How the soul becomes conditioned without actually coming in contact with matter

A difficult point in our philosophy is how the soul becomes conditioned without actually coming in contact with matter. This is one of the philosophical points behind Prabhupada’s “Back to Godhead.”

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One point in our philosophy that is very difficult to understand is how the soul becomes conditioned without actually coming in contact with matter. This is one of the philosophical points behind Prabhupada’s “Back to Godhead.” Some will insist that it must be a preaching strategy because the soul cannot fall from the spiritual world, but when we go deep, we can see that the topic is more complicated than that. As Prabhupada explains, the soul never leaves the association of Kṛṣṇa, because no one falls from the spiritual world. Still, we are here. How is this possible? This is a very philosophical detail explained in the Upaniṣads, and of the philosophy of Lord Kapila.

We study that the material creation starts with the Mahat-tattva. Mahā-Viṣnu looks in the direction of the material energy, and this look impregnates her with all the jīvas who will participate in the material creation.

However, although put into the mahat-tattva, the souls don’t mix with the material elements, remaining separate, just like oil floating on top of water. In fact, even when the universe is fully manifested, the soul never mixes with the material creation, remaining always aloof. Our material experience comes just from our identification with different material bodies, just as someone looking at his phone and identifying with whatever is going on the screen.

As Prabhupāda explains (conversation, July 6, 1976, with Swarupa Damodhara):

“The living entities are always in pure goodness. This material covering is separated. The living entities can be freed from material covering at any moment. Just like water and oil, it is always separated; it does not mix. The Vedic mantra also says, asango ‘yam puruṣaḥ. Actually, it is not mixed, but it is covered. Such covering can be taken away at any moment simply by Kṛṣṇa consciousness.”

This particular point is explained by Lord Kapila in His teachings:

“The Personality of Godhead Kapila continued: When the living entity is thus unaffected by the modes of material nature, because he is unchanging and does not claim proprietorship, he remains apart from the reactions of the modes, although abiding in a material body, just as the sun remains aloof from its reflection on water.

When the soul is under the spell of material nature and false ego, identifying his body as the self, he becomes absorbed in material activities, and by the influence of false ego he thinks that he is the proprietor of everything.

The conditioned soul therefore transmigrates into different species of life, higher and lower, because of his association with the modes of material nature. Unless he is relieved of material activities, he has to accept this position because of his faulty work. (SB 3.27.1-3)

The example of the sun or the moon being reflected on water is given in many passages of the scriptures. Because the soul is of a different nature, the mixture of souls and matter is not possible. Instead, the soul remains always aloof, just as oil on water, on the sun above the reflection. However, the consciousness of the soul is reflected in matter, just like the sun or moon may be reflected in a lake or any other body of water. The reflection may thus appear to be wavering, but this doesn’t mean the sun or moon is wavering.

Sometimes this example is used to explain the difference between the Lord and the jīvas. The Lord is like the sun in the sky, completely unaffected, while the conditioned soul is compared to the reflection, being affected by the movements of the water. In this case, however, Lord Kapila is using the same example to explain the difference between a conditioned soul and a liberated soul. The conditioned soul identifies with the reflection on water and thus suffers or enjoys according to the movement of the three modes. A liberated soul, however, identifies with his real identity, transcendental to matter.

The Chāndogya Upaniṣad (6.10) mentions: “Tat tvam asi”. There, Uddālaka describes several characteristics of the Supreme Brahman to his son, Śvetaketu, and concludes each explanation with the words “tat tvam asi.”

“Tat tvam asi” indicates similarity. For example, when we say “you are like him”, pointing to another person, it doesn’t mean that literally you are him, but that although different individuals, you share similar qualities or characteristics. The soul is the same as the Lord in terms of quality but is different in terms of quantity. The soul is also a separate individual. It’s thus incorrect to interpret tat tvam asi as “you are that”. The correct translation is “You are like that”, indicating that we are like the Lord, although eternally separated as different individuals. Prabhupāda translates tat tvam asi as “you are the same spiritual identity” and as “you are as good as God.”

In this way, a liberated soul is as good as the Lord. Just as the Lord is transcendental, the liberated soul is also transcendental. The Lord remains uncontaminated with matter, and the soul is also never factually touched by matter, although, by accepting the covering of the false ego, we think that we become so.

On the other hand, when a soul comes under the strong influence of the false ego, he sees himself as the body and thinks that he is doing things and that he is the proprietor of everything. In other words, he identifies with the reflection in the water, instead of his original position in the sky. By identifying with the gross and subtle bodies in this way, he has to enjoy or suffer according to the fate of the body. One has to experience death, suffer in hell, and so on. The soul does not die or go to hell, but by identifying with this particular material identity, the soul has to go through such experiences. Ultimately, all types of material activities are bad because they reinforce this identification with the body and create results that extend our existence in this material world. Pious activities are a little better because they may, over time, bring one to the platform of goodness, but they also lead one to another material body. The only solution is to perform akarma, activities performed in devotional service that don’t produce material results.

Lord Kapila continues:

“Actually a living entity is transcendental to material existence, but because of his mentality of lording it over material nature, his material existential condition does not cease, and just as in a dream, he is affected by all sorts of disadvantages.

It is the duty of every conditioned soul to engage his polluted consciousness, which is now attached to material enjoyment, in very serious devotional service with detachment. Thus his mind and consciousness will be under full control.” (SB 3.27.4-5)

Here, Lord Kapila gives another example to illustrate the position of the soul in the material world. Our position here is similar to a dream, where we suffer and enjoy many illusory situations that have no connection with our real position.

One may dream that he is in a dark forest and feel fear, or one may even have a nightmare, dreaming he is dying, being devoured by a tiger. Both are simply due to his delirious condition. There is no possibility of one being killed by the illusory tiger he sees in a dream. The tiger inside the dream does not affect reality, and one can easily understand that as soon as he finally awakens from the dream.

In the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa explains that the soul is immortal and can’t be harmed by any type of weapon. This shows how all the threats we fear in this world are just like the tiger in the dream. The soul has his real existence outside of this material creation, and as soon as we wake up from it, we can clearly see that all the fear and lamentation we experienced here were nothing more than a dream.

A dream is not false; it exists on a subtle level, and we are experiencing it. The defect is that we accept the situations created in the dream as real, and thus we enjoy or suffer. A similar example is a movie. A movie is not false; it exists. The fault is when we identify with the characters in the movie and start thinking that it is real. In this case, we laugh and cry following their adventures, although in reality, it has nothing to do with our lives. In other words, both the dream and the movie are real, but they have nothing to do with our real existence. What happens inside the dream or the movie has no effect in the real world.

Similarly, this whole material creation is like the dream of Mahā-Viṣnu. He creates it as an alternate reality for the souls who want to forget their real lives and temporarily join the dreamland. Being parts and parcels of the Lord, we join Him in His dream and thus are placed in this material world. The material world is thus not false, the problem is in accepting what we experience here as reality. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means to focus on our real life of service to Kṛṣṇa, and gradually wake up from the dream.

As Prabhupada mentions, “The best service to the people in general is to awaken them to Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that they may know that the supreme enjoyer, the supreme proprietor and the supreme friend is Kṛṣṇa. Then this illusory dream of lording it over material nature will vanish.”

Living in the dream means to think of ourselves as the enjoyers, the proprietors, the objects of attention, the maintainers of others, and so on. In the spiritual world, Kṛṣṇa is the center of attention of everyone. He maintains everyone, is the friend of everyone, and is the Supreme proprietor and enjoyer. Life in this material world means trying to imitate Kṛṣṇa. When we think like this, maya covers our consciousness, and we become engaged in so many material activities, trying to enjoy this world and helping others to also enjoy. A gross materialist uses his money to enjoy his senses to the best capacity, while a pious materialist performs charity and uses his money to help others to satisfy their senses. In both cases, the object of service is the material senses. The pious materialist is considered a little better, but both are an illusion and are in practice more or less the same.

The basic principle of bhakti-yoga is to accept that Kṛṣṇa is the proprietor, Kṛṣṇa is the enjoyer, Kṛṣṇa is the maintainer, the friend, etc., and that all our actions should be performed in cooperation with His desire. Being Kṛṣṇa Conscious means accepting these principles and then trying to broadcast them and present this knowledge to others. The sound of the holy names and descriptions of Kṛṣṇa’s form, qualities, pastimes, etc., is non-different from Kṛṣṇa, and they can thus elevate our consciousness, connecting us with Him.

This point about the soul not being factually touched by matter is one of the delicate points behind Śrīla Prabhupāda's explanations of the soul as an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, eternally connected to Him in a bond of love, even though we are currently in conditioned life. While some Vaiṣnavas prefer to adopt the crude and contradictory interpretation of the jīva never existing outside of the material world, Prabhupāda offers a much deeper explanation that goes deep into the meaning of these and other delicate passages of the scriptures. This also puts us in the correct mindset, of understanding our life in the material world as a temporary phenomenon, and the role of our free will and illusion in our material conditioning, and not as some capricious decision by Kṛṣṇa.

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