SPL Letter to Aniruddha 14/11/68 - Jiva Falldown

[Guest guest]

Haribol!

 

I shall post an extract from a letter by Srila

Prabhupada to Aniruddha that is dated 14/11/68:

 

"Regarding your questions: Your first question, "Are

great sages put under yogamaya or maya? Also are all

the eternally liberated souls under yogamaya?"

Yogamaya means the mercy of the Supreme Lord which

connects a devotee in the transcendental loving

service of the Lord, and mahamaya means the external

potency of the Lord which puts a conditioned soul into

illusion that he will be happy by material adjustment.

So great sages who are impersonalists are also under

the spell of mahamaya, because a conditioned soul in

the material world wants to improve his material

position as exalted as possible, and the concept of

becoming one with the Supreme Lord is the greatest

illusion for them. Because it is a fact that nobody

can be equal or greater than the Supreme Personality

of Godhead, and as such, anyone desiring to become one

with the Supreme means that he is still in the trap of

maya. On the other hand, a humble devotee who may not

be a great sage, but simpy by his implicit acceptance

of the Lotus Feet of the Lord as the goal of his life

means that he is under the protection of yogamaya. I

think this will clear the idea.

 

 

"Your next question, "Is there a difference between

Arjuna's body and his soul, and how does this apply to

all Krishna's eternally liberated souls described in

the scriptures. Is Arjuna always the same in his

appearances with Krishna or is a new soul taking his

body each time?" Yes, there is difference. Therefore

he forgets his past

activities. Just like we forget ourselves while

dreaming because our subtle body acts at that time

differently from the gross body. Similarly, by

changing this body or transmigrating from one body to

another, we forget all the activities of our previous

body. The associates of the Lord, even though they

have a different body, or even though they forget the

activities of their past body, still they are

associates of the Lord. These explanations are given

in the Bhagavad-gita as it is.

 

"Your next question, "Is a pure devotee eternally

liberated and if so is he at any time a conditioned

soul? We are eternally conditioned, but as soon as we

surrender to Krishna do we

then become eternally liberated? When Lord Christ

appeared he seemed to be conditioned in his growth.

Was he a specific

incarnation or a conditioned soul who became

liberated?" You are not eternally conditioned. You are

eternally liberated but since we have become

conditioned on account of our desire to enjoy

materialistic way of life, from time immemorial,

therefore it appears that we

are eternally conditioned. Because we cannot trace out

the history or the date when we became conditioned,

therefore it is technically called eternally

conditioned. Otherwise the living entity is not

actually conditioned. A living entity is always pure.

But he is prone to be attracted by

material enjoyment and as soon as he agrees to

place himself in material enjoyment, he becomes

conditioned, but that is not permanent. Therefore a

living entity is called on the marginal state,

sometimes this side, sometimes that side. These are

very intelligent questions. And I am very glad that

you are putting such

intelligent questions and trying to understand it. It

is very good. But best thing is that one should know

he is in conditioned life and try to cure it. When a

man is in diseased condition he should try to get out

of diseased condition without harassing his brain when

the disease has begun. But it is to be understood that

the disease is not our

constant companion, it is temporary. So the best thing

is to cure the disease, and not waste our time to find

out the date when it began. Forgetfulness of Krishna

is the disease, so let us keep ourselves always in

Krishna Consciousness, and get out of the disease,

that is healthy life. Yes, Lord

Jesus was jivatattva. He is not Visnu tattva.

When a jiva tattva becomes specifically empowered by

the Lord, he is called saktyavesa avatara. Lord Buddha

and Lord Jesus Christ were in this group of saktyavesa

avatara.. But they were not in conditioned state when

they appeared; they came to teach here.

 

"You should all read very carefully Srimad-Bhagavatam

and Bhagavad-gita, and you should be able to answer

all questions like this, and only in rare cases

approach me. But it is important that our students

must be able to answer all questions for becoming

preachers.

 

"Your ever well-wisher,

 

"A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami"

 

 

 

 

In service of Gaura-Nitai,

 

Sanjay

 

 

 

=====

"Radha-Krishna prana mora jugala-kisora, jivane marane gati aro nahi mora."

 

"The divine couple, Sri Radha and Krsna, are my life and soul. In life or death

I have no other refuge but Them."

 

-- Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura

 

 

 

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