IN VAIKUNTHA NOT EVEN THE LEAVES FALL: A TREATISE ON THE BONDAGE OF THE JIVA (An Old and Rare Book )

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Excerpts from Jaiva Dharma by Bhaktivinoda Thakura :

Babaji: There are unlimited jivas who are eternal associates of the Lord. In Goloka Vrndavana they are manifested by Lord Baladeva for the service of Lord Krsna. In Vaikuntha they are manifested by Sri Sankarsana for the service of Lord Narayana, the Lord of Vaikuntha. They are eternally and blissfully engaged in the service of their svarupa, always striving to make the Lord happy, always favorable to the service of the Lord, and always powerful with the energy of the cit-sakti. They have absolutely no relation or contact with the inert maya. Indeed, they do not even know that there is an energy called maya. Because they live in the spiritual region, maya remains very far from them. They are always absorbed in the bliss of service to their worshipable Lord. They are transcendental to mundane misery and happiness and are always liberated. Their very life is love, and they have no conception of lamentation, fear, and death.

The atomic conscious jivas, who come out like rays from Maha-Visnu's glance at maya, are also uncountable. Being in proximity to maya, these jivas see the variegatedness of maya. They have all the characteristics of the ordinary jivas as described before, yet because of their atomic nature they sometimes glance marginally towards the spiritual creation and sometimes towards the material creation. In this marginal state the jiva is weak, because he has not yet attained spiritual power by the mercy of the worshipable Lord. Out of these unlimited jivas, the ones who desire to enjoy maya remain eternally bound by maya, because of being attached to sense enjoyment. Those who engage in devotional service to the Lord go to the spiritual world getting the strength of the cit-sakti by the mercy of the Lord...

Vrajanatha: Lord Krsna is the embodiment of mercy. Why did He make the jiva weak and thereby cause his bondage by maya? (Note: Jiva here refers only to the conditioned souls).

Babaji: It is right that Krsna is merciful, but He is also lilamaya, or one who performs only lila. Considering that various types of lilas will be performed under various situations, the Lord made the jiva competent for unlimited gradations of positions from the marginal state up to the topmost platform of mahabhava. To facilitate the jivas and make them firm in their competence for these various positions, He created many low levels associated with maya which present unlimited obstacles in the attainment of the Supreme bliss. These range from the lowest inert matter up to false ego. The living entities bound by maya are in ignorance of their svarupa, engaged in acquiring pleasure for themselves, and not devoted to Krsna. In this state, as much as the jiva goes down that much more the merciful Lord, becoming manifest before him along with the facility to attain the ultimate destination. Those jivas who accept that facility try to achieve this highest destination. Gradually they reach the transcendental abode of the Lord and attain the exact same status as His eternal associates.

Back of Book:

There are two kinds of living entitles. Nitya-baddha means ever-conditioned. Ever-conditioned means those who are in this material world, they do not know when they came in touch with this material world. Neither do they know when they will be liberated. They are called nitya-baddha, ever-conditioned. And similarly, there are nitya-siddhas. Nitya-siddha means they never come in contact with this material world, and even they come here for some business, they do not forget their position. That is nitya-siddha. Try to understand. (Bg. Lecture, 1973)

The position of the nitya-siddhas is explained in the Padma Purana in connection with the narration of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Satyabhama-devi. The Lord tells Satyabhama, "My dear Satyabhama-devi, I have descended to this earthly planet by the request of Lord Brahma and other demigods. Those who are born into this family of Yadu are all My eternal associates. My dear wife, you should not consider that My associates are ever separated from Me; they are My personal expansions, and as such, you must know that they are almost as powerful as I am. Because of their transcendental qualities, they are very, very dear to Me, as I am very, very dear to them." (Nectar of Devotion)

This book has five parts or waves. Each wave is divided into chapters. The book should be read in order because information presented often builds on the earlier chapters. There is also some repetition of key points and arguments.

In the First Wave we present the siddnente of our perempere and the verdict of the sestre on the jiva's bondage. We also cite numerous references from Srila Prabhupada that no one falls from vaikuntha. The last three chapters explain the word enedi. A clear understanding of this word is very important, for it leaves no room for doubt as to the origin of the jiva in conditioned exist- ence.

In the Second Wave, while establishing that preaching does not always mean presenting the siddhanta, we cite some histori- cal examples of such preaching strategy being used by our pre- decessor acaryas, including Srila Vyasadeva. We also show that reconciling is one of the important duties of faithful followers of the spiritual master, and that logic based on sastra has a vital role in such reconciliation. We conclude this wave by reconciling the siddnanta of no fall from Vaikuntha with Srlia Prabhupada's statements that we fell from vaikuntha.

In the Third Wave we refute the main objections of those who believe that the jiva fell from the spiritual world to become a con- ditioned soul. Throughout this book, for the sake of brevity, we refer to them as fall-vadis. Here we also refute the attempts to support the tau-vaca theory found in the first two chapters of the book Once We Were With Krsna.

In the Fourth Wave we present nineteen chapters filled with many wonderful scriptural and logical arguments of further evi- dence in favor of the no-fall down siddhanta. The Fifth Wave is only one chapter. Here we list the many philosophical inconsis- tencies in accepting that nitya-siddhas can fall from Vaikuntha as our siddhanta and give our concluding remarks.

This book is the result of controversy. In writing it we were advised to downplay the controversial aspect "because a book on siddhanta should not explicitly bring out controversy." Another reason given is that we must be careful not to date the book. Upon consideration, however, we could not agree with either view. Without the controversy we would not have written the book. Why should this historical fact be hidden?

Further, we also have the example of our previous acaryas. In their writings they often dealt openly with controversy. We find that there is wisdom in this, for by making it open there is less chance that the same circumstances that caused the controversy will recur.

In the ISKCON community this particular controversy-where did the con- ditioned jiva come from or "the jiva-issue"-has been smoldering for many years. Now, with the publication of this book, we hope to end the confusion. In the ISKCON community this particular controversy-where did the conditioned jiva come from or ''the jiva-issue"-has been smoldering for many years. Now, with the publication of this book, we hope to end the confusion. But the confu- sion may not end. In the Priti-sandarbha, srila jiva Gosvami explains why. He says there are three types of discussions-vada, jalpa, and vitanda. In a veda discussion the motive of all concerned is to find out the truth. This is the ideal kind of discussion. It is for persons who are sober and impartial about the outcome; they simply want to know what is the truth of the matter. They are in the mode of goodness. Jalpa is a discussion wherein one is not interested in what is said by others, whether it has some truth or all of the truth, because one simply wants to be heard. Any other view or contribution is of no interest. This is the way for a person in the mode of passion. A vitanda discussion is in the mode of ignorance. In this version the truth is of no value. One simply wants to win at all costs. We believe that this book will clear the confusion for those persons interested in vada.

Our committment to writing a book on the jiva-issue began when the fol- lowing letter was posted to the GBC conference on COM:

Text 31415: 27-Aug-9418:16 EDT 1167linesl LINK: Drutakarma (Dasa)
ACBSP (Alachua)
Reply-To: Drutakarma. ACBSP@iskcon.com
Receiver: GBC Body <20>
Subject: once we were with Krsna

Dear GBC members,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Lately I have been receiving inquiries from GBC members, BBTTrust- ees, and temple presidents about my forthcoming book "Once We Were With Krsna", which shows conclusively that Srila Prabhupada's teach- ing was just as the title says, and that this is in complete harmony with 'Srimad-Bhagavatam" and the teachings of our previous acharyas go- ing back to Lord Caitanya. One controversial feature of this book is that I am directly naming those who hold opposing views and answering them point by point. Since copies of the drafts of some chapters are floating around, by Xerox and computer, I thought it best to make sure all of you, and not just some of you, have an opportunity to see what is coming. The second chapter, on Srila Prabhupada's teachings, is at- tached to this message. I am attaching the first chapter, on evidence from 'Srimad-Bhagavatam" to another message. The third and final chapter, on the teachings of the previous acharyas, is still being writ- ten, but as soon as it is finished I will send it to you. I am also including below the text of a letter to one of the GBC members. It explains why I am taking the step of bringing out this book. Originally, I intended to send it to just that one member, but since interest in the whole issue seems to be widening, I am sending it to all the members.

Dear---- Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Like you, I share an interest that Srila Prabhupada's teachings remain the central focus of ISKCON, and that they be passed down to the next generation unchanged. I fear, however, that all of this is now endan- gered.

The specific point of my concern is Srila Prabhupada's teachings on the origin of the jiva. Srila Prabhupada addressed this issue many times, and said we have come "from Vaikuntha planet," we were "with Krsna in His lila," etc. It has been said that Srila Prabhupada's views are not supported by shastra and previous acharyas. But my rather extensive investigation of these accusations reveals that they are un- founded. I can produce dozens of statements from Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati that are exactly in line with Srila Prabhupada's teachings. Support for the idea that the jiva was origi- nally with Krishna can also be found in the Bhagavatam and other works. There is nothing in the Sandarbhas of Jiva Goswami that contradicts Srila Prabhupada's teachings, despite the claims of Satyanarayana and Kundali, and others such as Bhanu Swami. I say this on the basis of my own study and on the authority of Gopiparanadhana Prabhu, who has closely examined the relevant passages. One might say, well, perhaps we are just dealing with a case of a transcendental disagree- ment among acharyas. The problem is that one of the acharyas is our founder-acharya. So even if one wants to accept that, then it is clear that in ISKCON we have to take sides, the side of Srila Prabhupada. But I am convinced there is no difference between Srila Prabhupada and any of the major acharyas in our line going back to Lord Caitanya. Some of Srila Prabhupada's God brothers or disciples of his God broth- ers may have different opinions, but in one hundred years nose of them will be recognized as a great acharya, whereas Srila Prabhupada's place in history as one of the greatest acharyas ever is already as- sured.

You have asked if there is any role that the GBC could play in resolving this issue. I am not at all hopeful that the GBC can actually do what needs to be done, because so many of the members are doubt- ful about what Srila Prabhupada said. Some of them, I suspect, actu- ally agree with the position taken by Kundali and Satyanarayana that Srila Prabhupada spoke untruths to his disciples because they were too neophyte to understand the real siddhanta. That is so out of char- acter for Srila Prabhupada that it is hard for me to see how any ISKCON devotee could accept it, unless they are ill-motivated or influenced by someone who is ill-motivated.

Basically, I think this issue will be settled, if at all, in the market- place of ideas, where I am accustomed to function in a direct and con- frontational manner. Nevertheless, I will outline a series of actions that I think the GBC could take to deal with the issue, if it so desired.