śrī śrī guru gaurāṅga jayataḥ!
Year 13, Issue 1
Posted: 13 February 2020
Dedicated to
nitya-līlā praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda
Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Inspired by and under the guidance of
Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Everything in This World Is Changing
The name of the Personality of Godhead is Viṣṇu. The personal face is designated ‘[Param] Brahman’ in Sanskrit, to denote ‘magnanimous’, ‘large’, ‘big’ and so on, and represents the macrocosmic view. The Personality which is apart from His creation is Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu has three energies. One of them is for manifesting His eternal abode, one is for manifesting the temporal world, and one is for creating all souls – including those of all humans – who emanate from His taṭasthā-śakti found between the temporal world and the eternal world. The soul found in the human form has two different predilections: if he desires to serve Godhead, he is allowed into the eternal region and if he desires to lord it over this world, he comes down to it for the purpose of enjoying the products of the deluding potency in different capacities.
In this world everything is changing and transforming; everything is subject to birth, growth and death. In our present form of existence, we cannot expect anything but to be subject to birth, growth and death. Our position here is always changing. When we do not want to be subject to these, we feel a need to seek a way back to the original position. This originating position, which is like a one-dimensional line, is designated “taṭasthā-śakti” [the threshold- or shore-potency] and is the fountain-head of all human souls. Taṭasthā-śakti is located between two potencies of Viṣṇu – one maintains this transforming world and the other is the source of the manifestation of the eternal world, which does not change like this world. These potencies belong to the personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu.
Adapted from The Gauḍīya, Year 20, Issue 5
By the Rays of The Harmonist team