Question Concerning the Fall, No Fall of the Jiva
BY: BALAVIDYA DASA
Mar 11, USA (SUN) — On another topic concerning a different previous posting, "The Fall, No Fall of the Jiva", one devotee, Amar Puri, has requested an answer.
It is an interesting question:
"I wonder what Balavidya Dasa or any other learned person has to say and interpret or contemplate about Text 18.63 of the Bhagavad-gita, page 832, the translation of which reads:
"Thus I have explained to you the most confidential of all knowledge. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do."
Does the above translation not explain that the Jiva has a free will to use and exercise any time, place and circumstances, regardless if may be in Goloka Vrindavan face to face with Shri Krishna?"
Answer: Yes, the jiva does have free will in all time, place and circumstances. However, situated in Goloka in krsna-prema he does not misuse his free will, being pure, situated in knowledge, and protected by the hladini-shakti, Srimati Radharani Herself.
In a lecture, Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 7.108, 2.18.1967, Srila Prabhupada explains this point:
Bhaktijana: When the souls [in Goloka] that were never conditioned at all, do they also have the independence?
Prabhupada: Yes, but they have not misused. They know that "I am meant for Krsna's service," and they are happy in Krsna's service.
So the souls in Goloka never fall as they know "I am meant for Krsna's service" and they are "happy". This happiness is the bliss bestowed upon them by Srimati Radharani. In such blessed purity, they never contemplate unconstitutional activities, such as rebellion against the supremacy of Sri Krsna, and resultantly, an attempt to be an independent enjoyer. They are nitya-siddha, eternally perfected.
This eternal perfection is not subject to change, as quoted in the aforesaid posting:
As Srila Prabhupada, summarizes in his Srimad-Bhagavatam. 3.3.26, purport:
"The nitya-siddha devotees never fall down to the region of the material atmosphere even though they sometimes come into the material plane to execute the mission of the Lord."
Also: Purport, Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.15.48:
"From the Vedic scriptures it is understood that sometimes even Brahma and Indra fall down, but a devotee in the transcendental abode of the Lord never falls."
Furthermore, purport, Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.11.12:
"The eternally liberated living beings are in Vaikuntha jagat and they never fall into the material world."
As Srila Prabhupada concludes this topic:
"The conclusion is that no one falls from the spiritual world, or Vaikuntha planet, for it is the eternal abode." (Srila Prabhupada, purport, Sb. 3.16.26)
Therefore, from where does the jiva fall then, one may ask:
The Vedas describe the fall of the jiva from his devotionally nascent position within the margin between the material and spiritual worlds that is the Casual Ocean after emanation from Maha-Visnu. In the Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad, 4.3.9, we find:
tasya va etasya purunasya dve eva sthane bhavata
idam ca paraloka-sthanam ca sandhyam trtiyam
svapna-sthanam tasmin sandhye sthane tisthan ete
ubhe sthane pasyati idam ca paraloka-sthanam ca
"The jiva has access to two places, both of which he may seek, this material world and the spiritual realm. He is situated in svapna-sthanam, the dream-like third state, on the margin of these two worlds [the Casual Ocean]. From that middle position he is able to see both the material and the spiritual worlds."
"Further, the following statement from the Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad, 4.3.18, describes the nature of the marginal position of the jiva:
tad yaths mahs matsya ubhe kule'
nusancarati purvam ca param caivam
evsyam purusa etsv ubhav antav
anusancarati svapnantam ca buddhantam ca
"The symptoms of the marginal existence are like those of a huge aquatic who is capable of living on both the eastern and western sides of the river at his own will. Similarly, the jiva soul, situated within the waters of the Causal Ocean, which lies between the material and spiritual worlds, is able to reside in both the dream world of matter and the spiritual world of divine wakefulness."
As we see above, the Upanishad explains that the jiva chooses either the material or spiritual world "at his own will". Thus he misuses his independence in the Casual Ocean, not, as Srila Prabhupada explains in all the quotes above, from within the Supreme Abode of the Lord.
The relevant point is that, within the Casual Ocean, between the material and spiritual creation, the jiva, situated in the devotionally nascent condition of santa-rasa, is not fortified by the hladini-sakti. Active devotional service impelled by affection for the Supreme Lord has not yet awoken. Thus he is in a spiritually weak position. In this condition he may choose to rebel against the perceived supremacy of the Supreme Lord and thus fall to the material energy and pursue the illusory goal of competitive independent enjoyment. On the other hand, he may surrender to the Supreme Lord in affection and thus enter the spiritual planets for active service in the four higher primary rasas: servitude, fraternity, parental and conjugal. In such service, he becomes fortified by the cit and hladini-shaktis, i.e. knowledge and happiness (bliss). Thus he attains the pure, sublime status of nitya-siddha, eternally perfected. This eternal perfection is also available for those souls who have fallen into the material world should they practice devotional service under the guidance of guru, sadhu and sastra, faithfully.
We hope this is found helpful,
Your servant,
Balavidya dasa
