Do the souls ever come back after achieving liberation?

There are different types of liberation, but only one results in a permanent situation from which we never have to come back.

Some time ago, I received an interesting question: Do souls ever come back to Earth after attaining liberation? It's actually a little harder than it may seem at first.

In the Bhagavad-Gita (8.21), Krsna says, "That supreme abode is called unmanifested and infallible, and it is the supreme destination. When one goes there, he never comes back."

When the soul attains its original position as an eternal servant of Krsna in one of the spiritual planets, there is no coming back. However, there are many other possibilities that can distract us, and when we go for any of those, we return. There are different types of liberation, but only one results in a permanent situation from which we never have to come back.

First of all, the soul can choose the easy path and just go for sense gratification, trying to satisfy all one’s material desires in this life. This is not a wise choice, since it leads to the hellish planets and to animal life, where one can become entangled for a very long time. In Christian theology, hell is described as a place of eternal suffering, but this is a misconception. There is nothing "eternal" in this material world, since even the universe itself is temporary. Just as everything else, hell is temporary. One may fall there due to serious sins, such as animal killing. After paying these karmic debts, one is free to go. The biggest problem is that an impious life leads on to the animal species, back to the gradual progression through the 8.4 million species of life described in the Vedas, an extremely slow process that can take billions of years. However, even this is not eternal: eventually, one becomes a human being again and has another chance.

Another possibility is to be a pious person, worship demigods or the ancestors, and in this way go to Svargaloka or to Pitṛloka. That's a destination very sought after by materialists, but it's also temporary since when one's pious merits finish, one is forced to return to Earth for another birth. One can even go higher, to Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka, or another of the topmost planetary systems. If one reaches Maharloka, one can live for up to 4.3 billion years, all the way to the end of the current day of Brahma, and if one goes to Janaloka or higher, one can live for trillions of years, up to the end of the universe. However, even there one's position is not permanent.

Tired of this up and down inside the material world, some become transcendentalists and aim for liberation, trying to attain a permanent position of bliss. Buddhists hope to attain Nirvana, while impersonalists want to attain the impersonal Brahmajyoti.

What the Buddhists call Nirvana is merging into Pradhana, the causal ocean, which is the border between the material and spiritual worlds. As described in the Srimad Bhagavatam: "In that Vaitaraṇī Ocean, which is the Causal Ocean, there are innumerable universes floating like footballs. On the other side of the ocean is the spiritual world of Vaikuṇṭha" (ŚB 4.22.40).

The Pradhana is a comfortable place, where the soul is free from the influence of the material modes and beyond all material suffering. However, this is a type of liberation where the soul doesn't awaken its original spiritual consciousness. Because the Pradhana is not the ultimate destination of the soul, one may remain there for a very long period of time, in an unconscious state, but eventually, he will come back to the material world for want of activity.

The impersonal liberation in the Brahmajyoti sought after by the impersonalists is also a form of interim liberation. In this case, the soul goes as far as the effulgence of the spiritual planets, but again, due to not cultivating a personal relationship with Krsna, he has to eventually come back. Life in the Brahmajyoti is similar to the life of an astronaut in orbit. One may remain there for some time, but without finding a permanent shelter, one will eventually have to come back.

As Prabhupada mentions on SB 2.2.31: "Similarly, when the materialist becomes frustrated in his attempts to enjoy himself in the limited material world, he may seek impersonal liberation by merging either with the Causal Ocean or with the impersonal brahmajyoti effulgence. However, as neither the Causal Ocean nor the impersonal brahmajyoti effulgence affords any superior substitute for association and engagement of the senses, the impersonalist will fall again into the limited material world to become entangled once more in the wheel of births and deaths, drawn on by the inextinguishable desire for sensual engagement."

Coming back from the Pradhana or the impersonal Brahmajyoti to this material world is actually not as bad as it may seem, because coming from these pure abodes, a soul takes birth in a pious family. Pious life can give one the chance of meeting pure devotees and finally awakening one's eternal relationship with Krsna.

If a soul has the opportunity to associate with devotees, hear Krsna's pastimes, and chant his Holy Names, there is the possibility that the soul may finally become attracted to the devotional process, and eventually reach his eternal position as an eternal associate of the Lord, be it in one of the innumerable Vaikuṇṭha planets, or be it in Goloka Vṛndāvana. These are the Supreme abodes described in the Bhagavad-Gita, from which one never returns. The reason the soul never returns is that this is the position where one finally feels completely satisfied.

In the Brhad Bhagavatamrta, we hear how Gopa Kumāra, after traveling through so many different places all over the creation, was able to finally attain full satisfaction only after becoming a personal associate of the Lord. That's the ultimate destination for all of us. That's the place from where we will truly never have to return unless one desires to come to the material world to join the Lord's pastimes here, or to preach to the souls still stuck here.

In a nutshell, souls do come back eventually even after attaining liberation in the Pradhana or the impersonal Brahmajyoti, but souls who attain a personal relationship with the Lord in one of the spiritual planets have never to return, although one may voluntarily come to the material world with some particular purpose or to fulfill some specific mission, just like Srila Prabhupada and other of our previous ācāryas.

Since you came all the way here, click on the like button and help with the algorithm. It doesn't cost anything and helps the article reach more people. You can also share it or post a comment. Thanks! :)