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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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)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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