Page:Bengal Vaishnavism - Bipin Chandra Pal.djvu/33

“The term Brahman, in its essential meaning, refers to Bhagavan, Who is filled with spiritual attributes and power. None is equal to or higher than He. His manifesta- tions and body arc all spiritual. Ignoring these spiritual characters (the Samkara- Vedanta) calls Him as without body or differ- entiations.” This is the central position of the Bengal school of Yaishnavism in regard to the nature and attributes of the Divine Being. God has no form, say both Christianity and Islam. He is formless or nirakara says the Hindu of the Vedantic school. Even popular Hinduism, which makes numerous forms of the Deity for purposes of its worship, does not accept these forms as real and true. They are fanciful creations of the devotees, created for purposes of worship with a view to render the contem- plation and love of God easy to the un- illumined crowd, who cannot conceive of a formless God, much less cultivate sentiments of devotion to Him in the present stage of their existence as embodied spirits. Formlessness means to the multitude really a void, absolute emptiness. We cannot worship or cultivate personal devotion towards a void. Yet our mind and heart yearn after our Maker. The