 | Here are some relevant quotes from Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s Jīva-dharma which was translated by Sarvabhāvana dāsa and which is in a raw, unedited state. These quotes are copied directly from the original manuscript and contain the same errors as the original. Please forgive the form, but relish the meaning.
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Servitorship to Kṛṣṇa is jīva’s eternal religion. When jīva forgets this truth, he is enslaved by māyā; from that moment on jīva turns away from Kṛṣṇa—he rejects Him. From the time jīva comes into this material world he has already rejected Kṛṣṇa, and so there are no historical statements recording his falldown. This truth justifies the use of the phrase anādi-bahirmukha, ”eternally turned away from the spiritual realm.”
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| The instant jīva rejects Kṛṣṇa and embraces material existence, his eternal religion becomes perverted.
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In truth, māyā is merely a transformation and a reflected image of the Supreme Lord’s śakti—she is not a separate or independent śakti. Māyā is the cause of jīva’s imprisonment and freedom. When jīva rejects Kṛṣṇa, māyā ensnares him in material existence and punishes him. When jīva devotes himself to serving Kṛṣṇa, māyā manifests her sattva-guṇa (mode of goodness) and rewards him with knowledge about Kṛṣṇa.
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Out of the flames fall innumerable little sparks; similarly from the rays of the transcendental sun, Lord Hari, emanate millions of minute particles of light, the infinitesimal spirit soul—jīva. Jīva is nondifferent from the Supreme Lord Hari and yet simultaneously he is eternally distinct from the Lord. The eternal difference between the Supreme Lord and jīva is that the Lord is always the master and controller of māyā-śakti, whereas jīva, even in his liberated state, is by his very nature vulnerable to come under māyā’s survey.
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Vrajanātha: So kindly tell me more about jīva’s eternal nature.
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| Bābājī: Jīva is an infinitesimal spiritual entity endowed with the merit of knowledge (jñāna); possesses the identity of “I”; is an enjoyer; is a counsellor and an intelligent conscious being. Jīva is the proprietor of an eternal identity which is extremely esoteric and subtle. The human body is made complete by the inclusion of its eyes, ears, nose etc.; similarly jīva’s spiritual body is embellished with perfect symmetrical features, and this is his eternal form. When jīva becomes conditioned, two false identities (upādhi) enshroud his eternal, spiritual form. The first shroud is made up of his subtle, mental frame, the second is his gross physical body.
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| The upādhi of subtle body is indispensible to the jīva which he acquires from the moment of māyā’s captivity and remains with him till he becomes liberated (mukta).
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Vrajanātha: What is the difference between jīva’s eternal form (nitya-śarīra) and subtle body (liṅga-śarīra)?
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| Bābājī: The eternal form is fully spiritual, faultless and jīva’s real identity, which is, his true self or I. The subtle body is acquired by jīva at the time of material contact. It consists of three corrupt transformations of spiritual energy—mind, intelligence and false ego (mana, buddhi, ahaṅkāra).
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The identity of jīva’s eternal form (nitya-svarūpa) which is related to the transcendental sun, Kṛṣṇa, as His integral part and parcel, is eternal—when jīva is liberated (mukta) he regains his original, eternal identity. As long as the eternal identity remains under the wraps of liṅga-śarīra, jīva’s identification with this material world will be more pronounced, concomitantly his spiritual identity will be nonassertive.
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Vrajanātha: Respected master, I have understood that jīva’s eternal form is spiritual and the spiritual limbs and features of jīva are sublime and beautiful. In his conditioned state, his subtle material body veils this beautiful form and the gross material covering completely corrupts and perverts his original identity. I wonder if jīva in his emancipated condition (mukta-avasthā) is fully flawless?
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| Bābājī: The atomic part and parcel of God, jīva’s spiritual form, is certainly faultless but incomplete, due to his extremely diminutive size and vulnerability. The only visible weakness in this faultless condition is that in a close encounter with māyā-śakti (illusory potency) his spiritual form is capable of becoming eclipsed and concealed. This is how Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes it:
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| ye 'nye ravindākṣa vimuka-māninas
tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ
āruhya kṛccheṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ
patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ
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| “O lotus-eyed one, those who think they are liberated in this life but do not render devotional service to You have impure intelligence. Although they accept severe austerities and penances and rise to the spiritual position to impersonal Brahman realization, they fall down again because they neglect to worship Your lotus feet.”
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.2.32)
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| Thus we see that however elevated a position a liberated soul may attain, his incomplete constitution stays permanently with him—this is the definition of jīva-tattva. Thus the Vedas iterate that bhagavān is the Lord of māyā and jīva is in all situations susceptible to māyā’s subjugation.
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Vrajanātha: Why do you refer to karma as being without a beginning?
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| Bābājī: The prime cause of all fruitive actions is the desire for it, and at the root of this desire lies ignorance. The definition of ignorance is when jīva forgets he is Kṛṣṇa’s servant. This ignorance did not sprout out within the span of the creation of this material universe—the seed of karma lies in the matrix of jīva’s marginal position. Since karma’s source within the material world is untraceable it is described as beginningless.
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One who is falsely identifying with the body and is staking claims in relation to the body is the jīva, who, due to this false identification, has been divested of his true spiritual identity.
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The liberated jīva transcends the confines of his gross and subtle material bodies and acquires a spiritual form luminiscent with transcendental luster—this is his original, supramundane identity. He is a perfected being and resides in the spiritual world relishing every moment of sublime activities and divine bliss.
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Jīva’s imprisonment commenced due to his offenses (aparādha). The original offense is jīva’s forgetfulness of his position as the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.
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