Devotee - "Srila Prabhupada, why did Krsna give us free will if He knew we may miss use it to forget Him?"
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! But don’t misuse your free will. But don’t try to become stone either. That is not life." (Aug 5, 1976, New Mayapur France)
Loving exchanges and reciprocation are only possible when there is free will, this also includes the choice to even reject Krsna. Loving exchanges can only exists when there is "voluntary" reciprocation between two as Srila Prabhupada explains-
Srila Prabhupāda – "Unless there are "two persons," where is the question of love? Love means two persons, then there is exchange and reciprocation, only then is there loving exchanges. 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 above must be there." (Aug 9, 1976, Tehran)
Devotee – "In Srimad Bhagavatam it says that Krsna did not want us to come to this temporary material world, if Krsna did not want us to come here, why are we here?” Why doesn’t He save me from thinking like that and stop me from entering the temporary material world?"
Srila Prabhupada – "That means you lose your independence, that is force, if you want to go but Kṛṣṇa stops you forcing you to stay, is that love? In Bengali it is said, ‘If you catch a girl or boy and demand, ‘You love me, you love me, you love me." Is it love? “You love me otherwise I will kill you!’ Is that love? So Krsna does not want to become a lover like that, by force, on the point of revolver. ‘You love me otherwise I shall kill you!’ That is not love; that is threatening and bullying. Love is reciprocal, voluntary, good exchange of feeling. Then there is love, not by force; that is exploitation and rape. Why one is called lover and another called a rapist?" (July 8, 1976 in Washington, D.C).
As Srila Prabhupada explains, the relationship between Krsna and the individual jiva-souls are never a "one-sided" relationship that denies voluntary personal contributions and choices.
Srila Prabhupada – "So everyone can know that independence means one can use it properly, or one can misuse it. That is independence (free will). If you make it one-way only, that is not independence, that is force (an impersonal dictatorship)." (Los Angeles, June 23, 1975)
As Prabhupada has warned us above, if you have no free will (freedom of expression) then you are no better than dead stone, the stone has no free will, no way of communicating, no one wants to be dead and mindless like cold stone.
Becoming a disciple of the Lord firsts happens by surrendering to Krsna's pure devotee however, that does not mean one extinguishes their individuality, unique personality and free will, such impersonal so called surrender only makes one a mindless drone and puppet! Such cold hearted dictatorial bulling (impersonalism) does not exist in REAL Krsna Consciousness, or with genuine ISKCON devotees.
The extinguishing of the individual jiva-soul's unique personality, free will (self-expression) and ability to voluntary contribute in their own way to their unique relationship with Krsna, is also nonsense impersonalism (meaning one's emotions and feelings are like dead cold stone)
Attempting to give up (extinguish) free will and expressing one's self independently by foolishly praying to be an atom on Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, is NOT surrendering to Krsna's pure devotee or Krsna correctly, it is actually surrendering to nonsense impersonalism and committing spiritual suicide!
Srila Prabhupada explains that a proper loving relationships is always a "two-way" reciprocal exchange of loving expressions between two, love can never exist with just one.
Srila Prabhupada - "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. Therefore, love cannot be one or love cannot be executed only one, there MUST be another one to experience loving exchanges and reciprocation. I love somebody; somebody loves me, so there must be lover, there must be beloved, there must be two for love to exist." (quote 1966 - 1974, Vaniquotes)
Srila Prabhupada - "We must understand that 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, bulling and forced obedience. If I go on simply taking from you, and if I don't voluntarily offer you something in return, that is simply exploitation, a loveless relationship." (quote 1966 - 1974, Vaniquotes)
Srila Prabhupada explains how "voluntary service" on different levels and intensities, expands the multiple levels of reciprocal loving exchanges with Kṛṣṇa.
Srila Prabhupada - "In the transcendental world (Vaikuntha planets and Goloka-Vrindavana) also Kṛṣṇa reciprocates with His pure devotees in a transcendental attitude, just as the devotee wants Him. One devotee may want Kṛṣṇa as supreme master, another as his personal friend, another as his son, and still another as his lover. Kṛṣṇa rewards all the devotees equally, according to their different intensities of love for Him. In the material world, the same reciprocations of feelings are there, and they are equally exchanged by the Lord with the different types of worshipers. The pure devotees both here and in the transcendental abode associate with Him in person and are able to render personal service to the Lord and thus derive transcendental bliss in His loving service." (BG, Ch 4 text 11, Purport)
Srila Prabhupada - "In the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna was worried about killing Bhīṣma and Droṇa, his worshipful grandfather and master. But Kṛṣṇa said that he need not be afraid of killing his grandfather. When the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra tried to disrobe Draupadī in the assembly of the Kurus, Bhīṣma and Droṇa were silent, and for such negligence of duty they should be killed. Kṛṣṇa showed His universal form to Arjuna (revealing past, present and future similtaneously) just to show him that these people were already killed for their unlawful action.
That scene was shown to Arjuna because devotees are always peaceful and they cannot perform such horrible actions. The purpose of the revelation of the universal form was shown; now Arjuna wanted to see the four-armed form, and Kṛṣṇa showed him. A devotee is not much interested in the universal form, for it does not enable one to reciprocate loving feelings with Krsna. Either a devotee wants to offer his respectful worshipful feelings, or he wants to see the two-handed Kṛṣṇa form so that he can reciprocate in loving service with the Supreme Personality of Godhead." (BG, Ch 11 text 49, Purport)
The word "surrender" should be properly understood to only have meaning in a "two-sided" reciprocal relationship, based on voluntary sevice appreciated and nurtured by Krsna, and NEVER forcefully demanded in an impersonal way.
The individual jiva-souls (anti-matter) are ALWAYS eternally spiritual living beings in both the spiritual world and material world (covered by temporary matter) who are beginningless and endless.
However, in the material world (matter) the eternal spiritual jiva-soul (anti-matter) is covered by a temporary subtle and gross material bodily container or vessel (matter) that decomposes forcing the eternal spirit-soul or jiva-soul (anti-matter) to constantly change material bodily containers or vessels.
Remember, maya or the material energy, does NOT exist on the Vaikuntha planets or in Goloka-Vrindavana, so Maya is unknown to the jiva-souls (marginal living entities) in both the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka Vrindavana.
In the spiritual world the jiva-souls ARE their eternal spiritual bodily form voluntary serving Krsna or Visnu in unlimited ways.
Srila Prabhupada - "The jiva-soul's position in the spiritual world is voluntary, some devotees want to serve Krsna as a flower; they become flower there. If I want to be a flower I shall lie down at the lotus feet of Krsna and become flower, voluntarily, and he can change 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 Ch 1 Text 1-4, Melb, Australia May 20, 1975)
In the spiritual world ALL relationships with Krsna are "equally blissful to each other," just like one may like a carnation flower while others may choose to like a rose flower.
However, having free will, individuality, independence, experiencing a unique sense of individual self, and the ability to express all these qualities is eternally the constitutional makeup of all marginal living entities (jiva-souls) on the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka-Vrindavana.
The eternal individual jiva-souls (anti-matter) are not affected by the decomposition and demise of the external temporary material bodily vessel (matter) they are in.
The individual jiva-souls are eternal spiritual living PERSONS who can NEVER be destroyed, terminated, divided into pieces, extinguished or lose their individual identity as a unique "person" with their own personality because they are indestructible for infinity.
Bhagavad Gita As It Is - “Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.” (BG, Ch 2 text 12)
Bhagavad Gita As It Is - “As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change." (BG, Ch 2 text 13)
Bhagavad Gita As It Is - "For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain." (BG, Ch 2 text 20 “corrected” 1983 edition)
Bhagavad Gita As It Is - "O Pārtha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn and immutable kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?" (BG, Ch 2 text 21)
Bhagavad Gita As It Is - "As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones." (BG, Ch 2 text 22)
Bhagavad Gita As It Is - "The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind." (BG, Ch 2 text 23)
All individual jīva-souls are ETERNAL persons, therefore there are no new jiva-souls being created because they have ALWAYS existed meaning they are beginningless and endless.
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 dasa 9th July 1970)
The individual jiva-souls (marginal living entities) have no origin or beginning point because they have ALWAYS existed for infinity as explained above.
So, clearly there is no origin or beginning point to Krsna's marginal energy (an unlimited number of individual jiva-souls), who have existed for as long as Krsna has existed and will continue to exist for eternity (infinity).
The individual jiva-souls can enter or possess and experience any material bodily container or vessel they choose over the infinity of their endless existence, but only temporarily.
This is because all outer material bodily vessels or containers (matter) that covers the eternal individual jiva-souls (anti-matter), eventually breaks down, decomposes (dies) and again merges back into the "oneness" of the material energy that all bodily vessels are made from in the material world.
However, the eternal individual jiva-souls (anti-matter) are not affected by the decomposition and demise of the external temporary material bodily vessel (matter) they are in.
Also, each eternal individual jiva-soul (anti-matter) can NEVER become another individual jiva-soul, Krsna, Radharani, Visnu, Narayana and their expansions, or Siva and his expansions.
The individual jiva-souls are eternal persons who always have the choice (fee will) to express themselves in their own unique way in the spiritual world, or reject Krsna and enter the temporary material world if they choose. It has to be this way if free will truly exists.
The marginal living entities (jiva-souls) are NOT complete in themselves unless they have their own unique independence (free will) to voluntarily choose to serve Krsna in their own unique way.
Therefore, without "free will or self expression," there can be no personal voluntary contributions or personal unique offerings to Krsna in a "two-sided" loving relationship.
Under these impersonal "one-sided" dictatorial conditions, the individual jiva-soul's existence would be no better than mindless drones devoid of any self-expression, personal voluntary contributions, reciprocating in a loving "two-way" relationship is spiritual suicide.
All marginal living entities (jiva-souls) in the spiritual world are eternal servants by choice who make their own independent decisions while serving Krsna, this makes them the unique contributing PERSON they are eternally, only then can an unlimited variety of intentional loving exchanges with Krsna be possible in a "two-way" reciprocal exhange.
Srila Prabhupada - "In the spiritual world service is voluntary, some devotees want to serve Krsna as flower; so they become flower there if they want to be a flower and lie down at the lotus feet of Krsna, then he becomes flower, voluntarily, and he can change from flower to human body also. 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 Ch 1 text 1-4, Melb, Australia May 20, 1975)
Srila Prabhupada - "Love is a 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 - ''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 BG, Ch 9 text 2-5, New York City, Nov 23, 1966)
Krsna does not force His dominance over the jiva-souls in the spiritual world like a puppet master impersonally controls his puppets with strings.
Free will exists with the jiva-souls for the purpose of allowing self-expression and voluntary personal contributions in their relationship with Krsna, making the relationship a "two-sided" loving affair instead of a "one-way" dictatorship.
The reason why "life" (the unlimited existence of individual jiva-souls) can NEVER be generated (created), is because the life force (that includes an unlimited collection of unique indestructible individual jiva-souls) have ALWAYS existed and were NEVER created.
Individual life (the collective of jiva-souls) are beginningless and endless as Bhagavad Gita As It Is explains.
Dormant "Life" (the individual jiva-souls) are only "awakened" after the jiva-souls have fallen to the dormant (inactive) conditional state in the atom, and the impersonal brahmajyoti, they do NOT originate from from the impersonal brahmajyoti, they are only awakened from their dormant state in the brahmajyoti.
Such a "fall down" to the dormant (inactive) brahmajyoti, is unnatural for the jiva-souls whose real "nature" is to be fully "active" in Kṛṣṇa's eternal pastimes.
"Life" therefore is never created, not even by Krsna because "life" has ALWAYS existed.
Once fallen to the material world of repeated birth and death, the individual jiva-souls can become frustrated with that constant suffering of birth, disease, old age and death and fall even further to the dormant (inactive) impersonal brahmajyoti, or can become dormant even in the atom.
When individual life (the jiva-souls) eventually awakens from their dormant impersonal existence in the brahmajyoti, or the material atom, some jiva-souls will WRONGLY believe life originated or is created (generated) from the an impersonal origin in the brahmajyoti.
However, the individual jiva-souls or life force has only been resting in a dormant inactive condition attained from a previous existence in the material world, a previous material universe long, long, long, long ago.
No individual jiva-souls (marginal living entities) originate from the impersonal Brahmajyoti which is an inactive condition of consciousness the individual jiva-souls fall too as Prabhupada explains here-
Srila Prabhupada - "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)
Others may also WRONGLY believe the individual life force is an "all-one all-pervading energy or force" and only has form and individuality when contained in a material bodily vessel, just like water contained in a jar becomes separated from the ocean of water around it by being in the jar.
The individual "life force" in the category know as the "jiva-souls" (marginal living entities), are NOT ultimately an "all-one-pervading" consciousness, they are eternal individual units (PERSONS) with their own unique personality and identity.
The "life force" in the category of jiva-souls (marginal living entities), are a collective of eternal spiritual individual living beings who each have their own eternal unique personality, individual identity and spiritual bodily form.
The belief that all jiva-souls ultimately merge into "one consciousnees" like rivers merge into the sea, and only become an individual when embodied, is called dangerous mayavadi impersonalism because it denies the "life force" is ultimately an unlimited collective of unique individual eternal jiva-souls.
So the conclusion is, the individual jiva-souls (marginal living entities) are eternal spiritual living PERSONS who can never be destroyed, terminated, divided into pieces, extinguished or lose their individual identity.
The individual jiva-souls are indestructible and were NEVER created, they have ALWAYS existed like Krsna has always existed as Bhagavad Gita As It Is explains above.
On the other hand in a paradox understanding, Krsna the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the cause of ALL causes which means EVERYTHING rests in Him and depends on Him always.
This includes His unlimited individual jiva-soul expansions, Lord Siva, His unlimited variety of Visnu-tattva expansions including Srimati Radharani and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
All the above are paradoxically ALL-ONE with Krsna from Krsna's point of view (through the eyes of God) are all part of Him because Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of all causes.
However, Krsna is really "similtaneously one and different" with all that there is because ultimately EVERYTHING belongs to Kṛṣṇa-
"Achintya-Bheda-Abheda-Tattva"
This philosophy of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is very difficult to understand, and is only properly realised by genuine devotees of Lord Krsna.
Srila Prabhupada explains below that all individual jiva-souls (marginal living entities) are eternal PERSONS (as a spiritual bodily form) who are Krsna's eternal servants in their full potential in their real home in the spiritual world.
The jiva-soul's original bodily form over infinity has the same bodily features as Krsna, which is-
sat,
cit,
ananda,
VIGRAHA.
Which means-
eternity,
knowledge,
bliss,
FORM.
The full potential and original feature of all marginal living entities (jiva-souls) is a two arm form like Krsna's Form. So, remember the individual jiva-souls are eternal PERSONS as a spiritual bodily form as Prabhupada explains.
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 dasa– "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 of the soul, the "human form" is the full manifestation of the soul."
Hari-sauri dasa- "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; 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 Ch 1 text 1-4 Melb, Australia May 20, 1975)
Also, it is from Goloka-Vrindavana that some individual jiva-souls choose to enter the Vaikuntha planets in the spiritual world and appear there as a blue four armed form similar to Lord Visnu, if they choose to serve in that way.
The appearance of eternal youth only exists on both the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka-Vrindavana, where as in Goloka Vrindavana the individual jiva-souls do not have a spiritual bodily form that is blue like Krsnas, there it is different with more variety of spiritual bodily forms.
It is one's "rasa" (juice, essence or taste of a particular spiritual individual bodily personal relationship) that is eternal, what ever spiritual body that maybe, (but that can voluntarily change) - like being Krsna's uncle, cow herd boy friend or girl friend, the local shop owner etc.
Spiritual bodily individual appearance there is in according to pastime, all males do not look the same in Goloka Vrindavana like they do on the Vaikuntha planets.
Many quotes about the individual eternal jiva-soul's features explains their journey as a bodiless spark of consciousness entering the material world, or merging as an individual inactive unit (spiritual spark) into the impersonal brahmajyoti, or as a spark within Krsna's bodily effulgence (brahmajyoti).
In the impersonal brahman or brahmajyoti, the individual eternal jiva-soul is often described as an inactive individual spark of consciousness who enters the impersonal Brahmajyoti after becoming frustrated with the material creation's terrible cycle of repeated birth and death trapped in a temporary decaying material bodily vessel experienced in the material creation.
Only when Prabhupada talks about the impersonal Brahmajyoti does he call the jiva-soul a "spark," and then CLEARLY adds that appearing as an impersonal spark in Krsna's effulgence is a "fallen conditional state" of the individual jiva-soul that they fall too.
This is because originally (over infinity), the eternal individual jiva-souls voluntarily lived and served in the pastimes of Krsna as an individual contributing PERSONS.
Srila Prabhupada also explains this in a more simple way, that some individual jiva-souls have fallen from the personal pastimes of Krsna to the material creation, or further fallen to the impersonal brahmajyoti.
Ultimately, Prabhupada explains below, that all individual jiva-souls are eternal PERSONS AS their original spiritual bodily form.
Srila Prabhupada - "In the broader sense everyone comes from Krsnaloka (Goloka-Vrindavana). When one forgets Krsna he is conditioned (nitya-baddha), when one remembers Krsna he is liberated (nitya-siddha)." (Letter to Mukunda, June 10, 1969)
Srila Prabhupada - "We cannot say therefore that we are not with Krsna. As soon as we try to become Lord, immediately Maya covers us. Formerly we were with Krsna in His lila or sport. But this covering of Maya may be of very, very, very, very long duration; therefore many creations are coming and going." (Letter to Australian devotees and Madhudvisa Swami June 1972 Australia)
Srila Prabhupada - "So to go to Krsna means you will have to acquire your original, spiritual body. The spiritual body is already there, but we are now covered by this material body." (Germany, June 22, 1974)
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)
Srila Prabhupada – "Regarding your several questions: Where are the spirit souls coming from? These spirit souls and all spirit souls are coming from Vaikuntha." (Letter to Jagadisa dasa, 9 July 1970)
Acyutananda - "So what made the individual jiva-souls take birth in the material world in the first place?"
Srila Prabhupada - "In the first place?'"
Acyutananda - "What is the first birth? What is the cause of the first birth in the material world?"
Srila Prabhupada - '"Yes, that is stated in the Prema-vivarta-
krsna-bahirmukha hana bhoga vancha kare
nikata-stha maya tare japatiya dhare
We are eternal servants of Krsna, as soon as we want to become master, that is the beginning of our first birth (fall down) to the material world. We have always got independence (free will). Krsna says, mamaivamso jiva bhutah, "we are part and parcel of Krsna," so Krsna has got full independence but we are minute and therefore got minute independence. Our real business is to serve Krsna, but as soon as we give up this idea, we want to become master. That is the beginning of our first material birth (fall down)." (Lecture SB, Canto 5 Ch 5 text 2, Hyderabad, India April 11, 1975)
Acyutananda - "But in the Bhagavad Gita, it says, "Once coming to the spiritual world, he never returns to the temporary material world?"
Srila Prabhupada - ''But if he likes, he can return, that is voluntary."
Acyutananda - "He can return?
Srila Prabhupada - ''Yes, that independence (free will) has to be accepted, little independence, we can misuse that.
Krsna-bahirmukha hana bhoga vancha kare. That misuse of free will is the cause of our falldown to the material world." (Morning Walk, Feb 19, 1976, Mayapur)
The individual eternal marginal living entities (jiva-souls) are also NOT called tatastha-sakti on the Vaikuntha planets or in Goloka Vrindavana, it is a name describing the "fallen conditioned state" of the individual jiva-souls while in the material world and impersonal dormant (inactive) brahmajyoti.
Therefore the individual jiva-souls do NOT originate from tatastha-sakti which is a fallen conditioned state of the jiva-souls.
Srila Prabhupada - "So this material world is the taṭastha (a falled state), conditioned characteristics, and the spiritual world is the "Personal" characteristics. So our effort is to get out of this taṭastha (conditioned fallen characteristics) and enter the permanent characteristics (Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavana). That is called spiritual elevation." (New York City, Dec 28, 1966)
Revatīnandana dasa - "Srila Prabhupāda you very clearly explained to me once in a letter that if the jiva-soul goes into the impersonal brahmajyoti, he is considered 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 dasa- "That means all jīva-souls there in the impersonal brahmajyoti are also fallen souls?"
Srila Prabhupāda - "Yes." (Room Conversation Aug 17, 1971, London)
Srila Prabhupada - ''Existence in the impersonal brahman (inactive) 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 dasa, Los Angeles 13 June, 1970)
Srila Prabhupada - '"When fall down takes place, it means falling down from the non-fallen condition, that non-fallen condition is Krsna consciousness." (Letter to Revatinandana dasa, Los Angeles 13 June, 1970)
As explained above, in the individual jiva-soul's original infinite position, they have the same eternal bodily features as Krsna, sat-cit-ananda-vigraha, which means they are a spiritual body (vigraha) that is eternal, full of knowledge, bliss and form.
Srila Prabhupada - "Actually, the spiritual individual body means eternal life of bliss and knowledge. This temporary material body which we are possessing now, is neither eternal, nor blissful, nor full of knowledge. The spiritual body is full of knowledge, just opposite. So we can be that spiritual body (realize it) in the next life, we just have to cultivate how to be that type of body (realize we are not a material bodily vessel). Therefore, the best intelligent person will try to get a next body that is full of blissfulness knowledge, eternity and spiritual form." (Lecture BG, Ch 2 text 14, Mexico, Feb 14, 1975)
Srila Pabhupada - "The relationship with Krsna is never lost, it is simply forgotten by the influence of maya, so it maybe regained or revived by the process of hearing the Holy Name of Krsna and then the devotee engages himself in the service of the Lord which is his original or constitutional position. The relationship of the living entity with Krsna is eternal as both Krsna and the living entity are eternal; the process is one of revival only, nothing new." (Letter to Jagadisa dasa 27 Feb 1970)
Devotee - "Srila Prabhupada why did Krsna give us free will if He knew we could fall down in the material world?"
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, but don't misuse your free will. But don't try to become stone either, that is not life." (Aug 5, 1976, New Mayapur France)
Syamasundara dasa - "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?"
Srila Prabhupada - "Yes, otherwise there is no meaning of independence. Independence (free will) means you can do this, you can do that. "All right. Whatever you like that is free will."
Devotee - "Then he is so many times falling down, again and again, so will he eventually permanently come back?"
Srila Prabhupada - "He has got independence (free will), therefore there is always the possibility he can misuse his independence, he CAN fall down. That is why when a man is released from the prison house, that does not mean permanently out because he can come back again, the general law is not to come back, but if he likes, he can come back, otherwise what is the meaning of independence (free will)? Just like one becomes free from the prison house, naturally he should not go back there again." (Discussions with Syamasundara dasa on Henri Bergson philosophy)^##^
