Expansion of the Soul, Part 2
BY: BAHUSHIRA DAS (ACBSP)
Jul 05, 2012 — CALIFORNIA, USA (SUN) — My Reply
In reply to Patita Pavana das, in his article "Liberated Souls Expand Lila-Avataras", I would like to thank him for a level-headed critique of my article. All the other articles he has written on the Sampradaya Sun have been much appreciated by me and others.
The quote from the Vedanta Sutra 4.4.15 about the original lamps and candle flames is correct in the sense that, because there is an original jiva spiritual body the flames are expansions of the original flame. The example is a basic one about how the consciousness in the body spreads to different limbs but it could just as easily been said that the original jiva consciousness has connection with amsa expansions, just like a person who has his body operated on and who has a code blue (almost dies) and goes out of his body and is simultaneously in both bodies, subtle and gross. The person may remember his connection to his body and he may not.
The living entity expands its amsa out into the material world and eventually the jiva finds its way back to the spiritual world and its own original spiritual body, like the patient floating above this body eventually goes back into his form and reconnects with himself. The jivas coming to this world is a lila of the Lord and along with our freewill causes us to suffer repeated samsaras. Jaiva Dharma explains in Chapter 16 (Sarvabhavana version):
Vrajanatha: "Why must the individual souls suffer so that the Lord can enjoy these lilas?"
Raghunatha Dasa Babaji: "One should consider that you possess and exercise freewill is indeed a special grace of Sri Krsna…The lilas of Sri Krsna are unlimited variegated, hence, this also is another of His many unique activities. When the Supreme Autocrat willfully engages in a kaleidoscope of pastimes, why should it be unusual for Him to enact this particular pastime? If the principle of variegated lilas is kept intact, not a single type of lila can be rejected."
This conversation continues and then Vrajanatha says:
Vrajanatha: "If the jiva were not allocated his share of free will, would anything have gone amiss? Sri Krsna is omniscient, so He knew that the jiva would have to suffer if given free will. Considering this case is Sri Krsna not to be made responsible for the misery of the jiva?"
Raghunatha Dasa Babaji: "…yet, when the same jiva misuses his innate free choice and thus becomes engrossed in material activities, the merciful Sri Krsna is stricken by compassion and concerned about the bad fortune of the jiva."
This is the way I think myself, and I hope Patita Pavana das does also. In the contents of the Ahirbudhnya Samhita article published in the Sampradaya Sun website, in Chapter 14, which treats of bondage and liberation it states:
"The reason and object of this samsara is shrouded in mystery: it is the "play" of God, though God as the perfect one can have no desire for playing. But how the play begins and how it ends, that, indeed, may be said. The will of God called Sudarshana, though of innumerable forms, manifests in five principal ways, to wit, the Shaktis called Creation, Preservation, and Destruction [of the universe] and Obstruction (nigraha) or Obscuration (tirodhana) and Furtherance (anugraha, favoring) [of the soul].
At the beginning God "obstructs" the souls by "obscuring" or "contracting" their form (akara), power (aisrarya) and knowledge (vijana), the result being three Taints (mala) or Fetters (bandha) of the soul, to wit (1) atomicity (anutva), (2) impotence (akincitkarata, kincit-karata) and (3) ignorance (ajnatva, kincijjnatva). These are, of course, the counterpart of three perfections which the soul in her natural condition has in common with the Lord, namely omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience."
The word omnipresence, which is used here in relation to the soul, is also found in the Bhagavad-Gita 2.24. The word sarva-gatah(omnipresent-all pervading) in the Gita verse 2.24 is not only referring to the jivas appearing in many bodies and many elements but also in many expansions of itself. I did not just come up with this concept of the expansion of the soul on my own. Srila Prabhupada first expounded upon this early in the movement. In a letter to Saradia dated December 12, 1968, he states:
"There is a difference between the body and the soul of Arjuna and Kunti Devi. But although Arjuna is with Krsna in innumerable different material universes at one time, still there is only one spirit soul who is Arjuna. The spirit soul expands into many different bodies and thus you can understand that there are also incarnations of devotees as well as incarnations of Krishna. This is the power of the spirit soul, that it is unlimited. Such conception cannot be understood while one is still in the conditioned state. "
Prabhupada is saying directly that the spirit soul expands into many different bodies at one time which means simultaneously expanded. Arjuna is expanding his soul while in this material world in this situation and not in Vaikuntha. He is showing the souls capability while in this world. Prabhupada in the letter is using the word unlimited, which means omnipotent, unlimited in power. Yet the soul is still atomic in size not God, but godly. Both scriptures above use words referring to omnipresence and omnipotent as the nature of the soul. Also Prabhupada says that such conception cannot be understood while someone is in the conditioned state. But Prabhupada is liberated and he understands it and that is why he is telling us that the soul can expand but we are too dull to understand.
In another letter he brings up the same subject again so Prabhupada is not letting the subject drop, but is addressing it again three years later. This letter is written to Ekayani devi dasi on August, 31, 1971 and it reads, "Krsna can expand, so his devotees can also expand. Expansion means remains in Goloka Vrndavana and at the same time expand all over the universe. Krsna can expand, so his devotee can also expand." When Prabhupada says in this letter to Ekayani that the devotee remains in Goloka Vrndavana and at the same time expands all over the universe he means that the spiritual body is fully conscious and active, not repressed and inactive. Originally everyone is a devotee of Krsna. Prabhupada confirms this is a Nectar of Devotion lecture in Vrndavana on October 23, 1972:
"Manadeya. We should be always ready to offer respects to all, not only devotees, but everyone. Everyone. Because every living entity is originally a devotee of Krsna. But circumstantially being covered by the coat of maya, he's playing like a demon. But his original nature is a devotee of Krsna. Jivera svarupa haya nitya krsnera dasa."
One may try to say here that this only applies to an uttama adhikari, nitya mukta, coming from Vaikuntha or Goloka, on a mission and not fallen jivas like us that misused our freewill and came to this world as well. Prabhupada clarifies this and says in the December 12, 1968 letter to Saradia that "This is the power of the spirit soul, that it is unlimited." Also the August 31, 1971 letter to Ekayani Prabhupada again clarifies that "Krsna can expand so his devotee can also expand." These two quotes are referring to all jivas and not just Arjuna and Kunti.
On IndiaDivine.com there was a question, "Was Sanjaya fighting in the battle of Kurukshetra or was he with Dhritarashtra in Hastinapura narrating the events?" Jahnava Nitai answers:
"Sanjaya fought in the battle, and was one of the few to return from the battlefield. He was the last person that Sahadeva was going to kill but Arjuna stopped him and said "No. He is our friend. Let him go and report to the old, blind man, Dhritarashtra." So Sanjaya left the field of battle. On the way he met Duryodhana before reaching Hastinapura. But there is also another description in the Mahabharata, where Sanjaya is sitting in Hastinapura and speaking to Dhritarashtra while the battle is going on. How is it possible that Sanjaya is fighting on the battlefield of Kuruksetra and simultaneously speaking to Dhritarashtra in Hastinapura? It was by the mercy of Vyasa that he was able to expand himself into two forms and act in both places simultaneously. In those times it was not such an impossible task, especially for those who were direct disciplines of Vyasadeva. The Gita uses the words vyasa-prasadat. By the mercy of Vyasa it was possible."
By the mercy of Krsna ultimately he allows his devotees, which ultimately all jivas are, to expand in the different universes. Patita Pavana das is saying that the spiritual body is shrunk or contracted in Vaikuntha or Goloka when the jiva comes here, but what shastric proof is there? The spiritual body in Vaikuntha must be conscious because everything and every limb of that spiritual body is conscious always, this being the nature of everything in the spiritual planets. Patita Pavana das says, "If the spiritual body is already in its complete glorious form in Vaikuntha then it does not have to be revived." The form in Vaikuntha does not have to be revived, but you have to be revived to reconnect to the spiritual body, which is also you. If one here on this planet or anywhere is this universe becomes a pure liberated devotee one should not think that only then one develops the ability to expand his conscious soul into other forms. Although the spiritual body and its consciousness are the same in action, being of the same nature in the spiritual world it is not like in this world in which the body and the mind are different than one another. Because one has that ability to expand since his spiritual body is active, then the soul also should have that ability when he comes here still being linked with his spiritual body though not conscious of it.
It is not the jiva's lila that causes the living entities to come to this material world, it is the Lord's Lila, because in Vaikuntha and Goloka everything is centered around the Lord and nothing moves without the will of Krsna or Visnu. The Lord's lila is the main force of the living entities coming to this world and the jiva's free will is what completes the whole process. Being separated from the Lord and regaining his service can make a reciprocation with the Lord that much more intense. The Lord wills something and the jivas reciprocate. The jivas that come to this world cannot and should not hold it against the Lord or think that He is to blame. The Lord facilitates the jiva's desire but the Lord is in control of the whole situation, not that we are in control of the situation. Not a blade of grass moves in this world without the Lord's sanction. The mayavadis may think that this is their lila but Gaudiya Vaisnavas do not think that coming to this world is their own lila, instead they see the Lord ultimately behind everything, just our twisted free will is what gets us in trouble.
Srila Prabhupada told Gaura Gopala das in Sydney Australia in early 1973,"Soon you will understand, try to understand also your real bodily form is always in Vaikuntha." When Srila Prabhupada told Gaura Gopala das that you already have a spiritual body, this means that it is conscious already and that he has to reconnect with the active consciousness. Prabhupada in the purport of Bhagavatam 1.3.30 explains, "Both the Lord
and the living beings are living spirits and have original spiritual bodies." In the spiritual world the Lord is fully active and so are the jivas who are there. Not that the spiritual body of the jiva who fell down is like a coat that is hanging in a closet and that you have to simply put the coat (spiritual body) back on again like I have heard some Gaudiya Vaisnavas say.
Patita Pavana das says "According to the subconscious fall-vadi, we do pastimes here just as they go on in the spiritual world. There is no difference between the material world and spiritual world." Excuse me, but a Brahmavdi may think like, that but a Vaishnava does not think that way. The Vaishnava understands that we are amsa, a tiny, tiny, tiny spark of Krsna, Mamaivamso jiva loke. The covered jiva here in this world is trying to reconnect with his conscious pure form in Vaikuntha or Goloka. The jiva is never lord or master. So it is a real stretch of thinking to try to brand anyone who thinks that the soul can expand to be a mayavadi. The word "lila" the way Patita Pavana das is using it does not pertain to the suffering jiva in this world. Lila (pastimes) means joyous wonderful activities. The "pastimes" of the jiva here in this world, unless he is a real devotee, are all nonsense.
It is easy to say someone is a mayavadi. For example, there are devotees who think that if you say that the jiva fell from Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrndavana then you are a mayavadi. And if another devotee says the jiva fell from the Brahmajyoti then he is branded a mayavadi. Others say if one thinks that the jiva has expanded from Vaikuntha or Goloka then he is a mayavadi. Madhva Vaisnavas, with whom we as Gaudiya Vaishnavas connect to the Brahma Madhva Sampradaya, say we are mayavadis tinged with our Acintya BhedaBheda Tattva philosophy. This arrow of mayavadi weaponry is very popular in Kali Yuga. No matter how one tries to deflect the philosophy that the jiva can expand from the spiritual world it still has validity because Prabhupada wrote it not once but twice or more to his disciples to read it and meditate on it.
The way that Patita Pavana das is using Baladeva Vidyabhusana's quotes, make it sound as though only muktas (uttama adhikaris) come to this world. He makes it sound as though he is going against his own presentation in all his other articles that say the jiva can fall from Vaikuntha or Goloka. We already know the Muktas, who do not misuse their freewill, are not affected by maya. His words are "In other words, when the amsa comes here, it can never fall in maya and become non Krsna conscious, independent of the origin." I'm not talking about the Muktas (uttama adhikaris) who do not misuse their freewill, I'm talking about the jivas in Vaikuntha and Goloka who misuse their freewill and come here to this world. They are also the ones who expand and come to this world and suffer, but they are not on a spiritual mission. Bhaktivinode's quote in Krsna Samhita 2.41 states:
"As soon as the living entity leaves Vaikuntha, he is simultaneously awarded a subtle body and thrown into the material world created by Maya. All the manifestations of the Sandhini, Samvit, and Hladini aspect of the marginal potency are mixed with maya as soon as the living entity leaves the shelter of Vaikuntha."
What Bhaktivinode Thakura is saying here is not referring to the muktas (uttama adhikaris) he is referring to those jivas who are misusing their freewill. And they are awarded a subtle body that covers the expansion of the soul that comes here to enjoy or suffer. Then Bhaktivinode says, "All the manifestations of Sandhini, Samvit, and the Hladini aspect of the marginal potency are mixed with maya as soon as the living entity leaves the shelter of Vaikuntha." The different shaktis that empower and assist the jiva in minute quantities to perform his service are mixed with maya in the expansion form that comes to this world.
But those same tiny aspects of the three shaktis that empower the jiva are not lost on the original form that stays in Vaikuntha or Goloka. The highest form of the soul remains there is an active state in Vaikuntha. The activities of the jiva acting out in the material world are not orchestrated from above in Vaikuntha or Goloka, they are separate events, like two separate lives, but still connected. Just like dreaming at night. The jiva here in this world forgets who he is until he totally wakes up. Ramanuja is saying in his Vedanta Sutra commentary of Sri Bhasya 4.4.15 "The pervasion (of many bodies by the released self) is like that of a lamp, indeed it (i.e.) the scripture shows it to be so." This is referring to the released self (uttama adhikaris) just as it says. Both Ramanuja and Baladeva Vidyabhusana are talking about liberated Muktas, jivas who come here to do service for the Lord. They are on a spiritual mission. These verses are not referring to the samsari jiva.
Then Baladeva concludes "The dwelling of the mukta in these spheres differs from the dwelling of the samsari jivas in them." That is what I am saying, that the jiva (uttama) who comes here on a mission is nondifferent in intent from the original flame (self) in Vaikuntha. The samsari jivas are different and the expansion that extends to this world is covered and their intent is different than that of the Lord. The commentaries of Nimbarka and his disciple Srinivas are saying the same thing "The entering of the freed soul," The freed soul is a Mukta, liberated soul, an uttama adhikari whose mission is nondifferent from the Lord. They both are not talking about the Samsari jivas. Patita Pavana das himself says "The Vedanta Sutra describes specifically the qualities of the liberated soul."
Then Patita Pavana das says "In theory if the original falls in maya, the amsa falls in maya, but if the origin falls in maya, the ability to create amsa is gone." The original jiva from Goloka or Vaikuntha never falls into maya totally, only the amsa expanded part does because the original jiva is the unaffected overseer. The expanded amsa is the dreamer suffering in this world. Many Neo-Gaudiya Vaisnavas do not like to hear that Prabhupada says that the material world is like a dream. In Tokyo, 1972 Prabhupada stated:
"So our contact with matter is just like a dream. We are not fallen, therefore at any moment we can revive our Krsna consciousness. We become liberated as soon as we understand "I have nothing to do with matter. I am simply Krsna's eternal servant."
Then Patita Pavana das goes on saying "The soul can also be in the amsa. The amsi (the original) is soulless. The Lord keeps the original and the amsa going." Yes it is correct to say the soul can also be in the amsa, because the soul expands, that is its ability as Prabhupada states. The full aspect of the soul is in Vaikuntha or Goloka. That is the original flame, any expansion or expansions here in this world are expansions of the original jiva flame. The statement that amsi (the original) is soulless sounds like pure voidism. The original is the little master soul. Krsna is the big Atma or master soul of all jivas. He is the one who keeps all jivas going. The jiva cannot do this on its own. Mamaivamso jiva loke.
Then Patita Pavana das proceeds saying, "The amsa is of the same quality as the original because "The soul can never divide or be created. There is an expansion of consciousness. Comment by Bhanu Swami". Yes the amsa is of the same quality as the orginal jiva soul in Vaikuntha, and the amsa has the same attributes of the original but the expanded amsa has his divine qualities covered. The original consciousness is Krsna consciousness; there is no difference between the soul and consciousness like in the material world. Sometimes devotees think that the spiritual body and ones own fully developed consciousness is different, but they are one and the same in Vaikuntha or Goloka. So the expansion of consciousness is the expansion of the soul.
Bhanu Swami says the soul can never divide but where does he get this from? The word divide is not there in any of the Gita verses. Gita 2.13 says "the soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon…" The Sanskrit word is na chindanti-never cut in pieces. That means someone who is trying to cut another soul into pieces by whatever means cannot be done. Krsna is the Supreme Soul and He expands. His Soul is not cut. He also gave us this quality but in a minute way, because we are tiny. Gita 2.25 says "This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble and can neither be burned nor dried. He is ever lasting, all pervading, unchangeable, immovable, and eternally the same." Unbreakable does not mean that it cannot divide. It is referring to someone trying to destroy the soul or manipulate it. The word sarva-gatah is translated as all pervading, or all permeating. Besides referring to taking birth in different bodies in different elements, it also means that the jiva is not localized, stationed in just one place. In other words the jiva expands in its own limited way. This should not be confused with the mayavadi who thinks that the jiva is like God and is an all pervading Visnu.
When Srila Prabhupada is talking about Arjuna's ability to expand in different universes, this is in reference to the word sarva gatah in Gita 2.24 and Ahirbudhnya samhita which means pervading, permeating. This word does not just only mean expanding into animal forms in different universes as used by the commentators, but it also refers to a jiva's ability to expand in many human forms as well. That is why Srila Prabhupada says in the letter that it is the soul's ability to expand, meaning not just Arjuna the pure devotee's soul, but every jiva's soul can expand. One of the reasons Srila Prabhupada is saying it is the soul's ability to expand in the Saradia's letter is because it is a mystic power, kama rupa siddhi, that all souls in different degrees have. Mystic powers exist in full form in the spiritual body, which resides in the spiritual world, and that is why in this world we also have them but they are manifest in different degrees. Arjuna's form that he expands is a human type form, not an animal form, like the human forms that the Pandavas had as mentioned in the Mahabharata. The animals are simply more covered. The consciousness of the jiva is more covered in a tree than in a human. But the jiva that comes to this world is still an expanded part of the original jiva form in Vaikuntha or Goloka no matter what form the jiva takes.
I do not know why Patita Pavana das is quoting Bhanu Swami, because Bhanu Swami does not think that the jiva was ever in Vaikuntha or Goloka to begin with. He is in the no fall-vada camp. Patita Pavana das again quotes Bhanu Swami who says "There is no scriptural reference to conditioned souls being amsas of nitya siddhas." Because this subject is more of an esoteric subject, it is hard to find quotes. But Bhanu Swami also does not think that there are any quotes for Nitya Muktas becoming covered and coming to this world. Srimad Bhagavat, 2.5.19 says otherwise:
karya-karma kartrtve drarya jnana kriyasrayah
badhnanti nityada muktam mayinam purusam gunah
"These three modes of material nature, being further manifested as matter knowledge and activities, put the eternally transcendental living entity under conditions of cause and effect and make him responsible for such activities."
Prabhupada's purport: Because they are between the internal and external potencies, the eternally transcendental living entities are called marginal potency of the Lord.
The sanskrit says Nitya muktam mayinam, eternally transcendental affected by material energy. It says here Nitya Muktas can become Nitya Baddhas. But Bhanu Swami says that a Nitya Mukta is not simultaneously a Nitya Baddha, but here we can see that Srila Prabhupada says a Nitya Mukta can become a Nitya Baddha. Prabhupada says "The external energy of the Lord covers up the pure knowledge of the living entities eternally existing with Him, but the covering is so constant that it appears that the conditioned soul is eternally ignorant." Eternally ignorant means eternally bound up, in other words, Nitya Baddha. With this understand the Nitya Mukta who can fall down can become an amsa as a Nitya Baddha.
Patita Pavana das tries to get technical about the Sanskrit of amsaih yadusu expanding as plenary portions in the family of King Yadu as meaning only pure devotee demigods came here. Many different types of demigods came and they are not all pure devotees. Krsna book 10th canto came out early in the movement. The 10th canto Volume 1 which has the verse we are referring to (10.1.22) came out later and because Prabhupada was translating verse by verse, he went into detail on this verse and he does translate amsaih as "expanding as plenary portions". That means part of the demigods appeared, but not in full person as Patita Pavana das tries to establish. The demigods who came directly were Brahma, Indra, Varuna, Shiva, and there might have been a few more, but there are millions of demigods. And as far as Patita Pavana das trying to deflect the proof of Brahma Vaivarta Purana as pertaining to a different Kalpa does not matter. Truth is truth no matter in what Kalpa it is spoken. Also as for me using Brahma Vaivarta Purana as a reference, this Purana is not time locked. It has value for all time. When it is mentioned that a Purana was spoken in a certain Kalpa that does not mean that the content is of no value for this Kalpa or Yuga or that it is only important for that particular Kalpa, otherwise the six Goswamis would not quote from the Puranas or use them as references in their books.
Patita Pavana das is correct when he says the shadow body created for the husband was done by Krsna, I was referring to Rajendra Nath son's translation of Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Panini Office, 1922. The translation that Patita Pavana das is using is translated into English by Shanti Nagar and edited by Acarya Ramesh Chaturvedi, Parimal Publications. If I had looked at the Acarya's translation it would have caught my eye and I would not have used the other translation. There is another way to look at this Bhagavatam verse 10.1.22. When Bhagavatam 10.1.22 says plenary portions of the demigods came to earth in the word for word translations that can be explained that Krsna sometimes expands into human forms depending on the Yuga, because Rupa Goswami says that when there is an apparent contradiction in Shastra one should see it in such a way that it works out so there is no contradiction. That is what I am writing here. For example, Laghu Bhagavatamrtam in Volume 3, Verse 327, states:
Viradho Vakyayor Yatra
Napramanyam yad isyate
Yathariruddhata ca syat tat harthah kalpate tayoh iti
"When contradictions are found in Vedic scripture, it is not that one statement is wrong. Rather both statements should be seen in such a way that there is no contradiction."
In the verse 10.1.22 Brahma is speaking to the demigods and he says bhavadbhih-by your good selves and amsaih-expanding as plenary portions. He does not say the Lord will expand as your plenary portions, Brahma is saying they themselves should expand. This is Kama-rupa-siddhi. In one format Patita Pavana das says "We have to make a distinction between kama-rupa-siddhi in suddha-sattva or in the modes. The Vedanta Sutra describes specifically the qualities of the liberated soul. The qualities of the conditioned soul are different." Kama rupa-siddhi, the power of manifesting forms, whether it is manifesting from the nitya muktas or nitya baddhas in any form, is still an opulence of the soul. All mystic powers are manifest in different degrees in different grades and forms of bodies whether in the spiritual world or material world. Of course there are grades of quality, but the ability to expand is there in the original flame and its expansion in the world shares the same quality, but in different degrees. That is why we're limited here. In Garga Samhita I quoted Verse 1.3.24, the Supreme Personality of Godhead said to the demigods "By My order, you and your wives should take birth, by your amsa expansions, in the family of the Yadus." The Lord is saying here that by your amsa expansions you should take birth. He is not saying that He will expand as their plenary parts. Then I quoted again Rupa Goswami; Laghu Bhagavatamrta , Vol.3, verse 495 says:
Devady-amsa-avatarena ye tu vrsnisv avataran
Ksirabdhi-sayirupas thai sardham sva-padam apunyat
"Then, accompanied by they who as amsa avataras of the demigods and their followers had incarnated in the Vrsni dynasty, the Lord, in His form as Ksirodakasayi Visnu, went to his own abode."
Here Rupa Goswami does not say the Lord who expanded as amsa avataras, but they who as amsa avataras meaning the demigods and their followers. Plenary portion of the demigods in the word for word translation of 10.1.22 means that the plenary expansion is acting in an independent way, separate in thinking from the demigod in the heavenly planet. Some demigods, not all, are Krsna's expansions, because there are so many demigods, not just the wives of the Brahmanas who were Krsna's expansions who came to Earth. The demigod's expansions played the part of wives, husbands and others, not related to the Brahmanas, such as boys, girls etc. who behave differently in action than when they are demigods playing their parts in heaven. Also Caitanya Charita, a first hand account of Caitanya's lila, by Murari Gupta, first Prakrama, Fourth Sarga, Verse 16, reads "Hundreds of other demigods took birth on the Earth as powerful philosopher- sages, descending as plenary portions of their original forms." Here is another quote saying that the demigods descended (expanded) as plenary portions in Kali Yuga in another of the Lord's Lilas. So these four references still stick to their true meaning and are correct authoritative references showing demigods who are not just expansions of the Lord, but jnana misra bhaktas of the Lord who can also expand their form.
Now, I will move onto Gauguli's translation of Mahabharata. When I was In Bombay, India in 1976-1977, I had heard that Pradumnya had told the devotees that Prabhupada had said Ganguli's translation of Mahabharata could be referred to. So I am now wondering which complete edition of Mahabharata are we to use now? Patita Pavana das tries to blame me for using the Ganguli version of Mahabharata, but he is also in the same situation because he is quoting Acarya Ramesh Chaturvedi's edition of the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana, who as the editor in the introduction quotes Shankaracarya about the Chandogyopanisad as an authority.
In closing, I will repeat what Srila Prabhupada said earlier in the two letters next to one another:
"This spirit soul expands into many different bodies and thus you can
understand that there are also incarnations of devotees as well as
incarnations of Krishna. This is the power of the spirit soul, that it is unlimited. Such conception cannot be understood while one is still in the conditioned state."
"Krsna can expand, so his devotee can also expand. Expansion means
remains in Goloka Vrndavana and at the same time expands all over
the universe. Krsna can expand, so his devotee can also expand."
For devotees who may think that I thought up this idea of the expansion of the soul on my own, then I must say that I got my inspiration from what Srila Prabhupada had said here.
