the origin of jiva (soul).pdf

8/9/2019 The origin of Jiva (soul).pdf

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Founder AcrayaOm Vishnupada Sri Srimad

Bhaktivedanta NarayanaGoswami Maharaja

1 0 8 Q & A

From: Center for BHAKTI Studies And Sri Ranganatha audi!a "atha

Question 8: Please explain the Origin of Jiva Soul .

Answer compiled by Bhaktivedanta Vishnu Daivata ahara!."or more in#o email ahara! at vishnudaivata$%mail.com

Origin of Jiva Soul

Since time immemorial, man has inquired about the origin of the soul. In the thinking of manyneophyte devotees the soul falls down from eternal pastimes with Krishna due to mundaneenvy. In this brief essay, Srila Sridhara ahara!a answers this most vital of all questions" #$hoam I% $here have I come from%

Note: An audio mp3 file of Srila Sridhar Maharaja speaking on the Jiva issue

is available Here: http://www devavision org/gosai/audio/ssm!jiva!origin mp3

Commentary

b" Srila #haktirakshaka Sridhar $oswami Maharaja

&ow does the soul first appear in this world% 'rom what stage of spiritual e(istence does he fall

into the material world%# )his is a broad question, which requires some background

information.

)here are two classes of souls, !ivas, who come into this world. One class comes from the

spiritual *aikuntha planets by the necessity of nitya+lila, the eternal pastimes of Krsna. nother

comes by constitutional necessity.

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http://www.devavision.org/gosai/audio/ssm-jiva-origin.mp3http://www.devavision.org/gosai/audio/ssm-jiva-origin.mp3http://www.bhaktistudies.com/http://www.devavision.org/gosai/audio/ssm-jiva-origin.mp3http://www.bhaktistudies.com/


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)he brahma!yoti, the nondifferentiated marginal plane, is the source of infinite !iva souls,

atomic spiritual particles of nondifferentiated character. )he rays of the -ord s transcendental

body are known as the brahma!yoti, and a pencil of a ray of the brahma!yoti is the !iva. )he !iva

soul is an atom in that effulgence, and the brahma!yoti is a product of an infinite number of !iva

atoms.

/enerally, souls emanate from the brahma!yoti which is living and growing. $ithin the

brahma!yoti, their equilibrium is somehow disturbed and movement begins. 'rom

nondifferentiation, differentiation begins. 'rom a plain sheet of uniform consciousness,

individual conscious units grow. nd because the !iva is conscious it is endowed with free will.

So, from the marginal position they choose either the side of e(ploitation or the side of

dedication.

Krsna bhuli sei !iva anadi bahirmukha . nadi means that which has no beginning. $hen we

enter the land of e(ploitation, we come within the factor of time, space, and thought. nd when

we come to e(ploit, action and reaction begins in the negative land of loan. lthough we strive

to become masters, really we become losers.

/oloka and *aikuntha servitors are also seen to be within the !urisdiction of the brahmanda, the

material universe, but that is only a play, lila. )hey come from that higher plane only to take

part in the -ord s pastimes and then return. )he fallen souls come from the marginal position

within the brahma!yoti and not from *aikuntha.

)he first position of a soul in the material world will be like that of 0rahma the creator. )hen his

karma may take him to the body of a beast like a tiger where he is surrounded with a tigerish

mentality, or to the body of a tree or creeper, where different impressions may surround him. In

this way, one is involved in action and reaction. )he case is comple(1 to analy2e the details of

the history of a particular atom is unnecessary. $e are concerned with the general thing" how

the transformation of the material conception springs from pure consciousness.

atter is not independent of spirit. In the brahma!yoti we are equipoised in the marginal

potency as an infinite number of pinpoints of spiritual rays, electrons of consciousness.

3onsciousness means endowed with free will, for without free will no consciousness can be

conceived. n atomic pinpoint of consciousness has very meager free will, and by misuse of

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their free will some !ivas have taken their chance in the material world. )hey refused to submit

to the supreme authority1 they wanted to dominate. So, with this germinal idea of domination,

the !iva enters into the world of e(ploitation. In the 0hagavad+gita 45.657 it is stated"

iccha+dvesa samutthena

dvandva+mohena bharata

sarva+bhutani sammoham

sarge yanti parantapa

#)wo principles in a crude form awaken in the !iva" hatred and desire. )hen, gradually the soul

comes down to mingle with the mundane world.#

t first, sympathy and apathy develop in a crude form, !ust as when a sprout springs up with

two leaves. nd gradually these two things help us to dive deep into this mundane world. 8pon

retiring from the world of e(ploitation, the soul may return to his former position in the

brahma!yoti as spirit. 0ut, if the soul has gathered the tendency of dedication through his

previous devotional activities, he does not stop there1 he pierces through the brahma!yoti and

goes towards *aikuntha.

$hy has the soul come to the world of e(ploitation# and not the world of dedication% )hat

should be attributed to his innate nature, which is endowed with free will. It is a free choice.

)his is substantiated in the 0hagavad+gita 49. :;7"

na kartrtvam na karmani

lokasya sr!ati prabhuh

na karma+phala+samyogam

svabhavas tu pravartate

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#)he soul is responsible for his entrance into the land of e(ploitation.#

)he responsibility is with the soul, otherwise, the -ord would be responsible for his distressed

condition. 0ut Krsna says that the soul s innate free will is responsible for his entanglement in

the material world. )he soul is conscious, and consciousness means endowed with freedom.

0ecause the soul is atomic, his free will is imperfect and vulnerable. )he result of that free

choice is that some are coming into the material world, and some are going to the spiritual

world. So, the responsibility is with the individual soul.

Once, an Indian political leader, Syamasundara 3akravarti, asked our spiritual master, Srila

0haktisiddhanta Saraswati )hakura evoid of freedom, the soul is only matter.# 'reedom offers us the alternative to do

right or wrong. Once, /andhi told the 0ritish authorities, ##$e want freedom.# )hey replied,

#=ou are not fit to have self+government. $hen you are fit, we shall give it to you.# 0ut finally,

he told them, #$e want the freedom to do wrong.# So, freedom does not guarantee only acting

in the right way1 freedom has its value independent of right and wrong.

'ree will is only absolute with the bsolute )ruth. 0ecause we are finite# our free will is

infinitesimal. )he possibility of committing a mistake is there. Our first choice was to dominate#

and so, gradually we have entered the world of domination. s a result of this first action,

everything else has developed. So, in different ranks# the species have been divided# from the

demigods down to the trees and stones. nd watery bodies, gaseous bodies, anything that we

find here has evolved in that way. )he activating principle in any form of embryological

development is the soul, and from the soul, everything has evolved.#

The Final Proof: The Jiva Did Not Fall From Goloka

Murwillumbah% Australia& 'eb ()% *++* ,-vening ! .art *

0ridandiswami Sri Srimad #haktivedanta Nara"ana Maharaja

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3ome with me now to /odruma in ?avadvipa >hama, where Sannyasi )hakura asks a question

to his guru,


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A#It is the living entity s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Krsna because he is

the marginal energy of Krsna and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from

the -ord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or fire. Krsna has three varieties of energy.# 43c

adhya 6B.:BC+:BD7E

krsna bhuli sei !iva anadi+bahirmukha

ataeva maya tare deya samsara+duhkha

A#'orgetting Krsna, the living entity has been attracted by the e(ternal feature from time

immemorial. )herefore, the illusory energy 4maya7 gives him all kinds of misery in his materiale(istence.# 43c adhya 6B.::57E

$e are eternally Krsna dasa, servants of Krsna, but now we are Krsna bhuli1 we have forgotten

&im. )he words krsna bhuli are used here. It means the !iva forgets Krsna , but what does this

actually mean% It seems to mean that the !iva was once engaged in Krsna s service, but now he

has forgotten that service. ctually, this is not true. )his is not the meaning. )here is defect in

worldly languages. )hey are not perfect, and therefore they cannot purely e(press what is the

nature of our svarupa 4constitutional form7. )o clarify the meaning of krsna bhuli , SrilaKrsnadasa Kavira!a /osvami writes in the ne(t line, #krsnera tatastha sakti bhedabheda+

prakasa. #

Srila 0haktivinoda )hakura has clearly e(plained all these truths. =ou should very carefully note

this down in your heart and on your paper. &e took his understanding from Srila Sanatana

/osvami s Srimad+0hagavatam and from Sri Jiva /osvami s Sat+sandarpa, and then he wrote"

Aharma, 3hapter Si(teen"E #Innumerable !ivas appear from Sri

0aladeva


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fi(ed in their devotion, and they have no connection with the material energy. In fact, they are

unaware that there is a deluding energy called maya. Since they reside in the spiritual world,

maya stays far from them and does not affect them at all. lways absorbed in the bliss of serving

their worshipable -ord, they are eternally liberated and are free from material happiness and

distress. )heir life is love alone, and they are not even conscious of misery, death or fear.#

ASrila ?arayana ahara!a"E )hey are all liberated. )hey don t know what is maya and what is

this material world. $ho knows% $e know. $e have come from tatastha+sakti, from a

manifestation of 0aladeva on t conclude that the !ivas have come from /oloka. lthough Srila Swami

ahara!a never said that the !ivas fell from /oloka, some of his disciples try to prove that he has

said the opposite. 0ut I know the truth. &e has told me, and it is also in sastra. Srimati

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ahara!a acarya% $ho made Srila asa 0aba!i ahara!a told him, # fter me you should be acarya#% )hose who

serve their gurus properly, following the footprints of our guru+parampara and especially of

/aura+?ityananda


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this world in order to give the -ord pleasure. 0hagavan came in the form of -ord ?rsimhadeva

and -ord *araha to fight with their manifestations, and the complete and original Jaya and

*i!aya remained in *aikuntha as gatekeepers.

In


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3aitanya ahaprabhu also e(plained to Sri Sanatana /osvami that beyond the *ira!a river,

which is the dividing point between the material and spiritual worlds, there is no maya, what to

speak of in the *aikuntha planets or in the highest planet, /oloka *rndavana.

karanabdhi+pare mayara nitya avasthiti

vira!ara pare paravyome nahi gati

#)he *ira!a, or 3ausal Ocean, is the border between the spiritual and the material world. )he

material energy is situated on one shore of that ocean, and it cannot enter onto the other shore,

which is the spiritual sky.# 43c adhya 6B.6GD7

It s not that this is a new teaching or something that is hidden deep in 3aitanya+caritamrta. I

!oined ec. :5, :DGG" Karanabdhi+pare. Just on the other side of the

3ausal Ocean, this material energy is situated. *ira!ara pare paravyome nahi gati. nd this

material energy has no entrance in the spiritual kingdom.

?ow, the description of the spiritual world is that there is no ra!as+tamah. )hese modes of

passion and modes of ignorance is not there. Suddha+sattva. Suddha+sattva means simply

goodness, pure goodness, without any tinge of passion and ignorance. So pravartate yatra ra!as

tamas tayoh sattvam ca misram na ca kala+vikramah. )here is no mi(ed goodness1 simply

goodness. nd na ca kala+vikramah" nd there is no influence of time. )his is the description of

the spiritual world" )here is no modes of passion, and there is no modes of ignorance, and there

is no influence of time.# )hat means there is simply pure goodness. nd in pure goodness we

can understand our constitutional position" we can understand what is /od, what is creation,

everything.E

Srila /urudeva often quotes a verse from 0hagavad+gita, as does


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visaya vinivartante

niraharasya dehinah

rasa+var!am raso py asya

param drstva nivartate

A#)he embodied soul may be restricted from sense en!oyment, though the taste for sense ob!ects

remains. 0ut, ceasing such engagements by e(periencing a higher taste, he is fi(ed in

consciousness.# 40g 6.9D7E

One gives up lower engagements when he e(periences a higher taste. Fven in the stage of ruci,

taste, one has no desire for material pleasures. In asakti, in bhava, what to speak of prema, and

what to speak of the devotees who are enraptured, en!oying the pleasures of /oloka *rndavana1

there is no desire for such mundane pleasures. Krsna says in the /ita that one who takes shelter

of &is spiritual energy is free from maya. )hat spiritual energy is =ogamaya, and =ogamaya is an

e(pansion of Srimati @adhika. 'or one who serves @adha and Krsna, there is no question of

every having the desire to come to this material world.

Someone wrote id we ever see Krsna%#


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A/okula dasa"E ctually, within ISK3O? there was two or three.

ASrila ?arayana ahara!a"E I know. I have read them. Srila Swami ahara!a sometimes gave

baby food to babies. $hen I give a baby medicine like quinine, I tell him, #0aby, baby, it is very

sweet.# I m telling him something that is not true so that I can give him the medicine. Similarly,

Srila Swami ahara!a has written to someone who was very low in bhakti. letter cannotalways be proof. $hat Srila Swami ahara!a has written in 3aitanya+caritamrta and in his /ita

and 0hagavata e(planation is authentic. )hese are proofs. &e can write something else for a little

baby, but it is not proof.

A/okula dasa"E Srila /our+/ovinda ahara!a said that he was doing it to encourage them.

Otherwise.

ASrila ?arayana ahara!a"E =es, certainly. Someone may say that 3itraketu ahara!a fell down,

and this is proof that the !iva fell from /oloka. ctually, however, he has never fallen down. &e

is a liberated soul. &e came to see his friend, Sankara ahadeva, when Sankara was sitting

naked with the very beautiful 8ma


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telling me, Kill me. I cannot serve my


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)ry to remember Krsna and follow this doctrine" /od is one, there is one religion, and that

religion is love and affection for the Supreme -ord Krsna.

/aura evotee"E =ou said that Krsna s associates go with &im to the innumerable universes and they

have so many e(pansions. >oes that also apply to the sadhana+siddha !iva% In other words, if we

ever become perfect, do we also go to all those places, all those universes, at the same time,

along with Krsna%

ASrila ?arayana ahara!a"E If you will be perfect like them, then you can go. perfect devotee,

one who always remembers the asta+kaliya+lila of @adha and Krsna, will go to /oloka

*rndavana. )hose who always worship /aura+?ityananda


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of ?arada. If they don t know about that lila and they are not practicing that meditation and

service, how can they e(plain it to ?arada% >on t have any doubt in this.

Jiva cannot falldown from Vaikuntha

)F ) 6D

bhagavan anugav aha

yatam ma bhaistam astu sam

brahma+te!ah samartho pi

hantum necche matam tu me

S=?O?= S

bhagavanLthe Supreme


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from *aikuntha after once taking birth there. ll these incidents, therefore, were designed by

the -ord &imself for the sake of &is pastimes in the material world. )hus &e plainly says that it

was done with &is approval. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for inhabitants of

*aikuntha to come back to this material world simply because of a brahminical curse. )he -ord

especially blesses the so+called culprits" M ll glories unto you.N devotee, once accepted by the

-ord, can never fall down. )hat is the conclusion of this incident.

4Srimad 0hagavatam H.:G.6D7

One who reaches it never returns to this material world

na tad bhasa"ate sur"o

na sasanko na pavakah

"ad gatva na nivartante

tad dhama paramam mama

S=?O?= S

naLnot1 tatLthat1 bhasayateLilluminates1 suryahLsun1 naLnor1 sasankahLthe moon1 naL

nor1 pavakahLfire, electricity1 yatLwhere1 gatvaLgoing1 naLnever1 nivartanteLcomes back1tat dhamaLthat abode1 paramamLsupreme1 mamaL y.

)@ ?S- )IO?

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)hat abode of ine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it

never returns to this material world


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firmly united with e in thought through mental concentration intensified by anger, and they

will return to y presence shortly.


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*aikuntha planet, for it is the eternal abode. 0ut sometimes, as the -ord desires, devotees come

into this material world as preachers or as atheists. In each case we must understand that there

is a plan of the -ord. -ord 0uddha, for e(ample, was an incarnation, yet he preached atheism"

M)here is no /od.N 0ut actually there was a plan behind this, as e(plained in the 0hagavatam.

4Srimad #hagavatam H.:G.6G7

$nless one is elevated to the Vaikuntha !lanets" directly in touch with the %u!reme

Personality of Godhead" he is !rone to fall down

)F ) 6D

"o "ogo bhagavad!bano

nirvanatmams tva"oditah

kidrsah kati angani

"atas tattvavabodhanam

S=?O?= S

yahLwhich1 yogahLmystic yoga process1 bhagavat+banahLaiming at the Supreme


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)here are different kinds of mystic yoga systems aiming for different phases of the bsolute

)ruth. )he !nana+yoga system aims at the impersonal 0rahman effulgence, and the hatha+yoga

system aims at the locali2ed personal aspect, the evahuti especially refers to the bhakti+yoga system, which

has already been primarily e(plained by the -ord. )he different parts of the bhakti+yoga system

are hearing, chanting, remembering, offering prayers, worshiping the -ord in the temple,

accepting service to &im, carrying out &is orders, making friendship with &im and ultimately

surrendering everything for the service of the -ord. )he word nirvanatman is very significant in

this verse. 8nless one accepts the process of devotional service, one cannot end the continuation

of material e(istence. s far as !nanis are concerned, they are interested in !nana+yoga, but even

if one elevates oneself, after a great performance of austerity, to the 0rahman effulgence, there is

a chance of falling down again to the material world. )herefore, !nana+yoga does not actually

end material e(istence. Similarly, regarding the hatha+yoga system, which aims at the locali2ed

aspect of the -ord,


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the origin of jiva (soul).pdf

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