Basic Truths about Souls
- 1. All souls are of spiritual nature.
- 2. All souls have a spiritual form which is non-different from Krishna.
- 3. Souls are manifested from 3 different sources and act on different levels.
Three Sources of Souls
1 Baladeva Prabhu
Innumerable souls manifested by Baladeva Prabhu serve Vrindavana Vihari Sri Krishna as His eternal associates in Goloka Vrindavana.
2 Saṅkarṣaṇa
Other souls manifest from Lord Sankarshana to serve Lord Narayana in the spiritual Vaikuntha planets. These souls are always engaged in service to their Lord, therefore their constitutional position is very strong.
3 Mahā-Viṣṇu
Innumerable atomic conscious souls emanate from Karanodakashayi Maha-Vishnu's glance into Maya-shakti, like sun rays. These souls, being near Maya, perceive her wonderful working.
Tatastha śakti – Marginal Souls
Although having all qualities of souls in the spiritual world, souls of the third group, due to their marginal nature and minuteness, sometimes look at the spiritual world, and sometimes at the material.
Weakness of the Soul
At the time when the soul is manifested from Tatastha shakti (marginal potency) it is weak, because it has not yet acquired strength from the mercy of its worshipable object (sevā vastu).
Wrong Choice
Among these innumerable jivas, those who want to enjoy maya, dive into sense gratification and thus become nitya-baddha – eternally conditioned.
Right Choice
On the other hand, those souls who engage in chid-anushilanam (spiritual service performed with constant desire to please the Lord), by His mercy receive spiritual strength (chid-bala) and enter the spiritual world.
Our Position
It is our own great misfortune that we forgot service to Sri Krishna and thus were bound by the chains of maya. Our present miserable conditions are only because we forgot our constitutional position.
Question of Free Will
Tatastha jivas are always on the border between the material and spiritual worlds. Therefore the question arises, why do some jivas travel from there to the material, and others to the spiritual world? Krishna's qualities are present also in living beings, but in small quantity. Krishna is the supreme independent Person, therefore the desire to be independent is eternally present also in minute living beings. If the jiva uses its tiny independence correctly, it always remains favorably disposed towards Krishna, but if it uses its freedom incorrectly, it becomes vimukha (indifferent) to Him.
Five Levels of Ignorance
Indifference to Krishna creates in the depths of the jiva a desire to enjoy maya. This desire to enjoy develops in our heart a false ego that we can enjoy with the help of our senses, and then five kinds of ignorance begin:
Tamaḥ
To know nothing about the nature of the soul.
Moha
Illusion of the bodily concept of life.
Mahā-moha
Madness for sense gratification.
Tāmisra
Forgetfulness of one's constitutional position, arising from anger or envy.
Andha-tāmisra
Considering death the end of everything.
Liberation or imprisonment depends entirely on whether we use our tiny independence properly or not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: If God is full of compassion (karunamaya), why does He create the soul so weak and allow it to fall into the clutches of maya?
God is not only full of compassion, but also full of pastimes (līlāmaya). Desiring various situations for His pastimes, He created also souls suitable for various conditions, from marginal energy to the highest mahābhāvos. To create conditions for souls to become qualified to serve Krishna, He created lower levels of material existence, starting from inert matter and ending with ahankāra, which are innumerable obstacles to achieve paramānanda (spiritual bliss). Souls, distanced from their constitutional nature and entangled in the meshes of maya, are indifferent to Sri Krishna. However, Krishna is an ocean of mercy. The more the soul falls in material existence, the more opportunities to reach the highest spiritual position Krishna provides. He descends Himself, bringing with Him His spiritual abode and His associates. Jivas who take advantage of this opportunity and sincerely endeavor to rise to a higher position, gradually reach the spiritual world and the same position as the eternal servants of Sri Hari.
Question: Why do jivas have to suffer just for God's pastimes?
Living beings received their independence from God as a sign of His special mercy. Inert objects are very small and insignificant because they have no power to desire independently. The jiva can lord over inert nature only because it has its own independent desires. Happiness and distress are states of mind. What one considers happiness, another considers distress. All forms of sense gratification eventually end in suffering, and when this suffering becomes especially unbearable, the materialistic person starts looking for happiness. The desire to be happy creates the ability to distinguish good from bad, and from this ability curiosity is born. As a result, a person finds sat-sangą (association of saintly people), and association with them is the cause of śraddhos (faith). When faith appears, the jiva steps onto the path of bhakti.
Gold is purified by heating and hammering. Living beings became contaminated by the desire to satisfy themselves with material senses. Therefore it needs to be purified by hammering with hammers of suffering on the anvil of material nature. In this way the sufferings of living beings who turned away from Krishna finally culminate in happiness. Therefore suffering is a sign of Bhagavan's mercy. Therefore far-sighted sages see that sufferings of those beings who participate in Krishna's pastimes are auspicious, although the short-sighted cannot see this auspiciousness.
Question: Why can't almighty Krishna invent an easier way to perfect souls?
Krishna's pastimes are special and variegated. This is just one of Krishna's pastimes. Bhagavan is independent and almighty. He performs the most diverse pastimes, why should this be the only one He ignores? Not a single pastime can be rejected if we want to experience full variety. Among other things, those who participate in actual Krishna's pastimes also have to experience one or another suffering. Sri Krishna is the enjoyer (puruṣa) and the active doer (kartā). All subjects and objects of pastimes are controlled by His desires and obey His will. It is natural to experience suffering obeying the control of another active doer. However, if finally this suffering brings pleasure, it cannot really be called suffering. How can this be suffering. So-called sufferings that arise helping and expanding Krishna's pastimes are only a source of enjoyment. The jiva's independent desires forced it to reject the pleasure of serving Krishna's pastimes, and instead accept sufferings imposed by Maya. This is the jiva's fault, not Krishna's.
Question: What harm would there be if God had not given independent desires?
Krishna is omniscient and He knew that living beings would misuse this freedom and therefore suffer. Therefore, is He not responsible for the suffering of living beings?