God Is Not Body but Enters the Body

Note: This article is meant for intellectuals only

[Shri Surya (Bombay) asked the following questions posed by some devotees. The questions are 1) Veda says that God is not body (Akayam). How do You support human incarnation of God?]

Swami replied: God is not any medium or body (Akayamavranam… Veda) because God is unimaginable. The body or medium is a part of the creation and hence, is imaginable. God is also not modified into medium or body. God only entered the medium or body. The current is not the wire. The current is not modified into wire. The current has entered the wire. As long as the current exists in the wire, the wire has to be treated as the current and there is no other way to experience the current than this. The wire attains the property of the current and gives shock thereby giving experience of the existence of the current. The experience of the existence of current is not the experience of the knowledge of original form of current. God entered the human body of Krishna and Krishna became God. Krishna lifted the hill on His finger. This unimaginable event indicates the existence of unimaginable God in Krishna. By this, God did not become imaginable.

The Veda says that God revealed His body (Vivrunute Tanum vam…). Therefore, the word Akayam means that God is not body. It should be taken as Nanjtatpurusha samasa (a mode in grammar). If you say that the meaning of this word is that God has no body (Bahuvrihi samasa), then, it contradicts the above Vedic statement (Tanum svam) saying that God reveals His own body, which means that God has His own body. There is another Vedic statement in which this word is used in Bahuvrihi samasa (Akayonirgunohyatma). This means that the original unimaginable God (Atma in this statement represents God because God is compared to the soul in the body in view of His importance in this world.) is not the possessor of body and possessor of quality before the creation. You have to take this statement to the state of God before creation. Otherwise, once creation is done, God becomes the possessor of the creation, which is treated as His own body by the Veda (Pruthivi tasya shariiram…). Any human body in the world comes under the possession of God after creation and then, God becomes the possessor of any human body. Thus, you cannot maintain the Bahuvrihi Samasa after the creation. The Veda also says that God entered into the creation (Tadevanupravishat…) and this refers to the human incarnation, where God becomes the special possessor of a particular human body. The entire kingdom is the property of the king in general sense. In special sense, the royal palace is the property of the king. Similarly, though God is possessor of the world in general sense, He becomes the special possessor of a particular human body like Krishna. The vision of Vishwarupam showed by Him indicates the general possession of the entire cosmos as His body. By this, every human being cannot claim as the human incarnation as per Advaita. Every human being is only under the control of God like every house. The human body of Krishna alone is the living place of God like the Royal palace.

In the case of human incarnation, this word Atman means the individual soul, which is not the body (kayam) and not the Jiiva (guna). The individual soul is pure awareness, which is neither the external gross body (kayam) nor the internal bundle of qualities (guna or Jiiva). Though pure awareness is also a quality (Sattvam), it is neglected, being the controller of other qualities. A king is also a citizen but he is told as the Lord of citizens. The citizens are all the other human beings except the king, though the king is also a human being. If you take this statement in the sense of God, there also, it means that God is neither the external gross body nor the internal Jiiva. Then, you may say that God means the pure awareness as per Advaita. Here, the pure awareness is also a quality (Sattvam- ref.: Sattvatsamjayate Jnanam) included in the category of Jiiva, as said above. Even otherwise, the individual soul, which is bundle of qualities, includes pure awareness as the material of the qualities. A bundle of golden jewels includes gold. Therefore, here the statement means that God is neither gross body, nor quality and nor the pure awareness. All these three items (gross body, quality and pure awareness) are the items of the creation, whereas God is the creator, who is beyond the creation. The Gita says that God enters the human body (Manushiim tanumashritam…) and after entry, the human body becomes His body. Christianity says that God is in flesh. God is neither the human being nor God is modified into the human being. God only entered the human being. Such human being alone is to be treated as God. For human beings, human being is the best medium for interaction with God for receiving knowledge and guidance in the spiritual path.

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