Lord Krishna is the supreme personality of Godhead and cause of all causes. He has 64 qualities in full. The other categories of living entities have the following qualities of Krishna – Visnu-tattva has 93.75%. Siva-tattva has 84.375%. Jiva-tattva has 78.125%. Lord Krishna has 64 qualities which is 100% of his own attributes. Other living entities have as follows-
Visnu-tattva has 60 of Krishna’s qualities which is 93.75%
Siva-tattva has 55 of Krishna’s qualities which is 84.375%
Jiva-tattva has 50 of Krishna’s qualities which is 78.125%
Srila Prabhupada – “Lord Siva has fifty-five qualities, Lord Narayaṛa has sixty qualities, but Kṛishna has in full all sixty-four qualities. Cent percent, hundred percent all the qualities. Therefore either Lord Siva, Lord Brahma or the marginal living entities (jiva-souls) can be equal to Kṛishna. This is the conception of God.” (Lecture on SB 5.5.1 – Los Angeles, January 20, 1969)
The Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna has all these sixty-four transcendental qualities in full. In actual fact, the extent of Krishna’s qualities is inconceivable.
(1) Beautiful features of the entire body
(2) Marked with all auspicious characteristics
(3) Extremely pleasing
(4) Effulgent
(5) Strong
(6) Ever youthful
(7) Wonderful linguist
(8) Truthful
(9) Talks pleasingly
(10) Fluent
(11) Highly learned
(12) Highly intelligent
(13) Genius
(14) Artistic
(15) Extremely clever
(16) Expert
(17) Grateful
(18) Firmly determined
(19) An expert judge of time and circumstances
(20) Sees and speaks on the authority of Vedas, or scriptures
(21) Pure
(22) Self-controlled
(23) Steadfast
(24) Forbearing
(25) Forgiving
(26) Grave
(27) Self-satisfied
(28) Possessing equilibrium
(29) Magnanimous
(30) Religious
(31) Heroic
(32) Compassionate
(33) Respectful
(34) Gentle
(35) Liberal
(36) Shy
(37) The protector of surrendered souls
(38) Happy
(39) The well-wisher of devotees
(40) Controlled by love
(41) All-auspicious
(42) Most powerful
(43) All-famous
(44) Popular
(45) Partial to devotees
(46) Very attractive to all women
(47) All-worship able
(48) All-opulent
(49) All-honourable
(50) The supreme controller.
Besides all of the above-mentioned fifty qualities, Lord Kṛishna possesses five more, which are sometimes partially manifested in Lord Brahma or Lord Siva.
These transcendental qualities are as follows:
(51) Changeless
(52) All-cognizant
(53) Ever fresh
(54) Sac-cid-ananda-ananda (possessing an eternal blissful body)
(55) Possessing all mystic perfections.
Kṛishna also possesses five other qualities, which are manifest in the body of Narayana/Vishnu, and they are listed as follows:
(56) He has inconceivable potency.
(57) Uncountable universes generate from his body.
(58) He is the original source of all incarnations.
(59) He is the giver of salvation to the enemies whom he kills.
(60) He is the attractor of liberated souls.
Besides these sixty transcendental qualities, Kṛishna has four more, which are not manifested even in the Vishnu/Narayana form of Godhead, what to speak of the demigods or living entities. They are as follows:
(61) He is the performer of wonderful varieties of pastimes (especially his childhood pastimes).
(62) He is surrounded by devotees endowed with wonderful love of Godhead.
(63) He can attract all living entities all over the universes by playing on his flute.
(64) He has a wonderful excellence of beauty which cannot be rivalled anywhere in the creation.
The Absolute Truth is anandamaya (desiring to increase his joy), hence from his original form he expands and becomes many. These emanations from the Supreme Person are of two categories- full expansions and partially manifested expansions. The Lord’s various full and partial expansions and the Lord himself simultaneously co-exist, only appearing to manifest under the influence of time. These expansions of the Supreme Being are known as Visnu-tattva, and they are also Supreme Absolute Truth. While non-different from the Lord, the Visnu-tattva all accept their own role as Godhead in the mood of Servitor to the “original” Supreme Being. This relationship is the foundation of Vedic monotheism, which encompasses the inconceivable, absolute personal nature of the original Godhead. The Supreme Being possesses two other expansive qualities known as Siva-tattva and jiva-tattva. Together with Visnu-tattva, these three qualities are representative of the Absolute Person’s internal, external and marginal energies. The Lord has expanded himself as Lord Siva and Lord Brahma, and we, the living entities, are also expansions. Like us, Lord Brahma is also jiva-tattva. Lord Siva is between Visnu-tattva and jiva-tattva. And Lord Vishnu is Visnu-tattva. Visnu-tattva, via media, and jiva-tattva – they are all expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore we can summarize as follows as a reminder-
Lord Kṛishna has 64 qualities in full.
Visnu-tattva has 60 qualities, or 93.75% of Krishna’s attributes.
Siva-tattva has 55 qualities, or 84.375% of Krishna’s attributes.
Jiva-tattva (jiva-souls) has 50 qualities or 78.125% of Krishna’s attributes.
This is the reason why Krishna is called Param Purushottam, Purnavatar or Supreme Personality of Godhead. Reference from (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.29)
Learned scholars in transcendental subjects have carefully analyzed the summum bonum Krishna to have sixty-four principal attributes. All the expansions or categories of the Lord possess only some percentages of these attributes. But Sri Krishna is the possessor of the attributes cent percent. And his personal expansions such as svayam-prakasa, tad-ekatma up to the categories of the avataras who are all Vishnu-tattva, possess up to 93.75% of these transcendental attributes. Lord Siva, who is neither avatara nor avesa nor in between them, possesses 84.375% of Krishna’s attributes. But the jiva-souls, or the individual marginal living beings in different statuses of life, possess only up to the limit of 78.125% of Krishna’s 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 marginal living being (jiva-souls). The most perfect of marginal living entities (jiva-souls) is Brahma, the supreme administrator of each material universe inside each massive Brahmanda universal outer shell. Like all other marginal living entities, Brahma also possesses 78.125% 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 78.125% in full. The marginal living entity (jiva-soul) can never possess attributes of Siva, Vishnu or Lord Krishna. A marginal living entity or jiva-soul can become godly by developing the 78.125% transcendental attributes in fullness, but he can never become a God like Siva, Vishnu or Krishna. He can become a Brahma 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-dhama and Mahesa-dhama. The abode of Lord Krishna is above all the spiritual Vaikuntha planets and is called Krishnaloka or Goloka-Vrndavana. The perfected marginal living entity (jiva-soul), by developing their full potential of 78.125% of Krishna‘s attributes, can enter the planet of Krsnaloka after leaving the present material bodily vessel.
Gaurangasundar Das is Iskcon, Inc Communication Director and SM IT head.
