The highest love means both Krsna and His devotees serve each other without any desire for returns or reward, infact even though it is said the individual jiva-souls are Krsna's eternal servants in their full potential, the fact is Krsna serves His pure devotees far more than they can ever serve Him.
Krsna is the most selfless, the most humble, the most forgiving, the most serving.
We tend to forget how loving Krsna is to His pure devotees, for every step the devotee makes towards Krsna, He makes a thousand towards them.
Krsna's love for His devotees is inconceivable and deeply personal.
The devotees voluntarily contribute their own service and offerings individually unique to each of them, in response to Krsna's love and attention He showers them with.
These kinds of selfless loving expressions are given in return because of Krsna's love, affection, protection and attention towards them.
This is the meaning and foundation of the word devotion, which is the real act of choosing to surrender to Krsna's will.
The simple understanding is this, if you love another, then you will always voluntarily do nice things for them, serve them and those they love.
On the other hand, for free will to have meaning, the individual jiva-souls (devotees) can also completely reject Krsna if they choose.
This "two-way" scenario is sanctioned by Krsna so free will can truly exist, otherwise if it was only "one-sided" with demands that the devotees must serve Krsna without loving contributions and exchanges, then free will would have no meaning.
Without the basic devotional, standard of having loving voluntary exchanges with Krsna or Visnu on a "two-way" cooperative street, then there can never be genuine love or voluntary service in one's relationship with Krsna.
Emotions expressed from only one individual person without the acknowledgement and acceptance of a second individual person, who also contribute to the decision making with their personal contributions, is known as impersonalism.
For love to exist, there must be a "two-way exchange" of feelings that expands, enriches and adds meaning, allowing a two-sided relationship to florish.
The fact is, loving affection, sentiment and exchanges can only be experienced between two, where giving and receiving is possible that allows mutual reciprocation.
Each jiva-soul (individual living units of anti-matter) known as Krsna's marginal energy, are singular one of a kind individual persons, who each have their own unique personality and spiritual bodily form, different from all other personalities, including Kṛṣṇas.
There are no two individual jiva-souls who are the same, and no individual jiva-soul can ever be equal to Krsna (God), the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of all causes, who is simultaneously an individual Person, and is all-one (all-pervasive) with His spiritual and material creations.
The spiritual world's of the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka Vrindavana are not a dictatorial "one-way" impersonal directive, or a domineering demanding dictatorship that denies individual personal voluntary contributions due to Krsna doing all the thinking and decision making for you. No, the spiritual planets are not impersonal or emotionally stagnant like that.
The fact is, on the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka Vrindavana (the Kingdoms of God) there are always loving exchanges, cooperation, personal unique individual contributions based on "free will", and loving enriching reciprocation going on between Krsna and His devotees because without these attributes there can never be love.
Love can never exist with just one, there must be two so loving exchanges can be shared.
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." (Washington DC July 8, 1976)
Therefore, loyalty is always a "two-way" street where the individual jiva-souls have their own unique personality seperate from Krsna's Personality, who are able to add their own personal unique expressions into the relationship with Kṛṣṇa that expands and forever enhances and enriches one's friendship with Krsna.
Krsna will never "force" His devotee to do what he/she does not voluntary choose to do on the Vaikuntha planets or Goloka-Vrindavana, because they are not Krsna's mindless "yes" men or women who are controlled in every way like a puppet master impersonally controls his puppets with the manipulation of strings.
Srila Prabhupada - "Krsna does not want to become a lover by force, from the point of revolver. ‘You love me, otherwise I shall kill you!’ That is not love; that is threatening. Love is reciprocal, voluntary, good exchange of feeling. Then there is love. Not by force; that is rape. Why one is called lover, another is called rape?" (July 8, 1976 in Washington, D.C.)
So, surrendering to Krsna and His pure devotees is not impersonal, where the individual jiva-souls loses their free will (freedom of expression) that allows them to participate in a meaningful relationship by choosing, as the individual person they eternally are, the way they want to participate in voluntary service to Krsna, where the relationship with Kṛṣṇa is a two-way reciprocal exchange of loving emotions, only then does real love exist.
Therefore, surrendering to Krsna does not mean you have to give up your intelligence, free will, personality, individuality and voluntary service and just be told how to think and perform all duties with no personal contributing participation. No, that type of "surrender" is impersonalism.
Each individual jiva-soul needs to be nurtured to the top most platform by developing the awareness of being an independent unique contributing person who can voluntary serve Krsna eternally.
The spiritual worlds are NOT an impersonal domineering mindless totalitarian place for the individual jiva-souls, where they only obey the "supreme leader" and told how to act and think.
No, the Kingdom of God is not impersonal like that in anyway, there is always voluntary loving exchanges of feelings and emotions going on, that are based on loving reciprocation between between two, between Krsna and His pure devotees.
Srila Prabhupada - "The individual jiva-soul's position in the spiritual world is always voluntary, some devotee want 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, and become a flower, voluntarily. And one can change from flower to any bodily form including 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)
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)
One's relationship with God (Krsna) in His Kingdom is never a one sided master/slave mindless none contributing dictatorship as explained above, Prabhupada is telling us here.
The individual jiva-souls in the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka Vrindavana, are forever voluntarily expanding their unique expressions of service with an increasing variety of personal devotional offerings made possible because of free will.
Srila Prabhupada - "We have got the propensity to love. Love means somebody else. Love cannot be one or love cannot be executed 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." (Lecture SB, Canto 1 Ch 2 text 6, Delhi, Nov 12, 1973)
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)
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." (Aug 9, 1976, Tehran)
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..." (Lecture SB, Canto 2 Ch 1 text 3, Paris, June 12, 1974)
The fallen individual jiva-souls can also reside "inactively" in the impersonal brahmajyoti for a very, very, very long time (Millions of life times of Lord Brahma who lives for 311 trillion and 40 billion human years), however, they can NEVER remain "inactive" in the impersonal brahmajyoti eternally, eventually they fall from there too and take birth in the temporary material world.
This is because the nature of the individual jiva-souls is to always be "active," either in their original home in the spiritual world, or in the temporary material world confined to transmigrating through 8 million 400 thousand species of material life (material bodily forms), that they again constantly try to be liberated from because of so much frustration, pain suffering.
In other words, the impersonalists want their identity and personality permanently extinguished (spiritual suicide) because of so much pain and suffering they experience while trapped in cycle of birth and death in the material world. But permanent cessation of active existence is not possibe.
In fact, not even Kṛṣṇa, Visnu or Siva can grant this foolish attempted spiritual suicide (to achieve permanent inactivity) by the fallen individual jiva-souls.
This is because, as said above, the eternal nature of the individual jiva-souls in their original position and full potential in the spiritual world, is to be eternally fully "active" in Krsna or Visnu's pastimes.
Srila Prabhupāda - "Existence in the impersonal brahman (being inactive and identity extinguished) is also within the category of non-Krsna consciousness and is also only a temporary condition (because the nature of the soul is to be always active in Krsna's pastimes.) Those who are in the brahman effulgence are also in a 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 (Goloka-Vrindavana and Vaikuntha). The non-fallen condition is Krsna consciousness." (Letter to Revatinandana dasa, LA 13 June, 1970 and 1971 London)
There is one benediction Krsna, Visnu or Siva and their devotees can NEVER grant.
Many impersonalist are very knowledgeable, as said above, many know Kṛṣṇa is an eternal Person and is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of all causes, but do not follow Him, or have any desire to serve Him.
The impersonalist have great knowledge of the Vedas, especially Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 that tells them - "The individual jiva-souls are beginningless and endless and therefore will NEVER die."
But they do not accept that and only ask one benediction from Visnu, which is to die and cease to exist! To come to an inactive ending and never again falling out of the inactive impersonal brahmajyoti.
They know that presently their impersonal beliefs allow them to enter the impersonal brahmajyoti, where they can remain for a trillion life times of Lord Brahma (He lives for 311 trillion and 40 billion human years) but eventually again falls down from the impersonal brahmajyoti to again take birth in the temporary material world.
The impersonalist do not want that rebirth in the material world because while "inactive" in the impersonal brahmajyoti for a trillion life times of Brahma, there is no pain and suffering experienced life after life in the material world. The fallen individual jiva-souls want to no longer exists and be eternally "inactive" in the impersonal brahmajyoti.
However, that is not possible, even billions of life times of Brahma is only a blink of an eye once the individual jiva-soul re-emerges from its impersonal slumber and again takes birth in the temporary material world, within a material bodily vessel.
So, these impersonalist (fallen individual jiva-souls who have now forgotten they were once Kṛṣṇa's devotee), now wants nothing do do with the Vaikuntha planets of Visnu/Narayana, or Krsna's central Abode of Goloka-Vrindavana, or the temporary material world of pain and suffering, ask Visnu to grant them (the individual jiva-soul) the benediction of permanent "death," and allow them to eternally reside in the "active" impersonal brahmajyoti that has no sense of individual self, no personality and no spiritual bodily form.
They only want to appear eternally as an inactive individual impersonal "spark" hovering endlessly in the impersonal brahmajyoti.
In other words, the impersonalists want their identity, personality and spiritual bodily form eternally extinguished, they want to cease to exist which is really attempting to commit spiritual suicide.
But Kṛṣṇa, Visnu or Siva can NEVER grant this silly attempt of spiritual suicide, because the eternal nature of the individual jiva-soul in their original position, is being beginningless and endless as a spiritual bodily form who is fully "active" serving Krsna or Visnu in the spiritual world.
Only there on the Vaikuntha planets and in Goloka-Vrindavana, is there no suffering, decay, birth or death.
These spiritual worlds are eternally youthful, and are the real home for the eternal individual jiva-souls.
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, 9 July 1970)
Srila Prabhupada - "God is also an individual person eternally as you are individual person eternally, I am individual person, but the difference between God and you and me is this, that you know your business, I know my business, but God knows everyone's business. That is the difference." (Lecture Melb, Australia April 3, 1972)
As explained above, real love, service or bhakti is reciprocal, it is never a "one-way street" where so called surrender to Krsna means only obeying without the choice of voluntary participation and personal contributions.
Surrender to Krsna will never take away the devotee's individual freedom of choice on how they can voluntary provide a variety of unique personal contributions (offering) to Krsna when ever they want.
Each individual jiva-soul (devotee) has their own independent personality (yet always dependent on Krsna), but separate from Krsna's Personality.
This means they have their own sense of independent identity, of being a unique free thinking person that each individual jiva-souls have.
Meaning each individual jiva-soul has their own unique personality, or a strong sense of a singular unique identity).
These attributes are part and parcel of each individual marginal living entity (jiva soul) making each of them the unique "PERSON" they eternally are.
Free will in its full potential, is only fully experienced on the Vaikuntha planets and on Goloka-Vrindavan, which are the individual jiva-souls original perpetual home.
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 we have free will."
Hayagriva dasa - "A man may know better but still act wrongly."
Srila Prabhupada - "Yes, but that is his free will, he misuses his free will. Just like a thief, he knows that his stealing is bad, but still he does it, that is his free will. He cannot check his greediness, so in spite of his knowing that he is doing wrong thing, he knows he will be eventually punished, he knows; he has seen other thieves get caught and punshed and 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." (Discussions with Srila Prabhupada and devotees on Rene Descartes philosophy)
Vipina Purandara - "Why doesn’t Krsna protect me from thinking independently from Him?"
Srila Prabhupada - "That means you lose your independence. That is force, in Bengali it is said, "If you catch one girl or boy and demand to them, "You love me, you love me, you love me!" Is it love? "You love me, otherwise I will kill you!" Is that love?" (July 8, 1976 in Washington, D.C.)
Krsna does not want followers who deny others their right to choose for themselves on how they want to serve Krsna, by offering their own unique personal contributions, or even rejecting Krsna if they choose as Prabhupada explains.
There is always a choice and that is why "free will" always exists in God's Kingdom, otherwise surrendering to Krsna without having the individual choice of to voluntary serve Him in the way they choose, makes the jiva-souls (devotees) mindless impersonal porns with no personality, making them no better than dead emotionless stone.
The spiritual world's of the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka Vrindavana, are personal Kingdoms based on loving exchanges and cooperation between Krsna and His devotees, it is never a "one-way" demanding forceful dictatorial relationship.
Ultimately, we are all Krsna's servants and very dear friends however, that does not mean we have to give up our free will and individual identity to be Krsna's friend and servant.
Free will has always existed in Krsna's central planet of Goloka Vrindavana, and on Visnu/Narayana's Vaikuntha planets, and has eternally been part and parcel of the constitutional make up of every marginal living entity (individual jiva-soul).
And yes, Krsna always allows free will because wants to experience a two-way voluntary relationship with His devotees and feel the loving exchanges, cooperation, participation and reciprocation with them.
Srila Prabhupada has made it clear, it is only by Krsna’s sanction and approval the individual jiva-souls have everything including their free will.
Everything there is, known or unknown, within or without, dreamed and not yet dreamed, exists in Krsna.
Therefore, Krsna is everything and nothing exists outside of Him because there is nothing outside of Krsna, He is everything there is, within and without.
Krsna is the ultimate source and sustainer of all creation, encompassing both the manifested universe and whatever existence that is not yet manifest or realized.
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)
As said above, if Krsna denied the individual jiva-soul's there free will, then they are no better than dead mindless stone.
Without free will the individual jiva-souls can never experience loving exchanges, participation, nor experience emotions and feelings for others because ultimately love is a "two-way" exchange of personal feelings only experienced when there is voluntary contributions in a two-way exchange that can only work when there is free will.
Genuine love can never be experienced in a "one-way" totally controlled environment run by Krsna or anyone. Such impersonal control of an individual is called slavery.
Emotions expressed in a "one-way" mood without any exchange between ,"two" is not love at all, it is selfishness, and is really dangerous impersonalism.
Therefore, without free will, without being allowed to contribute personal offerings and have independent choices, even though fully dependent on Krsna, the jiva soul will never experience wonderful loving exchanges, reciprocation and their personal unique offerings of individual contributions to Krsna
As Prabhupada says, without "free will" we are no better than dead stone!
Free will or the ability to choose” is eternally part and parcel of the jiva souls (marginal living entities) natural constitution and always exists without beginning or end in all the spiritual planets.
As said above, free will in its full potential only exists on the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka-Vrindavana, which are our original perpetual home from where we originated from.
As Srila Prabhupada explains, the relationship between Krsna and the individual jiva-souls is never a "one-sided" domineering dictatorial autocracy, where the individual jiva-souls are denied their personal contributions, and having the choice in how they want to serve Krsna, but instead told what to do and think.
No, proper loving relations are ALWAYS based on the reciprocation between two because love can only exist when there are two exchanging loving devotion for each other, as Prabhupada explains-
Srila Prabhupāda – "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." (Aug 9, 1976, Tehran)
Srila Prabhupada – "So everyone can know that independence (free will) 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 – "So, unless there is a possibility of misusing our free will, there is no question of freedom." (Dialectical Spiritualism, Critique of Descartes)
Ultimately, each individual jiva-soul is a unique person as a spiritual bodily form, who can choose for themselves how they want to voluntarily serve Krsna the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of all causes, or ignore Him.
As Prabhupada explains here, Krsna never forces the individual jiva-souls to mindlessly surrender to Him, never forces them to love Him, that MUST be voluntary so loving exchanges and mutual cooperation can exist on a two-way street. This also means one must choose for themselves how they want to serve Krsna, or even not serve Him at all, there is always a choice.
Srila Prabhupada – "Krsna never forces you to love Him, that must be voluntary. Love is reciprocal, 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)
Devotee – "In Srimad Bhagavatam, it says that Krsna did not want us to come to this material world. If Krsna did not want us to come, why are we here?" Why doesn’t He save me from thinking like that?"
Srila Prabhupada - "That means you lose your independence, that is force. In Bengali it is said, "If you catch one girl or boy and demand you love me, you love me, you love me, otherwise I will kill you, is that love? You love me, otherwise I will kill you! Is that love?" So Krsna does not want to become a lover like that, on the point of revolver - "You love me, otherwise I shall kill you!" That is not love; that is threatening. Love is reciprocal, voluntary, good exchange of feeling. Then there is love. Not by force; that is rape. Why one is called lover, another is called rape?" (July 8, 1976 in Washington, D.C).
The individual jiva-souls on the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka-Vrindavana are forever expanding their expression of individual contributions with personal offerings based on free will, inspired by selfless loving exchanges and reciprocation with Krsna, it is never a one-sided master/slave relationship with God in His Kingdom.
This is important to understand because each individual jiva-soul has their own autonomous personality that is separate from Krsna's Personality, having their own sense of independent self, and unique characteristics that each individual jiva-soul uniquely has, meaning no two other individual jiva-souls are the same.
Each jiva-soul is a unique individual with their own personality and exclusive spiritual bodily form.
All these qualities are part and parcel of each individual marginal living entities (individual jiva-souls) make up in the spiritual worlds as the independent unique "PERSON" they are eternally.
Srila Prabhupada - "Because you are Son of God you have got independence, full independence, therefore you have acquired the quality of your father. So God does not interfere with your independence." (Conversation Melb, Australia June 25, 1974)
Having the attributes of being an eternal PERSON as a spiritual bodily form similar to Krsna's Body, also includes having the free will to voluntary serve Krsna the way the devotee chooses to serve.
And never in the way impersonalist leadership demands, with their cold autocratic dictates that denies all personal contributions and voluntary involvement.
Krsna does not want to be surrounded those "mindless puppets" who have no individual creative offerings of their own making to voluntary contribute to Krsna because they wrongly believe surrender means being totally controlled by a puppet master (their version of Krsna) and like that puppet, only told what to offer and how to think. No, real personal surrender to Krsna is not impersonal like that.
Srila Prabhupada - "The individual jiva-soul's position in the spiritual world is always voluntary, some devotee want 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, and become a flower, voluntarily. And one can change from flower to any bodily form including 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)///
