People often ask, “Who made God?”

This question betrays a fundamental lack of understanding about the very definition of God.

Every subject begins with certain definitions that need to be accepted; otherwise we can’t progress in that subject. For example, geometry defines a circle as a round figure, and a square as a figure with four sides of equal length. Suppose a child learns about these figures, learns how to draw them and then asks, “How can I draw a square circle?” That question betrays the lack of understanding about the definition of these figures: a circle by its very definition can’t be a square. Rather than answering the question, a wise teacher will address the underlying misunderstanding.

Similarly, to address the question about God’s source, we need to examine the underlying misdefinition. Bhakti philosophy defines God as the cause of all causes. The Bhagavad-gita (10.08) stresses through a double assertion that Krishna is the source of everything – everything emanates from him.

So if “God” came from something, then “God” would not be God – the thing from which he came would be God. And if that thing came from something, then that something would be God. Wherever the causal chain of origination stops, that originating source would be God.

Does the chain need to stop somewhere? Yes, definitely. Just as a multi-story skyscraper needs to rest on the ground, so too does everything need to have an ultimate source. Asking why that ultimate source should be God is like asking why a circle can’t be square – both questions call for not a specific answer, but a fundamental education about preliminary definitions.

If we open-mindedly and objectively understand the definition of God, we will realize that the question about his source is incoherent, thereby making an answer redundant.

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