Transcendental Qualities of Krishna and of His tattvas

Important Acaryas have established that Krishna has unlimited qualities but have categorized them in sixty-four divisions.

 

Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami says:

ananta kṛṣṇera guṇa, cauṣaṭṭi — pradhāna

eka eka guṇa śuni’ juḍāya bhakta-kāṇa

“The transcendental qualities of Lord Krishna are unlimited. Out of these, sixty-four are considered prominent. The ears of the devotees are satisfied simply by hearing all these qualities one after the other.

These categories are:

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-worshipable
48. All-opulent
49. All-honorable
50. The supreme controller
51. Changeless
52. All-cognizant
53. Ever fresh
54. Sac-cid-ananda (possessing an eternal blissful body)
55. Possessing all mystic perfections
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.
61. He is the performer of wonderful varieties of pastimes (especially His childhood pastimes).
62. He is surrounded by devotees endowed with a 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 that cannot be rivaled anywhere in the creation.

 

According to the Vedic conception, there are two types of expansions:

• God’s personal expansions, called viṣṇu-tattva, and
• His partial part-and-parcel expansions, called jīva-tattva.

There are many varieties of personal expansions: puruṣa-avatāras, śaktyāveśa-avatāras, manvantara-avatāras, and so on. For the creation of this material world, the Lord expands as Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara (Śiva).

Viṣṇu is a personal expansion, and Brahmā is a jīva-tattva expansion. All of us and all demigods fall under this category. Between the personal viṣṇu-tattva expansions and the jīva-tattva expansions is a kind of intermediate expansion called Śiva, or Maheśvara.

Qualities of Jiva Tattva

Of these 64, the first 50 may appear partially in Jivas. 

 jīveṣv ete vasanto ’pi bindu-bindutayā kvacit paripūrṇatayā bhānti tatraiva puruṣottame 

‘These qualities are sometimes very minutely exhibited in living beings, but they are fully manifested in the Supreme Personality of Godhead.’

Qualities Of Siva Tattva

The above-mentioned qualities are also present in demigods like Lord Siva. Apart from the above 50, 5 more qualities of Krishna partially appear in Siva Tattva, so there are a total of 55 qualities out of the 64 qualities of Krishna. 

 atha pañca-guṇā ye syur aṁśena giriśādiṣu

‘Apart from these fifty qualities, there are five other qualities found in the Supreme Personality of Godhead that are partially present in demigods like Śiva.

 

Qualities Of Vishnu Tattva

All the above qualities appear in full in Visnhu Tattva (Personal expansion of Krishna – like Narayana, Vishnu, Narasimha Deva, etc). Apart from the above 55, 5 more Qualities of Krishna are present in Vishnu Tattva. So Vishnu Tattva has 60 qualities out of the 64 qualities of Krishna. 

athocyante guṇāḥ pañca ye lakṣmīśādi-vartinaḥ avicintya-mahā-śaktiḥ koṭi-brahmāṇḍa-vigrahaḥ

There are another five qualities, which exist in the Vaikuṇṭha planets in Nārāyaṇa, the Lord of Lakṣmī. These qualities are also present in Krishna, but they are not present in demigods like Lord Śiva or in other living entities.

 

Therefore we can summarize in this way:

Lord Krishna – 64 qualities or 100%

Vishnu Tattva – 60 qualities or 94%

Shiva Tattva – 54 qualities or 84%

Jiva Tattva – 50 qualities or 78%

 

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