The final conclusion on the "fall" of the Jīva (Srimad Bhagavatam #74)

The final conclusions of the different topics discussed in the Srimad Bhagavatam given by Prabhupada, and the final lesson were this topic will be discussed.

Aug 30, 2025

At the beginning of our movement, disciples of Prabhupada had no doubts about our eternal relationship with Krsna and how the soul ends up in the material world, because the only source of information for them was the books of Srila Prabhupada, where the question is explained clearly. However, in the late 1970s, devotees coming in contact with other ideas transformed this point into a battleground. At some point, Prabhupada wrote an essay directly clarifying the topic to his disciple, Madhudvisa Prabhu, which I try to explain in detail here.

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The final conclusion on the "fall" of the Jīva

We come then to the conclusion of the passage, given in the next five verses:

"Actually, you are not the daughter of Vidarbha, nor is this man, Malayadhvaja, your well-wishing husband. Nor were you the actual husband of Purañjanī. You were simply captivated in this body of nine gates." (SB 4.28.60)

Just as our relationship with the body is illusory and temporary, our relationships with friends, relatives, and well-wishers are also illusory and impermanent. As Prabhupada explains: "As water passes down a river, many straws and grasses are carried from the shore. These straws and grasses come together in the river’s current, but when the waves toss this way and that, they are separated and carried somewhere else. Similarly, the innumerable living entities within this material world are being carried by the waves of material nature. Sometimes the waves bring them together, and they form friendships and relate to one another on a bodily basis of family, community or nationality. Eventually they are thrown out of association by the waves of material nature. This process has been going on since the creation of material nature."

If these relationships are centered in Krsna, they can help us to remember our original spiritual nature, but if the relationships are purely material, the friends and relatives become an obstacle for our spiritual development, because they will try to always drag us down to the material illusion they are so attached to. It is in this sense that Prabhupada declares: "One’s so-called husband, relative, son, father or whatever cannot actually be a well-wisher. The only actual well-wisher is Kṛṣṇa Himself."

Accepting we are not the body, and that all relationships connected with the body are temporary and ultimately illusory, the next question is: what am I, factually? Could it be that I'm not the body, but still, somehow, a product of this material world? Some imply this by concluding that the jīva was never out of the material creation. However, the Lord removes this doubt in the next two verses:

"Sometimes you think yourself a man, sometimes a chaste woman and sometimes a neutral eunuch. This is all because of the body, which is created by the illusory energy. This illusory energy is My potency, and actually both of us — you and I — are pure spiritual identities. Now just try to understand this. I am trying to explain our factual position.
My dear friend, I, the Supersoul, and you, the individual soul, are not different in quality, for we are both spiritual. In fact, My dear friend, you are qualitatively not different from Me in your constitutional position. Just try to consider this subject. Those who are actually advanced scholars, who are in knowledge, do not find any qualitative difference between you and Me." (SB 4.28.61-62)

Mayavadis misunderstand the relationship of the Lord and the soul, concluding that they are one in all aspects. However, all Vaiṣnava ācāryas agree that although we share the same spiritual nature of the Lord, we are separate individuals. Because we are very small, we can be easily captured by the material energy, which is so expansive, but the unlimited Lord remains always in His transcendental position and can thus save us. This is explained in the Upaniṣads with the example of the two birds on the tree.

This difference is explained by Prabhupada in his purport to text 61: "The factual position of both the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entity is qualitatively one. The Supreme Lord is the Supreme Spirit, the Supersoul, and the living entity is the individual spiritual soul. Even though both of them are original spiritual identities, the living entity forgets his identity when he comes in contact with material nature and becomes conditioned. At such a time he identifies himself as a product of the material nature. Because of the material body, he forgets that he is the eternal (sanātana) part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

Again, we see the word "forgets" is used. This is a very important point to understand this complicated topic. "Forgot" or "lost" is a temporary, solvable status. When we forget something, we just need to remember. If something is lost, it just needs to be found. It is very different from the idea of something never existing or having to be established, which contradicts the idea of eternity, and the conclusion of Mahāprabhu quoted previously.

This is very didactically explained by Prabhupada in the rest of his purport:

"This is confirmed in this way: mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ. The word sanātana is found in several places in Bhagavad-gītā. Both the Lord and the living entity are sanātana (eternal), and there is also a place known as sanātana, beyond this material nature. The real residence of both the living entity and God is the domain of sanātana, not this material world. The material world is the temporary, external energy of the Lord, and the living entity is placed in this material world because he wanted to imitate the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this material world he tries to enjoy his senses to his best capacity. All the activities of the conditioned soul within this material world are perpetually taking place in different types of bodies, but when the living entity acquires developed consciousness, he should try to rectify his situation and again become a member of the spiritual world. The process by which one can return home, back to Godhead, is bhakti-yoga, sometimes called sanātana-dharma. Instead of accepting a temporary occupational duty based on the material body, one should take to the process of sanātana-dharma, or bhakti-yoga, so that he can put an end to this perpetual bondage in material bodies and return home, back to Godhead. As long as human society works on the basis of false material identification, all the so-called advancements of science and philosophy are simply useless. They only serve to mislead human society. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ: in the material world, the blind simply lead the blind."

"As a person sees the reflection of his body in a mirror to be one with himself and not different, whereas others actually see two bodies, so in our material condition, in which the living being is affected and yet not affected, there is a difference between God and the living entity." (SB 4.28.63)

This verse describes the simultaneous oneness and difference of the soul and the Lord. The Lord is very big, and the soul is very small, and the soul has a tendency to fall into illusion, while the Lord is always transcendental. Mayavadis, however, fail to understand this point.

This verse also invokes the same idea of reflection that is offered by Lord Kapila in the third canto to explain the presence of the transcendental soul inside the material world, explaining the simultaneous sameness and difference of the Supreme Lord and the conditioned soul.

As Prabhupada explains: "Although he and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are one in quality, the living entity is prone to forget his spiritual identity, whereas the Supreme Personality never forgets. This is the difference between lipta and alipta. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is eternally alipta, uncontaminated by the external energy. The conditioned soul, however, being in contact with material nature, forgets his real identity; therefore when he sees himself in the conditioned state, he identifies himself with the body."

The previous verse already defined that the soul and the Lord are non-different in terms of quality. Both share the same spiritual nature. However, when we consider our current state, it doesn't look at all like we may be qualitatively one with the Lord. The Lord is pure and transcendental, while we live under the influence of the three material modes. The Lord is perfect, while we struggle with the four material imperfections, and so on. How can this be explained?

In the third canto, Lord Kapila used the example of the light of the sun entering a dark room through a small orifice on the wall, being reflected in the water on a pot, and from there being reflected again on the walls, thus illuminating the whole room.

This example explains how both the Lord and the soul manifest in the material world. In the case of the Lord, the original sun is Mahā-Viṣnu, who simultaneously enters each and every material universe as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu (who is compared to the reflection on the water), and then as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, who permeates the whole universe, just as the light reflected on the walls. Lord Kapila explains that the Lord manifests as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu as a form of reflection, since He doesn't directly enter into contact with the material energy.

In the case of the soul, the water in the pot is the false ego, and the walls are the senses and other parts of the body. The consciousness of the soul is thus reflected first in the false ego, and from there illuminates all parts of the body with consciousness. In this verse, this same example is invoked to explain the conditioned status of the soul.

When we see ourselves reflected in a mirror, the reflection will include any imperfections present in the mirror. If the mirror is blue, our reflection will appear blue; if the mirror is cracked, our reflection will appear deformed, and so on. Our conditioned identity is thus just like the reflection on the cracked mirror, containing many imperfections. However, under the spell of illusion, we identify with this imperfect reflection, forgetting who we truly are.

This point of the soul identifying with the imperfect material identity, the reflection on matter, corresponds to the first part of the verse, "As a person sees the reflection of his body in a mirror to be one with himself and not different".

In this way, the person in front of the mirror (the conditioned soul) may identify with the reflection and forget his real self, but another person seeing from the outside will see two distinct entities: the real person and the reflection, and will have no problem in distinguishing between the two. Similarly, a self-realized soul can clearly see that the pure soul is different from the imperfect material identity, and he thus tries to bring one back to sanity. That's what the verse explains by "whereas others actually see two bodies".

The verse then continues, explaining that "in our material condition, in which the living being is affected and yet not affected, there is a difference between God and the living entity."

Although in one sense we are affected by the imperfections in the mirror, these effects are limited to the reflection; they don't affect our real self. Similarly, although the conditioned identity may exhibit so many imperfections, they don't affect the soul, which remains transcendental.

When we compare two persons, we see that although separate individuals, they share the same nature. However, if we put the first person in front of a mirror, and we compare the reflection in the mirror with the second person, certainly, the reflection is of a very different nature. Now we are not comparing two persons, but a real person and a two-dimensional reflection. Similarly, the current conditioned nature of the soul is very different from the real, pure, transcendental soul. When we compare this conditioned reflection with the Lord, they indeed appear to be very different. However, when we compare the Lord and the original soul, who continues to exist simultaneously with the reflection, we suddenly realize they share the same nature.

As Prabhupada explains, our original spiritual nature continues to exist even now. The problem is that now we are identifying with our conditioned nature, and not with our eternal, Krsna-conscious self. We are just like a person in front of the mirror, thinking we are the reflection, instead of our real self. The point is thus to bring our consciousness out of the conditioned reflection, understanding we are not the body, mind, intelligence, or even the material ego, but an eternal servant of the Lord.

"In this way both swans live together in the heart. When the one swan is instructed by the other, he is situated in his constitutional position. This means he regains his original Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which was lost because of his material attraction." (SB 4.28.64)

How can we return to our transcendental position? We need to abandon our arrogant attitude and accept the guidance of the Lord, who speaks to us from within, as Paramātmā, and from without as the spiritual master. The verse describes the soul returning to its transcendental position by the words "naṣṭām āpa punaḥ smṛtim" (again gaining one's real understanding which was lost), which Prabhupada translates as "he regains his original Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which was lost because of his material attraction."

Nārada thus concludes his teachings to Prācīnabarhi. Although spoken as an allegory, all the points in the narration are truthful, and are spoken for the elevation of both the king and us, students of the Srimad Bhagavatam:

"My dear King Prācīnabarhi, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes, is celebrated to be known indirectly. Thus I have described the story of Purañjana to you. Actually it is an instruction for self-realization." (SB 4.28.65)

A commentary on ‘Crow and Tal-Fruit Logic’ (Prabhupada's essay on the "fall" of the jīva)

This is not a very important topic in itself. The difficulty is that when one doesn't properly understand the explanations Prabhupada gives, one may end up questioning his teachings as a whole, which can have a very negative influence on one’s spiritual development. This is the main reason I'm taking so much of your time to explain these points here.

When we study this essay in the context of all the other explanations Prabhupada gives in the different passages of the Srimad Bhagavatam, the meaning becomes clear. Here is the original text of Prabhupada, followed by some explanations of the points he makes:

Always With Kṛṣṇa

"We never had any occasion when we were separated from Krsna. Just like one man is dreaming and he forgets himself. In dream he creates himself in different forms: now I am the King discussing like that. This creation of himself is as seer and subject matter or seen, two things. But as soon as the dream is over, the "seen" disappears. But the seer remains. Now he is in his original position.Our separation from Krsna is like that. We dream this body and so many relationships with other things. First the attachment comes to enjoy sense gratification. Even with Krsna desire for sense gratification is there. There is a dormant attitude for forgetting Krsna and creating an atmosphere for enjoying independently."

When we dream, we may go to different places and experience many different situations, but in reality, we never leave our bed. Similarly, we go from one body to the other and experience both joy and suffering in this material world, even though we never leave our original position. There is thus never an occasion when we were separated from Krsna.

As Lord Kapila explains in his teachings in the 3rd canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, the consciousness of the soul is reflected in matter and then covered by false ego, intelligence, mind, and senses, creating a conditioned identity we call "us". This material identity created around the reflected consciousness of the soul is the subtle body, which travels from one body to the other in the material world, while the soul itself remains in its original position. Krsna mentions this point in the Gītā when He defines the soul as "immovable". The soul itself never leaves its original position in the spiritual sky; what moves from one body to another is the subtle body, just as one doesn't leave his bed while dreaming, even though one may experience different dreams, and one doesn't move from his chair while playing in a computer game.

The word "jīva" in the scriptures is sometimes used to refer to this subtle body, leading to passages mentioning that the "jīva" was never out of the material world, or that the "jīva" doesn't have love for Krsna. In fact, the subtle body is a material creation and was never out of the material sky, nor does it have love of Godhead inside; these are characteristics of the transcendental soul. Currently, we identify with this material identity. The challenge is to again identify with our true nature as eternal servants of Krsna, and that's precisely what we are trying to do through our practice of Krsna Consciousness.

Prabhupada explains this point in many passages. Just to give an example, we can consider this passage from Teachings of Lord Caitanya: "The living entities are factually beyond this covered, inferior energy. They have their pure spiritual existence, their pure identity and their pure mental activities – all beyond the manifestation of this material cosmos. Although the living entity’s mind, intelligence and identity are beyond the range of this material world, when he enters into this material world due to his desire to lord it over matter, his original mind, intelligence and body become covered by the material energy. When he is again free of the covering of this material, inferior energy, he is called liberated. When he is liberated he has no false ego, but his real ego again comes into existence."

Prabhupada explains that a dream has two aspects: the seer and the situation being seen. This counters the Mayavadis, who argue that both the seer and the seem ultimately don't exist (arguing that in reality we are all one, part of Brahman, and the material creation is false). Prabhupada, however, argues that we are real, eternal individuals, and just the illusion of seeing ourselves as part of the material creation has to be corrected. When we wake up from the dream, we again see ourselves in our original, awakened position.

What does Prabhupada mean when he says that "Even with Krsna desire for sense gratification is there"? Does it mean there is lust in the spiritual world? Of course not, as he explains in the sentence immediately after: "There is a dormant attitude for forgetting Krsna and creating an atmosphere for enjoying independently."

Although there is no lust, material desire, or any other influence of illusion in the spiritual world, there is a dormant nature to enjoy independently from Krsna, resultant from the free will that is an integral part of every soul. As Prabhupada explains: "By misusing his independence, the living entity falls down from the service of the Lord and takes a position in this material world as an enjoyer" (SB 4.28.53). Due to free will, one desires to become an independent enjoyer, and abandoning the association of the Lord, one is captured by illusion. The fall is thus due to free will; material contamination comes later.

Marginal position

"At the edge of the beach, sometimes water covers the sand, and sometimes there is dry sand; the ocean is coming and going. Our position is like that, sometimes covered, sometimes free, just like at the edge of the tide. As soon as we forget, immediately illusion is there; just as when we sleep, a dream is there. We cannot say, therefore, that we are not with Kṛṣṇa."

We are called the marginal potency of Krsna because we can choose between being under the shelter of the internal potency or being covered by illusion. "Marginal" doesn't mean a geographical location, but the possibility of making a choice, going from one side to the other. As long as we keep ourselves in our original position, we remain protected, but when we reject the service of Krsna, we can be easily captured. In this sense, we are "sometimes covered, sometimes free", due to free will. Being sometimes covered, sometimes free, doesn't mean, however, that we fall repeatedly in this material world.

Prabhupada then evokes again the analogy of the dream to make the point that even while covered by ignorance in this material world, we are still with Krsna, just like a man asleep doesn't leave his house or his family, even though, during the dream, he may not be aware of them.

Covered by maya

"As soon as we try to become the Lord, immediately we’re covered by maya. Formerly we were with Kṛṣṇa in His lila, or sport. But this covering of maya may be of very, very, very, very long duration; therefore many creations are coming and going. Due to this long period of time it is sometimes said that we are ever conditioned. But this long duration of time becomes very insignificant when one actually comes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness."

How can Maya capture us? Does she have the power to invade the spiritual world and forcefully drag down the jīvas, taking them away from the service of Krsna?

When we hear that we were with Krsna in His lila, we may imagine that we were all gopis or cowherd boys, but that's not what Prabhupada is saying. He insists that we were with Krsna, in a position of service, but he doesn't directly try to explain which position that is. This echoes the prayers of Lord Caitanya in the Sri Śikṣāṣṭakam: "O son of Maharaja Nanda (Krsna), 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."

This is also consistent with the teachings of other ācāryas. Even Srila Jīva Goswami doesn't try to directly answer this question, limiting himself to offering a few simple explanations that may satisfy one's curiosity without entering into details. In his Paramātmā Sandarbha (section 46), for example, he states:

tad evam jīvas tad-amsatvät sukṣma-jyoti-rupa ity eke. tathaiva hi kaustubhamśatvena vyanjitam
"Some thinkers say that the individual spirit souls are tiny particles of light. It is sometimes said that the individual spirit souls are particles of light from the Supreme Lord's Kaustubha jewel."

Here, he doesn't imply that this is the absolute truth, or that it applies to all, limiting himself to saying "ity eke" (some say), giving it as a possibility for those who are looking for a simple explanation. He thus gives the idea that our eternal constitutional position is one of a personal relationship with the Lord and that we were relating personally with Him, in His personal form, before somehow or other starting our material adventure. Material life becomes thus an opportunity to regain this forgotten relationship, or to deepen it, achieving the position of a direct associate of the Lord in one of his lilas.

This is certainly a much better explanation than the idea of the soul never being out of this material world, or coming from the Brahmajyoti or the causal ocean, where there is no service, no understanding of the Lord's personal form, and no propensity for loving the Lord. Srila Prabhupada explains that the Brahmajyoti is an already fallen position (which is proved by the fact that it is an unstable position, from which one can fall back into the material world), and thus it's not the origin of the soul. We can see that Prabhupada's conclusion is in accordance with the teachings of Srila Jīva Goswami.

Prabhupada mentions that although we can remain in conditioned life for an excruciatingly long period of time, when we return to our original position, all of this looks insignificant. How can it be so? This is explained in the next paragraphs:

Dreaming condition

"In a dream, we may think a very long time is passing, but as soon as we awaken we look at our watch and see it has been only a moment. Another example is how Kṛṣṇa’s friends were kept asleep for one year by Brahma, but when they woke up and Kṛṣṇa returned, they considered that only a moment had passed.This “dreaming” condition is called non-liberated life. It is just like a dream. Although by material calculation it is a long, long period, as soon as we come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness this period is considered a second."

In the Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta, it is explained that time flows at different paces in different parts of the cosmos. One day in the celestial planets corresponds to one year for us, and what is just a moment in Brahmaloka appears to be thousands of years on Earth. The higher we go, the greater the difference becomes. When we finally reach the spiritual world, one moment can equal an unlimited period of time in the material creation. In the Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta, Gopa Kumāra could see that when Lord Viṣnu would come as an incarnation, He would be absent for just a fraction of a second in Vaikuṇṭha.

Prabhupada extrapolates this point to conclude that even though our material conditioning may be practically limitless (to the point we are called nitya-baddha, or "eternally conditioned" since it is so long it is not possible to trace the origin), it equals an insignificant span of time in the spiritual world. Therefore, when we return to our original position, it seems just a moment passed, just like we may nod during japa and have a dream that may appear long, while in reality, just a moment passed.

Prabhupada discusses the point of the word "anādi" being used to describe the conditioning of the soul in his purport to CC Madhya 20.117.

Jaya and Vijaya

"Jaya and Vijaya had their lila with Kṛṣṇa, but they had to come down for their little mistake. They were given mukti, merging into the Brahma-sayujya, after being killed three times as demons.This Brahma-sayujya mukti is nonpermanent. Every living entity wants pleasure, but Brahma-sayujya is lacking in pleasure; it consists only of eternal existence. So when those who get Brahma-sayujya mukti do not find transcendental bliss, they fall down to make a compromise with material bliss, for example, by founding schools and hospitals.Even Lord Brahma is still material and wants to lord it over the material world. He may come down to become a germ, but then he may rise up to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and go back home, back to Godhead. This is the position."

Apart from our original position of service to Krsna, any other position we may find in the material sphere will be impermanent. Even Brahma may continue into the cycle of birth and death and fall into lower species of life if he doesn't take the process of developing his Krsna Consciousness seriously. In fact, even a position in the impersonal Brahmajyoti will be impermanent. Prabhupada makes this point in several purports, concluding in SB 4.23.15 that "there is a 99.9 percent chance of his falling down again into material existence" from the Brahmajyoti. The only exception, as he mentions, is that sometimes, due to previous knowledge about the spiritual planets and devotional service to the Lord, a soul can be promoted to a spiritual planet from the Brahman effulgence. Thus, 99.9% of the souls who attain the Brahmajyoti eventually fall back (often impersonalists who fall back from the Brahmajyoti become philanthropists and other pious people), and the remaining 0.1% are the rare souls who attain the spiritual planets from there. A soul may stay for a long time in the Brahman effulgence, but eventually one has to move. This continues until one is reestablished in a position of service to Krsna.

After being killed by the Lord in their third lives (as Śiśupāla and Dantavakra), Jaya and Vijaya first attained the impersonal Brahmajyoti, and from there reached their original position in the Vaikuṇṭha planets as eternal associates of the Lord. Their whole saga was just a lila to satisfy their desire of fighting with the Lord (and the Lord's desire of fighting with them) and illustrating the danger of offending great devotees.

One could argue that here Prabhupada appears to contradict his own commentary on SB 3.16.26, where he concludes that "The conclusion is that no one falls from the spiritual world, or Vaikuṇṭha planet, for it is the eternal abode."

Here, context is the key. In the pastime, Jaya and Vijaya appear to fall from Vaikuṇṭha after being cursed by the four Kumāras. The whole passage is anchored on the question of how two associates of the Lord could be forced out of Vaikuṇṭha by a curse. Is one's position in Vaikuṇṭha temporary, just as in the celestial planets? Of course not, Vaikuṇṭha is the eternal abode; no one can be kicked out of there by any external force. The case of Jaya and Vijaya was a pastime organized by the Lord to fulfill a purpose.

What about our case? There are two points to consider. The first is that Prabhupada's explanation is based on the idea that we don't fall, remaining in our eternal position, even though our attention may wander in the material world. This is the reason the question "how does the jīva fall in the material world" is unanswerable, since factually there is no fall. The second point is that we become absorbed here in the material world due to our own choice. No one forced us to come here. No one falls from Vaikuṇṭha, but at the same time, the spiritual world is not a prison.

Eternal lila with Krsna

"So when I say yes, there is eternal lila with Kṛṣṇa, that means on the evidence of Jaya-Vijaya. Unless one develops full devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, he goes up only to Brahma-sayujya but falls down. But after millions and millions of years of keeping oneself away from the lila of the Lord, when one comes to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness this period becomes insignificant, just like dreaming.Because he falls down from Brahma-sayujya, he thinks that this may be his origin, but he does not remember that even before that, he was with Kṛṣṇa. So the conclusion is that whatever may be our past, let us come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and immediately join Kṛṣṇa. It is a waste of time for a diseased man to try to find out how he has become diseased; better to spend time curing the disease."

Prabhupada relates our situation to the pastime of Jaya and Vijaya, concluding that every soul is originally part of Krsna's pastimes in some capacity, a position of service to the Lord, and not some kind of impersonal existence in the Brahmajyoti or causal ocean. Even if a soul may forget this eternal position and spend millions of years wandering in the material world, this eternal relationship is never broken, and when one returns to this eternal nature of service, all this time appears insignificant.

Some speculate that the souls must have come from the impersonal Brahmajyoti, but Prabhupada counters it by saying that the Brahmajyoti is just a transitory position, through which the soul passes, and not the original position. Many travelers may pass through passport control in the airport to enter a country, but this doesn't mean they were born there. There is a whole story of their trip before reaching the border. Similarly, a soul may come to the material world from the Brahmajyoti, but this doesn't mean that's the start of the journey.

An Allegory

"On the top of a tree there was a nice tal fruit. A crow went there and the fruit fell down. Some panditas—big, big learned scholars—saw this and discussed: “The fruit fell due to the crow agitating the limb.” “No, the fruit fell simultaneously with the crow landing and frightened the crow so he flew away.” “No, the fruit was ripe, and the weight of the crow landing broke it from the branch.” And so on and so on. What is the use of such discussions? So whether you were in the Brahma-sayujya or with Kṛṣṇa in His lila, at the moment you are in neither, so the best policy is to develop your Kṛṣṇa consciousness and go there—never mind what is your origin."

After explaining the essential points in the relationship of the soul with Krsna and countering common misconceptions, Prabhupada comes to the punch-line of his essay: Ultimately there is gain in discussing too much on this topic; one should try to understand it only to the degree that it makes one fixed in the service of Krsna, and from there spend one's time improving one's Krsna Consciousness, instead of speculating about the fall of the jīva. Service to Krsna brings us practical benefit and connects us with our original consciousness, while mental speculation doesn't produce any positive result. One should thus just accept Prabhupada's conclusions on the topic and move on. The more one insists on trying to understand every small detail, the more one risks wasting one's human life.

After making this point, Prabhupada reinforces the previous points, making sure we end with the proper conclusions:

Entrapped in Maya’s clutches

"Brahma-sayujya and Kṛṣṇa-lila—both may be possible. But when you came down from Brahma-sayujya or from Kṛṣṇa lila, that remains a mystery. But at the present moment we are in Maya’s clutches, so now our only hope is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious and go back home, back to Godhead. The real position is servant of Kṛṣṇa, and servant of Kṛṣṇa means in Kṛṣṇa lila; directly or indirectly, we are always serving Kṛṣṇa’s lila, even in dream.Just as we cannot go out of the sun when it is daytime, so where is the chance of going out of Kṛṣṇa lila? The cloud may be there—the sky may become very gray and dim—but still the sunlight is there, everywhere, during the daytime. Similarly, because I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, I am always connected with Kṛṣṇa."

These two paragraphs can be broken into three main ideas:

a) We can't fully understand how or from where we fell into material existence. What we know for sure is that, right now, we are under material illusion, and thus our priority should be to get out. A drowning man has to understand that he is in the water and that he needs to get out to save himself, but there is no point in inquiring in all minute detail how he fell there.

b) Prabhupada insists that the original position of the soul is as an eternal servant of Krsna, just as explained by Lord Caitanya (jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’, nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya, śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya). Eternal servant of Krsna, as Prabhupada concludes, means that the original position of the soul is as part of Krsna's lila. In the liberated state, the soul is directly engaged in the service of the Lord, and even in the conditioned state, the soul is indirectly engaged, participating in Kṛṣṇa’s līlā of reclaiming the fallen souls. Krsna is everywhere, and ultimately everything is His lila; therefore, even while sleeping in material illusion, we are part of it, even if not aware. During the daytime, one may close one’s eyes and not see the sun, but this doesn't mean the sun is not there. Similarly, we may turn of back to Krsna and try to enjoy this material world, but this doesn't mean Krsna is not present.

c) We are parts and parcels of Krsna, eternally. In both the liberated and conditioned state, there is no question of being separated from Him. The only question is whether to be conscious of this relationship or not. When we become forgetful, we struggle in material life, and when we remember, we enjoy a life of bliss with Him.

Curing the disease

"My finger, even though it may be diseased, remains part and parcel of my body. Therefore, we try to treat it, cure it, because it is part and parcel. So Kṛṣṇa comes Himself when we forget Him, or He sends His representative."

Apart from being present in the hearts of all, Krsna regularly comes personally to this material world as an incarnation, and at other times He sends His representatives. Why does He do that? Because we are His parts and parcels, and he wants to awaken us to our original, functional position. When one's finger becomes diseased, one tries to cure it, since the finger is an important part of the body. Similarly, Krsna tries to recover us from our diseased position.

Never outside the lila

"Awake or dreaming, I am the same man. As soon as I awaken and see myself, I see Kṛṣṇa. Cause and effect are both Kṛṣṇa. For example, cotton becomes thread, and thread becomes cloth. Still, the original cause is cotton. Therefore, everything is Kṛṣṇa in the ultimate sense. When we cannot contact Kṛṣṇa personally, we contact His energies.There is no chance to be outside Kṛṣṇa’s lila. But we see differences under different conditions. To give another example: In the pool of water and in the mirror the same “me” is reflected, but differently; one is shimmering – unsteady – and one is clear and fixed. Except when we are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we cannot see our actual position rightly; therefore the learned man sees all living entities as the same parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa."

We don't become someone else when we sleep. Even if I dream I'm Napoleon, I don't become an emperor. I may temporarily think I'm a general, but this doesn't change who I am in reality. Similarly, the constitutional position of every soul is to be an eternal position of Krsna. Just as a materialist thinks he is the body, one may think He comes from the Brahmajyoti, or the causal ocean, one may think that he has always been in the material world, or any other false identity one wants, but this is all under the false-ego. Ultimately, all these false identities have to be abandoned on the way to being again situated in our original identity.

The example of the reflection is evoked in the Srimad Bhagavatam to explain the material activities of the soul under the influence of the three material modes in the context of the soul's eternal identity. When I look inside a pot of oil, my reflection appears fluid and discolored, and I can barely recognize myself. When I look into a river, my reflection is unsteady and moving, while a look into the mirror reveals a clear reflection. In any of the three situations, however, I remain the same person; Just the reflection looks different due to the different surfaces. Similarly, when acting on ignorance or passion, a living entity acts very differently from one's real nature, even though one's eternal nature remains unchanged.

Avoiding speculation

"Material existence is impersonal because my real personality is covered. But we should think that, “because I am now covered by this clay, I am diseased.” We should think that, “I must get to business to get myself uncovered,” and not wonder how I got this way. Now the fruit is there—take it and enjoy. That is your first business. God is not bound by cause. He can change; He is the cause of all causes. Now don’t waste your time with this kaka-taliya-nyaya, “crow-and-tal-fruit logic."

I may fall into a puddle and get covered in mud, but this doesn't mean I become mud. It's just a matter of becoming clean again. Similarly, material life means that my real identity is covered by the mud of ignorance. I become "impersonal" in the sense that my real identity is covered, but the solution is to simply take a bath and become clean again.

After explaining it for the second time, Prabhupada reiterates again that we should just accept these conclusions, instead of continuing to speculate endlessly on this topic. When we see a fruit fallen on the ground, there is no utility in discussing how or why it fell. Similarly, when we see ourselves in this material world, the intelligent question is how to get out.

Why shouldn't we discuss if the answer is there?

The point is that although Prabhupada gives the general conclusions of this topic in his books, this topic can't be fully understood by any conditioned soul. We can understand the outline of it by following the explanations of Prabhupada, but the more we think about it, the more we will come to details we can't understand. The more we can't understand, the more we will be inclined to try to brute-force it using our material intelligence, and the more we speculate on it, the more propense we will be to get lost in pedantic arguments and reach the wrong conclusion. The reason so many believe that they came from the Brahmajyoti or the causal ocean, that they were whimsically cast into material illusion by Krsna, that they were never out of the material world, etc., is exactly because they followed this path. The further we go into this process of speculation, the harder it is to return to the proper understanding.

We can easily understand that we have an eternal relationship with Krsna, but what relationship exactly is very difficult to answer. Similarly, it is easy to understand that we come to the material world due to our free will, by our own choice, but when we want to enter into the small details of how and when exactly this happened, the question becomes insolvable.

Part of the process of getting out of material illusion is to accept that we can't fully understand how we got here. Just as we can't perfectly understand practically anything in this material world, we also can't perfectly understand how we ended up here. The intelligent approach is to study this topic only enough to be able to understand that we are eternal servants of Krsna, accepting Prabhupada's conclusions, and from there pursue our spiritual practice with determination, avoiding the spiraling path of endless speculation and debate that leads to incorrect conclusions.

As Krsnadasa Kaviraja alerts on CC Ādi 17.308:

acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet, prakṛtibhyaḥ paraṁ yac ca, tad acintyasya lakṣaṇam:
"Anything transcendental to material nature is called inconceivable, whereas arguments are all mundane. Since mundane arguments cannot touch transcendental subject matters, one should not try to understand transcendental subjects through mundane arguments."

The "fall" of the jīva has an inconceivable element to it (the soul somehow turns away from Krsna without any external reason). It is a spiritual mystery. Prabhupada thus tries to protect us from this tarkika (dry logical) exercise, which just leads to confusion and doubt, without any practical gain. All questions can be easily answered when one returns to the transcendental platform, but from here, many details are unsolvable, just like we can understand many of Krsna's qualities, pastimes, and opulences by studying the Srimad Bhagavatam, but it is not possible to fully understand Him.

Part of the spiritual process consists of accepting that there are many things we can't understand, and focusing on the details that are known, based on the explanations of our ācāryas. By focusing on what we can understand, instead of insisting on esoteric details we can't, we can advance in the process, and gradually understand more.

Trying to insist on details that are not explained by our ācāryas results in mental speculation, since the material intelligence is the only tool we have outside of their conclusions. As we already studied, the material intelligence is very limited and imperfect, and trying to understand spiritual topics by the process of speculation always brings us to the wrong answer. We then come to the conclusion that we were never out of this material world, we don't have a relationship with Krsna, or that Krsna is responsible for us being here, etc., and these incorrect answers just increase our ignorance.