Krishna, the Absolute Substantive Principle

Lord Brahma states in verse 41 of Chapter 5 of his Brahma-Samhita:

māyā hi yasya jagad-aṇḍa-śatāni sūte
traiguṇya-tad-viṣaya-veda-vitāyamānā
sattvāvalambi-para-sattvaṁ viśuddha-sattvam-
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is the absolute substantive principle being the ultimate entity in the form of the support of all existence whose external potency embodies the threefold mundane qualities, namely, sattva, rajas, and tamas and diffuses the Vedic knowledge regarding the mundane world."

This reminds of us of the term used by Christian theologian Paul Tillich who said that God is the “ground of being itself”. He saw God as the ground upon which all beings exist. According to him, God precedes “being itself.”

Although Tillich failed to understand God as a person, he at least had some correct ideas about the impersonal aspect of God. It's a fact that nothing exists, not even being itself, without Krishna's support. So we should just now try to understood more and more how we are totally, completely, absolutely dependent on Krishna or God both for all of our material necessities as well as for our very existence itself as spiritual beings.

Krishna, the Source and Foundation of All Existence

Krishna, the Source and Foundation of All Existence

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Answers by Citing the Vedic Version

Question: Bhaktisiddhanta Knew English?

Srila Gurudeva, please accept my obeisances
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

Conversing among devotees a doubt arose if Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and Bhaktivinoda Thakur knew the English language. We know that Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati gave a commentary on the Brahma samhita that is available in English. Was it written in Hindi or Bengali by him and then put into English by a translator, or did he directly write it in English? So far as I know the British educational system had not yet been established in India during the time of these two great personalities.

We thank any hint in this regard,
Your servant, Indriyesa das

Answer: English Better than Native Speakers

In 1835 the Council of India passed the English Education act to establish English education in India. This and other measures led to English becoming one of the languages of India, rather than simply the native tongue of its foreign ruler. Bhaktivinoda Thakur was born in 1838 three years after the English Education Act was passed, and he composed many Vaisnava writings in the English language. His son Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur did the same. Both of these great Vaisnava acharyas desired to spread Krishna consciousness to the English speaking world. And both demonstrated a knowledge of English superior to that of many native English speakers.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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