An Introduction to the Science of God, Part 1 – The Universal Form

Who is God? Everybody has heard of Him, but practically nobody has seen Him. Why is He so aloof? Is there any way of knowing that God really exists? And if so, who is He? Why doesn’t He show Himself so that we finally know once and for all?

These are some of the questions that people ask about God, and have a hard time finding answers to. Even priests and ministers struggle with these questions, and sometimes they tell the flock to stop asking so many questions and just believe. Unfortunately, this is due to the fact that the main scripture for people of the Western world, the Bible, has very little to say about God.

But, in fact, the Lord has revealed Himself, and has given detailed knowledge about Himself in the Vedic scriptures, which answer all of the above questions and more, to take us beyond hopeful belief by explaining the entire science of God.

It’s all there in the Vedas. Not only everything about this world we live in but what is beyond this world, including its source. The Vedas are given by the Supreme Lord to free us from our ignorance and misunderstanding. Naturally this is all complex, but the concepts, if not the details, are manageable by ordinary people everywhere.

The science of God begins in the Bhagavad-gita, the Song of God, spoken by God, or Krishna, where He introduces Himself. This is expanded and fully explained in the pages of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, The Beautiful Story of God. In these books the various manifestations of the Lord are presented, one of which is suitable for any person. Everyone therefore has the opportunity to come nearer to God through meditation and worship.

Many people honor and appreciate the wonder of nature and think of nature’s wonder and magnificence as a manifestation of God, and indeed it is. This wonderful form is known as the virat-rupa, or the Universal Form, and meditation on this form is most suitable for those who have difficulty conceiving of the Lord as a person.

Perhaps you have stood at the shore of the unlimited ocean wondering at its vastness, or hiking in the mountains stopped at a vista point in awe of their grandeur and beauty. The Srimad-Bhagavatam describes how one may see the Supreme Lord within the magnificent features of this cosmic creation:

“The rivers are the veins of the gigantic body, the trees are the hairs of His body, and the omnipotent air, His breath. The passing ages are His movements. The clouds, carrying water, are the hairs on His head. The terminations of days or nights are His dress, and the supreme cause of material creation is His intelligence. His mind is the moon, the reservoir of all changes. Varieties of birds indicate His masterful artistic sense. Manu, the father of mankind, is the emblem of His standard intelligence, and humanity is His residence.”

The Lord’s universal qualities are also described in the Bhagavad-gita. Once Arjuna, the protagonist of the Gita, comes to understand that Krishna is indeed the Supreme Lord, he inquires wants to know how He should be thought of, and in answer Krishna explains more about how we can think of, and understand Him:

Arjuna said: Of Krishna, please tell me in detail of Your divine powers by which You pervade all these worlds and abide in them. How should I meditate on You? In what various forms are You to be contemplated, O Blessed Lord? Tell me again in detail of Your mighty potencies and glories, for I never tire of hearing Your ambrosial words.

O Krishna, O supreme mystic, how shall I think of You, and how shall I know You? In what various forms are You to be remembered, O Supreme Personality of Godhead?
Please describe in detail the mystic power of Your opulence.

The Blessed Lord said: Yes, I will tell you of My splendorous manifestations, but only of those which are prominent, O Arjuna, for My opulence is limitless.

I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable Om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man. I am the original fragrance of the earth, and I am the heat in fire. I am the life of all that lives, and I am the penances of all ascetics. O Arjuna, I am the original seed of all existences, the intelligence of the intelligent, and the prowess of all powerful men. I am the strength of the strong, devoid of passion and desire, and I am sex life which is not contrary to religious principles,

I am the Self, the Supersoul, seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings. Of the Vedas I am the Sama Veda; of the demigods I am Indra, the king of heaven; of the senses I am the mind; and in living beings I am the living force [consciousness]. Of lights I am the radiant sun, and among the stars I am the moon, and of bodies of water I am the ocean.

Of vibrations I am the transcendental Om. Of sacrifices I am the chanting of the holy names [japa], and of immovable things I am the Himalayas. Of all trees I am the banyan tree, and of the sages among the demigods I am Narada.

Among the dispensers of law I am Yama, the lord of death. Among the Daitya demons I am the devoted Prahlada, and of subduers I am time. Among beasts I am the lion, and among birds I am Garuda. Of purifiers I am the wind, of the wielders of weapons I am Rama, of fishes I am the shark, and of flowing rivers I am the Ganges.

Of all creations I am the beginning and the end and also the middle, O Arjuna. Of all sciences I am the spiritual science of the self, and among logicians I am the conclusive truth. Of letters I am the letter A, and among compound words I am the dual compound. I am also inexhaustible time, and of creators I am Brahma.

I am all-devouring death, and I am the generating principle of all that is yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, fine speech, memory, intelligence, steadfastness and patience.

Of the hymns in the Sama Veda I am the Brihat-sama, and of poetry I am the Gayatri mantra. Of months I am Kartika [November-December], and of seasons I am flower-bearing spring. I am also the gambling of cheats, and of the splendid I am the splendor. I am victory, I am adventure, and I am the strength of the strong. Among punishments I am the rod of chastisement, and of those who seek victory, I am morality. Of secret things I am silence, and of the wise I am wisdom.

Furthermore, O Arjuna, I am the generating seed of all existences. There is no being – moving or nonmoving – that can exist without Me. O mighty conqueror of enemies, there is no end to My divine manifestations. What I have spoken to you is but a mere indication of My infinite opulence. Know that all beautiful, glorious, and mighty creations spring from but a spark of My splendor; with a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.

Did you notice how the greatest feature of any aspect of the creation can be thought of as the Supreme Lord? Remembering these words we have the ability to see, and appreciate God in every aspect of His creation, which is a method of worship of the Lord in his Universal Form. Practice doing so as you go about your day.

Seeing the sun or the moon we can remember the Lord. By hearing any sound we can remember that this represents God. Any strength, prowess, ability, splendor is also God. He is silence, He is wisdom, He is the season of spring, and all-devouring death. And, yes, even the sex act can be God – when performed for deliberate procreation according to religious principles.

With this we have the ability to see God everywhere, and as He states in the Gita: for one who sees me everywhere and see everything in Me, I am never lost to him, nor is he ever lost to Me.

There is more to say about the Universal Form, but we will save that for later.