Recorded at the Vedanta Society of Western Washington on January 5, 2014.
In this talk, Swami Bhaskarananda examines the question “Is God good?” by first clarifying how human beings ordinarily judge goodness and value. He distinguishes between judgments of fact and judgments of value, noting that statements about goodness arise from human appreciation rather than objective description. From the standpoint of Vedanta, God as the ultimate source of creation exists beyond time, space, and form, and therefore beyond all limiting categories. This transcendental reality is described as nirguna, beyond attributes, while the personal conception of God, shaped by the finite human mind, is understood as saguna, endowed with qualities that reflect human ways of thinking. The swami explains how such qualities are projected onto the divine in much the same way that colored lenses alter one’s perception of the sky.
The lecture then explores how ideas of good and evil arise within the world of duality and self-interest. What appears good to one person may be harmful to another, revealing that moral judgments are relative and conditioned. Drawing on Vedantic teachings, the law of karma, and illustrative stories from spiritual tradition, Swami Bhaskarananda emphasizes that suffering and joy are consequences of past actions rather than expressions of divine favoritism or cruelty. From the highest standpoint, God is beyond good and evil altogether, characterized instead by complete unselfishness. The talk concludes by pointing to a central Vedantic insight: all existence is permeated by divinity, and through purification of the mind one comes to recognize the inherent divinity present in oneself and in all beings.
