Sri Priti-Sandarbha
BY: SUN STAFF
Srila Jiva Goswami
Jun 11, CANADA (SUN) —
Sri Priti-sandarbha
Volume One
by Srila Jiva Goswami
Anuccheda 10
That directly seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead in this way is the highest condition of life is affirmed by Prahlada Maharaja in these words of hrimad-Bhagavatam (7.9.16):
. . .ushattama te 'nghri-mulam
prito 'paravga-sharanam hvayase kada nu
"O most powerful insurmountable Lord, . . .when will that moment come when You will call me to the shelter of Your lotus feet, which are the ultimate goal for liberation from conditional life?"*
There are five kinds of liberation. They are: salokya, sarshti, sarupya, samipya, and sayujya. In salokya liberation one resides in Vaikuntha, the planet where the Supreme Personality of Godhead also resides. In sarshti liberation one possesses opulences like those of the Lord. In sarupya liberation one has a spiritual form like the Lord's. In samipya liberation one is able to stay close to the Lord. In sayujya liberation one some souls enter the Lord's form. To each of these five words (salokya, sarshti, sarupya, samipya, and sayujya) the word "mukti" (liberation may be affixed. In salokya, sarshti, and sarupya liberation one generally sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead within one's heart. In samipya liberation one generally sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead outside one's heart. In sayujya liberation one generally sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead within one's heart. Even though the Supreme Personality of Godhead is personally present before him, in sayujya liberation the individual soul is in a state of trance that is like a dreamless sleep. In that condition the soul cannot see the Supreme Personality of Godhead present before him. The highest state of liberation is described in these words of Chandogya Upanishad (7.25.2):
sa va evam pashyann evam manvana evam vijanann atma-ratir atma-krida atma-mithuna atmanandah. sa svarad bhavati sarveshu lokeshu kama-caro bhavati.
"In this way the liberated soul directly sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thinks of Him, understands Him, delights in Him, enjoys pastimes with Him, becomes His companion, and enjoys bliss with Him."
By his own will a liberated soul can manifest many different forms. This is described in these words of Chandogya Upanishad (7.26.2):
sa ekadha bhavati, dvidha bhavati, tridha bhavati.
"The liberated soul may manifest one form, two forms, three forms, or more forms than that."
The spiritual world of Vaikuntha is far beyond the touch of the illusory potency maya. This is described in these words of Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.9.10):
na yatra maya. . .
"In that personal abode of the Lord, the material modes of ignorance and passion do not prevail, nor is there any of their influence in goodness. There is no predominance of the influence of time, so what to speak of the illusory external energy? It cannot enter that region. Without discrimination, both the demigods and demons worship the Lord as devotees."*
One who enters the spiritual world never returns to the material world. This is described in these words of Vedanta-sutra (4.4.23):
anavrittih shabdat
"By spiritual sound one attains the spiritual world, from which one never returns."
In the Chandogya Upanisad (8.15.1) it is said:
na sa punar avartate
"One who enters the spiritual world never returns to the material world of birth and death."
In Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.4.22) the demigods harassed by Hiranyakashipu pray:
tasyai namo 'stu kashthayai
yatratma harir ishvarah
yad gatva na nivartante
shantah sannyasino 'malah
"Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto that direction where the Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated, where those purified souls in the renounced order of life go, and from which, having gone, they never return."*
In Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.25.38) Lord Kapiladeva explains:
na karhicin mat-parah shanta-rupe
nankshyanti no me 'nimisho ledhi hetih
"My dear mother, devotees who receive such transcendental opulences are never bereft of them. Neither weapons nor the change of time can destroy such opulences."*
Bhagavad-gita (8.16) Lord Krishna declares:
a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah
punar avartino 'rjuna
mam upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate
"From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again."*
In Bhagavad-gita (15.6) Lord Krishna declares:
yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama
"That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world."*
In Bhagavad-gita (18.62) Lord Krishna declares:
tat-prasadat param shantim
sthanam prapsyasi shashvatam
"By His grace you will attain transcendental peace and the supreme and eternal abode."*
In Padma Purana, Shrishti-khanda it is said:
a-brahma-sadanad eva
doshah santi mahi-pate
ata eva hi necchanti
svarga-praptim manishinah
"Even up to Brahmaloka, all the material worlds are filled with a host of faults. That is why, O king, they who are truly wise do not desire to go even to Svargaloka.
a-brahma-sadanad urdhvam
tad vishnoh paramam padam
shubhram sanatanam jyotih
para-brahmeti tad viduh
"They who are wise know that above Brahmaloka and all the material worlds is the supreme abode of Lord Vishnu, an effulgent, glorious, eternal, spiritual abode.
na yatra mudha gacchanti
purusha vishayatmakah
dambha-lobha-bhaya-droha-
krodha-mohair abhidrutah
"Fools, hedonists, and persons conquered by pride, greed, fear, hatred, anger, and illusion do not go to that spiritual abode.
nirmama nirahankara
nirdvandvah samyatendriyah
dhyana-yoga-ratash caiva
tatra gacchanti sadhavah
"Only saintly devotees who are free from false ego, false possessiveness, and the duality of material illusion, who control their senses, and who are rapt in spiritual meditation go to that spiritual abode."
In Padma Purana, Shrishti-khanda, King Subahu says:
dhyana-yogena devesham
yajishye kamala-priyam
bhava-pralaya-nirmuktam
vishnulokam vrajamy aham
"In a trance of meditation I will worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the master of the demigods and the husband of the goddess of fortune. In this way I will go to the spiritual world of Lord Vishnu, a world that is not destroyed when the material worlds perish."
The pure devotees of the Lord are not even interested in attaining the five kinds of liberation. It is said in Srimad-Bhagavatam (9.4.67):
mat-sevaya pratitam te
salokyadi-catushtayam
necchanti sevaya purnah
kuto 'nyat kala-viplutam
"My devotees, who are always satisfied to be engaged in My loving service, are not interested even in the four principles of liberation (salokya, sarupya, samipya, and sarshti), although these are automatically achieved by their service. What then is to be said of such perishable happiness as elevation to the higher planetary systems?"*
Because everything in the material world will eventually be destroyed by time, and because they have heard that once going to the spiritual world they will never return, the devotees aspire to go to the spiritual abode of the Supreme Lord. They also aspire to join the Supreme Lord in His transcendental pastimes. The devotees' attainment of salokya liberation, where they reside in the same planet as the Lord, is described in these words of Bhavishya Purana, Uttara-khanda:
evam kaunteya kurute
yo 'ranya-dvadashim narah
sa dehante vimana-stho
divya-kanya-samavritah
"O son of Kunti, a person who resides in this twelve-forest land of Vrindavana, at the time of his death finds himself in a celestial airplane surrounded by glorious gopis.
yati jnati-samayuktah
shvetadvipam hareh puram
yatra loka pita-vastrah
"Accompanied by his relatives, he goes to Lord Krishna's realm of Shvetadvipa, where the residents are all dressed in yellow garments.
There it is also said:
tishthanti vishnu-sannidhye
yavad ahuta-samplavam
tasmad etya maha-viryah
prithivyam nripa-pujitah
martya-loke kirtimantah
sambhavanti narottamah
tato yanti param sthanam
moksha-margam shivam sukham
yatra gatva na shocanti
na samsare bhramanti ca
"On this earth are many saintly heroes and many glorious saints worshiped by many kings. These saintly persons stay always near to Lord Vishnu. When this material world is destroyed by floods, these saints travel on the path pf liberation. They go to the auspicious and blissful spiritual abode. Going there, they never lament. Going there, they never again wander in this world of birth and death."
In the story of Jaya and Vijaya, where salokya liberation is described, it is seen that the liberated souls are free from the influence of the modes of material nature. In the same way the devotees aspiring for liberation also are free from the material modes. This Lord Krishna explains in the following words of Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.25.26):
sattvikah karako 'sangi. . .
. . .nirguno mad-apashrayah
"A worker free from attachment is in the mode of goodness, a worker blinded by desire is in the mode of passion, a worker who forgets right and wrong is in the mode of ignorance, and a worker who takes shelter of Me is always untouched by the modes of material nature."
In final liberation the devotees attain a spiritual nature and form like those of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. This is described in the following words of Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.15.14):
vasanti yatra purushah
sarve vaikuntha-murtayah
ye 'nimitta-nimittena
dharmenaradhayan harim
"In the Vaikuntha planets all the residents are similar in form to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They all engage in devotional service ot the Lord without desires for sense gratification."*
Here "nimitta" means "result", and “animitta" means "without cause". These two words together mean, "without the desire for material sense gratification". "Dharmena" means "by devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead". Here the word "vaikuntha" means "the Supreme Personality of Godhead". "Vaikuntha-murtayah" means “numberless forms of the individual souls who reside in Vaikuntha and who are manifest from tiny fragments of the effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are many liberated souls, each with his own form, and there is one Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has His own form. Still, the liberated souls have forms that are like the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This verse was spoken by the demigod Brahma to the demigods.
Return to Anuccheda 8 - 9
