Is God too big to be contained in a picture?

From Geeta Mataji:

Podcast:

Transcription by – Sesa Vishnu Das

Edited by – Sesa Vishnu Das

Question :  Is God too big to be contained in a picture ? I have a Christian friend who says that God is so great that he can’t be depicted by an image, certainly not in pictures which we can carry in our pockets.

Answer: Yes God is so big that we can’t see him at all and yet no matter how big God is his mercy is bigger still. Because of his mercy, he who is inaccessible to our vision makes himself accessible through his deity form. On one side those who say that God can’t be depicted through any image they seem to be preserving God’s greatness saying that he is so great that we can’t see him. But they are actually limiting God. They are limiting his greatness because if God were truly great then he can do anything. Doing anything also means that he can manifest himself to us to our eyes. Yes he is infinite and a part of that infinite he can also manifest to our finite vision through finite seeming forms. How a finite form can manifest the infinite is the infinite potency of God. Yes we finite beings can’t do it. if something is infinite then we can fit it into the finite. But God is not just infinite he is also infinitely powerful and infinitely merciful. And by his infinite power and mercy he despite being infinite manifests in a finite form and still remains infinite. For example if a small baby wants to touch an elephant the baby can’t reach the head of the elephant. But if the elephant sits down and moves his head forward then he can touch the head very easily. So like that the soul wants to know God and love God. But the soul can’t access God. So God descends down and makes himself accessible through the deity form so that the soul can touch him and serve him and the soul can develop the love for him. Our eyes are a prominent gateway for our consciousness and if we want to become devoted to God we need to direct our eyes in devotional and spiritual ways. The deity enables us to direct our eyes in a devotional way. Yes God remains infinite and yet because of his infinite mercy he manifests through the deity and when we carry the pictures of the deity then we get access to God through his deity form by which we can devotionalize our eyes and use our eyes in devotional service. In that way we can go closer to him and we can attain him. So God is very big and he is so big that he can’t be contained in an image but he is so big that his bigness doesn’t get diminished if he manifests through an image. He manifests in a finite form and still remains infinite. That is his infinite potency and mercy. Thank you. Hare Krishna.