Syamasundara - "Can we predict that returning back home back to Godhead will be permanent? Can we predict that? Just like many prisoners leave the prison, however, some do come back?"
Srila Prabhupada - "No, there is no permanent effect because we have got little independence. There is nothing permanent because you can misuse your independence at any time."
Syamasundara - "And some come back to the material world?"
Srila Prabhupada - "Yes, otherwise there is no meaning of independence. Independence means you can do this, you can do that, all right, whatever you like."
Devotee - "Then one is so many times falling down to the material world, again and again, so will he eventually permanently come back??"
Srila Prabhupada - "He has got independence, therefore there is ALWAYS the possibility he can misuse his independence, he CAN fall down again. That's why when a man is released from the prison house, that does not mean he is released permanently because he can come back again.
The general law is NOT to come back to this material world but if he likes, he can come back, otherwise what is the meaning of independence? Just like one becomes free from the prison house, naturally he should not go there again." (Discussions with Syamasundara - Henri Bergson)
Srila Prabhupada - "As soon as we try, Oh, this material world is very nice, Yes, Kṛṣṇa says, yes, you can go, otherwise what is the meaning of free will? Every living entity has got a little free will. And Kṛṣṇa is so kind, He gives him opportunity, "All right, you enjoy like this." It is free will." (Morning Walk Cheviot Hills May 13, 1973, Los Angeles)
Tatastha-sakti-
So the proper understanding is the marginal living entities (jiva-souls) are known in the material conditioned state as "tatastha-sakti", and also when dormant (inactive) in the impersonal Brahmajyoti.
However, the jiva-souls are NOT referred to by that name (tatastha-sakti) as their original Spiritual bodily form (vigraha) in Vaikuntha or Goloka-Vrindavana.
The marginal living entities (jiva-souls) are known in both the material creation and the impersonal Brahmajyoti as tatastha-sakti, but NOT in Vaikuntha and Goloka-Vrindavana Prabhupada explains here-
Srila Prabhupada - "So this material world is the taṭastha (conditioned) characteristics, and the spiritual worlds are the "Personal" (Vaikuntha) characteristics." (New York, Dec 28, 1966)
In other words, tatastha-sakti is the "conditioned fallen designation" of the marginal living entity that describes those jiva-souls who have fallen to the material creation and later, the impersonal Brahmajyoti, but tatastha-sakti does NOT refer to those jiva-souls in Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavana.
This is important to try and understand as the marginal living entity (jiva-souls) have many different names describing their position and condition, and tatastha-sakti is one of those names describing the jiva-souls in conditioned state in the material creation and while dormant in the impersonal Brahmajyoti.
The jiva-souls (marginal potency) were NOT created from a nonsense "clear sheet of consciousness" either as some claim.
This is because they have ALWAYS existed everywhere (sarva-gatah means life is everywhere)
Srila Prabhupāda's Bhagavad Gita As It Is Chapter 2 Text 12 confirms that the jiva-souls were NEVER created and have no origin-
Srila Prabhupāda - "For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain." (BG, As It is Ch 2 Text 12)
Srila Prabhupada – "There is NO new souls. New and old are due to this material body, but the jiva-soul is NEVER born and NEVER dies, so if there is no birth, how can there be new souls?" (Letter to Jagadisa dasa 7/9/1970)
The jiva-souls may FALL to an "inactive" dormant state (the impersonal Brahmajyoti), but they certainly did NOT originate from there.
Even entering the impersonal Brahmajyoti or Brahman is only temporary for the jiva-souls as explained above, who entered there to escape the suffering and pain of being embodied in the material creation in a material bodily vessel within the cycle of repeated birth and death.
In fact the fallen jiva-soul can stay in the impersonal Brahmajyoti in an inactive state of consciousness for a very, very, very long time, so long a time that some foolishly believe it is where they originated from after emerging from there as also explained above.
It should be made clear the dormant inactive aspect of the Brahmajyoti is NOT the origin of the jiva-soul, it is actually a fallen state.
And certainly the individual jiva-souls do NOT originate from anywhere including the impersonal Brahmajyoti.
Firstly this is because they were NEVER created, the jiva-souls are ETERNAL and have ALWAYS existed as part and parcel of the "marginal plane collective" of Krsna's energies (sakti) who are individual living entities spread throughout the entire Spiritual Sky.
Originally the jiva-souls were in the spiritual world which is their real home however, some fall from there to the material creation, less than 10% Prabhupada has explained.
The way the jiva-souls first entered the material creation is they came down from the Vaikuntha planets or Goloka Vrindavana mostly by choice (free will) or by some very rare offence like the story of the gate keepers of Vaikuṇṭha Jai and Vijai who offended the Kumaras.
Srila Prabhupada - "After passing through the six entrances of Vaikuntha-puri, the Lord's residence, without feeling astonishment at all the decorations, they saw at the seventh gate two shining beings of the same age, armed with maces and adorned with most valuable jewelry, earrings, diamonds, helmets, garments, etc.
The significance of the doormen's being of the same age is that in the Vaikuntha planets there is no old age, so one cannot distinguish who is older than whom.
The inhabitants of Vaikuntha are decorated like the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana, with sankha, cakra, gada and padma (conch, wheel, club and lotus).
The inhabitants of Vaikuntha have bodies of bluish color and four hands like Narayana. The things that differentiate the Lord and and the inhabitants is the Srivatsa mark and Kustumba jewel.
The great sages, headed by Sanaka, had opened doors everywhere. They had no idea of "ours" and "theirs."
With open minds, they entered the seventh door out of their own will, just as they had passed through the six other doors, which were made of gold and diamonds.
They entered the doors exactly as little children enter places without any idea of what it is to trespass. That is a child's nature.
A child can enter any place, and no one checks him. Indeed, a child is generally welcome in his attempts to go places, but if it so happens that a child is checked from entering a door, he naturally becomes very sorry and angry. That is the nature of a child.
In this case, the same thing happened. The childlike saintly personalities entered all the six doors of the palace, and no one checked them; therefore when they attempted to enter the seventh door and were forbidden by the doormen, who checked them with their sticks, they naturally became very angry and sorrowful.
An ordinary child would cry, but because these were not ordinary children, they immediately made preparations to punish the doormen, for the doormen had committed a great offense.
Even to this day a saintly person is never checked from entering anyone's door in India." (SB Canto 3 Ch 15 text 27-29)
Srila Prabhupada - "We have also come down from Vaikuntha some millions and millions of years ago." (Lecture BG, Aug 6, 1973)
Srila Prabhupada - "These spirit souls and all spirit souls are coming from Vaikuntha." (Letter to Jagadisa das, 1970)
As said above, the marginal potency or plane is a collective of eternal individual jiva-souls who have always have existed without beginning or end.
The jiva-souls are eternal PERSONS without any beginning point, nor will they ever cease to be as Bhagavad Gita teaches.
Prabhupada says in the first record Album he made in New York in December 1966, that we are all originally Krsna conscious entities.
The jiva-souls are NOT originally from an impersonal or inactive clear state of consciousness, or some impersonal "spark" in Krsna's effulgence. Those inactive dormant conditions are a "fallen condition" of the jiva-souls who long ago chose to leave Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavana.
The marginal potency isn’t a place where the jiva-souls came from either. The marginal platform is a eternal collective of individual jiva-souls spread throughout the Spiritual Sky.
The marginal living entities (jiva-souls) are an unlimited number of individual PERSONS with the following qualities-
sat,
cit,
ananda,
vigraha.
This means in English the individual jiva-souls are-
eternity,
Knowledge,
bliss,
bodily spiritual form.
The ORIGINAL feature of the individual jiva-soul is a bodily form like Krsna Prabhupada has said, having two arms, two legs etc.
This spiritual bodily svarupa form is the jiva-soul's full potential in their original spiritual position (rasa) in Goloka-Vrindavan.
The marginal living entities (jiva-souls) are not called tatastha-sakti in Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavana, it is a name describing the fallen "conditioned" state of the jiva-souls.
Srila Prabhupada - "So this "material world" is the taṭastha (conditioned characteristics), and the spiritual worlds are the Personal (characteristics). So our effort is to get out of this taṭastha (conditioned characteristics) and enter the permanent characteristics (Vaikuntha and Goloka-Vrindavana). That is called spiritual elevation." (New York City, Dec 28, 1966)
Revatīnandana - "Srila Prabhupāda you very clearly explained to me once in a letter that if the jiva-soul then goes into the brahmajyoti, he is considered still fallen. Still fallen. Does that means the whole brahmajyoti is composed of fallen souls? You see my question? If I go there, I'm a jīva-soul, and I go to the brahmajyoti I'm still fallen."
Srila Prabhupāda - "Yes."
Revatīnandana - "That means all jīva-souls there are also fallen souls?"
Srila Prabhupāda - "Yes, existence in the impersonal brahman is also within the category of non-Krsna consciousness. Those who are in the brahman effulgence are also in the fallen condition, so there is no question of falling down from a fallen condition." (Letter to: Revatinandana, Los Angeles 13 June, 1970 and August 17 1971 London)
Srila Prabhupada - "When fall takes place, it means falling down from the non-fallen condition. The non-fallen condition is Krsna consciousness." (Letter to: Revatinandana, Los Angeles 13 June, 1970)
In the jiva-souls original position they have the same bodily features like Krsna, sat-cit-ananda-vigraha.
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 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, 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." (SB Canto 6.1.1-4, Melbourne, May 20, 1975)
Some of Krsna's marginal living entities fall to becoming dormant in the Krsna's effulgences known as the impersonal Brahmajyoti or Brahman.
Impersonalists who are fed up existing as a PERSON, desire to be bodiless, inactive and dormant in that conditioned state in the impersonal Brahmajyoti.
This is because they are already FALLEN and have long, long ago forgotten their original two armed spiritual bodily form in Goloka Vrindavana, or four armed form on the Vaikuntha Planets.
So much so they and their foolish gurus believe the impersonal Brahmajyoti is their origin.
Only in the "conditioned fallen state" can the marginal living entity (jiva-souls) merge as individual inactive bodiless units into the impersonal Brahmajyoti collective of dormant individual jiva-souls.
But such a condition is also temporary and eventually after billions of years being dormant in the Brahmajyoti, those jiva-souls fall from there too and again take birth in the material creation.
The nature of the jiva-souls is to be always active and NOT inactive. Therefore merging into the impersonal Brahmajyoti is artificial and fabricated nonsense.
The jiva-souls are perpetually endowed with "free will" expressed fully in the Spiritual Worlds only. Being marginal means free will.
Therefore there is always "free will" on all the Spiritual Planets including Goloka Vrindavana, meaning one can leave anytime they want because of that free will.
So, if we came to this material world due to our choice to reject Krsna, that does NOT mean we had to know what all other options for us were.
Our desires are still there but centred around ourselves instead of Krsna.
The simply choice to leave Krsna's association means one wants to explore their own options, and this means they do NOT know what the material universe even is.
So how could one say the jiva-soul chose the material world, when the jiva-soul didn’t even know what the material world is?
No it is not like that, they simply had desires to please Krsna but those same desires are now self centred gratification.
The real meaning of all this is one's choices and desires ALWAYS exist, but by rejecting Krsna, those SAME choices and desires become "self centred" and no long Krsna centred.
It is that "original choice of rejecting Krsna" that takes the jiva-soul out of the Spiritual Worlds and eventually places them in the material creation under the jurisdiction of Maha Visnu without even knowing what the material world is.
All they know is their desires that were NOT material but rather no longer meant to please Krsna.
Previously the jiva-souls ALWAYS had their own desires and choices of what they want to do to please Krsna in the Spiritual Worlds, but now those same desires are no longer Krsna centred, they are self centred.
This is how the jiva-soul chooses to reject Krsna.
So now separated from Krsna, they simple put themselves in the center instead of Krsna.
"Desires" are always there.
All the desires the jiva-souls had previously to serve Kṛṣṇa are now independent from Krsna.
This means Krsna is no longer in the center and is ignored.
When the jīva-souls choose to reject Krsna in the Spiritual Planets, they then attempt to imitate Krsna and that is when they are instantaneous placed in the material creation under the jurisdiction of Maha Visnu's dreams.
Every desire that now does not include Krsna, is already on the "menu of choices" in blue-print within the dreams of Maha-Visnu.
In order for the rebellious jiva-soul to make a choice, they ALREADY previously knew what their options were because they had those same desires for Krsna before they rejected Krsna.
The only difference is Krsna is no longer the object of one's loving effection.
In the spiritual worlds you cannot compare one's desires, choices and free will to the mundane material creation because while still in the spiritual worlds, the jiva-souls have no information about the material creation.
The spiritual worlds are always in the "eternal presence" of Krsna and NEVER influenced by the material creations past, present and future, that only exists in the temporary decaying material creation.
By moving under the jurisdiction of Krsna's expansion Maha-Visnu, then what ever the jiva-souls choices are all will be fulfilled by Him.
This is achieved when the jiva-souls enter one of His dreams of the material creation that are simultaneously in sync with their own desires.
Only in the spiritual worlds do the marginal living entities (individual jiva-souls) fully express their full potential and never in the mundane material creation.
The jiva-souls are eternal PERSONS with an eternal spiritual bodily svarupa form like Krsnas, and have always had "desires."
However, sometimes in the spiritual world, their desire to reciprocate and please Krsna is replaced by self centred desires to now please themselves.
When this happens they can no longer stay in either Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavana.
As said above, the jiva-souls can never become desireless, maybe for a short time by those impersonalists who enter the impersonal Brahmajyoti, but they will always fall down from there.
The eternal nature of the jiva-souls are to be always active and ALWAYS have desires ultimately to please Krsna.
So when some jiva-souls reject Krsna their desires to please Him remain, they are still there, but are now self centred.
The jiva-souls in their natural position are never desireless which is the goal of impersonalists who foolishly believe the jiva-souls originated from the impersonal inactive Brahmajyoti.
It is a nonsense philosophy to say that we didn’t come from Krsna's abode of Goloka Vrindavana or Vaikuntha, which are the jiva-souls (marginal living entities) REAL eternal homes.
Krsna states twice in the Srimad Bhagavatam that we left Him.
Canto 4 Chapter 28 Text 53 and Canto 4 Chapter 28 Text 55.
Krsna directly asks the jiva-soul,
"Do you remember Me!!"
How can you remember what you never knew?
Krsna directly says 'hitvā māṁ', You rejected me. He says it again at 4.28.55 sa tvaṁ vihāya māṁ bandho.
"You are the one who rejected Me, O friend!" sa tvaṁ vihāya māṁ bandho.
Yes, we should now be determined to return back home back to Godhead, to again be with Krsna."
Srila Prabhupāda clearly explains here from Srimad Bhagavatam that our original home, from where we all have originated from, is Goloka Vrindavana, the perpetual Kingdom of God.
Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 4 Chapter 28 Text 53-
api smarasi catmanam
avijñata-sakham sakhe
hitva mam padam anvicchan
bhauma-bhoga-rato gatah
Translation by Srila Prabhupada-
The brahmana continued-
"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".
Purport by Srila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita As It Is 7.27
iccha-dvesa-samutthena
dvandva-mohena bharata
sarva-bhutani sammoham
sarge yanti parantapa
"O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate."
This is an explanation of how the living entity falls down into this material world.
In the spiritual world there is no duality, nor is there hate.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself into many. In order to enjoy bliss more and more, the Supreme Lord expands Himself in different categories.
As mentioned in the Varaha Purana, He expands Himself in visnu-tattva (the svamsa expansion) and in His marginal potency (the vibhinnamsa, or the living entity).
These expanded living entities are innumerable, just as the minute molecules of sunshine are innumerable expansions of the sun.
The vibhinnamsa expansions, the marginal potencies of the Lord, are the living entities. 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.
In the Prema-vivarta it is said-
krsna-bahirmukha haña bhoga-vañcha kare
nikata-stha maya tare japatiya dhare
The natural position of the living entity is to serve the Lord in a transcendental loving attitude.
When the living entity wants to become Krsna Himself or imitate Krsna, he falls down into the material world.
Since Krsna is the supreme father, His affection for the living entity is eternal. When the living entity falls down into the material world, the Supreme Lord, through His svamsa expansion (Paramatma), keeps company with the living entity.
In this way the living entity may some day return home, back to Godhead.
By misusing his independence, the living entity falls down from the service of the Lord and takes a position in this material world as an enjoyer — that is to say, the living entity takes his position within a material body.
Wanting to take a very exalted position, the living entity instead becomes entangled in a repetition of birth and death.
He selects his position as a human being, a demigod, a cat, a dog, a tree, etc.
In this way the marginal living entity selects a material body out of the 8,400,000 forms and tries to satisfy himself by a variety of material enjoyment.
The Supersoul, however, does not like him to do this. Consequently, the Supersoul instructs him to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Lord then takes charge of the living entity. But unless the living entity is uncontaminated by material desires, he cannot surrender to the Supreme Lord.
In Bhagavad-gita (5.29) the Lord says-
bhoktaram yajña-tapasam
sarva-loka-mahesvaram
suhrdam sarva-bhutanam
jñatva mam santim rcchati
"The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries."
The Supreme Lord is the supreme friend of everyone; however, no one can take advantage of the supreme friend’s instructions while making his own plans to become happy and entangling himself in the modes of material nature.
When there is creation, the living entities take on different material forms according to past desires.
This means that all the species or forms of life are simultaneously created.
Darwin’s theory stating that no human being existed from the beginning but that humans evolved after many, many years is simply a nonsensical theory.
From Vedic literature we find that the first creature within the universe is Lord Brahma.
Being the most intelligent personality, Lord Brahma could take charge of creating all the variety found within this material world.
Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 4 Chapter 28 Text 54-
hamsav aham ca tvam carya
sakhayau manasayanau
abhutam antara vaukah
sahasra-parivatsaran
Translation by Srila Prabhupada-
The original home of the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the spiritual world.
In the spiritual world both the Lord and the living entities live together very peacefully. Since the living entity remains engaged in the service of the Lord, they both share a blissful life in the spiritual world.
However, when the living entity wants to enjoy himself, he falls down into the material world.
Even while he is in that position, the Lord remains with him as the Supersoul, his intimate friend.
Because of his forgetfulness, the marginal living entity does not know that the Supreme Lord is accompanying him as the Supersoul.
In this way the living entity remains conditioned in each and every millennium. Although the Lord follows him as a friend, the living entity, because of forgetful material existence, does not recognize Him.
Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 4 Chapter 28 Text 55
sa tvam vihaya mam bandho
gato gramya-matir mahim
vicaran padam adraksih
kayacin nirmitam striya
Translation by Srila Prabhupada-
My dear friend, you are now My very same friend. Since you left Me, you have become more and more materialistic, and not seeing Me, you have been traveling in different forms throughout this material world, which was created by some woman.
Purport by Srila Prabhupada-
"When the living entity falls down, he goes into the material world, which was created by the external energy of the Lord.
This external energy is described herein as “some woman,” or prakrti. This material world is composed of material elements, ingredients supplied by the mahat-tattva, the total material energy.
The material world, created by this external energy, becomes the so-called home of the conditioned soul.
Within this material world the conditioned soul accepts different apartments, or different bodily forms, and then travels about.
Sometimes he travels in the higher planetary systems and sometimes in the lower systems.
Sometimes he travels in higher species of life and sometimes in lower species. He has been wandering within this material universe since time immemorial.
As explained by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu-
brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija
The living entity wanders into many species of life, but he is fortunate when he once again meets his friend, either in person or through His representative. Actually, it is Krsna who personally advises all living entities to return home, back to Godhead. Sometimes Krsna sends His representative, who, delivering Krsna’s very message, canvasses all living entities to return home, back to Godhead. Unfortunately the living entity is so greatly attached to material enjoyment that he does not take the instructions of Krsna or His representative very seriously.
This material tendency is mentioned in this verse as gramya-matih, sense gratification. The word mahim means within this material world.
All marginal living entities (jiva-souls) within this material world are selfishly inclined. Consequently they become entangled in different types of bodies and suffer the pangs of material existence." (SB Canto Ch 4 text 28.55)
The Sun-disc and the sun-rays CANNOT exist separately from each other, similarly the jiva-souls can NEVER exist separate from Krsna and Krsna can NEVER be separated from them (His parts and parcels)
Loving devotional service to Krsna is ALWAYS based on a "two-way" voluntary exchange of personal feelings manifesting as loving acts of reciprocation between Kṛṣṇa and His devotees.
The sincere devotee voluntarily contributes their unique individual expressions of service as the real act of surrendering to Krsna.
Where as a "one-way" domineering forceful demand of surrender from a so called God or Guru, who does not allow personal voluntary contributions and expressions, is cold impersonalism.
Denying an individual jiva-soul to have a "two-way" exchange of reciprocating feelings condemns the so called devotee to be no better than dead useless stone.
Personalism MEANS a "two-way" relationship of voluntary loving exchange that expands, enriches and multiplies loving affection, sentiment and exchanges between the jiva-souls, Krsna and Guru.
Srila Prabhupada - "Love means you take and you give also. Suppose if you love somebody and you simply take 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, that is simply exploitation." (Lecture on BG Ch 9 text 2-5, New York, Nov 23, 1966)
Srila Prabhupada - "We have got the propensity to love. Love means somebody else. Love cannot be one or love cannot be executed by only one, personally. There MUST be another one. I love somebody; somebody loves me, there must be lover, there must be beloved, and the transaction, then love." (SB Canto 1 Ch 2 text 6, Delhi, Nov 12, 1973)
It is VERY important to understand that the jiva-souls (marginal living entities) are eternal "PERSONS" who have their own unique individuality and personality different from Krsna's Personality, but simultaneously dependent on Krsna who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of ALL causes.
The jiva-souls are eternal "PERSONS" with their own unique individual "feelings", who ALWAYS have their unique right of self expression in both Vaikuntha and Goloka-Vrindavana with Krsna (The Kingdom of God).
LOVING service to Krsna is NOT a "one-sided" impersonal affiliate of total supremacy or preeminence.
The fact is, genuine loving relations and service are based on "free will" which includes loving exhanges between TWO, and is NEVER a one sided dominating affair!
Free will only has meaning when the jiva-souls can express themselves in a "two-sided" relationship with Krsna.
Srila Prabhupada - "If you have no "free will", then you are a stone. The stone has no free will. You want to be stone? Then you must have free will!" (Aug 5, 1976, New Mayapur France)
The individual jiva-souls (marginal living entities) can NEVER exist independently from Krsna even though they CAN express their own independent free will that Krsna provides separately for the purpose of allowing a "two-way" voluntary exchange of loving expressions to encourage unique individual contributions and personal offerings.
In Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavana, personal voluntary expressions of loving exchanges expressed through free will are ALWAYS encouraged by Krsna in His relationship with the jiva-souls, that adds flavour, variety and mystery to the association.
This means the Kingdom of God is NOT a one-sided dominating impersonal domain devoid of free will, that denies personal contributions and offerings to God (Krsna) meant to expand and enrich the jiva-souls personal loving relations with Krsna.
As said above, LOVE or service is NOT a "one-sided" affiliate of total supremacy or preeminence Krsna always encourages self expression.
As emphasised above, genuine loving relations and service are based on voluntary reciprocal exhanges and contributions between TWO and NEVER just one!
The individual jiva-souĺs have THEIR choices and voice too, EVEN if that means rejecting Krsna!
Free will only has meaning when the jiva-souls can express themselves in a "two-sided" affair that includes even rejecting Krsna if they choose.
In other words, loving reciprocation is ONLY possible on a "two-way" street between two, with each contributing to the relationship's expansion of nectarine mellows.
The word "reciprocation" only has meaning when there are TWO involved in loving exchanges, NOT possible with just ONE!
As said clearly above, this means the individual jiva-souls CAN reject Krsna if they choose, which in a sense proves that "free will" DOES truly exist.
Srila Prabhupada - "Free will means that you can actll wrongly. That is free will. Unless there is chance of doing wrong or right, there is no question of free will. Where is free will then? If I act only one sided, that means I have no free will. Because we act sometimes wrongly, that means free will." (Philosophy Discussions with Rene Descartes)
Srila Prabhupada – "So everyone can know that independence means one can use it properly, one can misuse it. That is independence. If you make it one way only, that you cannot become fall down, that is not independence. That is force." (Mayapur, June 20, 1973)
Having "free will" is the eternal constitutional make up of EVERY "marginal living entity", and is the foundation for ALL jiva-soul's relationship with Krsna.
Srila Prabhupāda – "Love means a relationship between "two persons", then there is exchange, then there is love. I must deal with you open-hearted, you must deal with me open-hearted, then there is love. So if you want to love Kṛṣṇa, God, then these things must be there." (Aug 9, 1976, Tehran)
In the material creation it takes the jiva-souls many, many, many life times to reach even the human form of life out of the 8,400,000 species of life.
And then it takes many, many more life times to be trained up to be qualified to have a particular material bodily vessel we desire.
And out of all material bodily forms the most rare is being a devotee of Kṛṣṇa.
In the material creation one of the most famous song writers in modern times has been Sir Paul McCartney from the Beatles.
The fact is, the material bodily vessel he has achieved, is the result of a very, very long journey through millions of life times that he in this rare life he has, does not realize.
In other words, over millions of life times, the jiva-soul's determination and endeavours to become the famous musician "Paul McCartney" has been reached in this life, a very long struggling journey he has no memory of.
The fact is, this individual jiva-soul now playing the part of Paul McCartney, has worked very, very hard over many, many life times to achieve the material bodily vessel of a Paul McCartney.
In the material creation each jiva-soul is determined to reach the full expression of their desires by discovering from their free will, how to reach and achieve the full potential of their desires, separate from Krsna desires.
This has nothing to do with being influenced by Maya or the material energy because there is no Maya in the spiritual world, there is ONLY free will on how yo act that may be right or wrong.
Only in the material creation can the rebellious jiva-soul attempt to imitate Krsna.
However, whatever is achieved is temporary and death eventually comes and takes everything away throwing the jiva-soul back into the cycle of birth and death.
If Paul McCartney and others on the rich and famous list knew the many, many thousands of life times they have had of being trained up to achieve what they now have in this life time, they would be amazed.
Actually in the material world we are ALL in the same boat meaning individually each of us have our own individual material desires of seeking out fame and wealth, and like the jiva-soul in Paul McCartney's material body, we also we must EARN the human bodily vessel we achieve, nothing happens by chance.
To be born in a human body is very rare because there are 8 million 400 thousand species of life in the material creation, and only 400,000 human species.
So getting a human body is very rare, we forget the great opportunity we have in having a human material body that gives us the intelligence to inquiry about our existence.
The lower species are controlled by the instincts of eating, sleeping, mating and defending and does not allow inquisitive inquiry.
Also no Karma is created in the lower species, the hellish planetary systems or the heavenly planets.
Only in a human form on this rarth planet (Bhurloka) is Karma created.
The material body known as Paul McCartney was achieved by the jiva-soul over many, many, many life times of being trained up for that position.
Each jiva-souls can also achieve the fulfillment of a similar "dream of material greatness" such as Paul McCartney if that's what they "mistakenly" desire from the mundane material creation.
It is a mistake because human life is NOT meant for chasing individual selfish fame and wealth that lasts for one short life time of 70 or 80 years, it is meant for self-realization and getting out of this mundane material creation and return back home back to Godhead.
Yes, we CAN also experience famous life times over an eternity if we "desire and deserve" because we (the individual jiva-souls) are also on a long journey of self discovery attempting life after life to fulfill our material desires, just like the jiva-soul in the material body of Paul McCartney has done.
The jiva-soul is eternal, this means we were NEVER created and will never cease to be as Bhagavad Gita As It Is teaches, it is only the outward material bodily vessel that is perishable, temporary and eventually fades away with all its wealth and fame and eventually forgotten.
The material desires that each jiva-soul strives to experience in a material bodily vessel has to be earned over many, many, many life times (karma), and like all famous people who have reached their goal, all other embodied jiva-souls are also on their own journey to experience THEIR dreams too of grandeur, what ever they maybe.
However, to achieve such material dreams, it will take many, many life times to achieve, of being trained up to be qualified to enter a particular material bodily vessel one has desired, just like the jiva-soul in the material body of Paul McCartney has done.
George Harrison - "The full understanding of one's purpose and existence, and realiz,ing the REAL permanent happiness and identity of the individual jiva-soul, is to AGAIN return back home, back to Godhead and finish up these silly temporary material DREAMS of searching for so called fame, fortune and greatness life after life in the mundane decaying material worlds, and simply play in the wonderful forests of Vrindavana eternally with child Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godheajd and cause of ALL causes. (George Harrison on his death bed realised this)
This is called personalism where one does NOT deny who they are as an individual contributing person, who is voluntarily an eternal servant of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa (God).
Those jiva-souls who have chosen to leave Vaikuntha and enter the temporary material creation, eventually move through the 8 million 400 thousand species (material bodies) of life in material nature.
Therefore acquiring the human form of life is extremely rare (there are only 400 thousand species of human beings) and MUST be used properly to AGAIN help re-establish (realise) one's eternal spiritual identity and NOT continue attempting to exploit the material creation life after life (repeated birth and death experienced in a material bodily vessel)
ONLY in the human species can the journey of Spiritual life begin because as a human being one can inquire about the purpose of their existence, where they came from, what they are doing here, and where they are going.
All other species of life act only on the urges of eating, sleeping, mating and defending.
The fact is not all who fall from Vaikuntha and Goloka-Vrindavana become a Brahma when the jiva-soul chooses to leave the Spiritual World.
There are many, many ways of leaving Goloka-Vrindavana and Vaikuntha as Prabhupada explained to us years ago.
In Vaikuntha the gate keepers there Jay and Vijay, chose to become demons, NOT a Brahma, when they left (although those fall downs became lila)
Other fall downs are NOT lila but just out right rejection of Krsna or Visnu.
Free will allows this and those who say we have no free will are bogus so called gurus and Vaisnavas.
A minority of jiva-souls (less then 10%) choose to leave Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavana and CAN take a variety of different births that they choose in the material creation.
Sadly some modern day so called gurus, sannyasis, devotees and Vedic scholars have very little knowledge and understanding on this subject of "free will" and how the jiva-souls CAN fall to the material creation.
The jiva-souls have no knowledge of the material creation while in Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavana and ALWAYS have desires to please Krsna in different ways while absorbed in serving Krsna.
However, when a jiva-soul decides to reject Krsna then those same desires to please Krsna, now become "their" desires please themselves, separating them from service to Krsna.
It is those misdirected desires that were really meant to please Krsna, now centred around the rebellious jiva-soul, that transfers them to the "dreams" of Maha Visnu, known as the material creation.
Within Maha-Visnu's dreams, that ARE the material creation, exists every material bodily scenario possible that the jiva-souls can desire.
However, once entering the material creation, gradually the ability to choose (free will) is greatly diminished and the jiva-soul's destiny is carved out by what they do in the human form of life based on pious and impious actions (karma) and NOT free will.
Eventually after many births there is no longer a choice in the material creation, one simple gets a material bodily vessel according to their deeds (good and bad actions) but only while the jiva-soul is in the human species.
In all other life bodily life forms (over 8 billion species) in the material creation there is no free will, there is only the instincts of eating, sleeping, mating and defending.
Accumulating karma or creating good and bad karma ONLY exists in the human form of life, and does NOT exist in lower species, the hellish planetary systems or the heavenly planetary systems where the reactions of past karma, good or bad, unfolds and is experienced.
Time travel is understood differently in the Vedas compared with modern ideas.
Krsna showed Arjuna His Universal Form where Arjuna saw the past, present and future all existing simultaneously.
In other words everything that has ever happened is ALWAYS there NOW but divided into past, present and future (linear time)
It's not time travel!
It is seeing the material universe for what it really is, that past, present and future are ALWAYS happening.
But only very advanced yogis and devotees like Arjuna can see this.
And remember when Arjuna saw EVERYTHING including his own future and the future of his family he became very scared.
Srila Prabhupada told us CLEARLY the devotees in Goloka-Vrindavan and Vaikuntha have no idea the material creation even exists.
Vaikuntha means without anxiety so they have no anxiety about the material creation because they have no idea it exists, they only know it exists when they choose to reject Krsna.
Being "Krsna conscious" means they have only Krsna in their thoughts and therefore have no knowledge of anything material or that Maya exists.
Maya or any thoughts of material existence CANNOT exist in Vaikuntha and Goloka-Vrindavana.
In sastra is explained the fact that in Vrindavana the inhabitants there have no idea that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of ALL causes.
To them Krsna is just an amazing little boy and their best friend.×××
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