From the instructions of Lord Caitanya to Sanātana Gosvāmī we can understand the science of God as it relates to God's transcendental form, His opulences, and His devotional service. Indeed, everything is being explained to Sanātana Gosvāmī by the Lord Himself. At that time, Sanātana fell at the feet of the Lord and with great humility asked about his own real identity. "I am born of a lower family," Sanātana said. "My associations are all abominable, and I am fallen, the most wretched of mankind. I was suffering in the dark well of material enjoyment, and I never knew the actual goal of my life. Indeed, I do not even know what is beneficial for me. Although I am what is known in the world as a great learned man, I am in fact so much of a fool that I myself even think that I am learned. You have accepted me as Your servant, and You have delivered me from the entanglement of material life. Now please tell me what my duty is in this liberated state."
Liberated state
Expressions researched:
"Liberation is like a state"
|"healthy state. That is mukti, liberation"
|"liberated state"
|"liberated states"
|"state is certainly liberated"
|"state of liberation"
|"state of life, liberated life"
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
Shutting out all external sense objects, keeping the eyes and vision concentrated between the two eyebrows, suspending the inward and outward breaths within the nostrils, and thus controlling the mind, senses and intelligence, the transcendentalist aiming at liberation becomes free from desire, fear and anger. One who is always in this state is certainly liberated.
BG Chapters 13 - 18
As long as a living entity is in this dark material world, he is in conditional life, but as soon as he reaches the spiritual sky by cutting through the false, perverted tree of this material world, he becomes liberated. Then there is no chance of his coming back here. In his conditional life, the living entity considers himself to be the lord of this material world, but in his liberated state he enters into the spiritual kingdom and becomes an associate of the Supreme Lord. There he enjoys eternal bliss, eternal life, and full knowledge.
The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.
In this verse the identity of the living being is clearly given. The living entity is the fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord—eternally. It is not that he assumes individuality in his conditional life and in his liberated state becomes one with the Supreme Lord. He is eternally fragmented. It is clearly said, sanātanaḥ. According to the Vedic version, the Supreme Lord manifests and expands Himself in innumerable expansions, of which the primary expansions are called viṣṇu-tattva and the secondary expansions are called the living entities. In other words, the viṣṇu-tattva is the personal expansion, and the living entities are the separated expansions. By His personal expansion, He is manifested in various forms like Lord Rāma, Nṛsiṁhadeva, Viṣṇumūrti and all the predominating Deities in the Vaikuṇṭha planets.
No one can surpass the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa—neither the conditioned soul nor the liberated soul. He is therefore the greatest of personalities. Now it is clear here that the living entities and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are individuals. The difference is that the living entities, either in the conditioned state or in the liberated state, cannot surpass in quantity the inconceivable potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is incorrect to think of the Supreme Lord and the living entities as being on the same level or equal in all respects. There is always the question of superiority and inferiority between their personalities. The word uttama is very significant. No one can surpass the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
To the impersonalist, achieving the brahma-bhūta stage, becoming one with the Absolute, is the last word. But for the personalist, or pure devotee, one has to go still further, to become engaged in pure devotional service. This means that one who is engaged in pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord is already in a state of liberation, called brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20), oneness with the Absolute. Without being one with the Supreme, the Absolute, one cannot render service unto Him. In the absolute conception, there is no difference between the served and the servitor; yet the distinction is there, in a higher spiritual sense.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
A pure Vaiṣṇava is a liberated soul and is transcendental even to the position of a brāhmaṇa. In the material stage even a brāhmaṇa is also a conditioned soul because although in the brahminical stage the conception of Brahman or transcendence is realized, scientific knowledge of the Supreme Lord is lacking. One has to surpass the brahminical stage and reach the vasudeva stage to understand the Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa. The science of the Personality of Godhead is the subject matter for study by the postgraduate students in the spiritual line. Foolish men, or men with a poor fund of knowledge, do not understand the Supreme Lord, and they interpret Kṛṣṇa according to their respective whims. The fact is, however, that one cannot understand the science of the Personality of Godhead unless one is freed from the contamination of the material modes, even up to the stage of a brāhmaṇa. When a qualified brāhmaṇa factually becomes a Vaiṣṇava, in the enlivened state of liberation he can know what is actually the Personality of Godhead.
Spiritual feelings of happiness and intense ecstasies have no mundane comparison. Therefore it is very difficult to give expression to such feelings. We can just have a glimpse of such ecstasy in the words of Śrī Nārada Muni. Each and every part of the body or senses has its particular function. After seeing the Lord, all the senses become fully awakened to render service unto the Lord because in the liberated state the senses are fully efficient in serving the Lord. As such, in that transcendental ecstasy it so happened that the senses became separately enlivened to serve the Lord. This being so, Nārada Muni lost himself in seeing both himself and the Lord simultaneously.
The codes of religion, scriptural injunctions, are made by liberated representatives of God in consideration of different conditions of living, and by carrying out the orders of the Lord, the conditioned living beings gradually become free from the clutches of material existence. The factual position of the living being is, however, that he is the eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord. In his liberated state he renders service to the Lord in transcendental love and thus enjoys a life of full freedom, even sometimes on an equal level with the Lord or sometimes more than the Lord. But in the conditioned material world, every living being wants to be the Lord of other living beings, and thus by the illusion of māyā this mentality of lording it over becomes a cause of further extension of conditional life. So in the material world the living being is still more conditioned, until he surrenders unto the Lord by reviving his original state of eternal servitorship. That is the last instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā and all other recognized scriptures of the world.
Vidura was astonished to see the marvelous departure of his brother Dhṛtarāṣṭra as a liberated yogī, for in his past life he was much attached to materialism. Of course it was only due to Vidura that his brother attained the desirable goal of life. Vidura was therefore glad to learn about it. But he was sorry that he could not make his brother turn into a pure devotee. This was not done by Vidura because of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's being inimical to the Pāṇḍavas, who were all devotees of the Lord. An offense at the feet of a Vaiṣṇava is more dangerous than an offense at the lotus feet of the Lord. Vidura was certainly very liberal to bestow mercy upon his brother Dhṛtarāṣṭra, whose past life was very materialistic. But ultimately the result of such mercy certainly depended on the will of the Supreme Lord in the present life; therefore Dhṛtarāṣṭra attained liberation only, and after many such liberated states of life one can attain to the stage of devotional service. Vidura was certainly very mortified by the death of his brother and sister-in-law, and the only remedy to mitigate such lamentation was to go out to pilgrimage. Thus Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira had no chance to call back Vidura, his surviving uncle.
A living being may forget all that he might have done in his past or present life, but one must know that in the same tree of the material body, the individual soul and the Supreme Soul as Paramātmā are sitting like two birds. One of them, the living being, is enjoying the fruits of the tree, whereas the Supreme Being is there to witness the activities. Therefore the Paramātmā feature, the Supreme Soul, is actually the witness of all activities of the living being, and only by His direction can the living being remember or forget what he might have done in the past. He is, therefore, both the all-pervading impersonal Brahman and the localized Paramātmā in everyone's heart. He is the knower of all past, present and future, and nothing can be concealed from Him. The devotees know this truth, and therefore they discharge their duties sincerely, without being overly anxious for rewards. Besides that, one cannot estimate the Lord's reactions, either by speculation or by scholarship. Why does He put some into difficulty and not others? He is the supreme knower of the Vedic knowledge, and thus He is the factual Vedāntist. At the same time He is the compiler of the Vedānta. No one is independent of Him, and everyone is engaged in His service in different ways. In the conditioned state, such services are rendered by the living being under force of the material nature, whereas in the liberated state the living being is helped by the spiritual nature in the voluntary loving service of the Lord. There is no incongruity or inebriety in His actions. All are on the path of Absolute Truth. Bhīṣmadeva correctly estimated the inconceivable actions of the Lord.
SB Canto 2
In the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (2.2.13) the Supreme Lord is described as the chief eternal being amongst all other eternal individual beings (nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām) and the one Supreme Lord who maintains innumerable other individual living beings (eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān). So all living entities, both in the conditioned state and in the liberated state, are maintained by the Almighty Supreme Lord. Such maintenance is effected by the Lord through His different expansions of Self and three principal energies, namely the internal, external and marginal energies. The living entities are His marginal energies, and some of them, in the confidence of the Lord, are entrusted with the work of creation also, as are Brahmā, Marīci, etc., and the acts of creation are inspired by the Lord unto them (tene brahma hṛdā). The external energy (māyā) is also impregnated with the jīvas, or conditioned souls. The unconditioned marginal potency acts in the spiritual kingdom, and the Lord, by His different plenary expansions, maintains them in different transcendental relations displayed in the spiritual sky. So the one Supreme Personality of Godhead manifests Himself in many (bahu syām), and thus all diversities are in Him, and He is in all diversities, although He is nevertheless different from all of them. That is the inconceivable mystic power of the Lord, and as such everything is simultaneously one with and different from Him by His inconceivable potencies (acintya-bhedābheda-tattva).
The Bhagavad-gītā says that one can be freed from the control of the material nature by surrendering unto the Supreme Lord, but if there is no surrender, then the living entity will never be able to control the material nature. So one must also give up this misconception of "I" by practicing the way of devotional service or firmly being situated in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. A poor man without any employment or occupation may undergo so many troubles in life, but if by chance the same man gets a good service under the government, he at once becomes happy. There is no profit in denying the supremacy of the Lord, who is the controller of all energies, but one should be constitutionally situated in one's own glory, namely to be situated in the pure consciousness of being the eternal servitor of the Lord. In his conditional life the living entity is servant of the illusory māyā, and in his liberated state he is the pure, unqualified servant of the Lord. To become untinged by the modes of material nature is the qualification for entering into the service of the Lord. As long as one is a servant of mental concoctions, one cannot be completely free from the disease of "I" and "mine."
SB Canto 3
When a person is fully conversant with knowledge of the Lord as far as can be known by a perfect living entity in the liberated state, he is allowed to enter into the spiritual sky, where the Vaikuṇṭha planets exist. The Lord was sitting in a lonely place just about to disappear from the vision of the inhabitants of this universe, and Uddhava was fortunate to see Him even at that time and thus receive the Lord's permission to enter Vaikuṇṭha. The Lord is everywhere at all times, and His appearance and disappearance are merely the experience of the inhabitants of a particular universe. He is just like the sun. The sun does not appear or disappear in the sky; it is only in the experience of men that in the morning the sun rises and in the evening the sun sets. The Lord is simultaneously both in Vaikuṇṭha and everywhere within and without Vaikuṇṭha.
The whole trouble of the living entity in material existence is that he has an independent conception of life. He is always dependent on the rules of the Supreme Lord, in both the conditioned and liberated states, but by the influence of the external energy the conditioned soul thinks himself independent of the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead. His constitutional position is to dovetail himself with the desire of the supreme will, but as long as he does not do so, he is sure to drag on in the shackles of material bondage. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.55), prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha mano-gatān: he has to give up all sorts of plans manufactured by mental concoction. The living entity has to dovetail himself with the supreme will. That will help him to get out of the entanglement of material existence.
The Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, is the dearest in both the conditioned and liberated states. When a person does not know that the Lord is the only dearmost object, then he is in the conditioned state of life, and when one knows perfectly well that the Lord is the only dearmost object, he is considered to be liberated. There are degrees of knowing one's relationship with the Lord, depending on the degree of realization as to why the Supreme Lord is the dearmost object of every living being. The real reason is clearly stated in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7). Mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ: the living entities are eternally parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. The living entity is called the ātmā, and the Lord is called the Paramātmā. The living entity is called Brahman, and the Lord is called the Parabrahman, or the Parameśvara. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). The conditioned souls, who do not have self-realization, accept the material body as the dearmost. The idea of the dearmost is then spread all over the body, both concentrated and extended. The attachment for one's own body and its extensions like children and relatives is actually developed on the basis of the real living entity. As soon as the real living entity is out of the body, even the body of the most dear son is no longer attractive.
Yoga practice, the process of purifying one's existential identity, is based mainly on self-control. Without self-control one cannot practice freedom from animosity. In the conditional state, every living being is envious of another living being, but in the liberated state there is an absence of animosity. Prahlāda Mahārāja was tortured by his father in so many ways, yet after the death of his father he prayed for his father's liberation by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He did not ask any benediction that he might have asked, but he prayed that his atheistic father might be liberated. He never cursed any of the persons who engaged in torturing him at the instigation of his father.
As the contamination of the germs of a particular disease can influence a weaker person, similarly the influence of material nature, or illusory energy, can act on the weaker, or conditioned, soul but not on the liberated soul. Self-realization is the position of the liberated state. One understands his constitutional position by knowledge and vairāgya, renunciation. Without knowledge, one cannot have realization. The realization that one is the infinitesimal part and parcel of the Supreme Spirit makes him unattached to material, conditional life. That is the beginning of devotional service. Unless one is liberated from material contamination, one cannot engage himself in the devotional service of the Lord. In this verse, therefore, it is stated, jñāna-vairāgya-yuktena: when one is in full knowledge of one's constitutional position and is in the renounced order of life, detached from material attraction, then, by pure devotional service, bhakti-yuktena, he can engage himself as a loving servant of the Lord. Paripaśyati means that he can see everything in its right perspective.
When one is trained to become conscious of his position, he understands that he is the servitor of the Lord. "Brahman" refers to a state of self-realization. Even the third-class devotee—who is not advanced in knowledge of the Absolute Truth but simply offers obeisances with great devotion, thinks of the Lord, sees the Lord in the temple and brings forth flowers and fruits to offer to the Deity—becomes imperceptibly liberated. Śraddhayānvitāḥ: with great devotion the devotees offer worshipful respects and paraphernalia to the Deity. The Deities of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, Lakṣmī and Nārāyaṇa, and Rāma and Sītā are very attractive to devotees, so much so that when they see the statue decorated in the temple of the Lord they become fully absorbed in thought of the Lord. That is the state of liberation. In other words, it is confirmed herewith that even a third-class devotee is in the transcendental position, above those who are trying for liberation by speculation or by other methods. Even great impersonalists like Śukadeva Gosvāmī and the four Kumāras were attracted by the beauty of the Deities in the temple, by the decorations and by the aroma of tulasī offered to the Lord, and they became devotees. Even though they were in the liberated state, instead of remaining impersonalists they were attracted by the beauty of the Lord and became devotees.
The conditioned soul thinks, "I am this body," but a liberated soul thinks, "I am not this body. I am spirit soul." This "I am" is called ego, or identification of the self. "I am this body" or "Everything in relationship to the body is mine" is called false ego, but when one is self-realized and thinks that he is an eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord, that identification is real ego. One conception is in the darkness of the threefold qualities of material nature—goodness, passion and ignorance—and the other is in the pure state of goodness, called śuddha-sattva or vāsudeva. When we say that we give up our ego, this means that we give up our false ego, but real ego is always present. When one is reflected through the material contamination of the body and mind in false identification, he is in the conditional state, but when he is reflected in the pure stage he is called liberated. The identification of oneself with one's material possessions in the conditional stage must be purified, and one must identify himself in relationship with the Supreme Lord. In the conditioned state one accepts everything as an object of sense gratification, and in the liberated state one accepts everything for the service of the Supreme Lord. Kṛṣṇa consciousness, devotional service, is the actual liberated stage of a living entity. Otherwise, both accepting and rejecting on the material platform or in voidness or impersonalism are imperfect conditions for the pure soul.
The Māyāvādī philosophers' position is that at the ultimate issue the individual is lost, everything becomes one, and there is no distinction between the knower, the knowable and knowledge. But by minute analysis we can see that this is not correct. Individuality is never lost, even when one thinks that the three different principles, namely the knower, the knowable and knowledge, are amalgamated or merged into one. The very concept that the three merge into one is another form of knowledge, and since the perceiver of the knowledge still exists, how can one say that the knower, knowledge and knowable have become one? The individual soul who is perceiving this knowledge still remains an individual. Both in material existence and in spiritual existence the individuality continues; the only difference is in the quality of the identity. In the material identity, the false ego acts, and because of false identification, one takes things to be different from what they actually are. That is the basic principle of conditional life. Similarly, when the false ego is purified, one takes everything in the right perspective. That is the state of liberation.
SB Canto 4
"Fire is situated in one place, but it distributes heat and light. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is distributing His energies in different ways." The living entity is but one of these energies (marginal energy). The energy and the energetic are one in one sense, but they are differently situated as energy and the energetic. Similarly, the sac-cid-ānanda form confirmed in Brahma-saṁhitā (īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1)) is different from that of the living entity in both his conditioned and liberated states. Only atheists consider the living entity and the Personality of Godhead equal in all respects. Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore says, māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa: "If one follows the instructions of Māyāvādī philosophers and believes that the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the individual soul are one, his understanding of real philosophy is forever doomed."
"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth." (BG 4.34)
Thus one has to select a bona fide spiritual master and become enlightened to his original consciousness. In this way the individual soul can understand that he is always subordinate to the Supersoul. As soon as he declines to remain subordinate and tries to become an enjoyer, he begins his material conditioning. When he abandons this spirit of being an individual owner or enjoyer, he becomes situated in his liberated state. The word sva-sthaḥ, meaning "situated in one's original position," is very significant in this verse. When one gives up his unwanted attitude of superiority, he becomes situated in his original position. The word tad-vyabhicāreṇa is also significant, for it indicates that when one is separated from God due to disobedience, his real sense is lost. Again, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa and guru, he can be properly situated in his liberated position. These verses are spoken by Śrīla Nārada Muni, and his purpose in speaking them is to revive our consciousness. Although the living entity and the Supersoul are one in quality, the individual soul has to pursue the instruction of the Supersoul. That is the state of liberation.
It is sometimes said that because a child is innocent he is completely pure. Actually this is not the fact. The effects of fruitive activities reserved in the subtle body appear in three concurrent stages. One is called bīja (the root), another is called kūṭa-stha (the desire), and another is called phalonmukha (about to fructify). The manifest stage is called prārabdha (already in action). In a conscious or unconscious state, the actions of the subtle or gross bodies may not be manifest, but such states cannot be called the liberated state. A child may be innocent, but this does not mean that he is a liberated soul. Everything is held in reservation, and everything will become manifest in due course of time. Even in the absence of certain manifestations in the subtle body, the objects of sense enjoyment may act. The example has been given of a nocturnal emission, in which the physical senses act even when the physical objects are not manifest. The three modes of material nature may not be manifest in the subtle body, but the contamination of the three modes remains conserved, and in due course of time, it becomes manifest. Even if the reactions of the subtle and gross bodies are not manifest, one does not become free from the material conditions. Therefore it is wrong to say that a child is as good as a liberated soul.
SB Canto 5
"One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman." (BG 14.26) Regardless of what we have done in our past lives, if we engage ourselves in unalloyed devotional service to the Lord in this life, we will always be situated in the brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20) (liberated) state, free from reactions, and will not be obliged to accept another material body. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so 'rjuna (BG 4.9). After giving up the body, one who has acted in that way does not accept another material body, but instead goes back home, back to Godhead.
The nitya-baddhas can become liberated by controlling the mind because the cause of conditioned life is the mind. When the mind is trained and the soul is not under the mind's control, the soul can be liberated even in this material world. When it is liberated, one is called jīvan-mukta. A jīvan-mukta knows how he has become conditioned; therefore he tries to purify himself and return home, back to Godhead. The eternally conditioned soul is eternally conditioned because he is controlled by the mind. The conditioned state and liberated state are compared to the sleeping, unconscious state and the awakened state. Those who are sleeping and unconscious are eternally conditioned, but those who are awake understand that they are eternally part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore even in this material world, they engage in Kṛṣṇa's service. As confirmed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī: īhā yasya harer dāsye. If one takes to Kṛṣṇa's service, he is liberated, even though he appears to be a conditioned soul within the material world. Jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate. In any condition, one is to be considered liberated if his only business is to serve Kṛṣṇa.
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
When the living entities come to this world for material enjoyment, they are entangled in karma and karma-phala by the Lord's illusory energy. But if one seeks shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, one is again situated in his original, liberated state. As stated here, kṛtā yatas tvayy abhayāśrayātmani: one who seeks shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord is always fearless. Because we are dependent on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we should give up the idea that without Kṛṣṇa we can enjoy freedom in this material world. This idea is the reason we have become entangled. Now it is our duty to seek shelter again at the Lord's lotus feet. This shelter is described as abhaya, or fearless. Since Kṛṣṇa is not subject to birth, death, old age or disease, and since we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, we also are not subject to birth, death, old age and disease, but we have become subject to these illusory problems because of our forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa and our position as His eternal servants (jīvera 'svarūpa' haya-kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa' (CC Madhya 20.108)). Therefore, if we practice devotional service by always thinking of the Lord, always glorifying Him and always chanting about Him, as described in text 37 (śṛṇvan gṛṇan saṁsmarayaṁś ca cintayan), we will be reinstated in our original, constitutional position and thus be saved. The demigods, therefore, encouraged Devakī not to fear Kaṁsa, but to think of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was already within her womb.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
Māyāvādī philosophers are jealous of the existence of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Vedānta-sūtra is not actually meant for them. They unnecessarily poke their noses into the Vedanta-sūtra, but they have no ability to understand it because, as the author of the Vedānta-sūtra writes in his commentary, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is meant for those who are pure in heart (paramo nirmatsarāṇām (SB 1.1.2)). If one is envious of Kṛṣṇa, how can he understand the Vedānta-sūtra or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? The Māyāvādīs' primary occupation is to offend the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. For example, although Kṛṣṇa demands our surrender in the Bhagavad-gītā, the greatest scholar and so-called philosopher in modern India has protested that it is "not to Kṛṣṇa" that we have to surrender. Therefore, he is envious. Since Māyāvādīs of all different descriptions are envious of Kṛṣṇa, they have no scope for understanding the meaning of the Vedānta-sūtra. Even if they were on the liberated platform, as they falsely claim, love of Kṛṣṇa is beyond the state of liberation—a fact stated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and repeated here by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī.
CC Antya-lila
In an indirect way, this verse explains the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. The Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—includes both the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa and the name of Lord Rāma. Lord Rāma gives one the opportunity to be liberated, but simply by liberation one does not get actual spiritual benefit. Sometimes if one is liberated from the material world but has no shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, one falls down to the material world again. Liberation is like a state of convalescence, in which one is free from a fever but is still not healthy. Even in the stage of convalescence, if one is not very careful, one may have a relapse. Similarly, liberation does not offer as much security as the shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
The living entities are factually beyond this covered inferior energy. They have their pure spiritual existence and their pure identity, as well as their pure mental activities. All of them are 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 dominate matter, his original mind, intelligence and body become covered by the material energy. When he is again uncovered from these material or inferior energies, he is called liberated. When he is liberated, he has no false ego, but his real ego again comes into existence. Foolish mental speculators think that after liberation one's identity is lost, but that is not so. Because the living entity is eternally part and parcel of God, when he is liberated, he revives his original, eternal, part-and-parcel identity. The realization of ahaṁ brahmāsmi ("I am not this body") does not mean that the living entity loses his identity. At the present moment a person may consider himself to be matter, but in his liberated state he will understand that he is not matter but spirit soul, part of the infinite. To become Kṛṣṇa conscious or spiritually conscious and to engage in the transcendental loving service of Kṛṣṇa are signs of the liberated stage.
We must always remember that the Supreme Lord has His creative function and that the infinitesimal living entities have their creative functions also. It is not that their creative function is lost when they are liberated and enter into the Supreme after the dissolution of the material body. On the contrary, the creative function of the living entity is properly manifested in the liberated state. If the living entity's activities are manifest even when he is materially conditioned, then how is it possible for his activities to stop when he attains liberation? The living entity's entering the state of liberation may be compared to a bird entering a tree, or an animal entering the forest, or a plane entering the sky. In no case is identity lost.
Nectar of Devotion
So those who are in the four liberated states may still be going through different stages of existence. In the beginning they may want the opulences of Kṛṣṇa, but at the mature stage the dormant love for Kṛṣṇa exhibited in Vṛndāvana becomes prominent in their hearts. As such, the pure devotees never accept the liberation of sāyujya, to become one with the Supreme, though sometimes they may accept as favorable the other four liberated states.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Liberated souls have no interest in materialistic activities. The impersonalist theory that after liberation one becomes inactive and need not hear anything does not prove that a liberated person is actually inactive. A living soul cannot be inactive. He is active either in the conditioned state or in the liberated state. A diseased person, for example, is also active, but his activities are all painful. The same person, when freed from the diseased condition, is still active, but in the healthy condition the activities are full of pleasure. Similarly, the impersonalists only seek to get free from the diseased, conditioned activities, but they have no information of activities in the healthy condition. Those who are actually liberated and in full knowledge take to hearing the activities of Kṛṣṇa; such engagement is pure spiritual activity.
It is essential for persons who are actually liberated to hear about the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. That is the supreme relishable subject matter for one in the liberated state. Also, if persons who are trying to be liberated hear such narrations as the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, then their path of liberation becomes very clear. The Bhagavad-gītā is the preliminary study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. By studying the Gītā, one becomes fully conscious of the position of Lord Kṛṣṇa; and when he is situated at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, he understands the narrations of Kṛṣṇa as described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Lord Caitanya has therefore advised His followers that their business is to propagate kṛṣṇa-kathā.
Renunciation Through Wisdom
The karmīs are foolish and ignorant, whereas the karma-yogīs are wise and learned. These wise men know that the nature of the material modes and material activities is exactly opposite to that of the soul. For this reason the karma-yogīs never engage in material activities under the modes of material nature, as the karmīs do, but rather perform karma-yoga, which is meant to satisfy Lord Viṣṇu. Such wise men always keep themselves aloof from close association with this phenomenal world, for they aspire to elevate the soul to its original spiritual position. They understand that the soul has come into contact with matter only by a freak arrangement. Therefore, although their ears, eyes, and other senses are involved in this phenomenal world, the sages refrain from material activities. As Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā (3.28),
One who is in knowledge of the Absolute Truth, O mighty-armed one, does not engage himself in the senses and sense gratification, knowing well the differences between work in devotion and work for fruitive results.
Then in Chapter 3.30-31, Lord Kṛṣṇa describes the means for achieving such a liberated state,
Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to proprietorship, and free from lethargy, fight. Those persons who execute their duties according to My injunctions and who follow this teaching faithfully, without envy, become free from the bondage of fruitive actions.
Persons who act in this way become progressively detached from matter and attached to Lord Kṛṣṇa's devotional service. Thus they are able to purify the mirror of their hearts, extinguish the forest fire of material existence, and become situated in their original, spiritual position. They exist at a level of realization far above the impersonal realization of the Absolute, for they are free from the contamination of vainly trying to merge with the Supreme and usurping His Absolute position. They never fall from this stage of consciousness. Fully absorbed in their own transcendental identity, they are the complete masters of their senses. They are the perfect persons to rule this universe, if they so desire, and they alone bring good fortune to everyone. The conditioned souls, however, are unable to benefit the world in any way. The purified, rare souls continuously perform karma-yoga and are always in a liberated state. In the Bhagavad-gītā (5.7) it is stated,
One who works in devotion, who is a pure soul, and who controls his mind and senses is dear to everyone. Though always working, such a man is never entangled.
Once the famous impersonalist and monist sannyāsī Ramana Maharshi of Madras was asked by a foreign disciple, "What is the difference between God and man?" His cryptic reply was "God plus desire equals man, and man minus desire equals God." We say that man can never be free of desire. In his eternal conditioned existence the jīva is full of the desire to enjoy matter, while in his eternal liberated state he is full of the desire to render devotional service to the Lord. Thus the jīva can never become God. It is sheer insanity to equate man with God, or vice versa. The Māyāvādī's unnatural desire to deny the inherent characteristics of his conscious self is the very same desire that keeps him from attaining liberation. Hence the Māyāvādīs' false and arrogant claim of liberation is merely a demonstration of their perverted intelligence.
According to the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, desire can never be nullified. While conditioned, the jīva is a repository of unlimited material desires, summarized as the catur-varga, the four goals of human life enunciated in the Vedic literature (religiosity, economic development, sense gratification, and liberation). However, in the liberated state produced by acting under the direction of the Lord's internal, spiritual energy, the jīva's true, spiritual desires become manifest. Śrī Aurobindo has discussed this subject (though not in detail), and for this we appreciate him more than Ramana Maharshi. Ramana Maharshi has more or less tried to completely choke the life out of desire. This forcible elimination of desire is spiritual suicide. There is no credit in finishing off the patient without curing his disease; the doctor is qualified when he can cure the disease and save the patient. Those who pursue the four Vedic goals mentioned above, even up to impersonal liberation, find themselves imprisoned by their senses and enslaved by their desires. On the other hand, one who can teach people how to engage their daily activities in the service of the Supreme Lord is the real benefactor of humanity.
Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)
King Kulaśekhara next addresses the Lord as Varada, "the bestower of benedictions," because it is He alone who can deliver to us the actual substance—spiritual bliss. When we detach ourselves from His association, we are always in the midst of want and scarcity, but as soon as we get in touch with Him, our gradual endowment with all bliss begins. The first installment of this bliss is the clearance of the layer of dust that has accumulated in our hearts due to millions of years of material association. As soon as the dust of materialism is brushed aside, the clear mirror of the heart reflects the presence of the Lord. And as soon as we see Him we are automatically freed from all kinds of aspirations and frustrations. In that liberated state, everything is blissful in relation with the Lord, and one has no desires to fulfill and nothing to lament over. Thus, following the benediction, full spiritual bliss comes upon us, ushering in full knowledge, full life, and full satisfaction with our whole existence.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Rādhārāṇī is daivī-māyā. Just like we are, in our material conditional life, we are under the material energy. Similarly, in our liberated state we have to become under the spiritual energy. That spiritual energy is Rādhārāṇī. We are acting at the present moment under material energy, because our body is made of material energy. So when you are liberated you will develop your body of spiritual energy. That spiritual energy is Rādhārāṇī. So you have to become under some..., under the control of some energy. You are also energy; you are marginal energy. Marginal energy means you may be under the control of the spiritual energy or you may be under the control of material energy—your marginal position. But when you are under the control of the material energy, that is your precarious condition, struggle for existence. And when you are under spiritual energy, that is your life of freedom. Rādhārāṇī is spiritual energy, and Durgā, or Kālī, is material energy. So those who are materialist, they worship Drgā, Kālī, the material, different forms of material energy. And, so in both the cases... There is a word in Sanskrit, it is called śakta, śakta. Śakta, the word comes from śakti. Śakti means energy.
You can attain this also, state of life, liberated life. We have heard so many times, "liberation," or "mukti." Mukti means one who has no defects as mentioned. That is mukti. Mukti does not mean one thinks himself that "I have become Bhagavān. I have become now..." Vimukta-māninaḥ. They have been called as rascals, wrongly thinking that they are vimukta. Vimukta-mānī. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. There are so many rascals, they are thinking that they have become mukta, liberated Nārāyaṇas. They're thinking like that. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. So why they are...? Now, if they have become liberated, so advanced, and feeling that they have become Nārāyaṇa, so what is the objection? The objection is ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvāt (SB 10.2.32). They do not know what is Nārāyaṇa, these rascals. Śaṅkarācārya admits, nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt: "Nārāyaṇa is not a being within this material world." That is Nārāyaṇa. And they have become Nārāyaṇa, namo nārāyaṇāya. Nārāyaṇa is so cheap thing? Therefore śāstra says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. These rascals, they are thinking they have become Nārāyaṇa, but they do not know what is Nārāyaṇa. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Why they do not under...? Tvayy asta-bhāvāt. They never tried to understand what is really God. They thought, "God is very cheap thing. Everyone can become God." So therefore they have become vimukta-māninaḥ.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
So simply by God consciousness, simply by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we can develop all the good qualities, we can conquer over all reactions of our sinful life. Simply we have to follow the regulative principles as they're enjoined by the ācāryas, as they're... Very simple method. And by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, as much as possible, then we keep the standard. We keep the standard means we keep ourself in liberated state. Simply we have to be cautious that māyā, or material conception of life, may not again attack us. So (he) says, na tathā hy aghavān rājan pūyeta tapa-ādibhiḥ, yathā kṛṣṇārpita-prāṇaḥ. Anyone who has dedicated himself, his life, to Kṛṣṇa, na ta..., yathā kṛṣṇārpita-prāṇas tat-puruṣa-niṣevayā... How one can become dedicated to Kṛṣṇa? Tat-puruṣa-niṣevayā. That Supreme Personality being served, being served. By serving. You can, you can, simply by lip... But you cannot say that "Now I have dedicated my life to Kṛṣṇa." No. That's all right, but you have to keep the standard of surrender by niṣevayā, by serving. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva (Brs. 1.2.234). As you serve, as you go on serving the Supreme Lord, so He becomes revealed within your... He's within your heart. So by your service He'll reveal Himself. So kṛṣṇārpita-prāṇas tat-puruṣa-niṣevayā. We should remember this, that our business is that we should be dedicated to Kṛṣṇa.
When we are punished that is no envious envy on the part of God or His agent; it is our correction, I think the Yamarāja, er, the Yamadūtas said in the beginning that "We have come to take Ajāmila just to correct him." So dharma and adharma... Our real dharma is to serve God. That is our real duty. And as soon as we neglect this permanent service or occupation, then we are liable to be punished. You cannot become independent of God. That is not possible. That will (not) make you happy. The healthy condition of the finger is that it is able to serve the body. If the finger is not able to serve the body, that will mean unhealthy. Otherwise... Similarly, when we are engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and engaged in the service of the Lord, that is our healthy state. That is mukti, liberation. Mukti means no disease. So when we deny to serve Kṛṣṇa, when we are not engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa, that is our diseased condition. That is not healthy condition.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
There may be difference. Just like Buddha. Buddha's activities and Kṛṣṇa's activities, there is difference. Buddha's activity was different because, according to the place, according to the time, according to the audience, the activities are... Avatāra, incarnation, comes when there is necessity. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati (BG 4.7). When there is discrepancies in the discharge of dharma... Dharma means the prescribed rules by which one elevates himself to the transcendental life. That is dharma, religion. Why in human society there is religion? The purpose is to elevate himself to the transcendental position. That is religion. Where there is no such aim to raise one from the fallen condition to the liberated state, that is not religion. That is sentiment. Religion means that one should be raised from the fallen condition to the highest elevated condition. Therefore there are so many rules and regulations.
General Lectures
Liberation means there is no more anxiety. In the conditioned state we are always full of anxiety, and the liberated state... Just like when a man is attacked with fever, he's always suffering. As soon as the fever is gone, he is liberated. Similarly, the material concept of life, when we are freed from the material concept of life, that is the beginning of our liberation. Actually, liberation will be maintained by liberated activities. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like a man is suffering from some disease, so he cannot act freely. But when he is out of the disease, then he can act freely. To get out of the disease does not mean that there will be no activity. The Buddha philosophy and the Māyāvāda philosophy say that after liberation, activity stops. But this Vaiṣṇava philosophy says no. After liberation real activity begins.
Philosophy Discussions
Hayagrīva: Transcendental to the modes. Prabhupāda: Yes. No more affected by the modes of material nature. Sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate (BG 14.26). Such person is transcendental to the modes of material nature. Sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma (BG 14.26). That is brahma-bhūtaḥ stage. So every devotee, if he is strictly following the rules and regulation, he is in the brahma-bhūtaḥ stage. Just like there is epidemic, but one who has taken the vaccine, the epidemic cannot touch it. So that is like that. Brahma, when you come to the brahma-bhūtaḥ state, let..., there may be māyā, there may be so many activities of ignorance and passion—he has nothing to do with. He is free. That is brahma-bhūtaḥ state. That is wanted. That is perfection.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: If Kṛṣṇa withdraws the intelligence, you cannot work. So Kṛṣṇa is guiding already, but He's guiding at the present moment according to your whims. "You wanted to do this? All right." Kṛṣṇa is giving intelligence: "Do it." But when he'll agree to act according to the whims of Kṛṣṇa, that is perfection.
David Wynne: How do you agree to this?
Prabhupāda: Eh?
David Wynne: How does one agree to this?
Prabhupāda: There is process.
David Wynne: Yeah.
Prabhupāda: Yes. You have to learn it. In the conditioned state we act according to "my whims." In the liberated state we act according to Kṛṣṇa's whims. That's all. That is the difference. That is the difference. Just see, Bhagavad-gītā. Arjuna wanted to act according to his whims, "Oh, He is going now fight with my grandfather, with my teacher." These are the problems. Kṛṣṇa... "No, I cannot fight." And then at last he agreed to act according to the whims of Kṛṣṇa: "Yes, kariṣye vacanaṁ tava. Naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā (BG 18.73)." Find out this verse. Naṣṭo mohaḥ. Whatever we are speaking, there is reference in the Bhagavad-gītā. We don't speak anything according to our whims. No.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Jesuit: What is it all leading to? A state of liberation from material things?
Prabhupāda: Yes, there are two... Now in the human form of life, we have got two selection, I think in the Bible also it is said that one goes to hell, one goes to heaven. So we have got two selection, either to the path of hellish condition or to the path of back to home, back to Godhead. This is human life. It is in Sanskrit word it is called pravṛtti-mārga, nivṛtti-mārga. Nivṛtti-mārga means stopping the material way of life and go to the spiritual world, back to home, back to Godhead.
Jesuit: Does that name, that the things such as, you mentioned smoking and alcohol and sex and meat, that all those things are material and therefore bad?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Jesuit: Take sex, how can that be considered...?
Prabhupāda: Or Christian religion also there is celibacy, life, you also trained up, the nuns, the priests, they are not meant for marrying.
Jesuit: That's true. We don't say that sex is bad.
Prabhupāda: Why they are forbidden to marry?
Jesuit: Well, it's a question of something I freely accept, freely accept not to marry.
Prabhupāda: No. No, this is spiritual life. Sex life is not spiritual life.
| Page Title: | Liberated state |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Serene |
| Created: | 11 of Nov, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=6, SB=22, CC=2, OB=12, Lec=7, Con=2, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 51 |