Gauragopala Das ACBSP: What is the correct meaning of service, surrender and devotion that only work when there are voluntary loving exchanges and reciprocation?

Srila Prabhupada - "Love means two, there must be two, the lover and the beloved." (Lecture on BG Chapter 9 text 2-5, New York, Nov 23, 1966)

Srila Prabhupāda – ''Unless there are two persons, where is the question of love? Love means 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." (August 9, 1976, Tehran)

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, 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 Chapter 2 text 6, Delhi, Nov 12, 1973)

In Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavana personal voluntary expressions of loving exchanges are always encouraged by Krsna in His relationship with the jiva-souls. This adds flavour, variety and mystery to their association with Lord Krsna and Visnu.

This means the Kingdom of God (Goloka-Vrindavana and Vaikuntha) are not a one-sided dominating impersonal domain devoid of free will or voluntary service.

Denying free will does not allow or encourage voluntary personal contributions (offerings) expressed in a two-way exchange, that can only expand, enrich and flavour one's eternal relationship with Krsna (God).

Loving service to Krsna and exchanges with Him cannot exist if there is only a one-sided 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 or even reject Him if they choose.

Unless the jiva-souls can make their own choice to do these things, then there is no question of having free will.

Srila Prabhupada - "Love is reciprocal, voluntary, good exchange of feeling. Then there is love. Not by force, no, Krsna does not want to become a lover like that, ‘You love me otherwise I shall kill you!" (Washington DC July 8, 1976)

Srila Prabhupada – "So everyone can know that independence means one can use it properly, or one can misuse it. That is independence. If you make it one way only, that is not independence, that is force." (Los Angeles, June 23, 1975)

Srila Prabhupada - "Free will means that you can act 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."

Hayagriva - "A man may know better but still act wrongly."

Srila Prabhupada -"Yes, but that is free will. He misuses his. Just like a thief, he knows that his stealing, it is bad, but still he does it. That is free will. He cannot check his greediness, so in spite of his knowing that he is doing wrong thing—he will be punished, he knows; he has seen another thief, he was punished, he was put into prison— everything he knows, but still he steals. Why? Misuse of free will. Unless there is misuse of free will, there is no question of free will." (Excerpt from: Philosophy Discussions with Srila Prabhupada – Rene Descartes)

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)

Srila Prabhupada - "Actually, we are not fallen. We cannot be fallen. But we have simply created a situation. We have not created a situation. Krsna has given us a situation. Because we wanted to imitate Krsna, so Krsna has given an opportunity: "All right. Imitate". So this situation, 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 Krsna consciousness. . . we can break this material connection at any moment as soon as we come to the point of Krsna conscious. We can simply give up that illusory condition at any moment. At any moment. This is the position. We are not fallen. We are thinking fallen. So we have to give up this nonsense thinking. Then we are liberated."(Bhagavatam lecture in Tokyo, April 20, 1972)

Srila Prabhupada - "Eternally conditioned means we do not know when we have been conditioned like this. It is not possible to trace out the history, many, many Brahma’s lives are happening, not only one." (Lecture in New York City, January 9, 1967)

Srila Prabhupada - "There is history, but that is not possible to trace out. Therefore, it is said anadi. Anadi means: adi means the creation. Creation before creation I contaminated this desire."(Bhagavatam lecture in Bombay, January 1, 1975)

Srila Prabhupada - "It is impossible to trace out our history. Vaishnava poets say, therefore, anadi karma-phale, which means that these actions and reactions of one’s activity cannot be traced, for they may even continue from the last millennium of Brahma’s birth to the next millenium."(Bhagavatam lecture on verse 44 of Canto Three, Chapter thirty-one 1974).

Devotee - "In the spiritual sky, when the living entity is in his pure state of consciousness, does something act upon him to make him illusioned at that point, also?"

Srila Prabhupada - "Yes, just like Jaya-Vijaya. They committed offense, there is possibility even if you are in Vaikuntha, you will fall down, what to speak of this material world." (Bhagavad Gita lecture of July 4, 1974)

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!" (August 5, 1976, New Mayapur France)

In other words, loving reciprocation is only possible between two, with each contributing to the relationship, expanding the the variety of nectarine mellows.

The word reciprocation only has meaning when there are two involved, not one!

Free will is eternally the constitutional make up of every marginal living entity (jiva-soul) and the foundation in all relationship with Krsna.

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 Chapter 9 text 2-5, New York, Nov 23, 1966)

Srila Prabhupada - ''The impersonalist philosophy is oneness, so how 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." (SB Canto 2 Chapter 1 text 3, Paris, June 12, 1974)

Surrender to Krsna in the spiritual world never means giving up your free will and allowing Krsna to control your every actions, deeds, words and thoughts.

No, that is not what surrender really is! Such denial of the individual self is impersonalism.

The jiva-souls in the spiritual world are not programmed mindless drones who only obey and never contribute to their relationship with Krsna in their own unique way by always thinking of different ways to please Krsna.

The jiva-souls can never lose their free will in Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavana, which is having the individual ability of self expression allowing them to offer their own personal contributions to Krsna unique to each individual jiva-soul.

Only by having free will does the jiva-souls have their own unique personality and individual character, otherwise they are no better than dead mindless stone.

Free will allows genuine loving exchanges and reciprocation to take place, and as said above, without free will the jiva-souls are dead!

Voluntary service is the bases of real surrender to Krsna in Goloka Vrindavana and the Vaikuntha Planets, which are the permanent eternal homes of the marginal living entities (jiva-souls).

The jiva-souls in Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavana are forever voluntarily expanding their independent expressions with their unique individuality with an increasing variety of personal devotional offerings based on free will.

Srila Prabhupada - "Service in the spiritual world is voluntary. Some devotee wants to serve Krsna as flower; 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." (Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.1-4, Melbourne, May 20, 1975)

The marginal living entities (jiva-souls) are a collective of an unlimited number of individual jiva-souls who are eternal, meaning they have always existed but, as said above, they are only called tatastha-sakti while conditioned in the material creation, and impersonal Brahmajyoti.

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, December 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. 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 and London 1971)

As said above, the jiva-soul's relationship with Krsna is never a one-sided mindless relationship.

Krsna does not control the surrendered jiva-souls by taking away their free will making them easy to manipulate like the puppet master manipulates and controls the movement of his puppets with his strings.

Therefore, denying the individual self expression, individual contributions and voluntary service.

Krsna controls His devotees with loving effection and reciprocal exchanges in a two-way exchange.

Srila Prabhupada - "Unless there is chance of doing wrong or right, there is no question of free will. Where is free will if I can act only one-sided? That means I have no free will. Because we can act wrongly, that means we have free will." (Discussions with Srila Prabhupada – Rene Descartes).

The jiva-souls never lose their free will or ability to express themselves in their own unique way, they are eternal as Bhagavad Gita As It Is explains-

Bhagavad Gita - "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." (Bhagavad Gita As It Is Chapter 2 Text 20)

Srila Prabhupada – "There are 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 7/9/1970)

Free will has nothing to do with the material body, free will is a spiritual symptom of the eternal jiva-soul.

Having Free will is the constitutional makeup of every marginal living entity (jiva-soul) in Vaikuntha and Goloka-Vrindavana.¥.