How can we be eternal servants of Kṛṣṇa if we are eternally conditioned?
Prabhupāda mentions that the soul is part of the divine potency of Kṛṣṇa and at some point becomes covered but also says that the soul is eternally conditioned. How to understand that?
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This is an updated version of the article I published two weeks ago. The conclusions are the same, but I decided to revisit the original argument:
Kṛṣṇa is the essence of everything, the object of all attraction, and the natural recipient of love for the soul. Philosophically, we can understand that after studying the Bhagavad-gītā. However, when we look around, we don’t see many people deeply in love with Kṛṣṇa. Most are more interested in material things.
Why is that? That’s because of the influence of the three material modes. Kṛṣṇa is transcendental to the material modes, karma, etc. These are His energies and can’t ever cover Him. However, as individual souls, we are very small, and we can be overwhelmed by their influence.
Because of their influence, we become absorbed in matter, and as a consequence, we become attracted to the material objects of this world. That’s exactly the position of most people.
Both the Bhagavad-gītā and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam guide us in the process of becoming free from this influence. In the Gītā, for example, Kṛṣṇa reveals:
daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī, mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante, māyām etāṁ taranti te“This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.”
Material nature is like an ocean for us, which is very difficult to surpass. However, it is just a small fraction of Kṛṣṇa’s energies, and it is under His full control. He can easily take us out; we just need to ask. The soul is also part of Kṛṣṇa’s energy, and when we again connect with the source, we get out of the diseased condition of material attachment.
There is, however, a question that can easily distract us from this process. Instead of trying to get out, we can become absorbed in understanding how we ended up here in the first place. The difficulty is that this is a very difficult philosophical discussion that ultimately can be understood only when we become free from material influence. As long as we are here, the right answer always escapes us, because it is the exact thing that our material attachment makes us desperately reject.
Imagine that we visit a hospice, and one of the patients asks us, “How did I become Napoleon?”
What is your answer to that? There is no answer. He will not accept that he is not Napoleon, and any other answer will lead to a circular argument; and anyway, he will end up convinced of something that is not true. To find the right answer, he has to first cure his craziness.
Similarly, the question appears difficult to us because under material illusion we tend to consider it from a false premise. Prabhupāda explains it in many passages, and he keeps consistently repeating the conclusion every two or three paragraphs in his whole corpus. It’s easy if we just go along, but when we stop to deeply consider it using our intellect, material illusion catches us, and we become absorbed in the apparent contradictions. See the purport to Bg 7.14, for example:
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead has innumerable energies, and all these energies are divine. Although the living entities are part of His energies and are therefore divine, due to contact with material energy their original superior power is covered. Being thus covered by material energy, one cannot possibly overcome its influence. As previously stated, both the material and spiritual natures, being emanations from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are eternal. The living entities belong to the eternal superior nature of the Lord, but due to contamination by the inferior nature, matter, their illusion is also eternal. The conditioned soul is therefore called nitya-baddha, or eternally conditioned. No one can trace out the history of his becoming conditioned at a certain date in material history. Consequently, his release from the clutches of material nature is very difficult, even though that material nature is an inferior energy, because material energy is ultimately conducted by the supreme will, which the living entity cannot overcome. Inferior, material nature is defined herein as divine nature due to its divine connection and movement by the divine will. Being conducted by divine will, material nature, although inferior, acts so wonderfully in the construction and destruction of the cosmic manifestation. The Vedas confirm this as follows: māyāṁ tu prakṛtiṁ vidyān māyinaṁ tu maheśvaram. “Although māyā [illusion] is false or temporary, the background of māyā is the supreme magician, the Personality of Godhead, who is Maheśvara, the supreme controller.” (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 4.10)”
Prabhupāda’s explanation is sound, but it can appear contradictory to the casual reader. Prabhupāda mentions that the soul is part of the divine potency of Kṛṣṇa and at some point becomes covered, but later says that the soul is eternally conditioned. How to understand that?
1) The first point is that the soul is part of the spiritual potency of Kṛṣṇa, the eternal superior nature. We are not matter. Kṛṣṇa has two principal potencies: the internal or spiritual potency, and the external, or material potency. The soul is part of the superior nature, but because we have free will, staying either under the shelter of the spiritual potency or the material potency, we are called marginal. Marginal means the possibility of choice, not constitution. Other passages emphasize we are like Kṛṣṇa in quality, although different in quantity.
The soul may thus be covered by the three modes and forget his spiritual nature, but we do not belong to the material world. It is important to keep this point in mind, for misunderstanding it is the source of much confusion. We don’t need to become something else; we just need to uncover our original constitutional nature of love and service to Kṛṣṇa. This point is emphasized by Mahāprabhu Himself:
“Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.” (CC Madhya 22.107)
2) Although the soul is spiritual by nature, once we are covered by the material energy, we cannot overcome its influence by ourselves. For this, we need the help of Kṛṣṇa. A person can jump into the ocean, but to get out, one needs help. When one is tied, one cannot untie oneself; the only hope is to be rescued by another person. This point is elaborated by Prabhupāda later in the same purport:
“Another meaning of guṇa is rope; it is to be understood that the conditioned soul is tightly tied by the ropes of illusion. A man bound by the hands and feet cannot free himself – he must be helped by a person who is unbound. Because the bound cannot help the bound, the rescuer must be liberated. Therefore, only Lord Kṛṣṇa, or His bona fide representative the spiritual master, can release the conditioned soul. Without such superior help, one cannot be freed from the bondage of material nature. Devotional service, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, can help one gain such release. Kṛṣṇa, being the Lord of the illusory energy, can order this insurmountable energy to release the conditioned soul. He orders this release out of His causeless mercy on the surrendered soul and out of His paternal affection for the living entity, who is originally a beloved son of the Lord. Therefore surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord is the only means to get free from the clutches of the stringent material nature.”
3) There is a difference between the external potency of Kṛṣṇa, which is eternal and divine, and the material manifestation, which is temporary. We can say that the external potency is the eternal energy, the material creation is the temporary manifestation of that energy, and Māyā is the bewildering or covering function that acts upon the conditioned souls, making them forget their transcendental nature and identify with matter.
As Prabhupāda mentions in his purport:
“As previously stated, both the material and spiritual natures, being emanations from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are eternal. [...] Inferior, material nature is defined herein as divine nature due to its divine connection and movement by the divine will. Being conducted by divine will, material nature, although inferior, acts so wonderfully in the construction and destruction of the cosmic manifestation. The Vedas confirm this as follows: māyāṁ tu prakṛtiṁ vidyān māyinaṁ tu maheśvaram. “Although māyā [illusion] is false or temporary, the background of māyā is the supreme magician, the Personality of Godhead, who is Maheśvara, the supreme controller.” (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 4.10)
When Mahā-Viṣnu glances at pradhāna, the external potency is assembled into the cosmic manifestation, and later dissembled back into its original constituents, in an eternal cycle. This is a delicate philosophical discussion held in the Vedānta-sūtra 1.4.25 and 1.4.26, but the important part is that the external potency comes from Kṛṣṇa and is eternal, even though the cosmic manifestation is sometimes active and sometimes not.
4) Here is the part where it appears to become contradictory: “The living entities belong to the eternal superior nature of the Lord, but due to contamination by the inferior nature, matter, their illusion is also eternal. The conditioned soul is therefore called nitya-baddha, or eternally conditioned.”
If the souls are part of the internal potency of Kṛṣṇa, belonging, constitutionally, to the spiritual nature, how can they be called nitya-baddha, eternally conditioned? Do they actually belong to this material world? This is explained in the next sentence: “No one can trace out the history of his becoming conditioned at a certain date in material history.”
There is a difference between the constitutional nature of the soul, the factual, eternal position as a servant of Kṛṣṇa, and the apparent, conditioned nature of the soul, which appears to be eternally part of this material world. These two points must be considered together.
The relation between the eternal nature of the soul as part of the spiritual potency, as well as the eternal constitutional nature of service to Kṛṣṇa and the nitya-baddha classification, can be better understood when we study the CC Madhya 22.107 I just quoted:
nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
Here, the opening states the eternal nature of the soul: nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema, emphasizing that the eternal nature of the soul is love for Kṛṣṇa. That’s exactly the point Prabhupāda makes. Then, the second line, ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya, refutes the opposing element, making the point that the idea that love for Kṛṣṇa has to be established is incorrect. Then, the third part, śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya, gives the process, explaining that this eternal perfection that is already there is uncovered by sādhana, hearing, chanting, etc., which purifies the heart. This is again emphasized by the words karaye udaya: it is not gained, but awakened. Therefore, nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema refers to the constitutional position, while “nitya-baddha” describes the soul as he appears in the beginningless condition of forgetfulness.
The term nitya-baddha explains that the conditioning of the soul cannot be located within material history, and therefore its beginning cannot be calculated in terms of years, kalpas, or any other material unit of time. It is not a historical event that can be traced back. Therefore, for all effects, it appears that the conditioned soul has always been here.
From the spiritual perspective, however, the soul is never separated from Kṛṣṇa at any point, even while living here in the material world. The spiritual connection is thus permanent and constitutional, while the material covering is nonconstitutional and terminable. The eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa is like the sun, and the material covering is like a cloud covering it.
This delicate point is further discussed in the Third and Fourth Cantos of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in a layered discussion that finds a crescendo in the allegory of King Purañjana.
Ultimately, however, this is a very delicate philosophical point that can be understood only by realization; it cannot be forced through material logic. The more we try to force this subject into the categories of material time and logic, the more prone we become to reaching the wrong conclusion.
That’s a point where we have to accept the explanation given by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu:
ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram, patitam mam vishame bhavambudhau kripaya tava pada-pankaja, sthita-dhuli-sadrisham vichintaya
“O son of Maharaja Nanda [Krishna], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.”
We must accept the main point, that the soul is the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, that our position in this material world is an unnatural condition, and from there try to reestablish this forgotten relationship. The intelligent question is not how we fall but how to get out. That’s how Prabhupāda teaches us.
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