The Absolute Truth - A Conclusive Understanding

 

God: One Person Called by Different Names

 

By definition, God is the supreme being and is the greatest as regards any quality, attribute, characteristic etc. In other words. there is no one equal to or greater than God in any quality, at­tribute  or characteristic. For each of His qualities, God has a name.

 

For example, when we call God as 'almighty', it means that there is no one mightier than Him. And when we call Him as •omnipotent it means that God is all potent: He has unlimited varieties of  potencies and there is also no limit to the extent of His potencies. The sun may be called as 'sun' by an Englishman, as sooraj' by a Hindi speaking person and as soorya' by a San­skrit speaking  person, yet when they speak these various names, they all refer to the same object - the sun. Similarly, God is called by different names like: 'Jehovah'meaning 'The Almighty', 'Al­lah' meaning  'The Greatest' , 'Rama' meaning 'The Reservoir of All Pleasure' and so on by different people according to their cultures, languages etc. All these names undoubtedly refer to the same supreme  person - God, but each of these names refer only to a specific quality of God. A simple definition of God is: 'janmady asya yatah' 'God is the one from whom everything emanates' (Shrimad  Bhagavatam 1.1.1) He is therefore the source of all qualities. Is there any name of God that encompasses all His quali­ties?

 

The equivalent word in Sanskrit for God is 'Bhagavan' and the meaning of the word 'Bhagavan' is explained by the great authority, Parashara Muni, the father of the great sage Vyasadeva, as  follows: The Supreme Personality of Godhead who pos­sesses (1) all riches, (2) all strength, (3) all fame, (4) all beauty, (5) all knowledge, and (6) all renunciation is called Bhagavan. (Bhaga  means 'opulence' and 'van' means 'one who possesses') There are many persons who are very rich, very powerful, very beautiful, very famous, very learned, and very much detached, but no  one can claim that he possesses all riches, all strength etc. entirely except God. The presence of one or more of these opulences in a person even in a minute quantity makes him at-ractive in  the eyes of others. As God possesses al these wonder-ul qualities in full, He is naturally the most attractive person, the all-attractive person^ The equivalent Sanskrit word for 'all at­tractive' is  'Krishna'. Hence Krishna is the name which gives the most complete description of God.