Apparent Contradiction and Reconciliation
BY: MAHESH RAJA
Feb 7, UK (SUN) — With regards to the souls falling and not falling from Vaikuntha, I give my understanding on it. Let's take the two examples of not falling:
Srila Prabhupada wrote in the Srimad Bhagavatam 7.1.35 and 3.16.26, purports:
"...the statement that a servant of the Lord could fall from Vaikuntha seems unbelievable."
and
"The conclusion is that no one falls from the spiritual world, or Vaikuntha planet, for it is the eternal abode."
Now, if we note below HOW Srila Prabhupada qualifies with the word USUALLY making it EVEN MORE CLEAR that the soul has got INDEPENDENCE to fall if HE CHOOSES TO FALL. IT IS THE SOUL'S CHOICE. OTHERWISE he DOES NOT FALL. I do not see ANY problem in this at all. So we can understand that generally speaking THE SOUL DOES NOT FALL BECAUSES HE DOES NOT MISUSE THAT INDEPENDENCE. How can we deny there is no independence? Force is not love. There has to be independence to love Krsna or not.
70-02-27 - Letter to Jagadisa:
Regarding your questions concerning the spirit souls falling into Maya's influence, it is not that those who have developed a passive relationship with Krsna are more likely to fall into nescient activities. USUALLY ANYONE WHO HAS DEVELOPED HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH KRSNA DOES NOT FALL DOWN IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, BUT BECAUSE THE INDEPENDENCE IS ALWAYS THERE, THE SOUL MAY FALL DOWN FROM ANY POSITION OR ANY RELATIONSHIP BY MISUSING HIS INDEPENDENCE. BUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH KRSNA IS NEVER LOST, SIMPLY IT IS FORGOTTEN BY THE INFLUENCE OF MAYA, SO IT MAY BE REGAINED OR REVIVED BY THE PROCESS OF HEARING THE HOLY NAME OF KRSNA AND THEN THE DEVOTEE ENGAGES HIMSELF IN THE SERVICE OF THE LORD WHICH IS HIS ORIGINAL OR CONSTITUTIONAL POSITION. THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE LIVING ENTITY WITH KRSNA IS ETERNAL AS BOTH KRSNA AND THE LIVING ENTITY ARE ETERNAL; THE PROCESS IS ONE OF REVIVAL ONLY, NOTHING NEW.
Now, Srila Prabhupada is explaining of the constitution of the soul that it is MARGINAL ENERGY. Again this explains IN MORE DETAIL the INDEPENDENCE of the soul to live in VAIKUNTHA or not to. We cannot deny this fact.
69-10-27 - Letter to Upendra:
Regarding your question, in one sense both you and Mahapurusa are right. The fact is that after the dissolution of the Universe the living entities remain in slumber within Maha Visnu, and again when the creation takes place they are impregnated in their original position and they come out in different species of life. By gradual evolutionary process, when they come to the human form there is good chance of getting out of the repeated birth and death, and one can enter into the Spiritual Realm. But if one loses this chance he is again put into the cycle of birth and death. The conditioned souls are always within the Maha Visnu Form, whereas the liberated souls in Vaikuntha, they are engaged in the service of the Lord. Constitutionally every living entity, even if he is in the Vaikuntha Loka, has chance of falling down. Therefore the living entity is called marginal energy. But when the falldown has taken place for the conditioned soul is very difficult to ascertain. Therefore two classes are designated: eternally liberated and eternally conditioned. But for arguments sake, a living entity being marginal energy, he can't be eternally conditioned. The Time is so unlimited that the conditioned souls appear to be eternally so, but from the philosophical view he cannot be eternally conditioned. Since we cannot trace out when we have become conditioned, there is no use of arguing on this point. Better to take care first how we can get rid of this conditional existence; as much as a patient should take care for treating his disease more, and less waste his time in finding out the cause of his disease.
71-10-09 - Letter to Upendra:
So far your question, the soul is fundamentally pure but he has an aptitude to come to the impure state of material contamination. He is therefore called tatastha or marginal. He has got the liberty of staying within the pure state or becoming contaminated. That is his choice. This marginal point can be understood in this way; just like you are standing on the shore of the sea. So you can remain on the land or sometimes you can jump into the water to enjoy as you will see on the beaches. So many young boys are enjoying. But that is dangerous at the same time. One who does not know swimming expertly well he may become drowned. Similarly the soul from the spiritual platform sometimes jumps over the material ocean of nescience. The Vedic knowledge gives him specific instruction how to swim over but if he is a rascal, he does not take the instruction through the bonafide representative, the spiritual master, and he becomes drowned. That is the position. The Vedic instruction is so nice that the soul, when he jumps over this material ocean, the Vedic instruction teaches him how to swim and come back again to the shore. This swimming process, according to Vedic instruction, is called sacrifice, charity and penance. One who learns these techniques of swimming over the ocean of nescience, he goes back to home, back to Godhead. One who does not take to this swimming process, he becomes drowned. In the Bhagavad-gita this is stated iccha dyesa samutthena . . . svarge yanti parantapa which means deluded by desire to enjoy the material world and becoming envious of Krishna, one comes to this material world. (Bhagavad-gita, 7.27). So read our literature profusely and you will get sufficient knowledge.
Now, Srila Prabhupada is explaining in graphic terms giving an example of a burnt hand in fire - ANYONE can grasp:
670218CC.SF Lectures:
Prabhupada: Yes, they can misuse it also. That power is there. Yes?
Devotee: Well, I believe you once said that once a conditioned soul becomes perfected and gets out of the material world and he goes to Krsnaloka, there's no possibility of falling back.
Prabhupada: No! There is possibility, but he does not come. Just like after putting your hand in the fire, you never put it again if you are really intelligent. So those who are going back to Godhead, they become intelligent. Why going back to Godhead? Just like we are in renounced order of life. So we have renounced our family life after thinking something. Now, if somebody comes, "Swamiji, you take thousand millions of dollars and marry again and become a family man," I'll never become, because I have got my bad experience. I'll never become. So if one is intelligent enough, if he has got actually the bitter taste of this material world, he'll never agree. He'll never agree.
So in conclusion, we can see APPLICATION OF the philosophy of SIMULTANEOUS ONENESS AND DIFFERENCE. He falls but he does not fall at the same time. Srila Prabhupada has explained it thoroughly below HOW the living entity came down - perfectly reasonable example. Why look for contradiction when in fact, the THE WHOLE PHILOSOPHY IS SIMULTANEOUS ONENESS AND DIFFERENCE.
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