Talking About What God Must Be

“Krishna means "the all-attractive." God must be all-attractive. It is not that God is attractive for one person and not for another. No. God is attractive for all living entities. Therefore, in pictures of Krishna you see that He is loving the calves and cows, He is loving the trees, He is loving the gopis, He is loving the cowherd boys. For Him, for God, everyone is a lovable object because everyone is the son of God.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Quest For Enlightenment, Ch 4a)

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Friend-One: I like the definition of Bhagavan.

Friend-Two: You know it?

F1: Yes.

F2: Care to tell me.

F1: What is this, a pop quiz?

F2: Sure.

F1: Okay. It means one who possesses beauty, wealth, strength, fame, wisdom and renunciation at the same time. Happy?

F2: And?

F1: And what? Please and thank you?

F2: No. You’re leaving something out.

F1: Oh. Bhagavan possesses those qualities to the fullest degree.

F2: There you go. It’s “all wealth, all beauty”, etc.

F1: Before you learned what this word meant did you ever think of God in this way?

F2: No. I’m not sure what I thought. If anything, I figured He was all-kind. You know, like He would be nice to me no matter what I did.

F1: I never thought about it, either. I like this definition. It’s quite thorough. It lets you study God scientifically, in a way that you’ll be confident that He is indeed God.

F2: Absolutely. The name Krishna says that God is all-attractive. That’s another thing I didn’t think of right away. When I first heard it, I definitely let out a little “hmm.”

F1: [laughing] Me too. I mean it makes sense. Here’s one for you. I recently heard His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada say that God must be all-attractive.

F2: Really?

F1: It’s pretty genius if you think about it. He’s not saying that Krishna is amazing and that He can be God. He’s saying that if you’re looking for God, you have to find someone who is all-attractive. The person you find must have this feature.

F2: I love his confidence. Who else would name their Bhagavad-gita translation and commentary “As It Is.” The name itself shows you that it’s bona fide and genuine. He has no fear because he understands that Krishna protects the surrendered souls, as told to Arjuna in the conclusion of the book.

F1: I think this point answers the common question we get of “why is Krishna blue.”

F2: Because that complexion makes Him attractive?

F1: Right. It’s an amazing color. I know they say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but that shyama complexion is stunning to behold. They say that Krishna’s body is the color of the dark raincloud, the one about to nourish the ground with water.

F2: And if that comparison doesn’t do it for you, Krishna’s body is like the indranila-mani, which is the sapphire. Imagine transferring the beauty of a gem onto a human-like body. That’s what it looks like with Krishna.

F1: Once again, all-attractive. This is a fun game to play.

F2: What’s that?

F1: Go through different aspects of Krishna and appreciate their attractiveness. We’ve already covered the bodily complexion. There’s also the softness of that same body.

F2: And who doesn’t appreciate softness on skin? Nobody wants their skin to be rough. So Krishna’s skin is all-attractive too.

F1: That same delicate body can become as hard as a thunderbolt. Think of how the Lord became so heavy when the whirlwind demon took Him in the air.

F2: Or how Krishna’s fist took the life of the evil King Kamsa.

F1: Krishna’s feet are also all-attractive. They are compared to lotus flowers. There is His flute too.

F2: When the cows in Vrindavana scatter about, all Krishna has to do is play His flute to grab their attention. Everyone is taken by that sound, because it is so beautiful.

F1: Krishna’s eyes are like lotus flowers, also. I love this. “God must be all-attractive.” That’s so profound.

F2: It transfers to His associates as well. Who can be more beautiful than Shrimati Radharani? She and the gopis are more intelligent than the wisest scholars we know. Yet they don’t think themselves to be very smart. They are humble and tall at the same time.

F1: Krishna’s words are all-attractive. Look at the Bhagavad-gita. Can there be a better book?

F2: Nope. It attracts even the non-devotees. People who have read it have some appreciation for it, even if they didn’t understand it at all.

F1: What about Krishna’s enemies? Are they all-attractive?

F2: Their interactions with Him are. They may look hideous and have the worst qualities, but when Krishna defeats them the incident is remembered forever. The demons thus become part of something beautiful.

F1: That’s good. What else?

F2: You’re forgetting something very important, something specific for this age.

F1: Sankirtana-yajna?

F2: Yes, but more specifically the holy name. Krishna’s name is all-attractive. The mantras that contain it become the most powerful, with the maha-mantra standing tallest.

F1: And those who chant that maha-mantra and bring it to others are also all-attractive.

F2: Yes, definitely! Think of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and those who follow Him. They effuse the all-attractive light of the Divine through their chanting of the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

Since chanting holy names to choose,

Light of the Divine brightly to effuse.

 

Potency from the one to whom sending,

His all-attractiveness to devotees descending.

 

From words of Prabhupada trust,

That this feature in God a must.

 

So beautiful each aspect from head to toe,

From Bhagavad-gita His true position know.