Mantra Five 31

In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord says that He treats His devotee
N proportion to the degree of surrender made by the devotee.
Ile reserves the right not to expose Himself to anyone and every-
one, except those who surrender unto Him. Therefore, for the
murrendered soul, He is always within reach, whereas for the
non-surrendered soul, He is far, far away, and cannot be ap-
proached.

There are two words in the revealed Scriptures which are im-
portant in this connection: saguna and nirguna—with qualities
wand without qualities. Saguna does not mean that the Lord be-
vomes subject to the laws of material Nature when He ap-
pours, although He has qualities and appears in the material
form. For Him there is no difference between material and spirit-
ul energies, because He is the Source of such energies. He is the
Controller of the different energies, and as such He cannot at
wy time be under their influence, as we are. The material ,
energy works according to His direction, and therefore He can
ne the material energy for His purpose, but without ever be-
ng influenced by any of the qualities of His energies. Nor for
thin purpose does He become a formless entity at any time.
Ultimately Ie is the eternal Form, the Primeval Lord. And
the impersonal representation, or Brahman effulgence, is the
low of Ilis Personal rays, as the Sun’s rays are the glow of the
Sun god.

When the boy saint Prahlada Maharaj was in the presence
of his atheist’ father, his father asked him, “Where is your
God?" The child Prahlada replied that God resides everywhere.
Nhe futher then angrily asked whether his God was within the
ilar of the palace, and the child said yes. At once the atheist
line lroke the pillar in front of him into pieces, at which
the Lord) appeared as Nrsimmha (the half-man, half-lion In-
curnatlon) from within the pillar, and killed the atheist king.
Thin meana that the Lord is within everything, which is cre-
ated by Hix different energies. And by His inconceivable power
He can appear at any place in order to favor His sincere
