Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta - First Chapter Fourth Shower
Fourth Shower
The jīva, bound and liberated
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given very beautiful and concise instructions regarding the subject of the jīva in His instructions to Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī. By accepting these instructions, one can very easily understand Jīva-tattva:
advaya-jñāna-tattva kṛṣṇa—svayaṁ bhagavān
'svarūpa-śakti' rūpe tāṅra haya avasthāna
svāṁśa-vibhinnāṁśa-rūpe haiyā vistāra
ananta vaikuṇṭha-brahmāṇḍe karena vihāra
svāṁśa-vistāra—catur-vyūha, avatāra-gaṇa
vibhinnāṁśa jīva—tāṅra śaktite gaṇana
sei vibhinnāṁśa jīva—dui ta' prakāra
eka—'nitya-mukta', eka—'nitya-saṁsāra'
'nitya-mukta'—nitya kṛṣṇa-caraṇe unmukha
'kṛṣṇa-pāriṣada' nāma, bhuñje sevā-sukha
'nitya-baddha'—kṛṣṇa haite nitya-bahirmukha
'nitya-saṁsāra', bhuñje narakādi duḥkha
sei doṣe māyā-piśācī daṇḍa kare tāre
ādhyātmikādi tāpa-traya tāre jāri', māre
kāma-krodhera dāsa hañā tāra lāṭhi khāya
bhramite bhramite yadi sādhu-vaidya pāya
tāṅra upadeśa-mantre piśācī palāya
kṛṣṇa-bhakti pāya, tabe kṛṣṇa-nikaṭe yāya
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya līlā 22.7-15)
“Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the non-dual Absolute Truth, Advaya-jñāna-tattva. He is Svayaṁ-bhagavān the Original Personality of Godhead and is always with His personified Svarūpa-śakti, Śrī Rādhā. He expands Himself in the forms of His own plenary expansions (Svāṁśa) such as Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, different incarnations such as Nṛsiṁha and in the forms of His separated expansions known as His Vibhinnāṁśa (the jīvas). He also expands Himself to enjoy His pastimes both within the material universes and in Vaikuṇṭha. The Vibhinnāṁśa-jīvas are transformations of Bhagavān’s energy and it is for this reason they have been accepted as belonging to Śakti-tattva. The jīvas are of two types: the Nitya-mukta-jīvas, the eternally liberated souls and the Anādi-baddha-jīvas, conditioned souls, who have been opposed to Bhagavān since time without beginning. Being bound in the cycle of birth and death, they unhappily suffer punishment in various hellish destinations and in hell itself. The witch named Māyā inflicts these souls opposed to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s service with the three-fold miseries: Ādhyātmika (bodily or mental pains), Ādhibhautika (pains given by other living creatures) and Ādhidaivika (pains inflicted by the demigods in the form of natural disturbances such as drought and flood). Those conditioned souls, who are the servants of the urges of lust and greed, constantly rotate in the near endless cycle of constant birth and death, suffering in various higher and lower species of life. By some good fortune, after endlessly wandering in this cycle of birth, death, old age and disease, the jīva may meet a physician in the form of a devotee of Bhagavān. Through his instructions, the witch Māyā releases that jīva and upon receiving Bhakti, he comes to Śrī Kṛṣṇa and obtains the happiness of His service.”
The Svarūpa of the jīva
Again in relation to the jīva and in another teaching to Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, Mahāprabhu states:
jīvera 'svarūpa' haya—kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa'
kṛṣṇera 'taṭasthā-śakti' 'bhedābheda-prakāśa
sūryāṁśa-kiraṇa, yaiche agni-jvālā-caya
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā 20.108-109)
“The eternal and intrinsic constitutional position (svarūpa) of the jīva soul is as an eternal servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He is a transformation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s Taṭasthā-śakti (marginal potency) and is a different yet non-different manifestation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Just as a ray of sunlight is different and yet non-different from the sun, or as a spark is different and yet non-different from fire; a similar relationship is there between the individual soul (jīva) and Bhagavān.”
In Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s teachings to Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, it is also stated:
eita brahmāṇḍa bhari' ananta jīva-gaṇa
caurāśī-lakṣa yonite karaye bhramaṇa
keśāgra-śateka-bhāga punaḥ śatāṁśa kari
tāra sama sūkṣma jīvera 'svarūpa' vicāri
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā 19.138-139)
“There are limitless living entities wondering throughout this universe in eight million, four hundred thousand different species of life. The size of the living entity is described as one ten thousandth part of the tip of a hair. That is the subtleness of the svarūpa of the jīva.”
In regard to the nature of Īśvara and the jīva, it is stated in Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s teachings to Śrī Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya:
'māyādhīśa'- 'māyā-vaśa'—īśvare-jīve bheda
hena-jīve īśvara-saha kaha ta' abheda
gītā-śāstre jīva-rūpa 'śakti' kari' māne
hena jīve 'bheda' kara īśvarera sane
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā 6.162-163)
“The Lord is the master of the illusionary potency and the living entity is controlled by it. That is the difference between Bhagavān and the individual soul. However, you declare that the Lord and the living entities are non-different. In the Bhagavad-gītā, the living entity is established as a potency of the Supreme Person and in this way only is the jīva non-different from the Lord.”
Svāṁśa-tattva, Kṛṣṇa’s personal expansions
The essential meaning of these Mahā-vākyas or great statements of Śrīman Mahāprabhu, is that the Original Supreme Personality of Godhead, Svayaṁ-bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra, is completely independent and possessed of inconceivable potencies. By His Cit-śakti, He performs pastimes with two varieties of expansions, namely the Svāṁśa (personal) and Vibhinnāṁśa (separated). In the form of His Svāṁśa expansions, He becomes the four-armed forms in Vaikuṇṭha and the forms of the unlimited Avatāras. And by His Vibhinnāṁśa expansions, He becomes the unlimited jīva souls.
kṣīraṁ yathā dadhi vikāra-viśeṣa-yogāt
sañjāyate na hi tataḥ pṛthag asti hetoḥ
yaḥ śambhutām api tathā samupaiti kāryād
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
(Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā 5.45)
“Śrī Govinda attains the condition of being Śambhu for the sake of performing a specific function, just as milk is transformed into yogurt by contact with a particular transforming agent, although yogurt is not a different substance independent of milk, which is its cause. I worship that original personality, Śrī Govinda.”
The extension of the personal Svāṁśa expansions is the activity of the complete Cit-śakti. The Svāṁśa-tattva or the incarnations are all omnipotent and considered as Viṣṇu-tattva. All of these plenary incarnations have complete potency. Just as, even though unlimited lamps are lit from a central lamp, still the main lamp does not diminish at all and each of the lamps now have the same form as the original. In the same manner, we should understand the extension of the Svāṁśa expansions.
dīpārcir eva hi daśāntaram abhyupetya
dīpāyate vivṛta-hetu-samāna-dharmā
yas tādṛg eva hi ca viṣṇutayā vibhāti
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
(Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā 5.46)
“I worship the original personality, Śrī Govinda. Just as when the flame of one lamp is transmitted to another lamp, the second lamp illuminates in the same manner as the original flame, although it exists separately, so does Govinda accept the form of Mahā-Viṣṇu reclining on the Causal Ocean. That Mahā-Viṣṇu is the source of all the Viṣṇu expansions and incarnations in this world.”
All of the Svāṁśa expansions are Supreme Controllers and predominators. They do not taste the results of their activities like the jīvas. Even though they are all equal to Śrī Kṛṣṇa in terms of being independent, all of them are subordinate to the desires of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
The separated expansions, Vibhinnāṁśa Jīva-tattva
The jīvas are minute, supremely subtle particles of the Cit-śakti, in the form of separated expansions. The Cit-śakti is also called the Taṭasthā-śakti.
bālāgraśata bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca
bhāgo jīvaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ tadanantāya kalpyate
(Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 5.9)
“When the upper point of a hair is divided into one hundred parts and again, each of such parts is further divided into one hundred parts, then each such part is the measurement of the spirit soul. Although the spirit soul is so minute, it is a transcendental object and fit to achieve liberation.”
sūkṣmāṇām apy ahaṁ jīvo durjayānām ahaṁ manaḥ
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.16.11)
“Among subtle things I am the spirit soul and of things that are difficult to conquer I am the mind.”
The tattva situated between the Cit-śakti and Māyā-śakti is the Taṭasthā-śakti. This Taṭasthā-śakti is not a product or a part of the material energy. Still, because the jīva is very minute, there is a chance of it being controlled by Māyā. The root cause of this is the independent desire of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The Vibhinnāṁśa spirit souls are subject to the results of their own fruitive activities.
ātmānam anyaṁ ca sa veda vidvān
apippalādo na tu pippalādaḥ
yo ’vidyayā yuk sa tu nitya-baddho
vidyā-mayo yaḥ sa tu nitya-muktaḥ
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.11.7)
“The bird (Paramātmā) who does not eat the fruits of the Banyan tree knows himself and knows the other bird (the individual soul). The bird who is eating the fruits, neither knows the other bird, nor himself (Ātma-tattva). The bird who tastes the fruits of happiness and distress, due to ignorance (Avidyā), is bound since time without beginning and the bird who does not taste the fruits, the Paramātmā, is full of knowledge, thus he is eternally liberated. Upon knowing himself (ātma) and also knowing the other bird (Paramātmā), then the bird who eats the fruits becomes full of knowledge, attains liberation and no longer eats the fruits.”
As long as the jīvas remain engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa by their own independent desire, they are not subordinate to Māyā or Karma. However, from the time they desire to be an independent enjoyer, due to misuse of their independence, they forget the Dharma of service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Being bewildered by Māyā, they become controlled by, or subordinate to Karma. If however, due to great good fortune, they attain the association of Sādhus (devotees), by the mercy of that Sādhu they can again remember that service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa is their constitutional Dharma. Upon such remembrance awakening, immediately Mukti or liberation approaches them and frees them from the machinations of Māyā and the bondage of fruitive activity and its concomitant reactions.
bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād
īśād apetasya viparyayo ’smṛtiḥ
tan-māyayāto budha ābhajet taṁ
bhaktyaikayeśaṁ guru-devatātmā
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.2.7)
“Because of being opposed to the service of the Supreme Lord, the remembrance of the jīva concerning his own svarūpa becomes reversed. Being opposed to his original nature, the soul becomes absorbed in the illusionary names and forms created by Māyā. It is because of this absorption that fear arises due to the bodily conception of life (considering the body to be the self). The jīva is bound by the Māyā potency of Kṛṣṇa; therefore, learned persons take shelter of the feet of the spiritual master and by exclusive Bhajana of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, they are able to cross the grip of Māyā.”
Because the cause of bondage of the soul occurred before coming to this material world, its bondage is called Anādi or bound since time without beginning. The (Paramātmā) bound or eternally conditioned jīva is called Nitya-baddha. The jīva that is not bound in this manner is called Nitya-mukta or eternally liberated.
Kṛṣṇa and the jīva
Due to this, we see a special difference between the Svarūpa of Īśvara and that of the jīva. Īśvara is Māyā-adhīśa (the controller of the deluding potency, Māyā) and the jīva can be controlled by Māyā. Thus the jīva becomes conditioned by Māyā. Because the jīva is a tiny spiritual portion (Cit-kaṇa) of the unlimited Cit-tattva, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, from a philosophical perspective, the jīva can be said to be a different tattva from Him; however, because the jīva is an energy or Śakti of Kṛṣṇa, the jīva can also be accepted as a non-different tattva from Kṛṣṇa. It is for this reason that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the jīva as Bhedābheda-prakāśa or an expansion, which is simultaneously different and also non-different from Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He gave the teachings of Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva (literally inconceivable simultaneous difference and non-difference between Kṛṣṇa and His energies). Thus He compared the jīvas to sparks from a fire or rays from the sun, and accepted the jīvas as eternally separated non-different expansions of Kṛṣṇa.
To try and establish the jīva as Para-brahma or the Absolute Truth can never be proven simply by quoting peripheral and subsidiary statements of the Vedas such as “ahaṁ brahmāsmi” (literally “I am that Brahma”). Only Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu-tattva is Para-brahma, the Absolute Truth. Because the jīva is also Cit-tattva (a spiritual substance), then factually it can also be called Brahma. The effulgence emanating from Para-brahma, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s Svarūpa may be called Brahma-tattva, the impersonal Brahma-jyoti. One of His expansions in the form of the Paramātmā enters within everything inside the entire universe. Indirectly, He expands His splendour outside the universe as the impersonal manifestation of inconceivable, imperceptible and unattainable Brahma.
The inconceivable Vibhinnāṁśa expansions of Kṛṣṇa, the jīvas, expand themselves by taking innumerable forms such as demigods, humans, yakṣas (the descendants of Kuvera), rākṣasas (man-eating demonic species), animals, birds, aquatics, insects, ghosts and spirits. Amongst all species of life, the human species is the best, because in this rarely attained birth, the jīva becomes fit or qualified to attain Bhakti to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Despite attaining a human birth, because of the fault of one’s activities (Karma), they attain the result of either the heavenly or hellish planets. The jīva who is controlled by Māyā, forgetting Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is moving throughout the universe, since time without beginning, in order to satisfy his many varieties of material desires.
The svarūpa of the jīva
The real nature of the jīva who is Aṇu-caitanya, a minute conscious entity, is to be a servant of Kṛṣṇa, Pūrṇa-caitanya, the complete conscious entity. Forgetting his own eternal nature as a servant of Kṛṣṇa, the jīva becomes bound by Māyā. However, by remembering his true nature, the jīva becomes free from Māyā and is again established in his svarūpa. The naturally occurring power of a conscious, sentient entity will be only minutely present in the Aṇu-caitanya jīvas. Thus naturally, the minute jīvas are almost completely deprived of strength. In the liberated condition, the jīvas are empowered with the energy of Kṛṣṇa, and according to their empowerment they become strong. Just by thinking “I am a conscious entity,” the jīva cannot obtain any power. However, by saying this, the jīva obtains a type of liberation, which may be called Nirvāṇa. But by declaring, “I am a servant of Kṛṣṇa!” the jīva obtains power from Kṛṣṇa and eternal bliss. By this, as a concomitant factor, one receives freedom from fear, a by-product of Māyā.
The terrible condition of the bound soul
The conditioned souls (Baddha-jīvas) are identified by their many different bodies or forms and because of this variety; we see that all jīvas taste the diverse results of their past activities.
manaḥ karma-mayaṁ ṇṝṇām
indriyaiḥ pañcabhir yutam
lokāl lokaṁ prayāty anya
ātmā tad anuvartate
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.22.37)
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa said:
“Whatever actions are performed by the materialistic mind (absorbed in fruitive action) with the assistance of the five senses, takes the soul from one planet to another. Even though the mind is different from the soul, because of false ego, one considers them to be the same, thus causing the soul to follow the mind.”
The jīva consists of pure spiritual consciousness; there is no mixing of material qualities or illusion within it. If we say that the jīva has a mixture of illusionary substance within it, then we have accepted the position of Māyāvāda [literally the theory of illusion, which falsely states that transcendental objects can accept a material form] and the fault of accepting such a proposition will come to us. Factually, the constitution of the jīva is as a pure spiritual conscious entity and its Dharma is transcendental. The nature of the jīva is marginal or Taṭastha (literally situated on the bank or shore of a river or ocean, a place which is neither land nor water). The jīva can be covered either by the spiritual or the material potency; therefore there is a chance for the jīva to become covered by Māyā. It is only when the jīva forgets its nature as a servant of Kṛṣṇa that such a condition occurs.
The existence, form and nature of the pure jīva is completely spiritual; however, because the jīva is a very minute conscious entity, its existence, nature and form are also very minute. When the jīva is bound by Māyā, first the spiritual form, nature and existence of the jīva are covered by the subtle body composed of the mind, generated from material nature and when he is situated in the Karma-kṣetra (the material world), this is also covered by the gross material body, then the jīva is able to perform material activities.
mal-lakṣaṇam imaṁ kāyaṁ
labdhvā mad-dharma āsthitaḥ
ānandaṁ paramātmānam
ātma-sthaṁ samupaiti mām
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.26.1)
“Having achieved this human form of life one can achieve Me, who is situated in the heart of every living entity and bliss personified, by the process of devotional service.”
Remember that the gross and subtle bodies simply cover the pure svarūpa of the jīva from above and are transformations of the deluding potency; both are only illusionary or material transformations, they have nothing to do with the true svarūpa of the ātmā. However, there are some similarities between them. The gross body of the conditioned or bound soul is composed of the five inert material elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether and the subtle body is composed of the three subtle material elements of mind, intelligence and false ego.
bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ
khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me
bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā
apareyam itas tv anyāṁ
prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām
jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho
yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā 7.4-5)
“My external material energy has eight divisions: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego. O Mighty armed Arjuna; you should know that My external energy, which consists of eight divisions, is inferior. There is another potency of Mine known as the jīva, which is superior and which accepts this material world for the purpose of enjoying the fruits of Karma.”
After both of these coverings are removed then the jīva becomes liberated from Māyā and the spiritual body composed of the ātmā, manifests. Liberated souls act by the spiritual senses of their spiritual bodies. None of the actions of the material body which are seen in this gross material world, such as eating, recreation, sexual undertakings, the passing of stool and urine, bodily injuries, the pain of being separated (from a beloved person or possession) and other naturally occurring bodily functions occurs in the spiritual body. The jīva feels happiness and distress upon acceptance of the illusion that the body is the true self. Therefore, all the activities undertaken in this world by the gross material body are due to a perverted sense of Dharma.
prakṛter evam ātmānam
avivicyābudhaḥ pumān
tattvena sparśa-sammūḍhaḥ
saṁsāraṁ pratipadyate
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.22.51)
“An unintelligent man by failing to distinguish himself from mater thinks it to be real and eternal. By contact with matter he becomes completely bewildered and enters into the cycle of material existence.”
nṛtyato gāyataḥ paśyan yathaivānukaroti tān
evaṁ buddhi-guṇān paśyann anīho ‘py anukāryate
“Just as a member of the audience may imitate persons whom he sees dancing and singing, similarly the conditioned soul, (although the soul factually never is the doer of material activities) becomes captivated by the sense of I arising from false ego and begins to imitate the qualities of the material intelligence and starts to enjoy the objects of this world.”
yathāmbhasā pracalatā taravo ’pi calā iva
cakṣusā bhrāmyamāṇena dṛśyate bhramatīva bhūḥ
“Just as a person situated in a boat may think that the trees on the shore that are reflected on the water, to be quivering, or as a person spinning around may see the earth to be also spinning, in the same way the conditioned soul experiences the material body to be the self, due to perverted material intelligence.”
yathā manoratha-dhiyo viṣayṣānubhavo mṛṣā
svapna-dṛṣṭāś ca dāśārha tathā saṁsāra ātmanaḥ
“O Uddhava! Just as the material enjoyment experienced in the dream of one who is constantly meditating on sense gratification is false, the material existence of the conditioned soul is similarly false.”
arthe hy avidyamāne ’pi saṁsṛtir na nivartate
dhyāyato viṣayān asya svapne ’narthāgamo yathā
“Just as one experiences fear such as seeing a snake in a dream, which appears to be factual, but in fact is not, similarly, even though the cycle of birth and death experienced by the soul bound by the illusionary potency, is not factual, still it never becomes free from it.”
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.22.53-56)
There is another deeply confidential matter in relationship to liberated souls and that is, even though one may be liberated, as long as he possesses the self-conception of his being a materially knowledgeable personality, or he remains attached to the simple negation of material existence, he will remain unable to attain a spiritual body suitable for the service of Bhagavān, which is only attainable by Bhakti.
hantāsmiñ janmani bhavān
mā māṁ draṣṭum ihārhati
avipakva-kaṣāyāṇāṁ
durdarśo 'haṁ kuyoginām
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.6.21)
Bhagavān said:
“O Nārada! I am regretful that you cannot see Me again in this lifetime. For those whose service is incomplete and who are not entirely free from all material contamination, they cannot see Me.”
It is the state of liberation, which is simply a secondary fruit of association with the devotees, which gives rise to the attainment of a body suitable for the service of Bhagavān.
evaṁ kṛṣṇa-mater brahman nāsaktasyāmalātmanaḥ
kālaḥ prādurabhūt kale taḍit saudāmanī yathā
prayujyamāne mayi tāṁ śuddhāṁ bhāgavatīṁ tanum
ārabdha-karma-nirvāṇo nyapatat pāñca-bhautikaḥ
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.6.27-28)
“And so, Oh learned Brāhmaṇa (Vyāsadeva), in time I, who was fully absorbed in thinking of Kṛṣṇa and who therefore had no attachments, became completely freed from all material contaminations. I left that body and attained this spiritual body, attaining complete liberation, as lightning and illumination occur simultaneously. Having been awarded a transcendental body befitting an associate of Supreme Lord, I quit the body made of five material elements and thus escaped from the cycle of fruitive work (Karma) and its concomitant results.”
BBT Translation
The liberation that is obtained in the association of the Jñānīs is not factually liberation at all; rather, there is only a false sense of being liberated. That is indeed an unfortunate end for the jīvas.
ye ’nye ’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas
tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ
āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ
patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32)
“O lotus-eyed Lord, those persons who endeavour through dry empiric speculation (Jñāna) are falsely under the impression of being liberated. Factually they lack the understanding that devotional service to You is eternal, thus their intelligence is impure. Through the process of Jñāna they reject that which is temporary, such persons approach the Absolute Truth and almost reach the highest position of liberation; however, due of not attaining the shelter of Your lotus feet, they again fall into material consciousness. One should never associate with such persons, by doing so one’s Bhakti will be lost.”
This is a brief description of the pure, the conditioned, as well as the liberated svarūpa of the jīva. A little later we will discuss what should and should not be done by the jīva, in terms of duty.
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