Does God become contaminated by material qualities when He descends to this world? Can He remain unaffected? Some of His activities seem that even He gets entangled. If He gets bound, how can He unbind others? And if He cannot liberate, why should He be worshipped? Here is a brief analysis.

Creates yet Aloof from the Creation

The entire creation is a manifestation of the Lord’s energy. How can He be aloof from it while dealing with this world and appearing within it? The divinity of the Lord is that even though He is in contact with matter, He is unaffected by the qualities of material nature. Moreover, the devotees who take His shelter also do not become influenced by material qualities. This is stated in SB 1.11.38,

etad īśanam īśasya

prakṛti-stho ‘pi tad-guṇaiḥ

na yujyate sadātma-sthair

yathā buddhis tad-āśrayā

1. Spider: The creation of this universe happens by the Lord’s glance. He impregnates the material nature with the living entities, and subsequently, the creation takes place through the Lord’s energies including the time factor. The example of a spider is very appropriate in this connection. The web is created by the spider, maintained by him, and when he desires, is wound up within him. If an insignificant spider can be so powerful to act according to His will and not get bound by his creation, how can the Supreme Lord be bound by His creation?

2. Sun: Lord Kṛṣṇa is separate from His energies, just like sun is separate from its creations of clouds, darkness and snowfall. Without sun, there is no possibility of their occurrence. Although life is sustained by the sun, life is also disturbed by darkness or snowfall produced by the sun. But, the sun can never be affected by either darkness, clouds, or snowfall. Similarly, the Lord creates this world, and although there may be unlimited contaminating things in this world, the Lord is unaffected just like the sun.

3. Sky: Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, “Although the air and the atoms rest within the huge expansion of the sky, which is like the resting reservoir of everything materially created, still the sky remains separate and unaffected. Similarly, although the Supreme Lord maintains everything created by His expansion of energy, He always remains separate.” (SB 2.5.21 P)

Descends yet Untouched by Matter

The Lord’s incarnation is for the purpose of expanding ecstatic enjoyment for His surrendered devotees. Therefore, although transcendental to material nature, he descends.

prapaṣcaṁ niṣprapaṣco ‘pi

viḍambayasi bhū-tale

prapanna-janatānanda-

sandohaṁ prathituṁ prabho

1. Prime minister: Lord Kṛṣṇa descends to this world by His internal potency, which is full of eternity, knowledge, and bliss (sat cit ananda). A Prime Minister may visit jail for inspection, but he cannot be ruled by the laws of the jail although he is within the jail premises. Similarly, the Lord doesn’t get bound by the material laws.

2. King: Śrīla Prabhupāda writes in SB 8.5.22, “Lord is unaffected by the modes of material nature. He is the Supreme Lord of everyone. As a king sometimes punishes or rewards someone to maintain law and order, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although having nothing to do with the activities of this material world, sometimes appears as various incarnations according to the time, place and object.”

3. Dream: A dreaming man gets affected by his creations in the dream and also suffers the consequences. Material creation is also exactly like a dreamlike creation of the Lord, but He, being the transcendental Supersoul, is neither entangled nor affected by the reactions of such a dreamlike creation. He is always in His transcendental position. (SB 2.1.39 P)

Associates with Women yet Unagitated

One of the most controversial pastimes of Kṛṣṇa is His seemingly romantic affairs with the gopīs and the queens of Dvārakā. How can a person remain unaffected enjoying amid such beauties?

1.  Kṛṣṇa lived with His 16,108 queens in the palaces of Dvārakā. He delighted them in various ways by satisfying all of their desires. 

SB 1.11.36 mentions,

uddāma-bhāva-piśunāmala-valgu-hāsa-

vrīḍāvaloka-nihato madano ‘pi yāsām

sammuhya cāpam ajahāt pramadottamās tā

yasyendriyaṁ vimathituṁ kuhakair na śekuḥ

“The queens’ beautiful smiles and furtive glances could agitate even Lord Śiva and the Cupid, but they were unable to agitate the senses of the Lord.”

2. Nara-Nārāyaṇa: Indra once sent an army of Cupid consisting of beautiful Apsarās to distract the meditation of Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi who is Supreme Lord Himself. Instead of getting attracted, Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi produced unlimited celestial beauties from His own body, and gave one of them, Urvaśī, as a gift to Indra. The confectioner, who is always manufacturing sweets, has very little desire to eat them. Similarly, the Lord Himself has created all the spiritual and material beauties. How can He be attracted to them?

SB 3.31.17 states, “Amongst all kinds of living entities begotten by Brahmā, namely men, demigods and animals, none but the sage Nārāyaṇa is immune to the attraction of māyā in the form of a woman.”

Even His Devotees are Unaffected

1. Śukadeva Gosvāmī: The topics of the Lord and His consorts are being described by Śukadeva Gosvāmī who was totally renounced. He didn’t even have a tinge of interest in material objects. Why would such a renounced person take the efforts of describing some mundane pastimes?

2. Lord Caitanya, the Supreme Personality of Godhead who appeared in this age of Kali, regards the worship of the gopīs as the highest (Caitanya-matta- maṣjuṣā). He was a staunch renunciate and would not even allow ladies to come near Him. If He glorifies the devotion of the gopīs as the highest, how can it be mundane?

3. Practicing Devotees: In affairs between a man and a woman, the agitation of both parties is increased, and one who witnesses or hears about it also gets contaminated. On the contrary, hearing about the activities of the Lord with His consorts frees one of all lust, which is a disease of the heart. Then how can the Lord’s activities be under the material realm?

Lord gets Affected only by Devotion

Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, “Lord is all-perfect ātmārāma, or self-sufficient. He does not require anyone’s extraneous help for His satisfaction. Therefore, the queens could not satisfy the Lord by their feminine attractiveness, but they satisfied Him with their sincere affection and service. Being satisfied by their unalloyed service only, the Lord reciprocated the service just like a devout husband. Otherwise, He had no business becoming the husband of so many wives.” (SB 1.11.36 P)

Thus, the Lord is untouched by matter and unmoved by glamour. Only love can move Him. Understanding of the Supreme position of Kṛṣṇa is very important to progress in spiritual life. When this knowledge is harnessed by the scriptures and doubts get removed, it results in a boost of faith. It gives the conviction of being a practitioner on the right path. And when the path is clear, the destination is clear, then one can surge ahead in devotional service with full speed without any fear of accidents.