Srila Prabhupada Letter to Sriman Sudhindra Babu "I am so glad to learn that you are interested in the matter of Vaisnava philosophy. Vaisnava philosophy is very simple: that God is great and everyone is His servant. Nobody can be equal to or greater than God. They are simultaneously one and different. In quality they are one, but in magnitude they are different. This is the whole philosophy of the four Vaisnava sampradayas."
In terms of qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the great sages of Vedic history, such as Srila Rupa and Sanatana and Jiva Goswamis, have concluded thusly; from Srila Rupa Goswami's medieval period smrti sastra, the Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu;
Krshna 100% Has all qualities as for Vishnu, plus also 1. plays flute, 2. never works, is 3. sweet ie. aisvarya, and has 4. intimate loving pastimes. Consort is Radharani, and her followers and immediate expansions, the Gopis. The jivas take roles as associates ie as manjaris and shakhas etc ie girlfriends and cowherd boys, parents, etc
Vishnu 94% Direct expansion of Lord Krsna, they are not different. All powerful, all cognizant, Supreme Being, primordial and ever existing wituout conceivable limits, beyond linear time and space though aslo dwelling intimately within every iota os space, Atmarama ie He is self satisfied, and His eternal consort is Srimati Laxmi Devi, and she is the secondary expansion of Radharani. Together, They are Godhead, there is nothing beyond Them.
Siva 84% Like the milk of Vishnu turned into yogurt. Almost Godhead. A great Vaisnava and gopi. He has his own eternal realm and sits in great happiness and peace surrounded by infinite female followers, under a giant banuan tree, in mediatation upon the pastimes of Radha and Krsna.
Jiva souls 78% Eternal spirits, can go anywhere they like and be almost anything they want, but dependent entirely upon Godhead in al things except the eternal and undying ability to love, or not. They control Godhead by their total surrender 100%, making him feel most obliged, as He cannot Himself surrender 100% to the individual jiva, so He feels obliged. He is so kind and considerate and compassionate and humble and loving and giving and full of aisvarya, sweetness. Krsna Himself is attracted to the love of the jivas like a bee to sweet sweet honey.
Ramananada Prabhu Adds; From SB;
But Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the possessor of the attributes cent percent. And His personal expansions such as svayam-prakāśa, tad-ekātmā up to the categories of the avatāras who are all viṣṇu-tattva, possess up to ninety-three percent of these transcendental attributes. Lord Śiva, who is neither avatāra nor āveśa nor in between them, possesses almost eighty-four percent of the attributes. But the jīvas, or the individual living beings in different statuses of life, possess up to the limit of seventy-eight percent of the attributes. In the conditioned state of material existence, the living being possesses these attributes in very minute quantity, varying in terms of the pious life of the living being. The most perfect of living beings is Brahmā, the supreme administrator of one universe. He possesses seventy-eight percent of the attributes in full. All other demigods have the same attributes in less quantity, whereas human beings possess the attributes in very minute quantity. The standard of perfection for a human being is to develop the attributes up to seventy-eight percent in full. The living being can never possess attributes like Śiva, Viṣṇu or Lord Kṛṣṇa. A living being can become godly by developing the seventy-eight-percent transcendental attributes in fullness, but he can never become a God like Śiva, Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa. He can become a Brahmā in due course. The godly living beings who are all residents of the planets in the spiritual sky are eternal associates of God in different spiritual planets called Hari-dhāma and Maheśa-dhāma. The abode of Lord Kṛṣṇa above all spiritual planets is called Kṛṣṇaloka or Goloka Vṛndāvana, and the perfected living being, by developing seventy-eight percent of the above attributes in fullness, can enter the planet of Kṛṣṇaloka after leaving the present material body (SB 1.3.28 Purport, Srila Prabhupada)."
Note: Narayana possess 94%.
Radhe Radhe
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