Was Krishna himself God or God was speaking through Krishna?

Krishna is God, He is the personification of Godhead, He is independent and eternal as Himself.

Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. Bg 2.12

He clearly says that He has always existed. That doesn’t mean that at one time He was formless and then assumed a form and then lost it again, it means that He, the person, an individual being has always existed.

He reinforces this again and again throughout Bhagavad Gita.

He says that many years ago He instructed Vivasvan, the sun god. (4.1) This means at a rough estimate Krishna spoke Gita at least 120,400,000 years ago. How is that possible if Krishna was just an enlightened human? He clarifies how.

4.6 - Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form. Bg 4.6

Krishna’s body is transcendental and never deteriorates. Does that sound like a very special human, or does that sound like God?

He says that there is no truth higher than Him, and everything rests upon Him

O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread. Bg 7.7

How is this possible if God is speaking through Him? If this was true then God would be above Him and He would be dependent on God.

Krishna specifically says that this is what unintelligent people think.

Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme. Bg 7.24

How can Krishna make it any clearer than this?

He goes on to say that the impersonal Brahman also is supported by Him.

And I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is immortal, imperishable and eternal and is the constitutional position of ultimate happiness. Bg 14.27

How can this be possible of He is a product of Brahman? If that were true, He would be supported by Brahman, and not the basis of it.

He says that foolish people cannot understand Him when He appears in His form which externally is like a human’s.

Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be. Bg 9.11

If Krishna is not the Supreme Lord, then who is? Who is it that descends and has a form like a human and is the Supreme Lord if it is not Krishna Himself? Supreme Lord means God. So who is this other God that is speaking through Krishna, and when does he descend?

Krishna has His own abode. It is His abode where He abides.

One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna. Bg 4.9

How can He have an eternal abode if He is not eternal. Eternal abode means God’s abode. If it is eternally His then He must exist there eternally. If it is His then it belongs to Him. He doesn’t say “my father’s abode” nor does He say “everyone’s abode” He says my abode.

He tells Arjuna how to reach Him.

Bg 8.8 - He who meditates on Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Partha, is sure to reach Me.

Why would He tell Arjuna to keep Him in his mind as paramam purusam, the Supreme Person if He was a conduit for the Supreme Person?

Krishna explains that He is the cause of the material world.

Bg 9.8 - The whole cosmic order is under Me. Under My will it is automatically manifested again and again, and under My will it is annihilated at the end.

Why will Krishna take the credit for this if He is a mouthpiece for the actual creator? Why doesn’t He say “There is one mightier than I who actually creates?” He says that it is He who creates and destroys the whole cosmic order. He never says that He is representing another greater person. He says that He is the greatest person. Not only the universe but all life in the universe comes from Him.

It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kunti, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.Bg 14.4

Has any prophet, or sage or enlightened being ever claimed that they are the father of all species of life. Did Jesus ever claim this? Did Mohammad? Did Buddha? Where has any representative of God claimed such a thing? Yet Krishna is claiming it. How can He not be God?

In case there is doubt Krishna makes it very clear who He is.

Bg 15.18 - Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person.

So, He is the greatest and the Supreme Person. Now either He is bonkers or He is right. If a person stands up and claims they are God, what happens? He is taken away and put under treatment, that’s what. His words are not studied for thousands of years, he is not worshiped in millions of temples, he is quickly forgotten for being a nutcase…unless He actually is God. Then we can expect His words to be studied for thousands of years etc.

There is more, much much more, but if you haven’t decided by now, then a hundred volumes won’t help. It’s a simple decision. Do you accept Krishna’s words as true or not? Do you believe what He says or not? Do you have the intellectual capacity to accommodate the simple truth that God appeared on Earth 5,000 years ago, or is it too much for you?

If it is too much then you won’t see it. You will find ways to twist what Krishna says so that it doesn’t mean that He is God. It means something else. He is just another person who shared some knowledge, an imaginary person invented to express some ideas by the writer of Mahabharata, a manifestation of Brahman who appeared for a while and no longer exists as an individual person. People can do this without batting an eye, they simply ignore what Krishna said, it’s that easy, and Krishna will help you if that is what you want.

I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My internal potency, and therefore they do not know that I am unborn and infallible. Bg 7.25

If you ran His words through an unbiased computer program then the result would be 100% this person is God. No doubt about it. But run it through a mind that is determined that Krishna is not God then you get, “Nah, it’s just not possible. God doesn’t exist, or if He does, He doesn’t come down to Earth where everyone can see Him. I don’t care what you say, or what He said, or what He did, I know I am right, and nothing is going to change that.”

This is the amazing quality of the mind, and Krishna explains that too..

One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. Bg 6.5

All passages taken from Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translated with commentary by HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.