QA with Christian students 2 – Is there any bhakti equivalent to the Trinity?

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Hare Krishna. What is the Vedic perspective on the Trinity? Answer, the Trinity, as is understood in some denominations in Christianity, is the two branches of Christianity, Trinitarian and Unitarian. And the Trinitarian is what is far more widespread nowadays.
So, God, the Son, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, they are in one sense one and in another sense they are different. And there is one truth which is manifested in three, that is the idea of the Trinity. Now, if we look at what the Trinity is not, sometimes Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh are called as the Trinity of Gods in the Vedic pantheon.
But Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, first of all, they are not at all the Trinity in the sense in which the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that term is used in the Catholic theology, in the Christian theology. The point is that Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh are in charge of three activities within this material creation, creation, maintenance and destruction. And that is related with the three modes of material nature, that is Rajoguna, which is Brahmaji’s activity of creation, Sattoguna, which is Vishnu’s activity of maintenance and Tamoguna, which is Shiva’s activity of destruction.
So, now there is no such metaphysical framework for which is there for the Trinity is for the functioning of the Trinity or for the interaction of the Trinity in Catholicism, in Christianity, is quite different from what it is in, for the three Gods Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh. Now, if we look at the way the Trinity functions, the idea is that there is the, so God is eternally transcendent, and he is beyond, he is beyond all human conception. So, he becomes accessible to us in the humanity of Jesus, wherein, both in Jesus, where he is, who is both human and divine simultaneously.
And after Jesus comes and goes, that by Jesus’ grace, the Holy Spirit is manifest in those who take shelter of him. So, at the time of the Pentecost and other times, the Holy Spirit manifested and the followers of Jesus were inspired by the Holy Spirit to go to distant lands and share the gospel of Jesus. So, this is the broad understanding.
Now, there are many metaphysical subtleties over here, which we cannot go into. But broadly speaking, this is the understanding of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit within the Christian theology. Now, what could be roughly equivalent is that when Srila Prabhupada was asked, he gave different answers.
When he was, instead of the word spirit, the word ghost was used. What does the holy ghost mean? Prabhupada replied simply that there are no holy ghosts, all ghosts are unholy. So, Prabhupada answered in different ways, based on the way people were asking.
So, this was a question asked by a hippie who had very little theological understanding. And Prabhupada answered according to that level over there. So, the word spirit is used, not in the sense of spirits or ghosts at all.
It is used in the sense that there is some higher presence of power enters into people. That is the understanding in Christianity. So, if we look at the broad bhakti theology, there we’ll see that there is God who is eternal.
There’s a God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. If we talk about it roughly analogous, there is God who is eternal, transcendental, that is Bhagavan. Then there’s the Jiva.
And the Jiva has a relationship which is activated through bhakti. So, when Bhakti Devi becomes active in the heart of a soul, then that soul becomes animated with the energy to serve the Lord. So, in that sense, we could say the Holy Spirit refers to Bhakti Devi and Bhakti Devi is the mediatrix.
We are mediator, it’s masculine, mediatrix is feminine. So, the Holy Spirit can refer to Bhakti Devi, which is, of course, Radharani or Lakshmi Devi or Sita, whichever depending on the particular understanding within Vaishnavism. However, the Holy Spirit can also refer to the Supersoul.
The Supersoul is present within the heart, but we are not always aware of the presence of the Supersoul. But as we become purified, as we become devoted, then we become more and more attuned to the presence of the Supersoul. So, now, of course, within the Christian tradition, the son is considered to be one special.
So, all the other living beings are different from Jesus because he had, he was conceived by God through the Immaculate Conception. And they say, but within the Vedic understanding, yes, there can be great saints who are extremely special, but every soul is also intimately connected with God. And in that sense, every soul is a son of God.
So, in 14.4, in 9.17, 18, Krishna talks about how he is intimately related with all living beings in this world. So, that means Krishna, who is transcendental, becomes accessible to the soul, becomes connected with the soul through the medium Bhakti Devi or through his manifestation as the Supersoul. And in that way, they both act in, the soul acts in harmony with the Supersoul, with Krishna, through the voice of the Supersoul or through the avesh of Bhakti.
So, especially when we talk in terms of Bhakti, there are devotees who enter into great ecstatic trances when the force of Bhakti overwhelms them. And that is in some ways similar to how the Holy Spirit animates people in Christianity. But at the same time, there are no exact parallels because the two theologies, the Vaishnav theology and the Catholic theology have emerged from very different frames of thought.
And although they are talking about the same absolute truth, the way they analyze the same absolute truth are from very different perspectives and analytical frameworks. And that’s why a clear parallel between the two is not easy to discern. Thank you.
Hare Krishna.