What is "the godhead"

B

bhaktajan

Hare Krishna Templar
What is "the godhead"? As in what does it mean to you when you use it? And if you could cite the scripture that is used to define it. Godhead is a term I learnt from the Guru A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. He was an old school real Hindu swami from India. So his usage of the term "Godhead" being an English word, is to be plainly grouped with the similar words: Fountainhead, Figurehead, headspring, wellspring, seedbed etc etc.

So Bhaktivedanta Swami translates the theistic Sanskrit scriptures ie the Bhagavad-gita as-it-is wherein he explains Krishna as the Supreme Original Godhead come incarnata. And that such has been an open book secret since time immemorial.

God = The original Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Godhead is infinitely full in all opulences, specifically:
Godhead = God is the original person who possesses and is the original wellspring of:
All Beauty, Fame, Intelligence, Power, Wealth, and Renunciation.

God is the first person, with his own eternal and transcendental name, fame, form, personality, paraphernalia, entourage and pastime.
God's body is the absolute form of 'Eternity. Cognizance, and Bliss' [aka Sat-Chit-Ananda]

God is a person. God is the source of Persona. God is the original person. We spirit souls are part and parcel of the Supreme person, equal in quality BUT NOT in quantity. We are part of the whole so we seek to serve him as a transcendent pastime. But now we "are spirit souls in the material world"

The real qualification is the “whole” term, “The supreme personality of […who?…] The supreme personality of Godhead”. [remember that the word, “Yoga” means to unite/to link]

God by definition is the origin, fountainhead, wellspring source of personality. The “supreme personality” is he who possesses all opulences “in-full”.

God by definition, possesses all of the following six categories of opulences:

All riches, All strength, All fame, All intelligence, All Beauty; and finally, All Renunciation.

Any Soul may become opulent and endowed with prowess(s) and opulence(s) ---but only temporarily--- thus only one Person has all these opulences “in-full”, and even more, only one Person is the source of these opulences. It must be noticed that these six opulences are opulences of a Person. A person is to possess these traits, even if only to various minor degrees, but most especially, it ia always only temporarily.
The term “The supreme personality of “Godhead”. Is utilized by Orthodox Hindu Theists, known as the Vaishnavas.

So, the term “The supreme personality of “Godhead” = God as a person; or God’s personality is the supreme Truth of absolute knowledge.

God is a person, His personality is the supreme personality.

Godhead is simply a verbal convention meaning “the God” in the [albeit, Supreme-absolute-transcendent-unborn-unmanifest] own personage.

Similar to asking:

“Who is the Figurehead of the United States of America”?
The Figurehead of the United States of America is President Trump.

“Who is the Figurehead of a leased apartment”?
The Figurehead of a leased apartment is the tenant that signed the Lease.

Godhead says:

“Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form. Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself. To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium. One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” (4.6-9)

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One who can understand the truth of the appearance of the Personality of Godhead is already liberated from material bondage, and therefore he returns to the kingdom of God immediately after quitting this present material body. Such liberation of the living entity from material bondage is not at all easy. The impersonalists and the yogis attain liberation only after much trouble and many, many births. Even then, the liberation they achieve—merging into the impersonal brahmajyoti of the Lord—is only partial, and there is the risk of returning to this material world. But the devotee, simply by understanding the transcendental nature of the body and activities of the Lord, attains the abode of the Lord after ending this body and does not run the risk of returning to this material world.

Although there are many transcendental forms of the Lord, they are still one and the same Supreme Personality of Godhead. One has to understand this fact with conviction, although it is incomprehensible to mundane scholars and empiric philosophers.

As stated in the Purusha-bodhini Upaniñad:
“The one Supreme Personality of Godhead is eternally engaged in many, many transcendental forms in relationships with His unalloyed devotees.”

This Vedic version is confirmed in this verse of the Gita personally by the Lord. He who accepts this truth on the strength of the authority of the Vedas and of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and who does not waste time in philosophical speculations attains the highest perfectional stage of liberation. Simply by accepting this truth on faith, one can, without a doubt, attain liberation. The Vedic version tat tvam asi is actually applied in this case. Anyone who understands Lord Krishna to be the Supreme, or who says unto the Lord “You are the same Supreme Brahman, the Personality of Godhead,” is certainly liberated instantly, and consequently his entrance into the transcendental association of the Lord is guaranteed. In other words, such a faithful devotee of the Lord attains perfection, and this is confirmed by the following Vedic assertion:

“One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and there is no other way to achieve this perfection.” (Svetashvatara Upanishad 3.8) That there is no alternative means that anyone who does not understand Lord Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is surely in the mode of ignorance and consequently he will not attain salvation simply, so to speak, by licking the outer surface of the bottle of honey, or by interpreting the Bhagavad-gita according to mundane scholarship. Such empiric philosophers may assume very important roles in the material world, but they are not necessarily eligible for liberation. Such puffed-up mundane scholars have to wait for the causeless mercy of the devotee of the Lord. One should therefore cultivate Krishna consciousness with faith and knowledge, and in this way attain perfection.

[source Bhagavad-gita as it is by A.C. Bhaktivedanta swami (1896-1977)]


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Krishnadasa Kaviraja swami summarized the principles of incarnation:,

“The avatara, or incarnation of Godhead, descends from the kingdom of God for material manifestation. And the particular form of the Personality of Godhead who so descends is called an incarnation, or avatara. Such incarnations are situated in the spiritual world, the kingdom of God. When they descend to the material creation, they assume the name avatara.”

There are various kinds of avataras, such as purushavataras, gunavataras, lilavataras, shakty-avesha avataras, manvantara-avataras and yugavataras—all appearing on schedule all over the universe. But Lord Krishna is the primeval Lord, the fountainhead of all avataras. Lord Shree Krishna descends for the specific purpose of mitigating the anxieties of the pure devotees, who are very anxious to see Him in His original Vrindavana pastimes. Therefore, the prime purpose of the Krishna avatara is to satisfy His unalloyed devotees.

The Lord says that He incarnates Himself in every millennium. This indicates that He incarnates also in the Age of Kali. As stated in the Shreemad-Bhagavatam, the incarnation in the Age of Kali is Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who spread the worship of Krishna by the sankirtana movement (congregational chanting of the holy names) and spread Krishna consciousness throughout India. He predicted that this culture of sankirtana would be broadcast all over the world, from town to town and village to village. Lord Chaitanya as the incarnation of Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, is described secretly but not directly in the confidential parts of the revealed scriptures, such as the Upanishads, Mahabharata and Bhagavatam. The devotees of Lord Krishna are very much attracted by the sankirtana movement of Lord Chaitanya. This avatara of the Lord does not kill the miscreants, but delivers them by His causeless mercy.

[source Bhagavad-gita as it is by A.C. Bhaktivedanta swami (1896-1977)]
 
Buddhism
I have been astonished to have supposed declared Buddhists post online that there is no Soul in Buddhism ---and then say there is no birth after birth ---and say things about how karma doesn't affect their spiritual path etc. When I remind them that it is a Soul-esque entity of each individual sentient being under goes re-peated cycle of birth after birth and each birth is apropos to past karma and when the seeker achieves nirvana all this ceases. The Buddhist goes away without explaining why.

BTW there is the common pedestrian non-religious atheist that proclaims at their death ALL WILL VANISH! But that's what Buddhist monks work at for decades ---and the common atheist doesn't know they are asserting that they can out-do the devotionals of all the Buddhist Monks through history.

The Buddha said: "One who is willing to attain Nirvana, has to understand Four Noble Truths. These Noble Truths are the key to attain Nirvana, without proper understanding of Suffering, Cause of Suffering, Relief of Suffering and the way to end Suffering, These are the four Noble Truths."

[BTW, The Gita says not to disturb the minds of the un-believers]

The Four Noble Truths comprise the essence of Buddha's teachings, though they leave much left unexplained. They are the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.

The Four Noble Truths refer to and express the basic orientation of Buddhism[1] in a short expression:[2][note 1] we crave and cling toimpermanent states and things,[3] which are dukkha,[4] "incapable of satisfying"[web 1] and painful.[web 1][3][5][6][7][web 2] This craving keeps us caught in samsara,[note 2] the endless cycle of repeated rebirth and dying again, and the dukkha that comes with it.[note 3]There is, however, a way to end this cycle,[8][note 4] namely by attaining nirvana, cessation of craving, whereafter rebirth and associateddukkha will no longer arise again.[note 5][9] This can be accomplished by following the eightfold path,[note 1] restraining oneself, cultivating discipline, and practicing mindfulness and meditation. The four truths became of central importance in the Theravada tradition of Buddhism,[26][27] which holds to the idea that insight into the four truths is liberating in itself.The four truths became of central importance in the Theravada tradition of Buddhism,[26][27] which holds to the idea that insight into the four truths is liberating in itself.


Thus it was said by the Blessed One. And the Happy One, the Master, further said:

Through not seeing the Four Noble Truths,
Long was the weary path from birth to birth.
When these are known, removed is rebirth's cause,
The root of sorrow plucked; then ends rebirth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths
 
A LONG-WINDED HINDU NOTE:

Here’s an excert from the biography of Lord Chaitanya’s pastimes in India in the 1500’s, entitled, Chaitanya-caritamrita, from the verse Madhya-18.189 to 213:

“Among the Muslims was a grave person who was wearing a black dress. People called him a saintly person.

“The heart of that saintly person softened upon seeing Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He wanted to talk to Him and establish impersonal Brahman on the basis of his own scripture, the Koran.

“When that person tried to establish the impersonal Brahman conception of the Absolute Truth on the basis of the Koran, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu refuted his argument.

“Whatever arguments he put forward, the Lord refuted them all. Finally the person became stunned and could not speak.

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “The Koran certainly establishes impersonalism, but at the end it refutes that impersonalism and establishes the personal God.

TRANSLATION:
“The Koran accepts the fact that ultimately there is only one God. He is full of opulence, and His bodily complexion is blackish.

PURPORT
The revealed scripture of the Muslims is the Koran. There is one Muslim sampradaya known as the Sufis. The Sufis accept impersonalism, believing in the oneness of the living entity with the Absolute Truth. Their supreme slogan is “analahak.” The Sufi sampradaya was certainly derived from Shankaracarya’s impersonalists.

TRANSLATIONS:
“According to the Koran, the Lord has a supreme, blissful, transcendental body. He is the Absolute Truth, the all-pervading, omniscient and eternal being. He is the origin of everything.

“Creation, maintenance and dissolution come from Him. He is the original shelter of all gross and subtle cosmic manifestations.

“The Lord is the Supreme Truth, worshipable by everyone. He is the cause of all causes. By engaging in His devotional service, the living entity is relieved from material existence.

TRANSLATION:

“No conditioned soul can get out of material bondage without serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Love at His lotus feet is the ultimate goal of life.

PURPORT
According to the Muslim scripture, without evadat, offering prayers at a mosque or elsewhere five times daily (namaz), one cannot be successful in life. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu pointed out that in the revealed scripture of the Muslims, love of Godhead is the ultimate goal. Karma-yoga and jïana-yoga are certainly described in the Koran, but ultimately the Koran states that the ultimate goal is the offering of prayers to the Supreme Person (evadat).

TRANSLATIONS:

“The happiness of liberation, whereby one merges into the Lord’s existence, cannot even be compared to a fragment of the transcendental bliss obtained by service unto the Lord’s lotus feet.

“In the Koran there are descriptions of fruitive activity, speculative knowledge, mystic power and union with the Supreme, but ultimately all this is refuted and the Lord’s personal feature established, along with His devotional service.

“The scholars of the Koran are not very advanced in knowledge. Although there are many methods prescribed, they do not know that the ultimate conclusion should be considered the most powerful.

“Seeing your own Koran and deliberating over what is written there, what is your conclusion?”

The saintly Muslim replied, “All that You have said is true. This has certainly been written in the Koran, but our scholars can neither understand nor accept it.

TRANSLATION:
“Usually they describe the Lord’s impersonal aspect, but they hardly know that the Lord’s personal feature is worshipable. They are undoubtedly lacking this knowledge.

PURPORT
The saintly Muslim admitted that those who were supposedly conversant in the teachings of the Koran could not ultimately understand the essence of the Koran. Because of this, they accepted only the Lord’s impersonal feature. Generally they recite and explain this portion only. Although the transcendental body of the Lord is worshipable, most of them are unaware of this.

TRANSLATIONS:
“Since You are that very same Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, please be merciful upon me. I am fallen and unfit.

“I have studied the Muslim scripture very extensively, but from it I cannot conclusively decide what the ultimate goal of life is or how I can approach it.

“Now that I have seen You, my tongue is chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. The false prestige I felt from being a learned scholar is now gone.”

Saying this, the saintly Muslim fell at the lotus feet of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and requested Him to speak of life’s ultimate goal and the process by which it could be obtained.

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Please get up. You have chanted the holy name of Krishna; therefore the sinful reactions you have accrued for many millions of lives are now gone. You are now pure.”

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu then told all the Muslims there, “Chant the holy name of Krishna! Chant the holy name of Krishna!” As they all began to chant, they were overwhelmed by ecstatic love.

In this way Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu directly initiated the saintly Muslim by advising him to chant the holy name of Krishna. The Muslim’s name was changed to Ramadasa. Another Pathana Muslim present there was named Vijuli Khan.

Vijuli Khan was very young, and he was the son of the king. All the other Muslims, or Pathanas, headed by Ramadasa, were his servants.

Vijuli Khan also fell down at the lotus feet of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and the Lord placed His foot on his head.

After bestowing His mercy upon them in this way, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu left. All those Pathana Muslims then became mendicants.

Later these very Pathanas became celebrated as the Pathana Vaishnavas. They toured all over the country and chanted the glorious activities of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Vijuli Khan became a greatly advanced devotee, and his importance was celebrated at every holy place of pilgrimage.

TRANSLATION
In this way Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu performed His pastimes. Coming to the western part of India, He bestowed good fortune upon the yavanas and mlecchas.

PURPORT
The word yavana means “meat-eater.” Anyone from a meat-eating community is called a yavana. One who does not strictly observe the Vedic regulative principles is called a mleccha. These words do not refer to any particular man. Even if a person is born in a brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya or shudra family, he is a mleccha or yavana if he does not strictly follow the regulative principles or if he eats meat.


HINDUISM NOTES:

There are four disciplic lineages of Vedic [Hindu] wisdom.

If you find a Hindu, they are always following a branch of these four lineages:
1. Brahma, 2. Laxshmi, 3. Shiva, or 4. Kumara disciplic succession.

The Hare Krishna Chanting Hindu is a “Vaishnava” that belongs to the

Brahma-Madhva-Chaitanya-sampradaya [sampradaya, aka, Linage].
 
kudzu said:
The godhead is the divine nature.
Click to expand...

Q. What is the divine nature-head?

A. "The supreme absolute personality of divine nature-head" (?).
To which we are individual sparks lost in a phantasmagoria repeatedly seeking for source (?).
Where nirvana state is better and more gentlemanly vogue (?).

Do we all agree that the mystery of life is to arrive at the divine nature
---which here is being defined as the godhead "The supreme absolute Godhead"?
 
bhaktajan said:
Q. What is the divine nature-head?

A. "The supreme absolute personality of divine nature-head" (?).
To which we are individual sparks lost in a phantasmagoria repeatedly seeking for source (?).
Where nirvana state is better and more gentlemanly vogue (?).

Do we all agree that the mystery of life is to arrive at the divine nature
---which here is being defined as the godhead "The supreme absolute Godhead"?
Click to expand...


Its defined simply all over the net.
 
bhaktajan said:
What is "the godhead"? As in what does it mean to you when you use it? And if you could cite the scripture that is used to define it. Godhead is a term I learnt from the Guru A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. He was an old school real Hindu swami from India. So his usage of the term "Godhead" being an English word, is to be plainly grouped with the similar words: Fountainhead, Figurehead, headspring, wellspring, seedbed etc etc.

So Bhaktivedanta Swami translates the theistic Sanskrit scriptures ie the Bhagavad-gita as-it-is wherein he explains Krishna as the Supreme Original Godhead come incarnata. And that such has been an open book secret since time immemorial.

God = The original Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Godhead is infinitely full in all opulences, specifically:
Godhead = God is the original person who possesses and is the original wellspring of:
All Beauty, Fame, Intelligence, Power, Wealth, and Renunciation.

God is the first person, with his own eternal and transcendental name, fame, form, personality, paraphernalia, entourage and pastime.
God's body is the absolute form of 'Eternity. Cognizance, and Bliss' [aka Sat-Chit-Ananda]

God is a person. God is the source of Persona. God is the original person. We spirit souls are part and parcel of the Supreme person, equal in quality BUT NOT in quantity. We are part of the whole so we seek to serve him as a transcendent pastime. But now we "are spirit souls in the material world"

The real qualification is the “whole” term, “The supreme personality of […who?…] The supreme personality of Godhead”. [remember that the word, “Yoga” means to unite/to link]

God by definition is the origin, fountainhead, wellspring source of personality. The “supreme personality” is he who possesses all opulences “in-full”.

God by definition, possesses all of the following six categories of opulences:

All riches, All strength, All fame, All intelligence, All Beauty; and finally, All Renunciation.

Any Soul may become opulent and endowed with prowess(s) and opulence(s) ---but only temporarily--- thus only one Person has all these opulences “in-full”, and even more, only one Person is the source of these opulences. It must be noticed that these six opulences are opulences of a Person. A person is to possess these traits, even if only to various minor degrees, but most especially, it ia always only temporarily.
The term “The supreme personality of “Godhead”. Is utilized by Orthodox Hindu Theists, known as the Vaishnavas.

So, the term “The supreme personality of “Godhead” = God as a person; or God’s personality is the supreme Truth of absolute knowledge.

God is a person, His personality is the supreme personality.

Godhead is simply a verbal convention meaning “the God” in the [albeit, Supreme-absolute-transcendent-unborn-unmanifest] own personage.

Similar to asking:

“Who is the Figurehead of the United States of America”?
The Figurehead of the United States of America is President Trump.

“Who is the Figurehead of a leased apartment”?
The Figurehead of a leased apartment is the tenant that signed the Lease.

Godhead says:

“Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form. Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself. To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium. One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” (4.6-9)

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One who can understand the truth of the appearance of the Personality of Godhead is already liberated from material bondage, and therefore he returns to the kingdom of God immediately after quitting this present material body. Such liberation of the living entity from material bondage is not at all easy. The impersonalists and the yogis attain liberation only after much trouble and many, many births. Even then, the liberation they achieve—merging into the impersonal brahmajyoti of the Lord—is only partial, and there is the risk of returning to this material world. But the devotee, simply by understanding the transcendental nature of the body and activities of the Lord, attains the abode of the Lord after ending this body and does not run the risk of returning to this material world.

Although there are many transcendental forms of the Lord, they are still one and the same Supreme Personality of Godhead. One has to understand this fact with conviction, although it is incomprehensible to mundane scholars and empiric philosophers.

As stated in the Purusha-bodhini Upaniñad:
“The one Supreme Personality of Godhead is eternally engaged in many, many transcendental forms in relationships with His unalloyed devotees.”

This Vedic version is confirmed in this verse of the Gita personally by the Lord. He who accepts this truth on the strength of the authority of the Vedas and of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and who does not waste time in philosophical speculations attains the highest perfectional stage of liberation. Simply by accepting this truth on faith, one can, without a doubt, attain liberation. The Vedic version tat tvam asi is actually applied in this case. Anyone who understands Lord Krishna to be the Supreme, or who says unto the Lord “You are the same Supreme Brahman, the Personality of Godhead,” is certainly liberated instantly, and consequently his entrance into the transcendental association of the Lord is guaranteed. In other words, such a faithful devotee of the Lord attains perfection, and this is confirmed by the following Vedic assertion:

“One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and there is no other way to achieve this perfection.” (Svetashvatara Upanishad 3.8) That there is no alternative means that anyone who does not understand Lord Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is surely in the mode of ignorance and consequently he will not attain salvation simply, so to speak, by licking the outer surface of the bottle of honey, or by interpreting the Bhagavad-gita according to mundane scholarship. Such empiric philosophers may assume very important roles in the material world, but they are not necessarily eligible for liberation. Such puffed-up mundane scholars have to wait for the causeless mercy of the devotee of the Lord. One should therefore cultivate Krishna consciousness with faith and knowledge, and in this way attain perfection.

[source Bhagavad-gita as it is by A.C. Bhaktivedanta swami (1896-1977)]


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Krishnadasa Kaviraja swami summarized the principles of incarnation:,

“The avatara, or incarnation of Godhead, descends from the kingdom of God for material manifestation. And the particular form of the Personality of Godhead who so descends is called an incarnation, or avatara. Such incarnations are situated in the spiritual world, the kingdom of God. When they descend to the material creation, they assume the name avatara.”

There are various kinds of avataras, such as purushavataras, gunavataras, lilavataras, shakty-avesha avataras, manvantara-avataras and yugavataras—all appearing on schedule all over the universe. But Lord Krishna is the primeval Lord, the fountainhead of all avataras. Lord Shree Krishna descends for the specific purpose of mitigating the anxieties of the pure devotees, who are very anxious to see Him in His original Vrindavana pastimes. Therefore, the prime purpose of the Krishna avatara is to satisfy His unalloyed devotees.

The Lord says that He incarnates Himself in every millennium. This indicates that He incarnates also in the Age of Kali. As stated in the Shreemad-Bhagavatam, the incarnation in the Age of Kali is Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who spread the worship of Krishna by the sankirtana movement (congregational chanting of the holy names) and spread Krishna consciousness throughout India. He predicted that this culture of sankirtana would be broadcast all over the world, from town to town and village to village. Lord Chaitanya as the incarnation of Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, is described secretly but not directly in the confidential parts of the revealed scriptures, such as the Upanishads, Mahabharata and Bhagavatam. The devotees of Lord Krishna are very much attracted by the sankirtana movement of Lord Chaitanya. This avatara of the Lord does not kill the miscreants, but delivers them by His causeless mercy.

[source Bhagavad-gita as it is by A.C. Bhaktivedanta swami (1896-1977)]
Click to expand...

It is the god giving head.
 
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