Lose a Battle But Win the War

It is expected that in the war against maya that the neophyte devotee with sometimes have difficulty and experience setbacks. However this should not at all be a source of discouragement for him. If he will learn how to intelligently capitalize on whatever mistakes he has made, those experiences instead of being setbacks will be stepping stones on his path to perfection. He should never become discouraged and think that losing a battle here or there means that he will lose the war. Even the greatest conquering heroes in world history sometimes lost a battle. If they had let that discourage them, they would have never achieved the great success for which they became famous. Because they did not let that defeat discourage them, they continued fighting with determination and proceeded steadily forward to ultimate victory.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Origin of the Soul

I've been reading your stuff for a little while, now and then. I don't understand something. I also have a book I've been reading, named "Jaiva Dharma". This book is written by a person named Bhaktivinode Thakur. It says there that the soul did not fall from the spiritual world, that it came from the tatastha sakti, and that the soul, called jiva, was never in the spiritual world. Do you believe in Bhaktivinode Thakur? Why would anyone want to be envious of God, if there is so much happiness in the spiritual world? It makes more sense what this Jaiva book says. What book do you study to present your conclusion?

Thank you,

Shirley

Answer: The Soul Originates in Krishna

I have noted your question with care, and I shall also reply with care according to the revealed knowledge of the great mahajanas, the great realized souls who have carefully passed down to us the timeless Vedic wisdom. I beg you to kindly read and try to understand the full import of my reply.

We do not simply read one book and then take it out of context due to not being properly guided by a bona spiritual master. Nor do we doubt the words of any great Vaisnava Acharya such as Bhaktivinode Thakur. In the Prema-pradipa, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur states:

"When he is imprisoned in the material world, the spirit soul does not lose his original spiritual form, the form he had in the spiritual world of Vaikuntha. However, because of contact with matter the imprisoned soul loses the memory of his original spiritual form in Vaikuntha. Still, his original spiritual form does not cease to exist. The soul's faith, desire and happiness are then directed toward matter. The soul's rasas, which were originally manifested in the spiritual world, are then perverted and reflected into the pains, pleasures and various other states in the material world."

I have not anywhere in Bhaktivinode Thakur's writings found the concept that the jiva was never in the spiritual world. The Jaiva Dharma is written in Bengali language. Perhaps you are reading a version that was not properly translated. Nor have you provided me a verbatim quote. You have merely paraphrased according to your own understanding.

You are wondering why anyone would be envious of God when there is so much happiness in the spiritual world. It is not difficult to understand. If an inhabitant of the spiritual world sometimes thinks that maybe I could be even more happy than I am now if I were God Himself, he finds himself immediately in the material world, where he is given a chance to try being the center of the universe to see how he likes it. And then when he realizes how foolish such a desire is, he immediately wakes up from his foolish dream and resumes his eternal service to the Lord in His ecstatic pastimes.

The tatasha shakti refers to the border line between the spiritual and material energies. It is translated into English as the "marginal energy." When one arrives in the material energy he has certainly come from the tatasha shakti because that is the crossing point between the spiritual and material energies. Just like if someone enters the USA, his crossing point is the border. But if we ask him where he is from, he cannot rightfully say that he is from the border. No, he has come from another country to enter the US and has merely crossed the border to do so.

We can easily understand our origin by hearing from the supreme authority, Lord Sri Krishna Himself who clearly states in the Bhagavad-gita that everything emanates from Him:

ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo
mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate

"I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. "
Bhagavad-gita 10.8

So our ultimate origin is the transcendental body of Lord Sri Krishna, Who eternally resides in the spiritual world. Try to understand that since we originate from Krishna Who is in the spiritual world, we also must necessarily be originally situated in the spiritual world as His emanations. If an automobile manufacturing plant is located in a particular country, the cars that it produces are also naturally from the same country in which the manufacturing plant is situated, even if they are exported to a different country.

I have noted that you have included the words "need to be free again" in your email address This is a very nice statement of the factual reality. It means that previously the person was free, but that now he is no longer free and is feeling the need to be free again. You've hit the nail right on the head! You were originally in a state of perfect freedom in the spiritual sky, and now you can return back home, back to Godhead to your original free state through the most sublime ultimate self realization process.

I hope this helps to clarify this matter and that you are in the best of health and an ecstatic mood.

Always your well-wisher,

Sankarshan Das Adhikari