Srila Prabhupada - ''Love means you take and you give also. Suppose if you love somebody and you are simply taking from him, but you don't give. Oh, do you think it is very good? No. It is not good. That is NOT love that is exploitation. If I go on simply taking from you, and if I don't offer you anything in return, that is simply exploitation. (Lecture on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 text 2-5, New York, November 23, 1966)
Srila Prabhupada - ''We have got the propensity to love. Love means somebody else. Love can not be one or love cannot be executed only by one. There must be another one. I love somebody; somebody loves me, there must be lover, there must be beloved, and the transaction, then love''. (Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapohter 2 text 6, Delhi, November 12, 1973)
Srila Prabhupada - ''Their (impersonalist) philosophy is oneness. So how can there be love with just one? Is it possible? Have you got any such experience that love means one? No. Love means two. There MUST be two, the lover and the beloved. Kṛṣṇa is already lover. He loves you so much that He's trying to get you back. That is Kṛṣṇa's attempt. "Please, My dear boy, or My dear friend, My dear servant." (Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 2 Chapter 1, text 3, Paris, June 12, 1974)
There are personal intimate relationships the jiva souls (marginal living entities) have with Krsna.
A devotee has a relationship with Krsna the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of ALL five different ways-
1. One may be a devotee in a passive state;
2. One may be a devotee in an active state;
3. One may be a devotee as a friend;
4. One may be a devotee as a parent;
5. One may be a devotee as a conjugal lover.''
Srila Prabhupada explains these 5 relationships in detail in His Books like "Nectar of Devotion".
A "PASSIVE" relationship (number one in above list) with Krsna in Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavana, is an almost "inactive" position the jiva-souls can CHOOSE according to their desires (free will) such as-
A cloud in the sky,
The Sky,
A blade of grass,
A tree,
A rock or stone,
A fence,
A chair or bench,
A flag pole and a flag,
A roadway,
A Chariot, etc
EVERYTHING is alive in Vaikuntha and Goloka-Vrindavana, unlike the mundane dead material creation.
This means EVERYTHING from the shoes on your feet, to the clothes you wear, are all individual jiva-souls who can shape shift as that form because they have voluntarily chosen to play that particular role in Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavana.
This is called a "passive" relationship with Krsna.
The ORIGINAL eternal form of the jiva-soul is a bodily form like Krsnas Prabhupada has said, two arms, two legs, etc, like Krsna has in Vṛndāvana.
This means the 4 armed bodily form the jiva-souls have in the Vaikuntha Planets that looks like Vishnu/Narayana Form is NOT the original form because ALL marginal living entities (jiva-souls) originate from Goloka-Vrindavana, from their original two armed form.
Devotee – “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."
Hari-sauri – “How do we understand, then that there are peacocks and flowers and trees in the spiritual world? Are these not eternal forms?”
Srila Prabhupada – “[describing material form first]: Yes. They are more covered. Just like if you cover your body with a blanket, the hands and legs are invisible. But you are not the blanket. So the trees and plants they are more covered. They are not in full manifestation. The human form is the full manifestation of the soul."
Hari-sauri - “They are covered in the spiritual world?”
Srila Prabhupada - “Not in the spiritual world. There that is voluntary. Some devotee wants to serve Krsna as flower; then they become flower there. If I want to be a flower, I shall lie down at the lotus feet of Krsna; he becomes flower and voluntarily, and he can change his, from flower to human body. That is spiritual life. There is no restriction. If some devotee wants to serve Krsna as cow, he serves Krsna as cow, as calf, as flower, as plant, as water, as ground, field, or as father, as mother, as friend, as beloved, anything. It is inconceivable yet a fact."(Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.1-4 - Melbourne, May 20, 1975)
Many jiva-souls choose to have a passive dormant, inactive, or idle relationship with Krsna; however, it is NEVER impersonal.
This means they do not react visibly to something that might be expected of them, like outwardly manifesting emotions or feelings like a blade of grass, or a tree that only moves in the wind but outwardly shows no affection or passion.
Even though inwardly, these jiva-souls would be ecstatically and blissfully be aware of Krsna’s personal presence and that Kṛṣṇa is fully aware of them as that inactive blade of grass and tree.
Many jiva-souls are, therefore, passive living objects also in Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavana that do not involve visible reaction or active participation
This is playing a passive or seemingly inactive role in Krsna's Kingdom.
However, one should NOT confuse a "passive relationship" in Vaikuntha or Goloka-Vrindavana with an impersonal mundane "inactive position of the Mayavadis.
The fact is Krsna's abode is full of diversity where the jiva-souls can voluntarily express various kinds of loving service to Krsna, from "active" service of being a Cow herd boy, to "inactive" service like being a flag on top of a flag pole.
These relationships with Krsna are also based on reciprocation and loving exchanges too, even if the jiva-souls manifest themselves as a cloud in the sky, a bench for Krsna to sit on, or a plate for Krsna to eat off.
Just like we enjoy relationships with our families and with society, so does Krsna have His personal family
However, all of His relationships are eternal in Goloka Vrindavana with their "Svarūpa Spiritual form, and completely free of material contamination.
Each of Krsna’s marginal living entities (jiva-souls) devotees interacts with Him by their "free will" in one of five primary relationships, as said above.
All jiva-souls are EQUALLY intimate with Krsna because in the spiritual world, all relationships with Krsna are equally blissful, just like one may like a carnation flower while others like roses.
Advanced loving voluntary relationships with Krsna numbers from one to five the jiva-soul can choose from.
These five are-
1 - Neutrality,
2 - Servitude,
3 - Friendship,
4 - Parental affection,
5 - And conjugal love.
The most intimate love of God reaches its summit in romantic exchanges with Krsna.
Each devotee eternally feels one of these main moods-
Devotees in the mood of "neutrality" chooses to witness and support Krsna's pastimes by their presence as plants, animals, streams, and so on, as well as normally inanimate objects like houses—all of which are fully conscious and alive in Goloka Vrindavan.
Devotees in the "service mood" choose to run errands for Krsna, pack His lunch, wash His clothes, and perform other acts of loving service for Him.
Devotees in the "fraternal mood" choose to serve Krsna by being His friend.
They are sometimes boastful, considering themselves equal to Krsna because they have no idea Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of ALL causes, nor do they care.
In Krsna's company, the cow herd boys and girls enjoy games in the beautiful country forest settings of Vṛndāvana.
Devotees who choose to be in the "parental mood" see themselves as Krsna’s provider and protector.
Krsna behaves with them like a dependent child. His mother cuddles Him, carefully prepares His meals, and thinks only of His protection. His father sees that He has all the comforts of a normal home.
Devotees who choose to be in the "conjugal" (of whom many are also Visnu-tattva and NOT just jiva-souls) position, or romantic, mood offer service as Krsna’s girlfriends, relating with Him in the intimacy of lover and beloved.**.
The jiva souls in Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavana are forever voluntarily expanding the expression of their individuality with an increasing variety of personal devotional offerings based on free will, it is NEVER a one sided master/slave none contributing mindless relationship with God as Prabhupada explains.
ReplyDeleteSrila Prabhupada – "Love is reciprocal, voluntary, good exchange of feeling. Then there is love. Not by force, no, Krishna does not want to become a lover like that, ‘You love me, otherwise I shall kill you!" (Washington DC July 8, 1976)
Real love or Bhakti is reciprocal, it is NEVER a one way street where surrender to Krishna takes away one's sense of self, individuality and personal loving contributions or voluntary offering.
Each individual jiva-soul has their own independent personality (yet dependent on Krishna), separate from Krishna's Personality, which means having their own sense of self, and a "unique identity" that THEY only individually have.
These attributes are part and parcel of each individual marginal living entity (jiva soul) making each of them the unique "PERSON" they eternally are.
"Free will" in its full potential, is ONLY fully experienced in Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavan, which is the jiva souls original perpetual home.