Vaisnava-siddhanta-mala -2

by Srila Thakura Bhaktivinoda
Different Levels of Jivas

QUESTION: Are all souls of one type, or are there different relative levels?
ANSWER: There are different relative levels among the jivas.
QUESTION: How many levels are there?
ANSWER: There are basically two: the level of the jiva's real and eternal form (svarüpa), and the level of the jiva's dream of a false material designation (upadhi).
QUESTION: What is the false material designation of the soul?
ANSWER: The soul's material designation consists of all the forms of maya (illusion) that encapsulate the soul as a result of having turned away from Krsna.
QUESTION: Why don't all souls remain in their true position, free from material designation?
ANSWER: Those souls who accept nothing other than service as their eternal occupation never lose their transcendental position (svarüpa). Their attraction to Krsna is everlasting. But those who become obsessed with their own separate so-called happiness turn away from Krsna and are immediately shackled by maya in the prison of the material world.
QUESTION: Why doesn't Krsna protect spirit souls from the unfortunate fate of falling down into the material world?
ANSWER: Krsna gives the spirit souls, who are His extended parts and parcels, a free will. They may choose between loving Him or pursuing selfish illusions. If a soul chooses to misuse its independence, then its svarüpa or essential eternal form is covered by dull matter. In this stupefied condition, the soul cannot perceive its own blissful nature.
QUESTION: What is the eternal form (svarüpa) of the jiva?
ANSWER: The jiva is made of eternal consciousness. Its only purpose is to serve Krsna. By assuming its service role, the jiva is endowed by Krsna with a form of pure bliss.
QUESTION: Are their levels of souls who are situated in their forms of eternal service to Krsna?
ANSWER: There are five eternal relationships with Krsna. These constitute levels of eternal existence.
QUESTION: What are the five eternal relationships with Krsna?
ANSWER: The first is the neutral (santa) relationship. The second is the servitor (dasya) relationship. The third is the friendly (sakhya) relationship. The fourth is the parental (vatsalya) relationship. The fifth is the conjugal (srngara) relationship.
QUESTION: Please explain these terms in greater detail.
ANSWER: The santa relationship does not involve a personal relationship with Krsna. It is passive but reverential. The dasya relationship is personal. It consists of a reverential mood of active service. The sakhya relationship surpasses the limits of reverence and becomes friendly and informal. In the vatsalya relationship, loving concern for Krsna overfloods the limits of carefree friendliness. In the srngara relationship, loving concern intensifies into an intimacy of the most brilliant beauty.
QUESTION: How many different levels of material consciousness are there?
ANSWER: There are three: 1) concealed consciousness, like trees and plants; 2) constricted consciousness, like animals and birds; 3) budding consciousness, like human beings who are not yet spiritually awake. These three subcategories fall within the basic category of upadhi-jiva, souls living a dream of false identity. This category is also known as nitya-baddha-jiva, or eternally conditioned souls.
QUESTION: How many levels of budding consciousness are there?
ANSWER: There are many different types. They may be roughly classified as six levels. 1) Uncivilized tribes. 2) Civilized races with developed material knowledge and industrial capabilities, but who are ignorant of proper moral conduct and who have little faith in God. These are the characteristics of the mlecchas (meat-eaters). 3) Civilized races that follow no personal God but are very fond of the beauty of the material world. Buddhist culture provides an example of this. 4) Civilized races that follow an imaginary God. They worship various demigods, thinking them to be supreme, and do good works in the hopes of being promoted to the heavenly material planets where these demigods reside. This form of religion is called imaginary because they believe their conception of God to be the highest, though it is still only material. 5) Civilized races that accept the Original Transcendental Person as the true Supreme Lord, but who do not perform devotional service to Him. 6) Civilized races that are fond of nirvisesa philosophy (the doctrine of impersonal oneness).
QUESTION: Is there level that a soul must pass through to go from the eternally conditioned state to the eternally liberated state?
ANSWER: From the nitya-baddha or eternally conditioned level the soul must rise to the baddha-mukta level, at which the soul lives in the material world but is not caught up in maya (illusion). From the baddha-mukta level the soul may rise to the nitya-mukta (eternally liberated) level, which is the level of svarüpa-jiva (souls situated in the reality of their own eternal forms).
QUESTION: Are there different types of baddha-mukta jivas?
ANSWER: There are two types: 1) those with blooming consciousness, like the practicing devotees (sadhana-bhaktas) who serve Krsna by follow the rules of the scriptures; and 2) those with fully flowering consciousness, like the devotees who experience spiritual ecstasy while executing scriptural duties.
QUESTION: Where do the nitya-baddha, baddha-mukta and nitya-mukta souls reside?
ANSWER: The nitya-baddha and baddha-mukta souls reside in the material world. The nitya-mukta souls reside in the spiritual world, Vaikuntha (the place of no anxiety).