From Radha-Syama to Maya-devi Dhama Introduction This blog is about the original position of the soul. Was the soul originally in love with Sri Sri Radha Krishna in the Goloka Vrndavana planet, or with one of Their Sri Sri Laksmi-Narayana expansions on a Vaikuntha planet? Or were we eternally in the Brahmajyoti, Krishna’s effulgence and then on coming out we had the choice to either fall down to the clouds of illusion, the material world or rise up to Krishna seva, Krishna consciousness, the spiritual world?-brahman-tatastha-patita-vada. Or are we eternally here?-anadi-patita-vada. Or are we still in the spiritual world with a pastime expansion going around through the prison cells, the material bodies, of Durga-devi dhama?-svapna-matra-patita-vada or dream-vada. This last theory is explained in the section “dream vada”. The conclusion: we were originally in the love of Sri Sri Radha Krishna in Their planet. Srila Prabhupada said: “So the Mayavadi philosopher, their spiritual life means to merge into the Brahman effulgence, and the Vaisnava philosopher to go back to Goloka Vrndavana, Vaikuntha, where God is situated, and become His associate person.” (Philosophy, Srila Prabhupada discussions with Hayagriva, on Arthur Schopenhauer) The book is in the form of debates. The different chapters treat the various aspects of the subject, and can be read independently; you don’t have to read from 1 to 2 to 3 etc. Please chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare and go back to Sri Sri Radha Krishna’s planet. Contents 1. Fall-vada in the Mahabharata, the Puranas and Upanisads 2. Three latest acaryas on fall of the jiva 3. Scriptures and tattva-darsinas on fall-vada 4. We fell from Srimati Radharani originally, not from Sri Maha-Visnu 5. Misconceptions on jiva-origin and fall 6. We tried to be tatastha... 7. Maha-Visnu-envy-fall-vada (mef) is 94% Goloka-envy-fall-vada (gef) 8. "From Vaikuntha no one falls" is not a categorical absolute 9. Soul falling from brahmajyoti is rejected by Srila Prabhupada 10. Margin is always in contact with matter and spirit 11. From Radha-Syama to Maya-devi dhama 12. A servant of the lord cannot fall from Vaikuntha 13. Goloka Fall-down is confirmed by Srila Prabhupada 14. Bona-fide study rests the case; we fell from love 15. Back to Godhead means back to the Head God, Krishna 16. Lost paradise football 17. We fell from the rasa-lila 18. Jiva dance back to rasa-lila 19. The point has no length, no breadth, Essay on sakhalAnAm: no unsteadiness 20. Displeasing Me, do fall into the mortal world 21. Back to home is the oasis, not the desert 22. Come back to Me and dance with Me. Why rot in this rotting dance? Dream vada 23. Liberated souls don’t expand fallen amsas 24. Liberated souls expand lila amsas 25. Gopis don’t dance in Durga’s rasa-lila even in dreams 26. O, Hare, O, Krishna, kindly accept me again. I am fallen in this material world Three Latest Acaryas on Fall of the Jiva The recent article, "Mahavakyas of Goloka-Envy-Fallvadis" by Av. dasa is based on a misinterpretation of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Jaiva Dharma ch. 15-16. The statements in these chapters of falling as an associate of Maha-Visnu– as Av. dasa explains in his version- should be understood as that the soul is on the way down from Goloka or Vaikuntha and gets a second chance of choice at the border of the spiritual and material world. Srila Prabhupada writes in SB 3.12.3: “The Lord first of all tries to protect him from the trap, but when the living entity persists on gliding down to hell, the Lord helps him to forget his real position to give the chance to see if he is happy by misusing his independence”. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, in his Sri Sri Kalyana kalpa-taru, describes that the soul originally falls from Vrndavana, for example, from dancing in the rasa-lila. cid-dhama-bhaskara Krishna, tanra jyotirgata ananta citkana jiba tisthe avirata Krishna is the shining sun of this all-cognizant spiritual abode, and within His effulgence dwell innumerable fine particles of pure cognizance called jiva. sei jiba prema-dharmi, Krishna-gata-prana sada Krishnakrstha, bhakti-sudha kore' pana These jiva souls are by very nature full of pure ecstatic love and are all the dearly beloved of Lord Krishna. Always being attracted by Krishna, they continuously drink the ambrosial nectar of devotion. nana-bhava-misrita piya dasya-rasa krsner ananta-gune sada thake basa Enjoying a mixture of various moods in the mellow of servitude, the jivas eternally remain subjugated and controlled by Krishna's unlimited virtuous qualities. Krishna mata, Krishna pita, Krishna sahka, pati ei sab bhinna-bhava Krishna kore rati They also love Krishna in all the different moods of being related to Him as a mother, father, friend, or husband. Krishna se purusa ek nitya brndabane jiba-gana nari-brnda, rame Krishna sane Eternally in Vrndavana Krishna is the only male (purusa), and all the jivas there enjoy pastimes in His company in the role of females (prakrti). sei to' ananda-lila ja'r nai anta ataeva Krishna-lila akhanda ananta There is no end to all of these blissful pastimes; therefore Krishna's pastimes are known for being undisputedly supreme and unlimited. je-sab jiber 'bhoga-banca upajilo purusa bhavete ta'ra jade paravesilo All the souls, in whom the desire to enjoy separately awakens, have to enter into the material world under the false conception of being a male (a purusa). maya-karya jada maya--nitya-sakti-chaya Krishna-dasi sei satya, kara-kartri maya Illusory material activities as well as maya herself are both the shadow reflections of the eternal potency. In reality, maya is the eternal maidservant of Krishna, but her job is to be in charge of operating the prison-house of the material world. sei maya adarser samasta bisesa loiya gathilo bisva jahe purna klesa This illusory energy maya, has created the material universe exactly like an imitation model of the real spiritual variegatedness, but with the added feature of being full of various miseries. jiba jadi hoilena Krishna-bahimukha mayadevi tabe ta'r jachilena sukha If by chance a living entity becomes averse to the Supreme Lord Krishna, then Mayadevi's duty is to voluntarily offer her temptations of material happiness. maya-sukhe matta jiba sri-Krishna bhulilo sei se avidya-base asmita janmilo Intoxicated by maya's illusory happiness, the living entity then forgets Krishna. Under the influence of such ignorance, false egoistic selfishness arises. bhramite bhramite jadi sadhu-sanga hoy punaraya gupta nitya-dharmer udoy Thus wandering and wandering, if by chance the poor soul gets the association of the devotees of the Lord, then her eternal nature, which has been for so long covered over, will once again become aroused. sadhu-sange Krishna-katha hoy alocana purva-bhava udi' kate mayar bandhan By discussing topics concerning Krishna in the association of devotees, and thus awakening her previous mentality of servitude to Krishna, all bondage to maya's illusion become severed. Krishna-prati jiba jabe korena iksana bidya-rupa maya kore' bandhana chedana When the conditioned soul thus looks towards Krishna, then by such an act, this very same maya, in the form of transcendental knowledge, severs all of her material bonds. mayika jagate bidya nitya-brndabana jiber sadhana-janya kore' bibhavana The seat of this transcendental knowledge is present within this very universe as the eternal Vrndavana-dhama in India . Lord Krishna expands His abode and pastimes at this Vrndavana just to facilitate the conditioned souls' practice of devotional service. sei brndabane jiba bhavavistha ho'ye nitya seva labha kore' caitanya-asraye When she comes into contact with this Vrndavana, the living entity becomes overwhelmed and lost in emotional ecstasy. Remaining under the shelter of Lord Caitanya, she attains eternal service. prakatita lila, ar goloka-bilasa ek tattva, bhinna noy, dvividha prakasa The Lord's pastimes of appearing in this world, as well as His pastimes in Goloka, are one and the same truth. Being non-different, they are simply two types of manifestations of the same pastimes. nitya-lila nitya-dasa-ganer niloy e prakata-lila baddha-jiber asroy The eternal pastimes in Goloka are the abode of all the eternally liberated servitors, whereas the manifest pastimes in the material world are the refuge for all of the bound-up conditioned living entities. ataeva brndabana jiber avasa asar samsare nitya-tattver prakasa Therefore Vrndavana is the living entities original eternal home, manifesting its own eternally true nature within the dead material world. (Kalyana kalpataru 13-36) Also, see these statements from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's Harmonist: "We are expelled Adams and Eves from paradise…. Dislocated stars like us shooting from the ever-glowing infinite fountainhead of the Transcendence. The shooting stars are again retracted by the same fountainhead through the power of instructions and bliss.... this will carry them back to their original position to be dovetailed with the Absolute." “Question: I cannot understand this world. Answer: It is camp life. This world is not our original abode. It is meant for certain purposes. After that we are to proceed to our original home. This world is not a desirable place. It is not good to be enticed to stay here for a long time, forgetting our original abode. We stay there with Godhead.