Mar 15, MONTREAL, CANADA— The question of the fall of the jiva from Goloka is moot. Srila Prabhupada has stated that that is the case. There is no question. After all, it is BACK to Godhead, not TO Godhead. There are so many proofs, that any Prabhupadanuga can reach another conclusion is beyond me, frankly. However, some do not understand how the jiva, in such a blissful situation as residing in Vrndavana, can become envious and depart that realm.
I will attempt to explain using a story, (this story taken from Mahanidhi Maharajah's book of excerpts, from sastra and sadhu, glorifying Sri Vrndavana dhama):
One day, in a mood of blissful enjoyment, Lord Baladeva asked Lord Krsna if he could Himself be Krsna for just one day! Lord Krsna agreed, and consequently gave Balaramaji His flute and peacock feather, which Baladeva happily accepted. He then went off dancing joyfully, playing the flute.
Meanwhile, back at King Kamsa's palace, he was entertaining the Kesi demon. Kesi was asked to go to Vrndavana. There, he should seek out a beautiful young boy playing the flute and wearing a peacock feather upon his head. Kesi agreed, and immediately set out in the form of a gigantic horse. When he reached Vrndavana, he saw Balarama dancing and playing beautifully upon Krsna flute, and taking Him to be Krsna, proceeded to deliver an earth-shaking kick from his hind hooves, striking Balaramaji squarely upon His chest, this in turn sending the Lord tumbling and flying for a great distance through the fields and forest from the powerful blow.
Baladeva was shocked and somewhat stunned from the force, and arose with a sore chest and feeling pain from the places where he landed while tumbling. He returned to the village, and there he saw Rohini, His dear mother, who took Him upon her lap with loving parental affection for His well being. At this point, Balaramaji exclaimed that He did not want to be Krsna anymore! Krsna's flute and feather were returned, and He promptly went to find Kesi, and killed him.
Of particular interest is the innocent vulnerability and sensitivity displayed by our Lord Balarama, features most endearing to his devotees, and somewhat in contrast to our usual mood of seeing Him as Haladhara, the mighty holder of the plow. He becomes like a small boy in the arms of His dear parents, a mood preferred by our lords over that of awe or reverence and display of power.
Hence my thesis: that as the source of all us jivas, Balaramaji, in a mood of playfulness, accepted the position of Krsna for a day. Similarly, I suggest that the jivas can fall down in a mood not necessarily of envious separatist mentality, but in a blissful mood of adventure! Like skaters venturing too far out on thin ice, they may sometimes fall through the ice, having not paid attention to or disregarded the danger potential. Similarly the jives fall in a mood of playful adventure and inattentiveness, not one of anger or hatred, etc., or of any grievous offense to the Lord.
Mar 17, '08 MONTREAL, CANADA — Dear Chitraketu et al; AGTSP! PAMHO. You have mistakenly gotten an idea that my article was in response to your article, while in reality I submitted Playful Fall article to Sampradaya Sun a day before your articles even appeared publicly in the site. I have no foreknowledge of what will appear, so you needn't take exception to a perceived slight to you by my self that never existed. It is curious that Krsna arranged for my article to be there at the same time as the subject arose by others, though. If you think I am not being truthful, you may kindly ask the editors.
Stupid as I undoubtedly am, I am obliged to take the words of our Spiritual Master verbatim, and cannot afford the luxury of speculation or accepting the instructions of any others over those of Srila Prabhupada, however credential-ous they may be.
I feel that Mahesh Raja Prabhu and others have already made the point that the souls fall from Goloka very clear, with many sastric references, and good logic. However, for the sake of those who are very simple, such as I, and who understand best from analogies and examples, please find following, excerpts from a conversation between Dr. Knuepper, a philosopher, and Srila Prabhupada, in Vrndavana, in 1976, taken from Hari Sauri Prabhus book, A Transcendental Diary:
K: Why does the soul come into the body in the first place?
P: It is simply for punishment. You want to enjoy ... so enjoy independently means they do not care for God, therefore they are punished.
Hari Sauri writes, Srila Prabhupada said: Moksa means to get back one's ORIGINAL BODY.
Srila Prabhupada further elaborated:
P: 'Just like you get a lump of dirt. You can mold it ...so we are doing that. Child. The father has given birth to the child, and father has given the child a lump of earth and he's playing, that's all. For both of them, the father is the proprietor. If the child wants to play, father says, All right, play. So he's sometimes breaking, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing. This is going on.
K: Then he goes back.
P: Yes, if he gets sense. ... if you have grown up from the childish nature to the real human nature, then surrender to Krsna. Then our life is perfect.
I thought this particularly easy to follow; we childishly and playfully wanted to enjoy separately from God so we become captured by the matter. But originally, we were with the father, we had an original spiritual body in association with the father Krsna, not that we came from an amorphous cloud or brahmajyoti, and decided to become embodied, or something like that.
Srila Prabhupada uses the word playful, playing, so I feel that I am following in his footsteps with my analogous story from Baladeva's pastimes. But don't take my word for it, kindly see March 15th articles and judge from sastra and sadhu.
I have read this book which you quote, Not A Leaf Falls, etc., and threw it out years ago because it contradicts our Gurudeva. You may have to choose strict loyalty to Srila Prabhupada or calling him an ordinary man subject to a political agenda, and interpreting his instructions to suit another purpose.
Hare Krsna
Here, walk with us. There is a lovely stream, we cows call it the stream of lives. When you drink, you can see the ripples in the water, which curiously transform how you see your own face. For a few moments, you are like someone else, in a dream ! Then, havng satisfied our desire to drink, we turn back to the eternal exotic flower-frangranced forests. I do not drink here as often as I once did anymore. Let me tell you my dream...
... I dreamed that I, a Spiritual Cow, was suddenly embodied as a Man. I wanted to know why. And then I gradually became aware that Supersoul was awake everywhere, and my spiritual master came, and he showed me that the world was a mad but amazing place, and I felt seperation from HimKrsna yet also a realistic cold awareness of the world, as His creation. Then, I called out Krsna Caitanya's Name, and I awoke.
Thank Krsna it was but a brief dream. What a slippery slope.
And yet,even now the remembrance of the Name of Krsna Caitanya brings tears to my cow's eyes.
Dec 01, AUSTRALIA (SUN) — In relation to the jiva's fall from Goloka, yes it is correct that no marginal living entities or nitya-siddha devotees fall from Goloka.
Our understanding of the jiva's origin comes from the teachings of Srila Prabhupada. It is well known that some of the teachings of others within the Gaudiya Math believe that some marginal living entities originate from the Impersonal Brahmajyoti - Srila Prabhupada rejects that idea as his conclusion is no jiva souls originate from the Impersonal Brahmajyoti but in fact ALL originate from Goloka or directly from Krsnaloka.
In relation to the jiva's fall from Goloka, yes it is correct that no marginal living entities or nitya-siddha devotees fall from Goloka, they can only dream or imagine they do.
Srila Prabhupada - " After all, the living entity falls down from the spiritual world . . . There is possibility . . . even if you are in Vaikuntha, you will fall down--what to speak of this material world." - Lecture on Bhagavad-gita on July 4, 1974
Srila Prabhupada - "The answer to your question about the marginal energy is that the jiva soul is always called marginal energy whether he is in the spiritual world or in the material world'. - Letter to Rayarama, December 2, 1968
Srila Prabhupada - "There are instances where marginal energy jiva souls have fallen from the spiritual world, just like Jaya and Vijaya. So the potency to fall under the influence of the lower energy is always there. And thus the individual jiva soul is called as Krishna's marginal energy." - Letter to Rayarama, December 2, 1968
Paramahamsa – "So we can come to the spiritual world and return?"
Srila Prabhupada – "Yes".
Paramahamsa – "Fall down?"
Srila Prabhupada – "Yes. As soon as we try, "Oh, this material world is very nice," "Yes," Krsna says, "yes, you go . . . Otherwise what is the meaning of free will?' Morning Walk, Cheviot Hills Golf Course May 13, 1973 Los Angeles
Professor – "Are there any souls that are always good? ...They're not foolish, they don't fall down?"
Srila Prabhupada – "Majority, ninety percent, they are always good. They never fall down".
Professor – "So we're among the ten percent?"
Srila Prabhupada – "Yes" Talk in Los Angeles on June 23, 1975 between Prabhupada and a professor
Srila Prabhupada – "We are also expansions of Krishna's form". Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture 1.3.1-3 — San Francisco, March 28, 1968
Yasomatinandana – "Is the original body of the spirit soul a human form?"
Srila Prabhupada – "Yes, human form. God is also human form. "Man is made after the shape of God." I think there is in the Bible. Is it not? So God is also like human form. Here you see Krsna, two hands, two legs". Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.1-4 - Melbourne, May 20, 1975
Srila Prabhupada - "There are instances where marginal energy jiva souls have fallen from the spiritual world, just like Jaya and Vijaya. So the potency to fall under the influence of the lower energy is always there. And thus the individual jiva soul is called as Krishna's marginal energy." - Letter to Rayarama, December 2, 1968
Srila Prabhupada - "We have also come down from Vaikuntha some millions and millions of years ago." - Lecture on Bhagavad-gita on August 6, 1973
Nevertheless, it must be understood that it is not in our power to create such a facility like the mahat-tattva separate creation from Krishna's eternal abode that takes up 25% of the Spiritual creation or Brahmajyoti, which is in effect the ‘dream' of Maha-Vishnu and the marginal living entity.
Maha-Vishnu's temporary material creation of past, present and future caters for the ‘sub-conscious or nitya-baddha state' of the marginal living entity which is for 10% of marginal living entities in Goloka/Vaikuntha.
However 75% of the Spiritual Sky or Brahmajyoti is where the ‘eternal presents' of Goloka and Vaikuntha perpetual exist in uninterrupted Krishna Consciousness. (If one chooses)
It must be understood that in Goloka ALL 100% of marginal living entities perpetual exist as nitya-siddha devotees and, as already explained, only 10% of them imagine, dream or think themselves to be nitya-baddha.
We are eternally under the jurisdiction of Krishna directly in Vaikuntha or indirectly in the mahat-tattva creation of Maha-Vishnu. All our facilities come from God.
Ravindra Svarupa Dasa - "The example Srila Prabhupada uses comes directly from the Bhagavatam verse. A dreaming person manufactures an alternate dream-self (nitya-baddha) that he temporarily takes to be his real identity. Thus, the dreamer imagines himself undergoing all kinds of adventures. In a nightmare he dreams he is running in panic through a dense jungle at night, a huge and hungry tiger chasing him down. With a thudding heart, he hears the tiger coming inexorably closer. Then claws rake his back, and fangs crush his neck, and he wakes up screaming in terror. With relief he sees he is safe in bed. The fictional dream-self is gone. All along he had been safe in his own bed. He was never lost in any tiger-infested jungle. http://btg.krishna.com/main.php?id=508.
In the Fourth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Narada Muni narrates the allegorical story of King Puranjana. In the part that concerns us, Puranjana has just died and his widow, Vaidarbhi, is lamenting piteously. A brahmana approaches the queen and introduces himself as her "eternal friend." The brahmana, who symbolizes the Supersoul, says to the grieving queen –
"My dear friend, even though you cannot immediately recognize Me, can't you remember that in the past you had a very intimate friend? Unfortunately, you gave up My company and accepted a position as enjoyer of this material world. My dear gentle friend, both you and I are exactly like two swans. We live together in the same heart, which is just like the Manasa lake. Although we have been living together for many thousands of years, we are still far away from our original home".
Srila Prabhupada here explains "You (the marginal living entities awareness of being ‘eternally' nitya-siddha) gave up My company and accepted a position as enjoyer of this material world".
This clearly refers to the soul's fall from the Vaikuntha into the material world, the fact is they NEVER fall, they only think, dream and imagine they fall because factually No souls fall from Goloka/Vaikuntha. We just have to comprehend what eternal means. It means that once you are there (or better said; here), in the authentic ‘imperishable' presents of Goloka, you were always there/here and will always be there/here, even if you ‘dream' you are not there but in the mahat-tattva or material creation. That is the meaning of beginningless, endless or eternal and that one NEVER falls from Goloka.
The choice is entirely up to the marginal living entity in Goloka.
Those marginal living beings (nitya-siddhas) that love Krishna are situated in their full potential in the spiritual world in the complete ‘awareness' of who they perpetually are, whereas those marginal living beings who choose to ignore Krishna and therefore no longer continue to be ‘aware' of their nitya-siddha body `that is eternally in Goloka are situated in the material world as their nitya-baddha secondary state which is but an echo of their true nitya-siddha identity.
Those who choose not to continue serving Krishna, or who have become envious of the Lord's position as the Supreme Enjoyer, cannot remain in the spiritual ‘awareness' of their nitya-siddha body in Goloka.
If it so happens that a marginal living entity becomes envious of the Lord instigated by free will and choice that ALL marginal living entities have in both Goloka and Vaikuntha, then the marginal living entity immediately falls from the spiritual world, not as their nitya-siddha body, but rather as their nitya-baddha sub-conscious secondary mundane ‘awareness' for no resentment of the Lord exists in the spiritual world. Remember, the choice to love Krishna or not is in each of us eternally.
Srila Prabhupada - "But after millions and millions of years of keeping oneself (or one's awareness of their nitya-siddha self) away from the lila of the Lord, when one comes to Krsna consciousness this period becomes insignificant, just like dreaming". Letter to Madhudvisa Swami in Australia 1972
Ravindra Svarupa Dasa - "In the spiritual world there is no duality, nor is there hate," Prabhupada says. But "when the living entities desire to enjoy themselves, they develop a consciousness of duality and come to hate the service of the Lord. In this way the living entities fall into the material world."
Srila Prabhupada explains this very clearly – "We are also expansions of Krishna's form. These jivas, the living entities… Krishna is expanding in two ways, svamsa and vibhinnamsa. Svamsa means Vishnu. One extension, expansion, is just directly He Himself. And another expansion (vibhinnamsa) is separated from Him. That separated from Him (marginal) we are'. Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture 1.3.1-3 — San Francisco, March 28, 1968
Srila Prabhupada - "You are already in the spiritual sky (Krsnaloka), but you are simply covered. Just like the sun is already there. You are also already there. So actually we are always in the spiritual world. But when you forget Krishna by the cloud of illusion that is material. Try to understand". In an Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture given in London, on July 30, 1971
Srila Prabhupada - "Actually we are not fallen therefore, at any moment we can revive (Regain, re-establish, wake up from the dream, remember who we really are as a body eternally in a state of originality) our Krishna consciousness. As soon as we understand that (my svarupa body is always in Krsnaloka or Vaikuntha or even both), "I have nothing to do with (the material world and its bodily vessels my sub-conscious fallen nitya-baddha condition is housed in). I am simply Krishna's servant. Eternal servant. That's all". In a Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture given in London, on July 30, 1971
Srila Prabhupada - "Our separation from Krishna is like that. We dream this body and so many relationships with other things". Letter to Madhudvisa Swami
Srila Prabhupada – "Actually, you are not conditioned (nitya-baddha). You are thinking. Just like in the dream you are thinking that tiger is eating you. You were never eaten by tiger. There is no tiger. So we have to get out of this dream. Lecture on Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 7.108–San Francisco, February 18, 1967
Srila Prabhupada - "We cannot say therefore that we are not with Krishna. As soon as we try to become Lord, immediately we are covered by Maya. Formerly we were with Krishna in His Lila or sport". Letter to Madhudvisa Swami
Srila Prabhupada - "Just like in a dream we are thinking very long time, but as soon as we awaken we look at our watch and see it has been a moment only"
Srila Prabhupada - "The living of a miserable life in the material world by dint of the soul's choice is nicely illustrated by Milton in Paradise Lost. Similarly, by choice the soul can regain paradise and return home, back to Godhead". Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Adi 5.22
Srila Prabhupada - "This is called Maya. Actually, you are not conditioned. You are thinking. Just like in the dream you are thinking that tiger is eating you. You were never eaten by tiger. There is no tiger. So we have to get out of this dream". Lecture on Sri Caitanya-Caritamrita, Adi-lila 7.108--San Francisco, February 18, 1967
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur - "However, because of contact with matter, the imprisoned soul loses the memory of his original spiritual form in Vaikuntha. . . material rasas are perverted reflections of the soul's original spiritual rasas." Prema-pradipa, p. 83
Srila Prabhupada also states "Because he falls down from Brahma-sahujya (impersonal liberated condition), he thinks that may be his origin, but he does not remember that long, long, long, long ago before that even, he was with Krishna". Letter to Australian devotees 1972 Letter to Madhudvisa Swami
Srila Prabhupada – "Established means re-establish. It is already established. We have got different types of relationship. That is called svarupa-siddhi. Svarupa-siddhi. When you are perfect in spiritual life, you will understand what your relationship with Krishna is automatically. That is called svarupa-siddhi". Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture, December 7, 1974, Bombay
Srila Prabhupada – "Similarly, we have got an eternal relationship with Krishna, either as father or as lover or as servant, like that. So that is self-realisation. When you will be perfect in love, in loving Krishna, then in what status of life you will love, that you will under–…That will be revealed. That is called svarupa-siddhi". Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture, December 7, 1974, Bombay
Srila Prabhupada – "So svarupa-siddhi is not something artificial. When one becomes perfectly spiritually realised, then he understands what his relationship with Krishna is, and he begins his service in that relationship as father, as friend, as guru or as servant, like that. So this relationship is eternal. Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture, December 7, 1974, Bombay
Srila Prabhupada – "No one falls from the spiritual world or Vaikuntha planet, for it is the eternal abode. Bhag. 3.16.26, purport
It is there they are provided with temporary bodily forms created by Maha-Vishnu who is dreaming the entire mahat-tattva or material creation aspect of the Spiritual Sky.
This clearly means our nitya-siddha svarupa body can NEVER leave Goloka or Vaikuntha and that WE ONLY ‘DREAM', ‘THINK' OR ‘IMAGINE' WE LEAVE. In this way the mahat-tattva is the destination for where such dreams go.
Such an inferior non-Krishna conscious facsimile of the self is called the nitya-baddha sub-conscious projection and originates as an echo of our eternal nitya-siddha body in Goloka
So in this way, NO nitya-siddha devotees fall from Goloka, they only ‘think or dream' they do.
Srila Prabhupada "This material creation is the spirit soul's dream. Actually all existence in the material world is a dream of Maha-Vishnu, as the Brahma-Samhita describes "This material world is created by the dreaming of Maha-Vishnu. The real, factual platform is the spiritual world, but when the spirit soul wants to imitate the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is put into this dreamland of material creation".
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.29.83)
Srila Prabhupada - "Everything happening within time, which consists of past, present and future, is merely a dream. This is the secret in understanding in all the Vedic literature."
( Srimad-Bhagavatam. 4.29.2)
Srila Prabhupada - "Our contact with matter is just like dream. Actually we are not fallen. Therefore, because we are not fallen, at any moment we can revive our Krishna consciousness, we break the dream. Similarly, we can break this So this situation"
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam 2.9.1, Tokyo Japan 1972)
Srila Prabhupada - "When the dream is finished, we come to another dream: "Oh, this is my house. This is my family. This is my bank balance." This is going on. Dream. One dream at night, one dream at daytime. But who is dreaming? That is the living entity. So his business is different. Not dreaming, daytime dreaming and night-time dreaming. He has to come to the actual platform. That is Krsna consciousness. If he takes to Krsna consciousness, that is his actual life. Otherwise, he's in the dreamland"
(Srila Prabhupada, Bombay, December 27, 1972)
Srila Prabhupada - "Our separation from Krishna is like that. We dream this body and so many relationships with other things. Just like in a dream we are thinking very long time, but as soon as we awaken we look at our watch and see it has been a moment only".
( Srila Prabhupada Letter to Australian devotees)
Last updated by Tamoharadasa v. (ACBSP) Jan 6.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur on the Jiva Issue
BY: BAHUSHIRA DASA (ACBSP)
Mar 27, CALIFORNIA, USA (SUN) — The quotes of HDG Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur are given by Drutakarma dasa, with his analysis. This first set of quotes is from the Gaudiya Math English edition of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam. Eventually, it may be necessary to check the following excerpts against the original Bengali to insure their accuracy.
4.2.1 "When they forget their natural function as Krsna's servitors"
"There is no guna (quality) or dharma (property) of Maya in the constitution of the jivas.... The jivas in reality are pure chit beings, constituted of chit properties. On account of their marginal position (as the border potency), they are liable to be bound down by the property of Maya. And that, too, occurs only when they forget their natural function as Krsna's servitors."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, p. 36)
Bhaktivinoda Thakur says that the jivas come under the influence of maya "only when they forget their natural function as Krsna's servitors." Srila Prabhupada says we have forgotten our relationship as Krsna's eternal servants, Srimad-Bhagavatam says it, and now we find Bhaktivinoda Thakur saying the same thing. So guru, sastra, and sadhu are in agreement on this fundamental point.
4.2.2 "The jiva, having forgotten his eternal relation with Krsna, has fallen into the sea of Samsara"
"From the knowledge of that Sambandha tattva we have learnt that the jiva, having forgotten his eternal relation with Krsna, has fallen into the sea of Samsara (worldly life with succession of births) full of three kinds of scorching troubles and has been suffering from much distress. Deliberating on the means how that suffering can be prevented, we have known that if the relation referred to above be re-established, all troubles will be removed and the highest bliss achieved."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, p. 43)
Some have proposed that our original relationship with Krsna in the spiritual world was perhaps not like the developed relationship of service one achieves upon returning there. But here Bhaktivinoda Thakur refers to reestablishing the original relationship, indicating that the final state is like the original state.
4.2.3 "The jiva has forgotten that he is the eternal servitor of Krsna"
"The jiva has forgotten that he is the eternal servitor of Krsna; for this fault Maya has tied him at the neck."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, p. 44)
4.2.4 "Chit body of Jiva which was existent prior to its contact with matter"
"If we adopt the line of pure knowledge, it will be clear that Jiva is not the eternal inhabitant of this sorrowful world. The present body of Jiva is not his eternal body. Jiva is essentially chit (sentient). God is all-conscious. Jiva is a particle of that consciousness. God is like the sun and Jiva is his tiny ray. God is Sat, Chit and Ananda in fullness and Jiva is an atomic particle of that universal Chidananda. Matter and material world are not nearest principles to God because they are not sentient. But because Jiva in its essence is chit, so it has near relation to God. Just as God has His Swarupa Vigraha, so Jiva has eternal chit Vigraha. That chit body is manifested in Vaikuntha. Being in material world, it is hidden under two coverings . . . . The conceit (the dictionary meaning of conceit is "thought") of chit body of Jiva which was existent prior to its contact with matter is just and natural. But after the contact with matter, the conceit of self has become foreign and unjust."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, pp. 156-157)
The last passage is very interesting. Bhaktivinoda Thakur here describes the original spiritual body of the jiva and explicitly states that "that chit body is manifested in Vaikuntha." In the very next sentence he states that this body, now "being in (the) material world," is covered by the subtle and gross material bodies. And just in case there is any doubt about what is meant, he goes on speak of "the chit body of Jiva which was existent prior to its contact with matter." And he already said "that chit body is manifested in Vaikuntha."
4.2.5 "I am in essence, the eternal servant of Krsna"
"The vanity that ‘I am in essence the eternal servant of Krsna,' which was in chit constituent of Jiva, becomes transformed as servant of Vishaya, i.e. matter. In this way, Jiva's bondage with Maya is established."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, p. 157)
The English here is somewhat stiff and archaic, with the word "vanity" being used in the sense of "identification." But the meaning is still clear.
4.2.6 "Jiva takes recourse to chit i.e. transcendental everlasting time in Vaikuntha"
"But many cannot understand distinctly how karma has no beginning. Time pertaining to matter is only material reflection of chit-time and is a material thing suited to the performance of karma. Jiva takes recourse to chit i.e. transcendental everlasting time in Vaikuntha, where there is no past and future; only the present exists. When Jiva in bondage enters in material time (it) becomes subject to past, future and present and, being server of Trikala, suffers pleasure and pain. Material time originating from Chit kala and Chit kala having no beginning, the origin of Jiva's Karma—i.e., aversion to God—is coming even prior to material time. Therefore judged impartially with regard to Jadakala, the root of Karma lies prior to this time and therefore Karma has been designated as Anadi, i.e. without any beginning."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam p. 158)
So here is another passage where Bhaktivinoda Thakur describes the original position of the jiva to be "in Vaikuntha." The jiva then becomes subject to material time because of "aversion to God." The jiva's entanglement in matter is said to be anadi simply because the root of this entanglement lies outside Jadakala (mundane time).
4.2.7 "Forgetfulness of his essential swarup"
"The reason of the jiva's bondage is the forgetfulness of his essential swarup as servant of God."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, p. 160)
4.2.8 "Jiva's aversion to Krsna"
"Misidentification of Jiva's own swarup and oblivion of Krsna's Swarup are the two great evils. From these evils arises Jiva's aversion to Krsna, and on account of this aversion Jiva falls into cyclic rotation of karma marga, created by Maya."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, p. 196)
4.2.9 "That rasa which, taking to chit-swarup, was pure bhava before has been perverted by its impure reflection"
"Jiva, who is essentially chit, had pure vanity that he is servant of God and possessed such signs, according to his particular nature. That vanity took recourse to pure vanity of Jiva, whose nature is chit only. By taking to chit-swarup he had the sense of determining right and wrong and also pure intellect for enjoying joy. He had knowledge that God is the Ultimate Being and, taking Him as Vishaya, he had a mind capable of meditation. But coming in contact with matter, these have been turned into gross material body and mind, thereby those pure original propensities have become impure. Therefore that rasa which, taking to chit-swarup, was pure bhava before has been perverted by its impure reflection . . . . Therefore rasa is one: when it remains in eternal pure stage it is ecstasy and joy, but when it remains in material stage it is pleasure or pain arising out of matter."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam p. 220)
From this passage it can be seen that the jiva in the material world is originally actively engaged in rasa with Krsna. He was originally a pure servant of Krsna, knew Krsna, but also had a sense of right and wrong, and did the wrong thing. The rasa experienced in the material world "was pure bhava before." Here again the word vanity is used somewhat awkwardly in the sense of "self-identification."
4.2.10 "When pure rati falls down in this mundane world, it mixes up with matter and becomes perverted"
"Jiva and God both taste rasa. When Jiva tastes, then God becomes tasted. When God tastes, then Jiva (devotee) becomes tasted. Both are reciprocal. In reality rasa is the only object to be tasted. The process of rasa is only to be tasted and the Sentience alone can taste it. Rasa is eternal, indivisible, unthinkable and full of ultimate bliss. From pure rati, it can rise up to the highest limit of Mahabhava. But when pure rati falls down in this mundane world, it mixes up with matter and becomes perverted. It then creates material infatuation."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam p. 228)
Here we see rati described as an aspect of rasa. It is clear that rasa, characterized by pure rati, is the original condition of the jiva, and that this rasa is exchanged with Krsna in that original condition. "But when pure rati falls down in this mundane world, it mixes up with matter and becomes perverted. It then creates material infatuation."
The next set of quotations is from the Gaudiya Math English edition of Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Jaiva Dharma. Those who insist categorically that the jiva has no prior relationship of service with Krsna before entering the material world have quoted Jaiva Dharma in support of their views. The quoting has been quite selective, and the selected quotes have been misinterpreted. Here I will quote some additional materials that support the point of view I express in this book—that the conditioned soul has forgotten his eternal relationship with Krsna.
4.2.11 "Nature that springs up with the formation of a thing is eternal and remains latent though it is perverted or changed"
"When Krsna wills to form a thing, a concomitant nature goes hand in hand with the formation of the thing, and that nature is its eternal characteristic. When that thing is contaminated due to unforeseen events, or is perverted by coming in contact with another thing, then its nature is also perverted or changed. . . . This changed or perverted nature is not inborn or innate in the thing, but causal or accidental . . . . As for example, water is a thing, liquidity is its property. When it happens to be ice, solidity or rigidity becomes its causal or accidental property and is current with the real nature. In fact, causation or accident is not eternal but temporary cause, and vanishes with the disappearance of its cause. But nature that springs up with the formation of a thing is eternal and remains latent though it is perverted or changed. That in course of time or due to favourable circumstances, the real nature of a thing assumes its original character, admits of no doubt."
(Jaiva Dharma, p. 6, 1975 edition)
Bhaktivinoda Thakur is describing the nature of the soul. The original nature of the soul is loving service to Krsna. We have already seen that Bhaktivinoda Thakur accepts this. Here he explains that this original condition can become perverted by the action of some cause. This cause would be aversion to Krsna's service. But when this cause is removed, the original nature of the jiva is restored. So when we go back to Godhead and enter into a relationship of loving service to Krsna, this is nothing new. While we are in the material world, the original relationship with Krsna "remains latent though it is perverted or changed."
4.2.12 "When he forgets Krsna he is averse to serve Krsna"
In Jaiva Dharma, Bhaktivinoda Thakur quotes Lord Caitanya from Caitanya-caritamrta:
"The eternal nature of a Jiva is the eternal servanthood of Krsna. A Jiva is the Tatastha (border line) potency of Krsna and exists simultaneously as a distinct and non-distinct entity. When he forgets Krsna he is averse to serve Krsna and his aversion has not beginning as it dates before his incarnation within the four walls of time and space."
(Jaiva Dharma, p. 8)
4.2.13 "When he forgets this relationship he is overwhelmed by the influence of Maya"
"Service of Sri Krsna is the eternal nature of a Jiva. When he forgets this relationship he is overwhelmed by the influence of Maya—the deluding potency lying at the back-ground of the Lord. Thenceforward a Jiva shows his backwardness in the service of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna. Since the backward condition of a Jiva springs up along with his coming into this mayaik world, the history of his downfall within the bounds of time and space is out of the question. Hence the significance of the expression ‘eternally backward.' His eternal function with the service of Sri Krsna has been perverted since his entrance into the plane of three dimensions due to his forgetfulness."
(Jaiva Dharma, p. 10)
This one paragraph is a perfect statement that answers all of the normal questions about the original state of the jiva and its downfall. The original condition is "service of Sri Krsna." Why is the jiva here in the material world? "He forgets this relationship." Does this mean that Maya is present as a contaminating influence in the spiritual world? No. First the jiva forgets Krsna, as he is eternally free to do, and only then "he is overwhelmed by the influence of Maya—the deluding potency lying at the back-ground of the Lord." If the jiva had an original relationship of service to Krsna, then why is he called nitya-baddha. "Since the backward condition of a Jiva springs up along with his coming into this mayaik world, the history of his downfall within the bounds of time and space is out of the question. Hence the significance of the expression ‘eternally backward.'"
4.2.14 "The Jiva is eternal and ever-existing, and his function (dharma) in the form of love for Sri Krsna is also eternal"
"In the Absolute Realm of the spirit the time is ever-present. In it there are no such intervals, corresponding to past and future, which are material time. Jiva and Krsna exist in that time. For this reason the Jiva is eternal and ever-existing and his function (dharma) in the form of love for Sri Krsna is also eternal. Subsequent to his enthrallment in this material world those functions that are incidental to material time, viz., the creation, formation, fall etc. have been attributed to the Jiva. . . . I am only stating this proposition. But the sure realisation of the true meaning of this proposition will be in proportion to the degree of your actual experience of the unalloyed spiritual existence of the Absolute Realm that you have been enabled to receive."
(Jaiva Dharma, p. 20)
The relationship of mundane to eternal time is undoubtedly difficult. Some will propose that the talk here of "realisation" means that the words of the acaryas about the original state of the jiva can be set aside as incomprehensible. But that is not proper procedure. The words of the acaryas are given for our understanding, and therefore they cannot be set aside. For example, we hear statements that we are not these bodies. To truly understand this requires realization. Nevertheless, we can repeat with confidence the statement that we are not our bodies, we are spirit souls. At each level of realization the statement "I am not this material body" remains true. In this case, Bhaktivinoda Thakur writes, "The Jiva is eternal and ever-existing and his function (dharma) in the form of love for Sri Krsna is also eternal." That is the original condition. Bhaktivinoda Thakur then says, "Subsequent to his enthrallment in this material world those functions that are incidental to material time, viz., the creation, formation, fall etc. have been attributed to the Jiva." That means that prior to his enthrallment, the natural eternal condition is manifest. And that has been characterized not as a dormant state, but as "function ...in the form of love for Sri Krsna." So even though we do not have complete realization of this, we can repeat it, confident that it is true.
4.2.15 "Forgetfulness of the reality that ‘I am Krsna's eternal servant'"
"The root of all actions is the desire for acts, the root of which again is avidya. Avidya is the name for the forgetfulness of the reality that ‘I am Krsna's eternal servant.' This avidya did not commence within the course of mundane time. That root of karma of the jiva arose when he was at the juncture (between chit and achit regions). As such, the beginning of karma is not to be traced within mundane time, and, on that account karma is beginningless."
(Jaiva Dharma, p. 248)
In the first sentence, Bhaktivinoda Thakur expresses a three-part process. This involves actions (karma), the root of all actions (the desire for acts), and the root of the desire for acts (avidya). Although karma takes place within the mundane time of the material universe, the root of karma (the desire for acts) is something that arises outside of mundane time. The cause of this desire is ignorance (avidya). In the absence of this avidya, the jiva experiences the reality that "I am Krsna's eternal servant." Avidya is here defined as forgetfulness of this reality. So at first the jiva is situated in the reality of eternal service to Krsna. By forgetfulness of this reality, avidya develops. And from avidya comes the root of karma, the desire for acts. If this occurs, it occurs at the juncture between the chit (spiritual) and achit (non-spiritual) regions. Thereafter the soul is placed in the material world, and there the actual process of karma unfolds, but the root of karma lies beyond mundane time and space.
4.2.16 "The worldly course makes its appearance simultaneously with the Jiva's loss of all recollection of the servitorship of Krsna"
"The Jiva may possess one of two states. He may be either in the conditioned state or in the pure spiritual state. In his unconditioned state the Jiva is uneclipsed cognitive substance. In that state the Jiva has no relationship with nonsentience. Even in his unalloyed spiritual state the Jiva is infinitesimal, he is liable to undergo change of condition. The Entity of Krsna is plenary Cognition. He is naturally free from the possibility of any change in His condition. He is substantively Great, Perfect, Pure, and Eternal. The Jiva is substantively infinitesimal, part of the Whole, liable to contamination, and not ultimate. But in respect of his spiritual function the Jiva is great, undivided, whole, pure, and eternal. As long as the Jiva retains his pure spiritual condition, he exhibits his spiritual function in his uneclipsed form. When the Jiva is contaminated by relationship with the eclipsing potency (Maya), only then, by reason of the perversion of his proper function, he is not fully pure and feels helpless and afflicted with mundane pleasure and pain. The worldly course makes its appearance simultaneously with the Jiva's loss of all recollection of the servitorship of Krsna."
(Jaiva Dharma, p.12)
Bhaktivinoda Thakur here makes some important points. The first is: "The Jiva may possess one of two states. He may be either in the conditioned state or in the pure spiritual state." There is no mention of any third state. Some have proposed that there is the conditioned state, the final state of achieving the direct service of Krsna, and an unknown original state of relationship with Krsna in the spiritual world. This latter would constitute a third state of the jiva. According to the statements here, however, there is no such third state. Bhaktivinoda Thakur then states: "As long as the Jiva retains his pure spiritual condition, he exhibits his spiritual function in his uneclipsed form." This indicates a relationship of active service with Krsna. All in all, this quote contains a clear indication that the jiva was originally engaged in its eternal function of directly and actively serving Krsna before it made the mistake of turning from Krsna, at which point the jiva forgets that service and enters the material world to search for enjoyment there.
4.2.17 "So long as the Jiva continues pure, he cherishes his function as his own"
"So long as the Jiva continues pure, he cherishes his function as his own. His egoism then identifies itself with his servitorship of Krsna. His pure egotism, however, suffers a contraction and assumes various forms when he is defiled by relationship with Maya."
(Jaiva Dharma, pp. 12-13)
4.2.18 "Turned away from Krsna and as such, became punishable"
"In his true nature the jiva is the devoted servant of Krsna. The jivas who have gone astray against that nature of theirs due to their seeking after their own pleasure turned away from Krsna and, as such, became punishable."
(Jaiva Dharma, p. 240)
Extra Bonus Quotes:
"When he is imprisoned in the material world the spirit soul does not lose his original spiritual form he had in the spiritual world of Vaikuntha. However, because of contact with matter the imprisoned soul loses the memory of his original form in Vaikuntha. Still his spiritual form does not cease to exist."
(Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Prema-pradipa, p. 83)
"The individual soul naturally resides in Vaikuntha. If he somehow comes to the material world, the individual soul brings with him his spiritual form made of chit. Pervertedly reflected in the material world those things of chit are called by name "matter."
(Prema-pradipa, p. 96)
"As long as the jiva takes full shelter of the Supreme Lord he remains a resident of Vaikuntha. But when his innate spiritual knowledge of the Lord is covered by forgetfulness, he is placed outside the transcendental realm."
(Caitanya Siksamrita, Sanmod-ana Bhasya-sloka-1)
"When the pure living entities reside in Vaikuntha, the first knot of nescience in the form of false ego does not entangle them. Pure living entities cannot remain steady after giving up spiritual activities. Therefore as soon as the living entities become situated in their own happiness through the minute independence given by the Lord, they become shelterless and are compelled to take shelter of maya. On the account of this, the pure living entities have no shelter other than Vaikuntha. The living entities of Vaikuntha are very insignificant, like fireflies in comparison to the powerful sun like the lord. As soon as the living entity leaves Vaikuntha, he is simultaneously awarded a subtle body and thrown into the material world created by maya. All manifestations of the Sadhini, Samvit and Hladini aspect of the marginal potency are mixed with maya as soon as the living entity leaves the shelter of Vaikuntha."
(Sri Krsna Samhita-2.41)
Now we will quote from Sri Tattva-Sutram, Gaudiya Math Madras edition, 1979, on page 109:
"The unconditional state of the jivas is totally stainless and in such a state, the jiva-soul exists in the transcendental blissful form. In such a state, that stainless jiva-soul engages itself in the unalloyed Divine-Love. As soon as the jiva-soul turns averse to the Supreme Lord, its inclination undergoes a degradation and that becomes an attachment to the secondary objects. This is the propense condition of the jivas. As a result of this conditioned state, the faculty of pure knowledge of jiva-soul is transformed into the phenomenal mind. The evil attachments of this mind results in the misery of repeatedly undergoing births and deaths due to the fruits of the actions done. All these miseries of the jiva are the results of the evil propensities."
Quoting from Sri Tattva-Sutram on page 116:
"If the jivas were completely controlled like the inert objects, than how there could be any development of them? The upliftment or the downfall are results of jiva's independent activities. The Lord has endowed the jiva-souls with a certain amount of free-will, for their development. Those jivas who have abandoned their characteristic nature of Divine service and engaged in the secondary affinity due to their enjoying mood, as a result of their mis-use of the free-will, they enjoy the insignificant materialistic bliss or misery as per their desires and they remain attached to the phenomenal world, there-by getting deceived from the All-Blissful Divine-Love."
Again, from Sri Tattva-Sutram on page 129:
"The self-realization is possible only when the jiva soul is stationed in its own abode or in its unalloyed state. When the jiva-soul secures a fall from that unalloyed state and gets entangled in this material world, here it undergoes reformation for its further upliftment from this fall. In this way the world acts as a reformatory prison-house for the jivas…However, the elaborate study in this regard reveals that, those who have become averse to the Divine-Love secure their downfall from that eternal abode and only such jivas are bound by the prison like physical body etc."
Continuing from Sri Tattva-Sutram on page 137:
"Due to the mundane association and the deliberations of mundane sensual objects, the jiva-soul has forgotten the real forms of the self, the bliss, divinity and that of Vaikuntha. As a result of which, the jivas are put into a delusion of imagining sense-pleasures and heavenly pleasures as the bliss. They are also at delusion regarding their conception about the Supreme Lord and His Abode. They mistake the Vaikuntha as to be something like the mundane regions and also they misconstrue the Divine Body with the perishable bodies of the physical world…thereby they mistake some or other abodes constituted by the earth, water, or any other similarly imagined abode as the Vaikuntha."
This list of quotes could easily be expanded. But it is sufficient to make the point that Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur was saying the same thing about the origin of the jiva that we always heard from Srila Prabhupada.
Bahushira Dasa (ACBSP)
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The scene; Goloka cows walking and talking ;
Here, walk with us. There is a lovely stream, we cows call it the stream of lives. When you drink, you can see the ripples in the water, which curiously transform how you see your own face. For a few moments, you are like someone else, in a dream ! Then, havng satisfied our desire to drink, we turn back to the eternal exotic flower-frangranced forests. I do not drink here as often as I once did anymore. Let me tell you my dream...
... I dreamed that I, a Spiritual Cow, was suddenly embodied as a Man. I wanted to know why. And then I gradually became aware that Supersoul was awake everywhere, and my spiritual master came, and he showed me that the world was a mad but amazing place, and I felt seperation from HimKrsna yet also a realistic cold awareness of the world, as His creation. Then, I called out Krsna Caitanya's Name, and I awoke.
Thank Krsna it was but a brief dream. What a slippery slope.
And yet,even now the remembrance of the Name of Krsna Caitanya brings tears to my cow's eyes.
They Only 'Think or Dream'
BY: GAURAGOPALA DASA
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
Dec 01, AUSTRALIA (SUN) — In relation to the jiva's fall from Goloka, yes it is correct that no marginal living entities or nitya-siddha devotees fall from Goloka.
Our understanding of the jiva's origin comes from the teachings of Srila Prabhupada. It is well known that some of the teachings of others within the Gaudiya Math believe that some marginal living entities originate from the Impersonal Brahmajyoti - Srila Prabhupada rejects that idea as his conclusion is no jiva souls originate from the Impersonal Brahmajyoti but in fact ALL originate from Goloka or directly from Krsnaloka.
In relation to the jiva's fall from Goloka, yes it is correct that no marginal living entities or nitya-siddha devotees fall from Goloka, they can only dream or imagine they do.
Srila Prabhupada - " After all, the living entity falls down from the spiritual world . . . There is possibility . . . even if you are in Vaikuntha, you will fall down--what to speak of this material world." - Lecture on Bhagavad-gita on July 4, 1974
Srila Prabhupada - "The answer to your question about the marginal energy is that the jiva soul is always called marginal energy whether he is in the spiritual world or in the material world'. - Letter to Rayarama, December 2, 1968
Srila Prabhupada - "There are instances where marginal energy jiva souls have fallen from the spiritual world, just like Jaya and Vijaya. So the potency to fall under the influence of the lower energy is always there. And thus the individual jiva soul is called as Krishna's marginal energy." - Letter to Rayarama, December 2, 1968
Paramahamsa – "So we can come to the spiritual world and return?"
Srila Prabhupada – "Yes".
Paramahamsa – "Fall down?"
Srila Prabhupada – "Yes. As soon as we try, "Oh, this material world is very nice," "Yes," Krsna says, "yes, you go . . . Otherwise what is the meaning of free will?' Morning Walk, Cheviot Hills Golf Course May 13, 1973 Los Angeles
Professor – "Are there any souls that are always good? ...They're not foolish, they don't fall down?"
Srila Prabhupada – "Majority, ninety percent, they are always good. They never fall down".
Professor – "So we're among the ten percent?"
Srila Prabhupada – "Yes" Talk in Los Angeles on June 23, 1975 between Prabhupada and a professor
Srila Prabhupada – "We are also expansions of Krishna's form". Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture 1.3.1-3 — San Francisco, March 28, 1968
Yasomatinandana – "Is the original body of the spirit soul a human form?"
Srila Prabhupada – "Yes, human form. God is also human form. "Man is made after the shape of God." I think there is in the Bible. Is it not? So God is also like human form. Here you see Krsna, two hands, two legs". Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.1-4 - Melbourne, May 20, 1975
Srila Prabhupada - "There are instances where marginal energy jiva souls have fallen from the spiritual world, just like Jaya and Vijaya. So the potency to fall under the influence of the lower energy is always there. And thus the individual jiva soul is called as Krishna's marginal energy." - Letter to Rayarama, December 2, 1968
Srila Prabhupada - "We have also come down from Vaikuntha some millions and millions of years ago." - Lecture on Bhagavad-gita on August 6, 1973
Nevertheless, it must be understood that it is not in our power to create such a facility like the mahat-tattva separate creation from Krishna's eternal abode that takes up 25% of the Spiritual creation or Brahmajyoti, which is in effect the ‘dream' of Maha-Vishnu and the marginal living entity.
Maha-Vishnu's temporary material creation of past, present and future caters for the ‘sub-conscious or nitya-baddha state' of the marginal living entity which is for 10% of marginal living entities in Goloka/Vaikuntha.
However 75% of the Spiritual Sky or Brahmajyoti is where the ‘eternal presents' of Goloka and Vaikuntha perpetual exist in uninterrupted Krishna Consciousness. (If one chooses)
It must be understood that in Goloka ALL 100% of marginal living entities perpetual exist as nitya-siddha devotees and, as already explained, only 10% of them imagine, dream or think themselves to be nitya-baddha.
We are eternally under the jurisdiction of Krishna directly in Vaikuntha or indirectly in the mahat-tattva creation of Maha-Vishnu. All our facilities come from God.
Ravindra Svarupa Dasa - "The example Srila Prabhupada uses comes directly from the Bhagavatam verse. A dreaming person manufactures an alternate dream-self (nitya-baddha) that he temporarily takes to be his real identity. Thus, the dreamer imagines himself undergoing all kinds of adventures. In a nightmare he dreams he is running in panic through a dense jungle at night, a huge and hungry tiger chasing him down. With a thudding heart, he hears the tiger coming inexorably closer. Then claws rake his back, and fangs crush his neck, and he wakes up screaming in terror. With relief he sees he is safe in bed. The fictional dream-self is gone. All along he had been safe in his own bed. He was never lost in any tiger-infested jungle. http://btg.krishna.com/main.php?id=508.
In the Fourth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Narada Muni narrates the allegorical story of King Puranjana. In the part that concerns us, Puranjana has just died and his widow, Vaidarbhi, is lamenting piteously. A brahmana approaches the queen and introduces himself as her "eternal friend." The brahmana, who symbolizes the Supersoul, says to the grieving queen –
"My dear friend, even though you cannot immediately recognize Me, can't you remember that in the past you had a very intimate friend? Unfortunately, you gave up My company and accepted a position as enjoyer of this material world. My dear gentle friend, both you and I are exactly like two swans. We live together in the same heart, which is just like the Manasa lake. Although we have been living together for many thousands of years, we are still far away from our original home".
Srila Prabhupada here explains "You (the marginal living entities awareness of being ‘eternally' nitya-siddha) gave up My company and accepted a position as enjoyer of this material world".
This clearly refers to the soul's fall from the Vaikuntha into the material world, the fact is they NEVER fall, they only think, dream and imagine they fall because factually No souls fall from Goloka/Vaikuntha. We just have to comprehend what eternal means. It means that once you are there (or better said; here), in the authentic ‘imperishable' presents of Goloka, you were always there/here and will always be there/here, even if you ‘dream' you are not there but in the mahat-tattva or material creation. That is the meaning of beginningless, endless or eternal and that one NEVER falls from Goloka.
The choice is entirely up to the marginal living entity in Goloka.
Those marginal living beings (nitya-siddhas) that love Krishna are situated in their full potential in the spiritual world in the complete ‘awareness' of who they perpetually are, whereas those marginal living beings who choose to ignore Krishna and therefore no longer continue to be ‘aware' of their nitya-siddha body `that is eternally in Goloka are situated in the material world as their nitya-baddha secondary state which is but an echo of their true nitya-siddha identity.
Those who choose not to continue serving Krishna, or who have become envious of the Lord's position as the Supreme Enjoyer, cannot remain in the spiritual ‘awareness' of their nitya-siddha body in Goloka.
If it so happens that a marginal living entity becomes envious of the Lord instigated by free will and choice that ALL marginal living entities have in both Goloka and Vaikuntha, then the marginal living entity immediately falls from the spiritual world, not as their nitya-siddha body, but rather as their nitya-baddha sub-conscious secondary mundane ‘awareness' for no resentment of the Lord exists in the spiritual world. Remember, the choice to love Krishna or not is in each of us eternally.
Srila Prabhupada - "But after millions and millions of years of keeping oneself (or one's awareness of their nitya-siddha self) away from the lila of the Lord, when one comes to Krsna consciousness this period becomes insignificant, just like dreaming". Letter to Madhudvisa Swami in Australia 1972
Ravindra Svarupa Dasa - "In the spiritual world there is no duality, nor is there hate," Prabhupada says. But "when the living entities desire to enjoy themselves, they develop a consciousness of duality and come to hate the service of the Lord. In this way the living entities fall into the material world."
Srila Prabhupada explains this very clearly – "We are also expansions of Krishna's form. These jivas, the living entities… Krishna is expanding in two ways, svamsa and vibhinnamsa. Svamsa means Vishnu. One extension, expansion, is just directly He Himself. And another expansion (vibhinnamsa) is separated from Him. That separated from Him (marginal) we are'. Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture 1.3.1-3 — San Francisco, March 28, 1968
Srila Prabhupada - "You are already in the spiritual sky (Krsnaloka), but you are simply covered. Just like the sun is already there. You are also already there. So actually we are always in the spiritual world. But when you forget Krishna by the cloud of illusion that is material. Try to understand". In an Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture given in London, on July 30, 1971
Srila Prabhupada - "Actually we are not fallen therefore, at any moment we can revive (Regain, re-establish, wake up from the dream, remember who we really are as a body eternally in a state of originality) our Krishna consciousness. As soon as we understand that (my svarupa body is always in Krsnaloka or Vaikuntha or even both), "I have nothing to do with (the material world and its bodily vessels my sub-conscious fallen nitya-baddha condition is housed in). I am simply Krishna's servant. Eternal servant. That's all". In a Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture given in London, on July 30, 1971
Srila Prabhupada - "Our separation from Krishna is like that. We dream this body and so many relationships with other things". Letter to Madhudvisa Swami
Srila Prabhupada – "Actually, you are not conditioned (nitya-baddha). You are thinking. Just like in the dream you are thinking that tiger is eating you. You were never eaten by tiger. There is no tiger. So we have to get out of this dream. Lecture on Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 7.108–San Francisco, February 18, 1967
Srila Prabhupada - "We cannot say therefore that we are not with Krishna. As soon as we try to become Lord, immediately we are covered by Maya. Formerly we were with Krishna in His Lila or sport". Letter to Madhudvisa Swami
Srila Prabhupada - "Just like in a dream we are thinking very long time, but as soon as we awaken we look at our watch and see it has been a moment only"
Srila Prabhupada - "The living of a miserable life in the material world by dint of the soul's choice is nicely illustrated by Milton in Paradise Lost. Similarly, by choice the soul can regain paradise and return home, back to Godhead". Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Adi 5.22
Srila Prabhupada - "This is called Maya. Actually, you are not conditioned. You are thinking. Just like in the dream you are thinking that tiger is eating you. You were never eaten by tiger. There is no tiger. So we have to get out of this dream". Lecture on Sri Caitanya-Caritamrita, Adi-lila 7.108--San Francisco, February 18, 1967
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur - "However, because of contact with matter, the imprisoned soul loses the memory of his original spiritual form in Vaikuntha. . . material rasas are perverted reflections of the soul's original spiritual rasas." Prema-pradipa, p. 83
Srila Prabhupada also states "Because he falls down from Brahma-sahujya (impersonal liberated condition), he thinks that may be his origin, but he does not remember that long, long, long, long ago before that even, he was with Krishna". Letter to Australian devotees 1972 Letter to Madhudvisa Swami
Srila Prabhupada – "Established means re-establish. It is already established. We have got different types of relationship. That is called svarupa-siddhi. Svarupa-siddhi. When you are perfect in spiritual life, you will understand what your relationship with Krishna is automatically. That is called svarupa-siddhi". Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture, December 7, 1974, Bombay
Srila Prabhupada – "Similarly, we have got an eternal relationship with Krishna, either as father or as lover or as servant, like that. So that is self-realisation. When you will be perfect in love, in loving Krishna, then in what status of life you will love, that you will under–…That will be revealed. That is called svarupa-siddhi". Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture, December 7, 1974, Bombay
Srila Prabhupada – "So svarupa-siddhi is not something artificial. When one becomes perfectly spiritually realised, then he understands what his relationship with Krishna is, and he begins his service in that relationship as father, as friend, as guru or as servant, like that. So this relationship is eternal. Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture, December 7, 1974, Bombay
Srila Prabhupada – "No one falls from the spiritual world or Vaikuntha planet, for it is the eternal abode. Bhag. 3.16.26, purport
It is there they are provided with temporary bodily forms created by Maha-Vishnu who is dreaming the entire mahat-tattva or material creation aspect of the Spiritual Sky.
This clearly means our nitya-siddha svarupa body can NEVER leave Goloka or Vaikuntha and that WE ONLY ‘DREAM', ‘THINK' OR ‘IMAGINE' WE LEAVE. In this way the mahat-tattva is the destination for where such dreams go.
Such an inferior non-Krishna conscious facsimile of the self is called the nitya-baddha sub-conscious projection and originates as an echo of our eternal nitya-siddha body in Goloka
So in this way, NO nitya-siddha devotees fall from Goloka, they only ‘think or dream' they do.
Jai Prabhupada
Your fallen servant,
Gauragopala dasa
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.29.83)
Srila Prabhupada - "Everything happening within time, which consists of past, present and future, is merely a dream. This is the secret in understanding in all the Vedic literature."
( Srimad-Bhagavatam. 4.29.2)
Srila Prabhupada - "Our contact with matter is just like dream. Actually we are not fallen. Therefore, because we are not fallen, at any moment we can revive our Krishna consciousness, we break the dream. Similarly, we can break this So this situation"
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam 2.9.1, Tokyo Japan 1972)
Srila Prabhupada - "When the dream is finished, we come to another dream: "Oh, this is my house. This is my family. This is my bank balance." This is going on. Dream. One dream at night, one dream at daytime. But who is dreaming? That is the living entity. So his business is different. Not dreaming, daytime dreaming and night-time dreaming. He has to come to the actual platform. That is Krsna consciousness. If he takes to Krsna consciousness, that is his actual life. Otherwise, he's in the dreamland"
(Srila Prabhupada, Bombay, December 27, 1972)
Srila Prabhupada - "Our separation from Krishna is like that. We dream this body and so many relationships with other things. Just like in a dream we are thinking very long time, but as soon as we awaken we look at our watch and see it has been a moment only".
( Srila Prabhupada Letter to Australian devotees)
Last updated by Tamoharadasa v. (ACBSP) Jan 6.
BY: BAHUSHIRA DASA (ACBSP)
Mar 27, CALIFORNIA, USA (SUN) — The quotes of HDG Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur are given by Drutakarma dasa, with his analysis. This first set of quotes is from the Gaudiya Math English edition of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam. Eventually, it may be necessary to check the following excerpts against the original Bengali to insure their accuracy.
4.2.1 "When they forget their natural function as Krsna's servitors"
"There is no guna (quality) or dharma (property) of Maya in the constitution of the jivas.... The jivas in reality are pure chit beings, constituted of chit properties. On account of their marginal position (as the border potency), they are liable to be bound down by the property of Maya. And that, too, occurs only when they forget their natural function as Krsna's servitors."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, p. 36)
Bhaktivinoda Thakur says that the jivas come under the influence of maya "only when they forget their natural function as Krsna's servitors." Srila Prabhupada says we have forgotten our relationship as Krsna's eternal servants, Srimad-Bhagavatam says it, and now we find Bhaktivinoda Thakur saying the same thing. So guru, sastra, and sadhu are in agreement on this fundamental point.
4.2.2 "The jiva, having forgotten his eternal relation with Krsna, has fallen into the sea of Samsara"
"From the knowledge of that Sambandha tattva we have learnt that the jiva, having forgotten his eternal relation with Krsna, has fallen into the sea of Samsara (worldly life with succession of births) full of three kinds of scorching troubles and has been suffering from much distress. Deliberating on the means how that suffering can be prevented, we have known that if the relation referred to above be re-established, all troubles will be removed and the highest bliss achieved."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, p. 43)
Some have proposed that our original relationship with Krsna in the spiritual world was perhaps not like the developed relationship of service one achieves upon returning there. But here Bhaktivinoda Thakur refers to reestablishing the original relationship, indicating that the final state is like the original state.
4.2.3 "The jiva has forgotten that he is the eternal servitor of Krsna"
"The jiva has forgotten that he is the eternal servitor of Krsna; for this fault Maya has tied him at the neck."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, p. 44)
4.2.4 "Chit body of Jiva which was existent prior to its contact with matter"
"If we adopt the line of pure knowledge, it will be clear that Jiva is not the eternal inhabitant of this sorrowful world. The present body of Jiva is not his eternal body. Jiva is essentially chit (sentient). God is all-conscious. Jiva is a particle of that consciousness. God is like the sun and Jiva is his tiny ray. God is Sat, Chit and Ananda in fullness and Jiva is an atomic particle of that universal Chidananda. Matter and material world are not nearest principles to God because they are not sentient. But because Jiva in its essence is chit, so it has near relation to God. Just as God has His Swarupa Vigraha, so Jiva has eternal chit Vigraha. That chit body is manifested in Vaikuntha. Being in material world, it is hidden under two coverings . . . . The conceit (the dictionary meaning of conceit is "thought") of chit body of Jiva which was existent prior to its contact with matter is just and natural. But after the contact with matter, the conceit of self has become foreign and unjust."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, pp. 156-157)
The last passage is very interesting. Bhaktivinoda Thakur here describes the original spiritual body of the jiva and explicitly states that "that chit body is manifested in Vaikuntha." In the very next sentence he states that this body, now "being in (the) material world," is covered by the subtle and gross material bodies. And just in case there is any doubt about what is meant, he goes on speak of "the chit body of Jiva which was existent prior to its contact with matter." And he already said "that chit body is manifested in Vaikuntha."
4.2.5 "I am in essence, the eternal servant of Krsna"
"The vanity that ‘I am in essence the eternal servant of Krsna,' which was in chit constituent of Jiva, becomes transformed as servant of Vishaya, i.e. matter. In this way, Jiva's bondage with Maya is established."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, p. 157)
The English here is somewhat stiff and archaic, with the word "vanity" being used in the sense of "identification." But the meaning is still clear.
4.2.6 "Jiva takes recourse to chit i.e. transcendental everlasting time in Vaikuntha"
"But many cannot understand distinctly how karma has no beginning. Time pertaining to matter is only material reflection of chit-time and is a material thing suited to the performance of karma. Jiva takes recourse to chit i.e. transcendental everlasting time in Vaikuntha, where there is no past and future; only the present exists. When Jiva in bondage enters in material time (it) becomes subject to past, future and present and, being server of Trikala, suffers pleasure and pain. Material time originating from Chit kala and Chit kala having no beginning, the origin of Jiva's Karma—i.e., aversion to God—is coming even prior to material time. Therefore judged impartially with regard to Jadakala, the root of Karma lies prior to this time and therefore Karma has been designated as Anadi, i.e. without any beginning."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam p. 158)
So here is another passage where Bhaktivinoda Thakur describes the original position of the jiva to be "in Vaikuntha." The jiva then becomes subject to material time because of "aversion to God." The jiva's entanglement in matter is said to be anadi simply because the root of this entanglement lies outside Jadakala (mundane time).
4.2.7 "Forgetfulness of his essential swarup"
"The reason of the jiva's bondage is the forgetfulness of his essential swarup as servant of God."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, p. 160)
4.2.8 "Jiva's aversion to Krsna"
"Misidentification of Jiva's own swarup and oblivion of Krsna's Swarup are the two great evils. From these evils arises Jiva's aversion to Krsna, and on account of this aversion Jiva falls into cyclic rotation of karma marga, created by Maya."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam, p. 196)
4.2.9 "That rasa which, taking to chit-swarup, was pure bhava before has been perverted by its impure reflection"
"Jiva, who is essentially chit, had pure vanity that he is servant of God and possessed such signs, according to his particular nature. That vanity took recourse to pure vanity of Jiva, whose nature is chit only. By taking to chit-swarup he had the sense of determining right and wrong and also pure intellect for enjoying joy. He had knowledge that God is the Ultimate Being and, taking Him as Vishaya, he had a mind capable of meditation. But coming in contact with matter, these have been turned into gross material body and mind, thereby those pure original propensities have become impure. Therefore that rasa which, taking to chit-swarup, was pure bhava before has been perverted by its impure reflection . . . . Therefore rasa is one: when it remains in eternal pure stage it is ecstasy and joy, but when it remains in material stage it is pleasure or pain arising out of matter."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam p. 220)
From this passage it can be seen that the jiva in the material world is originally actively engaged in rasa with Krsna. He was originally a pure servant of Krsna, knew Krsna, but also had a sense of right and wrong, and did the wrong thing. The rasa experienced in the material world "was pure bhava before." Here again the word vanity is used somewhat awkwardly in the sense of "self-identification."
4.2.10 "When pure rati falls down in this mundane world, it mixes up with matter and becomes perverted"
"Jiva and God both taste rasa. When Jiva tastes, then God becomes tasted. When God tastes, then Jiva (devotee) becomes tasted. Both are reciprocal. In reality rasa is the only object to be tasted. The process of rasa is only to be tasted and the Sentience alone can taste it. Rasa is eternal, indivisible, unthinkable and full of ultimate bliss. From pure rati, it can rise up to the highest limit of Mahabhava. But when pure rati falls down in this mundane world, it mixes up with matter and becomes perverted. It then creates material infatuation."
(Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam p. 228)
Here we see rati described as an aspect of rasa. It is clear that rasa, characterized by pure rati, is the original condition of the jiva, and that this rasa is exchanged with Krsna in that original condition. "But when pure rati falls down in this mundane world, it mixes up with matter and becomes perverted. It then creates material infatuation."
The next set of quotations is from the Gaudiya Math English edition of Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Jaiva Dharma. Those who insist categorically that the jiva has no prior relationship of service with Krsna before entering the material world have quoted Jaiva Dharma in support of their views. The quoting has been quite selective, and the selected quotes have been misinterpreted. Here I will quote some additional materials that support the point of view I express in this book—that the conditioned soul has forgotten his eternal relationship with Krsna.
4.2.11 "Nature that springs up with the formation of a thing is eternal and remains latent though it is perverted or changed"
"When Krsna wills to form a thing, a concomitant nature goes hand in hand with the formation of the thing, and that nature is its eternal characteristic. When that thing is contaminated due to unforeseen events, or is perverted by coming in contact with another thing, then its nature is also perverted or changed. . . . This changed or perverted nature is not inborn or innate in the thing, but causal or accidental . . . . As for example, water is a thing, liquidity is its property. When it happens to be ice, solidity or rigidity becomes its causal or accidental property and is current with the real nature. In fact, causation or accident is not eternal but temporary cause, and vanishes with the disappearance of its cause. But nature that springs up with the formation of a thing is eternal and remains latent though it is perverted or changed. That in course of time or due to favourable circumstances, the real nature of a thing assumes its original character, admits of no doubt."
(Jaiva Dharma, p. 6, 1975 edition)
Bhaktivinoda Thakur is describing the nature of the soul. The original nature of the soul is loving service to Krsna. We have already seen that Bhaktivinoda Thakur accepts this. Here he explains that this original condition can become perverted by the action of some cause. This cause would be aversion to Krsna's service. But when this cause is removed, the original nature of the jiva is restored. So when we go back to Godhead and enter into a relationship of loving service to Krsna, this is nothing new. While we are in the material world, the original relationship with Krsna "remains latent though it is perverted or changed."
4.2.12 "When he forgets Krsna he is averse to serve Krsna"
In Jaiva Dharma, Bhaktivinoda Thakur quotes Lord Caitanya from Caitanya-caritamrta:
"The eternal nature of a Jiva is the eternal servanthood of Krsna. A Jiva is the Tatastha (border line) potency of Krsna and exists simultaneously as a distinct and non-distinct entity. When he forgets Krsna he is averse to serve Krsna and his aversion has not beginning as it dates before his incarnation within the four walls of time and space."
(Jaiva Dharma, p. 8)
4.2.13 "When he forgets this relationship he is overwhelmed by the influence of Maya"
"Service of Sri Krsna is the eternal nature of a Jiva. When he forgets this relationship he is overwhelmed by the influence of Maya—the deluding potency lying at the back-ground of the Lord. Thenceforward a Jiva shows his backwardness in the service of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna. Since the backward condition of a Jiva springs up along with his coming into this mayaik world, the history of his downfall within the bounds of time and space is out of the question. Hence the significance of the expression ‘eternally backward.' His eternal function with the service of Sri Krsna has been perverted since his entrance into the plane of three dimensions due to his forgetfulness."
(Jaiva Dharma, p. 10)
This one paragraph is a perfect statement that answers all of the normal questions about the original state of the jiva and its downfall. The original condition is "service of Sri Krsna." Why is the jiva here in the material world? "He forgets this relationship." Does this mean that Maya is present as a contaminating influence in the spiritual world? No. First the jiva forgets Krsna, as he is eternally free to do, and only then "he is overwhelmed by the influence of Maya—the deluding potency lying at the back-ground of the Lord." If the jiva had an original relationship of service to Krsna, then why is he called nitya-baddha. "Since the backward condition of a Jiva springs up along with his coming into this mayaik world, the history of his downfall within the bounds of time and space is out of the question. Hence the significance of the expression ‘eternally backward.'"
4.2.14 "The Jiva is eternal and ever-existing, and his function (dharma) in the form of love for Sri Krsna is also eternal"
"In the Absolute Realm of the spirit the time is ever-present. In it there are no such intervals, corresponding to past and future, which are material time. Jiva and Krsna exist in that time. For this reason the Jiva is eternal and ever-existing and his function (dharma) in the form of love for Sri Krsna is also eternal. Subsequent to his enthrallment in this material world those functions that are incidental to material time, viz., the creation, formation, fall etc. have been attributed to the Jiva. . . . I am only stating this proposition. But the sure realisation of the true meaning of this proposition will be in proportion to the degree of your actual experience of the unalloyed spiritual existence of the Absolute Realm that you have been enabled to receive."
(Jaiva Dharma, p. 20)
The relationship of mundane to eternal time is undoubtedly difficult. Some will propose that the talk here of "realisation" means that the words of the acaryas about the original state of the jiva can be set aside as incomprehensible. But that is not proper procedure. The words of the acaryas are given for our understanding, and therefore they cannot be set aside. For example, we hear statements that we are not these bodies. To truly understand this requires realization. Nevertheless, we can repeat with confidence the statement that we are not our bodies, we are spirit souls. At each level of realization the statement "I am not this material body" remains true. In this case, Bhaktivinoda Thakur writes, "The Jiva is eternal and ever-existing and his function (dharma) in the form of love for Sri Krsna is also eternal." That is the original condition. Bhaktivinoda Thakur then says, "Subsequent to his enthrallment in this material world those functions that are incidental to material time, viz., the creation, formation, fall etc. have been attributed to the Jiva." That means that prior to his enthrallment, the natural eternal condition is manifest. And that has been characterized not as a dormant state, but as "function ...in the form of love for Sri Krsna." So even though we do not have complete realization of this, we can repeat it, confident that it is true.
4.2.15 "Forgetfulness of the reality that ‘I am Krsna's eternal servant'"
"The root of all actions is the desire for acts, the root of which again is avidya. Avidya is the name for the forgetfulness of the reality that ‘I am Krsna's eternal servant.' This avidya did not commence within the course of mundane time. That root of karma of the jiva arose when he was at the juncture (between chit and achit regions). As such, the beginning of karma is not to be traced within mundane time, and, on that account karma is beginningless."
(Jaiva Dharma, p. 248)
In the first sentence, Bhaktivinoda Thakur expresses a three-part process. This involves actions (karma), the root of all actions (the desire for acts), and the root of the desire for acts (avidya). Although karma takes place within the mundane time of the material universe, the root of karma (the desire for acts) is something that arises outside of mundane time. The cause of this desire is ignorance (avidya). In the absence of this avidya, the jiva experiences the reality that "I am Krsna's eternal servant." Avidya is here defined as forgetfulness of this reality. So at first the jiva is situated in the reality of eternal service to Krsna. By forgetfulness of this reality, avidya develops. And from avidya comes the root of karma, the desire for acts. If this occurs, it occurs at the juncture between the chit (spiritual) and achit (non-spiritual) regions. Thereafter the soul is placed in the material world, and there the actual process of karma unfolds, but the root of karma lies beyond mundane time and space.
4.2.16 "The worldly course makes its appearance simultaneously with the Jiva's loss of all recollection of the servitorship of Krsna"
"The Jiva may possess one of two states. He may be either in the conditioned state or in the pure spiritual state. In his unconditioned state the Jiva is uneclipsed cognitive substance. In that state the Jiva has no relationship with nonsentience. Even in his unalloyed spiritual state the Jiva is infinitesimal, he is liable to undergo change of condition. The Entity of Krsna is plenary Cognition. He is naturally free from the possibility of any change in His condition. He is substantively Great, Perfect, Pure, and Eternal. The Jiva is substantively infinitesimal, part of the Whole, liable to contamination, and not ultimate. But in respect of his spiritual function the Jiva is great, undivided, whole, pure, and eternal. As long as the Jiva retains his pure spiritual condition, he exhibits his spiritual function in his uneclipsed form. When the Jiva is contaminated by relationship with the eclipsing potency (Maya), only then, by reason of the perversion of his proper function, he is not fully pure and feels helpless and afflicted with mundane pleasure and pain. The worldly course makes its appearance simultaneously with the Jiva's loss of all recollection of the servitorship of Krsna."
(Jaiva Dharma, p.12)
Bhaktivinoda Thakur here makes some important points. The first is: "The Jiva may possess one of two states. He may be either in the conditioned state or in the pure spiritual state." There is no mention of any third state. Some have proposed that there is the conditioned state, the final state of achieving the direct service of Krsna, and an unknown original state of relationship with Krsna in the spiritual world. This latter would constitute a third state of the jiva. According to the statements here, however, there is no such third state. Bhaktivinoda Thakur then states: "As long as the Jiva retains his pure spiritual condition, he exhibits his spiritual function in his uneclipsed form." This indicates a relationship of active service with Krsna. All in all, this quote contains a clear indication that the jiva was originally engaged in its eternal function of directly and actively serving Krsna before it made the mistake of turning from Krsna, at which point the jiva forgets that service and enters the material world to search for enjoyment there.
4.2.17 "So long as the Jiva continues pure, he cherishes his function as his own"
"So long as the Jiva continues pure, he cherishes his function as his own. His egoism then identifies itself with his servitorship of Krsna. His pure egotism, however, suffers a contraction and assumes various forms when he is defiled by relationship with Maya."
(Jaiva Dharma, pp. 12-13)
4.2.18 "Turned away from Krsna and as such, became punishable"
"In his true nature the jiva is the devoted servant of Krsna. The jivas who have gone astray against that nature of theirs due to their seeking after their own pleasure turned away from Krsna and, as such, became punishable."
(Jaiva Dharma, p. 240)
Extra Bonus Quotes:
"When he is imprisoned in the material world the spirit soul does not lose his original spiritual form he had in the spiritual world of Vaikuntha. However, because of contact with matter the imprisoned soul loses the memory of his original form in Vaikuntha. Still his spiritual form does not cease to exist."
(Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Prema-pradipa, p. 83)
"The individual soul naturally resides in Vaikuntha. If he somehow comes to the material world, the individual soul brings with him his spiritual form made of chit. Pervertedly reflected in the material world those things of chit are called by name "matter."
(Prema-pradipa, p. 96)
"As long as the jiva takes full shelter of the Supreme Lord he remains a resident of Vaikuntha. But when his innate spiritual knowledge of the Lord is covered by forgetfulness, he is placed outside the transcendental realm."
(Caitanya Siksamrita, Sanmod-ana Bhasya-sloka-1)
"When the pure living entities reside in Vaikuntha, the first knot of nescience in the form of false ego does not entangle them. Pure living entities cannot remain steady after giving up spiritual activities. Therefore as soon as the living entities become situated in their own happiness through the minute independence given by the Lord, they become shelterless and are compelled to take shelter of maya. On the account of this, the pure living entities have no shelter other than Vaikuntha. The living entities of Vaikuntha are very insignificant, like fireflies in comparison to the powerful sun like the lord. As soon as the living entity leaves Vaikuntha, he is simultaneously awarded a subtle body and thrown into the material world created by maya. All manifestations of the Sadhini, Samvit and Hladini aspect of the marginal potency are mixed with maya as soon as the living entity leaves the shelter of Vaikuntha."
(Sri Krsna Samhita-2.41)
Now we will quote from Sri Tattva-Sutram, Gaudiya Math Madras edition, 1979, on page 109:
"The unconditional state of the jivas is totally stainless and in such a state, the jiva-soul exists in the transcendental blissful form. In such a state, that stainless jiva-soul engages itself in the unalloyed Divine-Love. As soon as the jiva-soul turns averse to the Supreme Lord, its inclination undergoes a degradation and that becomes an attachment to the secondary objects. This is the propense condition of the jivas. As a result of this conditioned state, the faculty of pure knowledge of jiva-soul is transformed into the phenomenal mind. The evil attachments of this mind results in the misery of repeatedly undergoing births and deaths due to the fruits of the actions done. All these miseries of the jiva are the results of the evil propensities."
Quoting from Sri Tattva-Sutram on page 116:
"If the jivas were completely controlled like the inert objects, than how there could be any development of them? The upliftment or the downfall are results of jiva's independent activities. The Lord has endowed the jiva-souls with a certain amount of free-will, for their development. Those jivas who have abandoned their characteristic nature of Divine service and engaged in the secondary affinity due to their enjoying mood, as a result of their mis-use of the free-will, they enjoy the insignificant materialistic bliss or misery as per their desires and they remain attached to the phenomenal world, there-by getting deceived from the All-Blissful Divine-Love."
Again, from Sri Tattva-Sutram on page 129:
"The self-realization is possible only when the jiva soul is stationed in its own abode or in its unalloyed state. When the jiva-soul secures a fall from that unalloyed state and gets entangled in this material world, here it undergoes reformation for its further upliftment from this fall. In this way the world acts as a reformatory prison-house for the jivas…However, the elaborate study in this regard reveals that, those who have become averse to the Divine-Love secure their downfall from that eternal abode and only such jivas are bound by the prison like physical body etc."
Continuing from Sri Tattva-Sutram on page 137:
"Due to the mundane association and the deliberations of mundane sensual objects, the jiva-soul has forgotten the real forms of the self, the bliss, divinity and that of Vaikuntha. As a result of which, the jivas are put into a delusion of imagining sense-pleasures and heavenly pleasures as the bliss. They are also at delusion regarding their conception about the Supreme Lord and His Abode. They mistake the Vaikuntha as to be something like the mundane regions and also they misconstrue the Divine Body with the perishable bodies of the physical world…thereby they mistake some or other abodes constituted by the earth, water, or any other similarly imagined abode as the Vaikuntha."
This list of quotes could easily be expanded. But it is sufficient to make the point that Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur was saying the same thing about the origin of the jiva that we always heard from Srila Prabhupada.
Bahushira Dasa (ACBSP)