Loving exchanges can never be experienced by just one, there must be two involved in a cooperative progressive expanding reciprocal relationship based on voluntary loving exchanges.
This means for love to have any meaning, there must always be a two-way exchange of personal expressions, co-operation and unique offerings, otherwise Krsna's devotees (the individual jiva-souls) are no better than dead stone Prabhupada has explained.
However, Krsna must first give His sanction to His devotees (individual jiva-souls or marginal living entities) to express this freedom because the spiritual world belongs to Krsna and is His creation which means He is the cause of all causes.
How do we understand this?
The fact is, the devotees always have their free will in the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka-Vrindavan for the simple reason that without free will, which means having the freedom to think for yourself that allows them to always choose in a voluntary way, the relationship of loving exchanges they have with Krsna.
This is why Krsna always sanctions free will because it allows His devotees to choose to serve Krsna in a variety of unlimited ways, or reject Him if they desire.
Furthermore, there was never a time where Krsna never granted this freedom (free will), it is only by having free will can His devotees express their own distinctive voluntary love for Krsna in their own unique way.
Therefore, having free will is eternally part and parcel of the of the constitutional make up of every devotee (marginal living entity or individual jiva-soul).
Ultimately, it is by Krsna's will and favour His devotees (the individual jiva-souls) have this free will.
Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of all causes, this means He is the Supreme controller of all things and nothing can take place without His sanction and approval first. As It is said-
"Not a blade of grass can move without first being sanctioned by Krsna."
Krsna always encourages free will for the purpose of allowing the individual jiva-souls to contribute to their own unique distinctive offerings coming from their own unique character and personality, this means voluntary offerings and loving exchanges with Krsna are eternally going on.
In this way, real loving exchanges and reciprocation are never be a one-sided or one-way affair, love is always based on building a relationship of exchanges between two expressed in the mood of mutal reciprocation.
Therefore, if the individual jiva-souls are denied their free will, it only leaves them as a mindless emotionless loveless drone. In other words, if ones every thought and actions are fully controlled by something outside themselves, then they are no better than dead stone.
So, having free will means the devotee can voluntary express their service to Krsna in their own unique way which is always part and parcel of devotees eternal spiritual constitution.
If God had absolute control over all His devotee's thoughts and actions in the spiritual world, then how can co-operation, voluntary service and loving exchanges be possible?
Therefore, for loving exchanges, individual personal contributions and reciprocation between the Lord and His devotees to have any meaning, there must always be free will.
There are always individual choices of expressions and personal offerings in the devotees full potential because without free will there can not be any voluntary expressions due to having no two-way exchange between Kṛṣṇa and His devotees.
If the devotee (individual jiva-souls) did not have their freedom that allows them to voluntary serve and contribute in their own unique way, then how can there be a genuine expression of love in a two-way exchange?
No, loving emotions are not possible without free will because all loving exchanges are unique expressions that are shared voluntarily and can only exist in a two-way exchange.
This is how the devotees voluntarily surrender their unique personality and individuality to the object of their love, Krsna, such intelligent co-operation and reciprocation only is possible on a two-way street, and is the real meaning of surrendering to Krsna's will.
Therefore, without having voluntary choices in the relationship with Krsna, there can be no question of loving exchanges. If it is just a one-sided affair with no input from the devotees (individual jiva-souls), then how can their be genuine loving exchanges?
The idea of Krsna completely taking over the devotee's free will, in the name of surrender, actually denies any independent thoughful contributions from the devotees. Loving exchanges are only possible when it is allowed in a mood of reciprocation between two, the devotees individual and Krsna.
This loving reciprocation is always expressed in its full potential in either the Vaikuntha planets or Goloka Vrindavan, but is covered in the material creation where free will is almost none existant.
Especially in the lower species of life in the material world (8 million species) where only the instincts of eating, sleeping, mating and defending control the lower species and not free will or Karma.
In this way, karmic reactions (good and bad) are not created in the lower species of life, or the hellish and heavenly planets.
Furthermore, Krsna never overides or extinguishes the devotee's free will when they enter the Vaikuntha planets or Goloka Vrindavan.
One should understand that being part and parcel of Krsna means His devotees can etenally make independent choices for themselves on the Vaikuntha planets or Goloka Vrindavan while serving Krsna, or can even choose to reject Krsna if they want and enter the material world.
Srila Prabhupada - "Unless there is a possibility of misusing our free will, there is no question of freedom." (Dialectical Spiritualism, Critique of Descartes)
The fact is, real love (prema) which is voluntary devotional service, is only possible when the devotee's contribution exists within two-way exchanges with Kṛṣṇa.
As said above, surrendering to Krsna does not mean extinguishing your unique personality, individuality or expressing your free will.
To make it clear, loving exchanges can never be experienced with just one person, the word exchange means there must be two.
Not even Krsna liked to be on His own, He knew genuine loving can never exist with just one because they must be shared, therefore He divided Himself into two (Radha and Kṛṣṇa) just to experience loving exchanges, reciprocation and intimate emotions.
Loving relationships in the spiritual world are always based on the reciprocation between two because as made clear above, love can only exist when there is a voluntary nurturing relationship between two, between Kṛṣṇa and His disciples.
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 – "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)
Ultimately, each individual devotee is a unique person who can choose for themselves how they want to voluntarily serve Krsna the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of all causes, or they can also ignore Him and enter the material world.
Both scenarios must be allowed to exist if real freedom truly exists.
As Prabhupada explains, Krsna never forces the devotee to surrender to Him, Krsna never forces one to love Him, that must be voluntary otherwise how is it possible for genuine loving exchanges to exist?
Srila Prabhupada – "Krsna never forces you to love Him, that must be voluntary." (Melb, Australia June 25, 1974)
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." (July 8, 1976)
Srila Prabhupada - ''As soon as we try, "Oh, this material world is very nice," "Yes," Kṛṣṇa says, "yes, you 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 At Cheviot Hills Golf Course, May 13, 1973, Los Angeles)
Krsna allows His devotees to be independent persons with their own distinctive personality so they can voluntarily contribute to their service with Krsna, making the relationship a two-way exchange of loving reciprocation.
As Prabhupada has also said, having free will also means the devotees can reject Krsna too if they choose and enter the temporary material world. Freedom therefore always includes that one can reject Krsna if they choose.
Krsna sanctions His devotees to eternally have their free will because such freedom also allows them to voluntarily express themselves in their own unique way making the relationship with Krsna a two-sided exchange of emotions.
A one-sided affair would only mean the devotee can no longer think for themselves by voluntarily contributing the service of their choice.
The spiritual world is not a place where non-contributing mindless drones only exist around Krsna programmed to worship Krsna without personal contributions and individual inputs.
Such a one-sided non-contributing relationship is not love at all, real love can never exist on a one-sided mindless relationship, or a forced domineering dictatorship that denies the individual contributions from the devotees.
Real loving exchanges reciprocation can only exist between two persons in a two-way relationship and never can be experienced by one person on their own.
If Krsna is surrounded Himself with none thinking devotees who can never contribute to the relationship, then that is certainly not love because real love can never exist in a one-way dictatorship.
The devotees of Krsna are independent marginal living entities who are able to surrender and love Krsna in their own unique way supported by Krsna.
Krsna does not force His dominance over His devotees like a puppet master fully controls his puppets with His every thoughts and actions.
It is foolish to believe surrender to Krsna means only Krsna controls all your emotions, actions, thoughts and expressions. The fact is Kṛṣṇa never overrides His devotee's free will, independent nature, individuality or voluntary contributions, by choosing everything for them once they enter the spiritual world's of the Vaikuntha planets or Goloka Vrindavana.
Actually, this kind of surrender or impersonal self denial (denying the jiva-souls are eternal individual unique persons in spiritual form) is spiritual suicide to a Vaisnava devotee of the Lord.
In other words, this denial that the jiva-souls are eternal individual spiritual forms (persons) who are always able to voluntarily contribute to Krsna's wonderful pastimes in their own unique personal way, is mayavadi impersonalism!
Therefore, to foolishly claim the devotees can never choose to fall down from the Vaikuntha planets or Goloka Vrindavan, is also nonsense because they always have a choice to stay with Kṛṣṇa, or leave Him.
Although Srila Prabhupada has also said that only less than 10% of devotees make that choice to leave the Vaikuntha planets or Goloka Vrindavan, while the rest (over 90%) do not choose to fall down.
You see, it is the devotees choice too, that Krsna allows, just so they can experience their full freedom which includes rejecting Krsna if they want.
Krsna never surrounds Himself with mindless drones programmed just to love Him unconditionally, no, Krsna does not want mindless un-contributing servants like that who can never add to their relationship with Krsna.
We are all individual devotees (persons) who each have an independent unique sense of identity, character, personality who can voluntarily choose how to contribute to their relationship with Krsna each in their own way. In other words, Krsna's devotees are able to deliberately give their own unique distinctive offerings in the personal way they select.
Therefore, only such reciprocation of loving exchanges between Krsna and His devotees is what makes selfless love (Krsnaprema) real in the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka Vrindavana.
Krsna's devotees (the individual jiva-souĺs) are expansions of Krsna but with minor independent separate qualities that allows them to express themselves with their own voluntary actions based on the free will Krsna gave them.
The individual devotees are endowed with independence, with their own individual unique personality that enables them to experience their independent personality separate from Krsna's Personality.
Krsna allows this freedom (free will) among His devotees because He wants them to experience voluntary loving exchanges between Himself and His devotees - between two because experiencing love is not possible with just one.
The individual devotees experience the offerings of their own individual contributions, this allows them to be an eternal independent person in the spiritual world.
This however, does not mean Krsna's devotees are totally independent from His creation, that is not possible because Krsna owns everything there is.
But paradoxically at all times, Krsna's devotees are both dependent, and independent on Krsna due to Him allowing His devotees to experience their little independence within the realms of boundaries of Krsna's creation which encompasses everything.
So, the devotees of the Lord are independent, yet always dependent on Krsna and His unlimited expansions in both the spiritual worlds and material worlds at all times.
Krsna's devotees (the individual jiva-souls) are also a minor yet separate expansion of Krsna, they are not one with Krsna's Personality like the Visnu/ Narayana expansions (the individual jiva-souls are not God) because they have their own minor separate independent nature and individual personality unique to only them.
The loving expressions between Krsna and His Visnu-tattva direct expansions are different from His relationship with the individual jiva-souls because all Visnu-tattva expansions of Krsna just playing another role in His own pastimes.
Surrender to Krsna and His pure devotees never extinguishes the devotee's unique personality or ability of distinctive self-expression or loss of individuality.
The Vaikuntha planets and Goloka Vrindavana are the Kingdoms of God where service to Krsna and Visnu is eternally voluntary, where the devotee's personal contributions enables them to make ''their own personal choices'' of offerings (contributions) to Visnu or Krsna in the spirit of reciprocation and loving selfless exchanges.
Loving exchanges and reciprocation between Krsna and His devotees is the "highest expression of independent thinking."
By choosing to be fully dependent on Krsna in the mood of co-operating and participating in voluntary loving exchanges, allows the devotee to experience themselves as the eternal contributing "individual person" they eternally are.
Love can only exist when their are exchanges between two, and can never exist when there is just one.
Therefore, as said above, surrendering to Krsna never extinguishes one's ability of self-expression and co-operating within serving Kṛṣṇa.
The Vaikuntha planets and Goloka Vrindavana are the Kingdoms of God where the independent identity and personal contributions or offerings of Krsna's devotees enable them to make intensional and willing offerings in to Visnu or Krsna in the spirit of co-operation and loving exchanges and reciprocation.
Loving exchanges between Krsna and His devotees in a two-way exchange are the highest meaning of independent expressions and actions within genuine devotional service.
The spiritual world is full of unlimited variety and variegatedness, therefore Krsna only associates with those who voluntary choose to be with Him and serve Him.
Real love can only exist between two, meaning love is reciprocal and can only exist between two that allows loving exchanges, it is never a one-way street where surrender takes away one's unique ability of self-expression that will only make one no better than dead stone and mindless.
In this mundane temporary material world, it is not possible to experience free will fully in its full potential, in fact, the concept of free will is almost no existent in the material world, that is only fully possible in the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka Vrindavan.
In the material world there are 8 million 400 thousand species of life, free will exists in a small way within only 400 thousand species of humans, all the other 8 million species in the lower forms of life never experience free will and act only by the instincts of eating, sleeping, mating and defending.
Our only education should be being trained up from a very young age to go back home back to Godhead and not try or plan to make this decaying temporary material world our home.//.
