Lord Krsna’s 64 qualities.

Lord Krsna (God) is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of all causes, who has 64 qualities in full all the time.

This means those 64 qualities of Krsna are His full potential, having 100% of His own attributes.

However, His Visnu-tattva expansions known by many names such as Balarama, Ramachandra, Visnu, Narayana, Maha-Visnu, Garbhodakashayi Visnu, Paramatma, Narsingadeva, Vamanadeva and millions of others (also God) have only 60 qualities or attributes out of the full 64, which is 93.75% of Krsna’s qualities.

Some Vedic scholars and academics cannot understand why Krsna has more qualities than Visnu or Narayana, and why Krsna alone IS the original Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of all causes.

To start with, the Visnu/Narayana expansions of Krsna are NOT the original Form of God. Visnu Narayana forms of God came from Krsna and NOT the other way round as many Hindus wrongly believe.

In other words, Krsna is the original Godhead, NOT Visnu. 

Krsna is NOT an expansion of Visnu because Krsna IS the original Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of all causes, from whom all Visnu/Narayana Forms originate from.

And the 4 qualities or attributes Visnu or Narayana do not have in full, Krsna always has, and are as follows-

(1) Krsna is the performer of wonderful varieties of pastimes (especially His childhood pastimes).

(2) Krsna is surrounded by devotees endowed with wonderful love of Godhead.

(3) Krsna can attract all living entities all over the universes by playing on His flute.

(4) Krsna has a wonderful excellence of beauty which cannot be rivalled anywhere in the creation.

These four qualities Krsna has in full are important to understand because all Visnu/Narayana forms of God do not have these 4 qualities in full, only sometimes exhibited partially.

Siva-tattva has 55 qualities of Kṛṣṇa 64 qualities which is 85.938% of Krsna's attributes.

Jiva-tattva (the jiva-souls) has 50 qualities of Krsna's 64 qualities which is 78.125% of Krsna's qualities.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Krsna has all sixty four transcendental qualities in full.

So there are four extra qualities Krsna has that not even Visnu/Narayana have but do sometimes partially manifest them.

So for those who ask what is the difference between Krsna (64 qualities) and Visnu/Narayana (60 qualities) read the four extra qualities above that only Krsna has all the time.

In actual fact, the full extent of Krsna’s wonderful qualities are inconceivable.

Here are Krsna’s 64 qualities or attributes-

(1) Beautiful features of the entire body

(2) Marked with all auspicious characteristics

(3) Extremely pleasing

(4) Effulgent

(5) Strong

(6) Ever youthful

(7) Wonderful linguist

(8) Truthful

(9) Talks pleasingly

(10) Fluent

(11) Highly learned

(12) Highly intelligent

(13) Genius

(14) Artistic

(15) Extremely clever

(16) Expert

(17) Grateful

(18) Firmly determined

(19) An expert judge of time and circumstances

(20) Sees and speaks on the authority of Vedas, or scriptures

(21) Pure

(22) Self-controlled

(23) Steadfast

(24) Forbearing

(25) Forgiving

(26) Grave

(27) Self-satisfied

(28) Possessing equilibrium

(29) Magnanimous

(30) Religious

(31) Heroic

(32) Compassionate

(33) Respectful

(34) Gentle

(35) Liberal

(36) Shy

(37) The protector of surrendered souls

(38) Happy

(39) The well-wisher of devotees

(40) Controlled by love

(41) all-auspicious

(42) Most powerful

(43) all-famous

(44) Popular

(45) Partial to devotees

(46) Very attractive to all women

(47) all-worship able

(48) all-opulent

(49) all-honourable

(50) The supreme controller.

(51) Changeless

(52) all-cognizant

(53) Ever fresh

(54) sac-cid-ananda-vigraha that mean eternity-knowledge-bliss-form (as an eternal blissful spiritual bodily individual PERSON) 

(55) Possessing all mystic perfections.

(56) He has inconceivable potency.

(57) Uncountable universes generate from His body.

(58) He is the original source of all incarnations.

(59) He is the giver of salvation to the enemies whom He kills.

(60) He is the attractor of liberated souls.

Besides these sixty transcendental qualities, Krsna has four more, which are not manifested even in the Visnu/Narayana form of Godhead all the time, what to speak of the demigods or living entities.

They are as follows:

(61) He is the performer of wonderful varieties of pastimes (especially His childhood pastimes).

(62) He is surrounded by devotees endowed with wonderful love of Godhead.

(63) He can attract all living entities all over the universes by playing on His flute.

(64) He has a wonderful excellence of beauty which cannot be rivaled anywhere in the creation.

The Absolute Truth is anandamaya (desiring to increase His joy), hence from His original form He expands and becomes many.

These emanations from the Supreme Person are of two categories: full expansions and partially manifested expansions.

The Lord’s various full and partial expansions and the Lord Himself simultaneously co-exist, only appearing to manifest under the influence of time.

These expansions of Krsna are known as Visnu-tattva Forms of God, and they are also the Supreme Absolute Truth.

While non-different from Lord Krsna, the Visnu-tattvas are-

Balarama,

Pradyumna,

Ramachandra,

Narsingadeva

Visnu,

Narayana,

Maha-Visnu, 

Garbhodakashayi Visnu, 

Paramatma, 

And unlimited others each with their own. unique name.

All accept their own role as Godhead in the mood of Servitor to the original Supreme Being Lord Krsna, for example Visnu and Narayana Forms, all with different names, are found on all Vaikuntha planets in the spiritual sky. This relationship is the foundation of Vedic monotheism, which encompasses the inconceivable, absolute personal nature of the original Godhead.

Lord Krsna possesses two other expansive qualities known as Siva-tattva and jiva-tattva. Together with Visnu-tattva, these three qualities are representative of the Absolute Person’s- 

internal - spiritual personalities lead by Srimati Radharani and Her eternal associates. (mostly Visnu-tattva expansions of Krsna)

external - the mahat-tattva or lifeless material energy governed by Maha-Visnu, Garbhodakashayi Visnu and Paramatma.  

marginal - the separated individual jiva-souls (jiva-tattva) 

Lord Krsna has expanded Himself as Lord Visnu/Narayana, Lord Siva, and the marginal living entities (jiva-souls) that includes Lord Brahma.

Like us, Lord Brahma is also an unique individual jiva-soul with 78.125% of Krsna's qualities (having 50 of Krsna's 64 qualities).

Lord Siva is inbetween Visnu-tattva and jiva-tattva. And Lord Visnu is Visnu-tattva.

So, clearly Visnu-tattva, Siva-tattva, jiva-tattva and lifeless matter (mahat-tattva or material world [25% of the Spiritual Sky or brahmajyoti) are all expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Krsna in different categories.

Therefore as a reminder we can summarize as follows-

Lord Krsna has 64 qualities (100%)

Visnu-tattva has 60 qualities or 93.75%

Siva-tattva has 55 qualities or 85.938%

Jiva-tattva (jiva-souls) has 50 qualities or 78.125%

This is the reason why Krsna is called Param Purushottam, Purnavatar or Supreme Personality of Godhead. Learned scholars in transcendental subjects have carefully analyzed the summum bonum Krsna to have sixty-four principal attributes.

All the expansions or categories of the Lord possess only some percentages of these attributes. However, Sri Krsna is the possessor of the attributes cent percent (all 64 quantities in full which means 100% of His own qualities).

And His personal expansions such as svayam-prakasa, tad-ekatma up to the categories of the avataras who are all visnu-tattva, who possess up to 93.75% of Krsna's transcendental attributes (60 of Krsna's 64 qualities).

Lord Siva, who is neither avatara nor avesa nor in between them, possesses 85.938% of the attributes (55 of Krsna's 64 qualities). But the individual jiva-tattva (jiva-souls) in different statuses of life, possess up to the limit of 78.125% of Krsna's qualities (which means the jiva-souls have 50 of Krsna's 64 qualities). In the conditioned state of material existence, the living being possesses these attributes in very minute quantity, varying in terms of the pious life of the living being are greatly restricted. The most perfect of living beings in the material creation are Brahmas, the supreme administrator within each material universe.

As said above, Brahma also possesses 78.125% percent of the attributes in full and is also a marginal living entity (jiva-tattva or jiva-soul). All other demigods (except Lord Siva) have the same attributes in less quantity, whereas human beings (jiva-souls) also possess the these qualities but in very minute quantity. (SB, Canto 1 Ch 3 text 29)

Only Siva-tattva and his expansions are is in a league of his own with 85.938% of Krsna's qualities (55 of Krsna's attributes) and is inbetween Visnu-tattva and jiva-tattva.

The highest standard of perfection for a the human form of life is to develop up to 78.125% of Krsna's qualities which is having 50 of Krsna's 64 qualities.

Only in the human species (400 thousand) can the individual jiva-souls reach their fully spiritual potential of 78.125%.

The individual jiva-souls in the other 8 million species of life, have no ability of higher learning only available in the human species and live their lives restricted by the sensual material bodily instincts of- 

eating,

sleeping,

mating,

defending. 

The marginal living entities (jiva-souls) can NEVER possess all the qualities Siva (55 of Krsna's 64 qualities), Visnu (60 of Krsna's 64 qualities) and Krsna (64 qualities in full) have.

The marginal living entities (jiva-tattvas or jiva-souls) can become godly by developing their full potential of 78.125% of their transcendental attributes, but can never become God like Krsna or Visnu, or a unique demigod in a league of his own like Lord Siva. Although, the individual jiva-souls can also become a Brahma in due course (based on pious activity) as he is also jiva-tattva (jiva-soul).

The godly living beings who are all residents of the Vaikuntha planets in the spiritual sky are eternal associates of Visnu in different spiritual planets called Hari-dhama and Mahesa-dhama.

However, the abode of Lord Krsna is above all these Vaikuntha planets and is called Krsnaloka or Goloka Vrndavana, and the perfected living being, by developing 78.125% of the above attributes in full, can enter the planet of Krsnaloka after leaving the present material body.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī explains why only Krsna always has 64 qualities in full. It is to be understood that the aggregate number of qualities of Kṛṣṇa is sixty-four. 

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has attempted to give evidences from various scriptures about all sixty-four qualities present in the person of the Supreme Lord Krsna.

Srila Prabhupada - "Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, after consulting various scriptures, has enumerated the transcendental 64 qualities of the Lord. Visnu or Nārāyaṇa forms of God (expansions of Krsna) only have 60 qualities which is 93.75% of Krsns's quantities." (SB, Canto 1 Ch 3 text 29)

Srila Prabhupada - "First of all, what is the conception of God? Conception of God is "God is great." Nobody is greater than Him, and nobody is equal to Him. That is God. Asama-ūrdhva. The exact Sanskrit word is asama-ūrdhva. Asama means "not equal." Nobody can be equal to God. This is analyzed by great ācāryas. They have analyzed the characteristics of God. They have characterized the characteristic are sixty-four. And out of that sixty-four, we have, we living entities, we have got fifty only. And that is also in very minute quantity. 

Fifty qualities of God we have got, but that is in minute quantity. Take, for example, just like God has got also the tendency to love young girl. Take it for a crude example. Just like God is dancing with young girls. But we have also the same tendency. We also want to be surrounded by young girls and dance, we enjoy. But the thing is that you can enjoy in the company of a few girls. That is minute quantity. But God can dance with unlimited number of girls. That you cannot. These are crude examples. 

So these sixty-four qualities, they have analyzed that we living entities, we have got in minute quantities. And amongst the living entities, the highest perfection is to be seen in the life of Brahmā, who is the chief living entity within this universe. So similarly, Lord Śiva has got fifty-five. Lord Nārāyaṇa has got sixty. But Kṛṣṇa has got in full sixty-four. Cent percent, hundred percent all the qualities. Therefore either Lord Śiva or Lord Brahmā or the living entities, nobody can be equal to Him. This is the conception of God." (Lecture SB, Canto 5 Ch 5 text 1, Los Angeles, Jan 20, 1969).^