean that contradictions to His own nature somehow become expressions of power.

Powers operate according to their nature, not against it. Fire cannot burn itself, and God's omnipotence does not require God to destroy Himself or create independent Gods acting contrary to His nature.

At the same time, God's nature places no limitation upon His ability to manifest uncountable Divine forms. He takes uncountable forms and uncountable descensions, yet God remains one.

This brings the inquiry to its underlying principle.

If God's powers cannot act contrary to His nature, what exactly is the relationship between God and His powers?

Go Deeper

Continue the Inquiry

(Part 3 of 4 — Impersonal and Personal Aspects of Brahm — The Clarity)

God can manifest uncountable forms while remaining one, but His unlimited powers never operate contrary to His nature. The final step is therefore to understand why God's powers do not govern Him: God is the Master of His powers.

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