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Vaiṣṇavism provides the highest conception of Monotheistic theology

All other descriptions of a Supreme Lord are lost in His Grandeur, and in His inconceivable relationship with the temporary mortal world.

namāmīśvaraṁ sac-cid-ānanda-rūpaṁ
lasat-kuṇḍalaṁ gokule bhrājamanam
yaśodā-bhiyolūkhalād dhāvamānaṁ
parāmṛṣṭam atyantato drutya gopyā
rudantaṁ muhur netra-yugmaṁ mṛjantam
karāmbhoja-yugmena sātaṅka-netram
muhuḥ śvāsa-kampa-trirekhāṅka-kaṇṭha-
sthita-graivaṁ dāmodaraṁ bhakti-baddham\

“I offer my humble obeisances unto the Supreme Controller, whose very form is composed of eternal existence, absolute knowledge, and limitless bliss (sac-cid-ānanda). Though He is the Prime Cause—the necessary reality that allows all contingent things to be—He is seen here as a child in Gokula, His golden earrings swinging against His cheeks as He shines with radiance.

Caught in a moment of pure human-like vulnerability, He has leapt from a wooden grinding mortar in a panic to escape Mother Yaśodā’s correction. He runs in great haste, yet He is eventually overtaken and caught from behind by her, for her love outruns His divinity.

Crying out in distress, He rubs His eyes repeatedly with His two lotus-soft hands; His breath comes in short, trembling gasps, causing the pearls upon His conch-like neck to shake. His eyes are wide with a very real fear, illustrating the ultimate mystery: that the Infinite, who is beyond the reach of time and space, has allowed Himself to be captured and bound (Dāmodara) by nothing more than the simple cord of His devotee’s unalloyed love.”

People are used to the well-known, opulent Godhood of the opulent Lord, but the Godhood of Kṛṣṇa challenges the traditionalists because here the beautiful Supreme God Kṛṣṇa, sac-cid-ānanda-rūpam, is being unapologetically Himself, a seeker of rasa.

TODO: Also quote itthaṁ satāṁ brahmasukha…


Missed the earlier parts? Read Part 1, Part 2: Scripture and the conceptual sophistication of divine supremacy.