Fall Verses - Patanam Slokas
BY: BAHUSHIRA DASA (ACBSP)
Mar 16, USA (SUN) — For the benefit of the devotees some verses are being given that are about the jivas patanam-falldown into the material realm.The first verse is from Skanda Purana 4.95.37.
It is stated therein that if one breaks Ekadasi one can fall from Vaikuntha.In the Brahma
Vaivarta Purana,Krsna Janma Khanda,Ch.111,Verse 4 and 5, Radha is speaking to Mother Yashoda:
Kim vaaham kathayisyaami Jnaanam pancavidhesu ca
Bhaktaatmakam sarvaparam nibodha kathayaami te
kim-what;va-aham-or,I; katha-yisyaami-shall say; jnaanam-knowledge; pancha-vidhesu-
of five kinds or types; ca-and; bhaktyaatmakam-devotional knowledge; sarvaparam-best
of all; nibodha-learn;kathayaami-I tell; te-to you;
Of the five types of knowledge what shall I say to you? I speak the best of all devotional knowledge please listen.
SriiKrsnasya varenaapi na saadho nirbhayo bhava
Goloke caapi patanam sambhavecca kuyoginah
Srii Krsnasya-of Srii Krsna;verena-by the boon; api-also; na-not; saadho-good lady;
nirbhayah-fearless;bhava-become; Goloke-in Goloka; ca-api-and also; patanam-falldown;
sambhavet-is liable,possible; ca-and;kuyoginah-imperfect yogi,or bad ascetic
Oh good lady do not become fearless by the boon of Sree Krsna,an imperfect yogi(bad ascetic)can also possibly fall from Goloka.
Also in Krsna Janma Khanda,Ch.126,Verse 59,SriiRadha is speaking to Sree Krsna:
Atyucchrito nipatanam prapnotyeva dhruvam prabho
Aaraad vipatti bijam ca vaisnavanam vihimsanam
Atiucchritah-highly elevated,from a very high place; nipatanam-falldown,fall;prapnoti-
attains; eva-certainly; druvam-for sure,surely;prabho-oh lord; aaraad-near,soon; vipatti-
bijam-cause of distress,misfortune;ca-and;vaisnavaanaam-of the vaisnavas;vihimsanam-
hurting,injuring,torturing
Oh Lord, after reaching extreme height, one certainly falls. The violence of the Vaisnavas
results in misfortune.
In the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Prakriti Khanda,Ch.27,verse 59, Yamaraja is speaking to
Savitri (Mother of the Vedas)
Ghritapradiipam Haraye Kaartike yo dadaatica
Palapramaanam varsam ca modate Harimandire
Ghrita-pradiipam-ghee lamp;Haraye-to the Lord;Kaartike-in the month of Kaartika; Yah-
whoever; dadaati-offers; ca-and; palapramaanam-equivalent to the number of seconds;
varsam-years; ca-and; modate-enjoys; Hari mandire-in the abode of Hari
Whoever in the month of Kaartika offers a lamp of ghee to Hari enjoys in Vaikuntha (Hari
Mandira) for as many years equivalent to the number of seconds(palas-a pala is 24 seconds) for which the lamp is burnt.
Verse 60:
Punah svayonim sampraapya Visnubhaktim labhed dhruvam
Mahaa dhanaadhyah sa bhavec Chaksusmaanshcaiva diiptimaan
Punah-again;sva-yonim-human birth;samprapya-having got; Vishnubhaktim-devotion of the Lord; labhed-dhruvam-will get certainly;mahaadhanaadhyah-immensely rich;sah-he;
bhavet-may become;sah-he; bhavet-may become; chaksusmaan-ca-eva-endowed with vision-and-also;diiptimaan-full of glory
Verse 60: Born again, he certainly attains Vishnubhakti.He becomes immensely rich, endowed with clear vision and glory.
Chapter 27, verse 74:
Karoti Bhaarate yo hi Krsnajanmaastami vratam
Sata janma krtaat paapaan mucyate naatra samshayah
Karoti-observes,does; Bhaarate-in the land of Bhaarat;yah-whoever; hi-certainly,indeed;
Krsna Janmaatamii Vratam-vrata on the eighth day of Krsna’s birth; Shata janma krtaat-
committed in a hundred births;paapaat-from the sin;mucyate-is released,relieved; na- not;
atra-in this; samshayah-doubt;
He who performs the vrata of Krsna Janmaastamii, is relieved of the sins of hundreds of births. There is no doubt about it.
Verse 75:
Vaikunthe modate so’pi yava dindraas caturdasa
Punah svayonim samprapya Krsnabhaktim labhed dhruvam
Vaikunthe-in Vaikuntha;modate-enjoys;sah-he; api-also;yaavat-as long as;Indraah-Indraas; caturdasa-fourteen; punah-again;sva-yonim-human birth; sampraapya -having
got; Krsna bhaktim-devotion to Krsna;labhet- gets; dhruvam-certainly
He enjoys in Vaikuntha for the reign of fourteen Indras and taking birth again, attains
Krsna bhakti for certain.
Verse 81:
Sri Raamanavamim yo hi karoti Bhaarate narah
Sapta manvantaram yaavan modate Vishnu mandire
Sri Rama Navami-Rama Navami; yah-whoever ;hi-certainly,surely; karoti-celebrates; Bhaarate- in the land of Bhaarat; Narah-human, man; Sapta-manvantaram- seven manvan
-taras; yaavat-as long as; modate-enjoys; Vishnu mandire-in Vishnuloka
Whoever celebrates Rama Navami in Bharat enjoys in Vaikuntha for seven Manvantaras.
Verse 82:
Punah svayonim sampraapya Raamabhaktim labhed dhruvam
Jitendriyaanaam pravaro mahamsca dhaarmiko bhavet
Punah-again; svayonim-human body; sampraapya-having attained; Raamabhaktim-devotion to Lord Rama; labhet-gets; dhruvam-surely;jitendriyaanaam-among those that are self disciplined; pravarah-the best; mahan-great; ca-and; dhaarmikah-religious; bhavet
-becomes
He then takes birth again and obtains devotion to Rama for certain; he then becomes the
best of those who control their senses and a great follower of dharma.
Verse 90:
Kaartike purnimaayaam ca krtvaa tu raasamandalam
Gopaanaam shatakam krtvaa gopiinaam shatakam tathaa
Verse 91:
Shilaayaam pratimaayaam vaa SriiKrsnam Raadhaayaa saha
Bhaarate puujayed dattvaa copacaaraani sodasha
Verse 92:
Bhaaratam punaraagatya Haribhaktim labhed dhruvam
Goloke ca vaset so’pi yaavad vai brahmano vayah
Verse 93:
Kramena sudrdhaam bhaktim labhvaa mantram Harerapi
Deham tyaktvaa ca golokam punareva prayaati sah
Verse 94:
Taatra Krsnasya saaruupyam paarsado bhavet
Punastatpatanam naasti jaraamrtyuharo mahaan
Kartike-in the month of Kartika; purnimayam-on the full moon day; ca-and; krtva-having gone; rasamandalam-the place for the rasa dance; gopanam-cowherd men; shatakam-a hundred; krtva-having dressed; gopinam-cowherd girls; shaktakam-a hundred; tatha-and; shilayam-of stone; pratimayam-form; va-or; Sri Krsnanam-Sri Krsna; Radhaya-Radha; saha-with; Bharate-in India; pujayed-worships; dattva-offering; ca-upacarani-types of offerings; sodasa-sixteen; Goloke-in Goloka; ca-and; vaset-lives; sah-he; api-also; yavat-as long as; vai-indeed; brahmanah-of Brahma; yavah-life span; Bharatam-India; punah-again; agatya-being born; Haribhaktim-devotion to Hari; labhet-gets; dhruvam-sure; kramena-gradually; sudrdham-intense; bhaktim-devotion; labdhva-having received; mantram-mantra; Hareh-of Hari; api-and; deham-body; tyaktva-giving up; ca-and; Golokam-Goloka; punah-again; eva-surely; prayati-goes; sah-he; tatra-there; Krsnasya-of Krsna; sarupyam-form similar to; samprapya-having aquired; parsadah-associate; bhavet-becomes; punah-again; tatpatanam-his falldown; na-not; asti-there is; jara-mrtyu-harah-free from old age and death; mahan-great
He who makes a Rasamandala on the full moon of Kartika, and makes forms of a hundred Gopas, a hundred Gopis, and worships Krsna along with Radha in a stone form and worshiping Him with a sixteen items, will live in Goloka for the life span of Brahma.
Returning to Bharata he will certainly attain bhakti to the Lord and His mantras. Quitting his body and returning to Goloka he attains the form of Hari and becomes one of His attendants free from birth and death. He never falls again.
Chapter 27,Verse 95:
Shuklaam vaapyathavaa Krsnaam karotyekaadasiim ca yah
Vaikunthe modate so’pi yaavadvai brahmano vayah
Shuklam-bright; va-api-athava-or too or; Krsnam-dark fortnight; karoti-observes; Ekadashi vrata(eleventh day); ca-and; yah-he who,whoever; Vaikunthe-in Vaikuntha;
modate-enjoys; sah-api-he,to; yavad-vai-till-certainly; brahmanah-of Brahma; vayah-life
age-life span;
Whoever observes Ekadashi in either phase of the moon enjoys in Vaikuntha for the life span of Brahma.
Verse 96:
Bhaaratam punaraagatya Haribhaktim labhed dhruvam
Punaryaati ca vaikuntham na tasya patanam bhavet
Bharatam-to the land of Bharata; punaragatya-again coming back; Haribhaktim-devotion to Lord Hari; labhet-will get; dhruvam-certainly; punar yati-again goes; ca-and; Vaikuntham- Vaikuntha; na-not; tasya-his; patanam-fall; bhavet-will be -occurs
Coming back to Bharata he will certainly attain bhakti to the Lord. He will again go to Vaikuntha and not fall(He reverts to Vaikuntha and never falls again-na tasya patanam bhavet).
Chapter 26 Verse 109:
Yo vakti vaa dadaatyeva Harernaamaani Bhaarate
Yugam naamapramaanam ca Vishnuloke mahiiyate
Yah-he who; vakti-speaks or recites; va-or; dadati-gives; eva-indeed,just; Hareh-of Hari; namani-the names; Bharate-in the land of Bharat; yugam-a yuga; namapramanam-names equivalent to the number of; ca-and; Vishnuloke-in the Vishnuloka; mahiyate-is respected or adored
He who recites the name of Vishnu or gives it to someone in Bharat, enjoys in Vaikuntha (Vishnuloka) for as many Yugas as names he has recited.
Chapter 26 Verse 110:
Tatah punarihaagatya Vishnubhaktim labhed dhruvam
Yadi Naaraayanaksetre phalam kotigunam labhet
Tatah-thereafter; punar-iha-agatya-again here having come; Vishnubhaktim-devotion to Vishnu; labhet-will attain,get; dhruvam-certainly,surely; yadi-if; Narayana-ksetre-in Narayana region; phalam-merit;results; kotigunam-ten million times; labhet-will attain Returning to Earth he attains bhakti to Vishnu for certain.If he does this in a place of Narayana he obtains ten million times the merit(result).
The Sanskrit words that are used in these verses of Brahma Vaivarta Purana makes it very clear what is being said about the Jivas actually falling from Vaikuntha, Goloka and then taking birth on Earth. Finally they return to Goloka or Vaikunthath leaving Earth behind.
Select portions of the verses are given so the reader can get a bird’s eye view of the repetitive phrases that drive the points home so clearly:
Krsna Janma Khanda,ch.111,verse 5: patanam-falls,falldown
Krsna Janma Khanda,ch.126,verse 59:Ati ucchrtah nipatanam-from a very high place falling down
Prakriti Khanda,ch.27,verse 60: Punah svayonim-again human birth
Prakriti Khanda,ch.27,verse 75:Punah svayonim-again human birth
Prakriti Khanda,ch.27,verse 82: Punah svayonim-again human birth
Note: These verses are relating to taking birth again after going to Vaikuntha.
Prakriti Khanda,ch.27,Verse 92:Punah agatya-again coming back
Prakriti Khanda,ch.27,Verse 93:Goloka punar eva prayat sah-He surely goes to Goloka
again.
Prakriti Khanda,ch.27, Verse 94:Punas tat patanam nasti-He never falls again (note: this is after having come back to Earth from Goloka and then going back there.)
Prakriti Khanda,ch.27,verse 96: Bharatam punaragatya-again coming back to Bharata.
Punaryati ca Vaikuntham na tasya patanam bhavet-He will again go to Vaikuntha and not fall.
Prakriti Khanda,ch.27,verse 110: Tatah punarihagatya-thereafter again having come here (from Vaikuntha)
In chapter 111,verse 5, the word patanam meaning fall or falldown is used. The question may be asked who falls down? The kuyogi, imperfect yogi, the bad ascetic, the one who has left devotional service. And who are they? They are the jivas who misuse their freewill. That is why the word sambhavet is used. It means liable or possible. Because some jivas don’t misuse their freewill. Those who misuse their freewill fall to the material world and they are therefore imperfect. Bhaktivinode Thakura describes in Jaiva Dharma in Nitya Dharma, part 5: “The imprisonment of the jiva began when the jiva forgot his position as the eternal servant of Sri Krsna. This forgetfulness is the original offence of the jiva and is the root of all the jiva’s subsequent offences.” In Srimad Bhagavatam purport of 3.26.7 Srila Prabhupada states: “Whatever the material energy dictates, the conditioned soul does. He has no responsibility. He is simply the witness of the actions. But he is forced to act that way due to his offence in his eternal relationship with Krsna.” And what is that original offence? Giving up the Lord’s service. In Srimad Bhagavatam,5.14.1,Prabhupada
states in the purport: “When the pure soul wants to give up the Lord’s service to enjoy the
material world, Krsna certainly gives him a chance to enter the material world.” In Tokyo
on April 20,1972 Prabhupada stated: “He has fallen means he has given up the service of
Krsna.” Giving up the service to Sri Krsna is due to freewill which leads to more forgetfulness. There are other aspects of freewill, but giving up service means giving up our love to Krsna, or we want to serve in another way that is not compatible in the spiritual world. Krsna does not force you to love Him. You have to desire it willingly and
that is the topmost use of freewill. The other angle is that by misusing our freewill we make the wrong decision and we are immediately covered by Maya. Freewill is perfect
and imperfect and yes it is an inconceivable truth (Acintya Tattva) It is perfect in the aspect of allowing one to freely choose to serve and it is imperfect when we choose to
ignore Krsna. The perfect aspect of this imperfection of the jiva is that you can go back to serve Krsna again. Srimad Bhagavatam 6.11.25 confirms this:
Aham Hare tava paadaika-muula daasaanudaaso bhavitaasmi bhuuyah
Manah smaretaasu-pater gunaams te grniita vaak karma karotu kaayah
“Oh my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, will I again be able to be a servant of
Your eternal servants who find shelter at Your lotus feet? Oh Lord of my life, may I again
become their servant so that my mind may always engage in the loving service of Your
Lordship.”
Twice Srila Prabhupada uses the word bhuyah (again),stressing the point. When the jivas misuse freewill in Goloka, Vaikuntha it is not like a case of newly transformed envious jivas hanging around. They are instantly covered and ousted from the Lord’s realm. Bhaktisiddhanta Thakura’s purport to text 44 of Brahma Samhita states: “When he forgets his service of Krsna he is at once deflected by the attracting power of Maya in this world.” On a morning walk in Vrndavana,9-13-75 Prabhupada said: “He has given you little freedom’ you can use it. Yathecchasi tathaa kuru, Krsna says in Gita (18.63), ‘Whatever you like you do.’”
Some devotees seem to think that this discussion of the “Fall, no Fall of the Jiva” started after Prabhupada’s disappearance but that is not a fact. In the early 1970’s Madhudvisha had to deal with the issue in Australia and the Crow and Tal Fruit Logic letter is a result of that exchange. The letter has typed parts and Prabhupada also added his own handwritten notes and he signed the letter by hand. Madhudvisa has the letter. In the early 1970’s Siddhasvarupananda Swami was preaching that the jivas came from the Brahmajyoti and Srila Prabhupada told him not to preach that in his temples. In a letter to Caturbhuja Dasa,L.A.,5-9-73,Prabhupada wrote him: “Your last question ‘How is the soul degraded (by lust ,anger and greed) when it is transcendental to the body? Doesn’t that imply that the soul has changed? ‘No. The soul never changes, but do to his tinyness he may become forgetful of his relationship with Krsna. The spiritual quality of the spiritual spark has not changed but he has forgotten his spiritual nature, bewildered by the imperfect desire to become equal or greater than Krsna.’
Most of the verses from Brahma Vaivarta Purana are showing how a jiva can go to Vaikuntha or Goloka but unless one’s devotion is FULLY developed he will fall back to this material world due to lack of chit (knowledge) strength. But eventually he will go and stay permanently in Vaikuntha/Goloka. Those verses in shastra that state that one does not fall from Vaikuntha are referring either to jivas who fell originally and are now reinstated, and generally won’t fall again or to those jivas who never fell to begin with. Bhaktisiddhanta Thakur clarifies the point in Sri Caitanya’s Teachings, p. 101 “The position of the jiva is a part of the tatastha-sakti that can enjoy, cease to enjoy, and go back to his original position”. And Srila Prabhupada says in a similar vein on a morning walk:
Paramahamsa: So we can come to the spiritual world and return?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Paramahamsa: Falldown?
Prabhupada: Yes….He goes out of his free will; again comes out, again goes. Like that.
(Cheviot Hills Golf Course-5-13-73, L.A.)
Srila Prabhupada stressed the verse: Mahaajano yena gatah sa panthaa-one must follow in the footsteps of the Mahajanas (Mahabhaarata, Vana Parva, 313.117.And who is speaking these verses from Brahma Vaivarta Purana? They happen to be Mahajanas. Narayana Rsi is talking to Narada Rsi about what Yamaraj spoke to Savitri (MOTHER OF THE VEDAS). Brahma also joins in later. So their statements carry weight. So for our Brahma-Vadi friends(no fall fellows) what will they do now? Maybe demonize these verses as
Apa siddhantic or of the Kuyogi Sampradaya? Or belittle the slokas as simply words to
encourage the pious to do Punyas? Or try to emphasize that these verses are fanciful imagination? Then better yet they may try to minimize these verses as secondary evidence or not authentic or as interpolations? Any way you want to cut it, there is disagreement on this point and the Patanam Slokas stand their ground and they support Srila Prabhupada that jivas can fall (patanam) from Vaikuntha/Goloka. So how can apparently contradictory statements be reconciled? Jiva Goswami explains in his Krsna Sandarbha 152.9 that Vedanta Sutra states “If there are two contradictory statements in scripture, the first statement should be interpreted so that it does not contradict the later statement.” So the way to employ this understanding of Jiva Goswami means that for us, the Fallvadis (as the Brahmavadis call us) we accept both ideas i.e. coming from Brahman and coming from Vaikuntha/Goloka. The jivas coming from Brahman are those jivas who did not get liberated in Brahma’s lifetime and entered the body of Mahavisnu.So when they reappear when Mahavishnu begins to expand universes again that occurrence is an origin because it is over a time period of trillions and trillions of years which is like eternity. That origin is what the Upanishads describe. And we accept the understanding that the jivas that have left their service in Vaikuntha/Goloka, due to free will, come here to the material world. In all of this discussion one important point to understand is that to Krsna, in Krsna’s transcendental time, or reckoning, we are here in this material world for one or two seconds. How is this? Again in Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Krsna Janma Khanda, ch.25,verse 98-99 it is stated that “ Brahma dies when Krsna winks”. So if a jiva stays in a universe for the life of Lord Brahma, which is trillions of years, and then goes back to Goloka, then in Goloka, it is one second. So in real Transcendental Time we are here for a very, very short time. And to put the icing on the cake we will let Srila Prabhupada have the last word on the topic quoting Srimad Bhagavatam. According to Jiva Goswami in the Tattva Sandarbha the Srimad Bhagavatam is the highest sastra and the most perfect of all evidence. So lets hear the verse as a pure devotee understands it. In Bhagavad Gita 6.47 Srila Prabhupada states in the purport: “Every living entity is of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus every living entity is intended to serve the Supreme Lord by his own constitution. Failing to do this, he falls down. The Bhagavatam(11.5.3)confirms this as follows:
Ya esaam purusam saaksaad aatma prabhavam ishvaram
Nabhajaty avajaananti sthaanaad bhrastaah patanty adhah
Anyone who does not render service and neglects his duty unto the primeval lord, who is the source of all living entities will certainly fall down from his constitutional position.”
A Bhagavad-gita lecture that was given on 2-21-69,in L.A.(Collected Lectures on Bhagavad-gita As It Is,Vol.5,pp. 6-7),Prabhupada quotes the same Bhagavatam verse 11.5.3.He then gives this commentary which throws even more light on it making it clearer: “His is also a very nice example. The Bhagavat says that we are all parts and parcels of the Supreme. If we do not serve the Supreme, then we fall down from our specified place. What is that?....If the part and parcel cannot render service regularly, that means it is painful. So any person who is not rendering service to the Supreme Lord, he’s simply giving pain to the Supreme Lord. He’s simply giving trouble. Therefore he has to suffer….The same example. Sthanad bhrastah patanty adhah. And as soon as one thing is very painful, just like the government keeps all these painful citizens into a prison house. Collect together. ‘You live here, you are nonsense, you criminals live here. Don’t live in the open state.’ Similarly, all these criminals who have violated the laws of God, who have simply given pain to the Lord, they are put in this material world. And, sthanad bhrastah, he falls down from the specified place….So we have fallen down. Being against the principles of God consciousness, we are fallen down. So if we want to revive our original position, we must be placed again in that service attitude….The best thing is to revive our original Krsna consciousness and be engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the natural life and that is possible in the spiritual sky or the Goloka Vrndavana.”
At the end of the lecture a question was asked: “Why are you teaching about Krsna Consciousness? Prabhupada answered ‘Because you have forgotten the service of Radha and Krsna, therefore you have become the servant of Maya.’”
So in conclusion the Mahajanas have talked about agatya patanam, falling from Vaikuntha/Goloka. Vyasadeva, who compiled the Puranas, has presented slokas about patanam (falldown),so has Bhaktivinode Thakura and Bhaktisiddhanta Thakura mentioned fall and no fall of the jiva. Srila Prabhupada has quoted Srimad Bhagavatam to stress the point about freewill causing the jiva to fall, so one cannot say that ISKCON devotees are the only ones who have spoken of the fall of the jiva from Vaikuntha and Goloka.
Note: English translations by Bhanu Swami
Word for Word by Dr. Santosh Kumari (Sanskrit Gold Medalist)
and Dr. Sudershan Kaushik (Sanskrit Gold Medalist)
