Everyone is a Pure Devotee
Every living entity throughout all of existence is a pure of Lord Sri Krishna. Those who never forget this live eternally in the spiritual sky and are known as nitya-siddhas, eternally liberated souls. Those who forget this fall down from the spiritual world into the material where they futilely try to enjoy a life apart from devotion to Krishna. When they become frustrated with their suffering condition and take advantage of the mercy of guru and Krishna, they resume their former life of devotion and return to their original position in the spiritual sky. That everyone is constitutionally a devotee of Krishna is confirmed as follows in the Sri Caitanya Caritamrita:
nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema 'sādhya' kabhu naya
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
"Pure love for Krishna is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens."
--CC Madhya 22.107
So now may all the conditioned souls throughout all the material universes become re-established in their original pure Krishna consciousness.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Dandavat pranam.
In the Caitanya Caritamrita Adi Lila Chapter 8, I was reading about the three types of perfections: nitya siddha, kripa siddha, and sadhana siddha. I'll be highly thankful if you would please help me understand these three. I am expressing here, what I had understood after reading them:
Nitya siddha is like when vaishnavas or gurus appear such as Srila Prabhupada and the other acaryas in our sampradaya. They are nitya siddhas.
Kripa siddha is what we are taught to strive for. Please your spiritual master by serving him, attract his mercy and then become perfect.
Sadhana siddha,........... I thought was attaining perfection by your own efforts. I don't know what can be it's example. But in your "Thought for the Day" entitled "Take Shelter of the Pure Devotee" you mentioned that we cannot become self-realized on our own strength. I got perplexed after reading this. Please throw some light on this. Also tell me if I've understood the other two namely, kripa siddha and nitya siddha correctly.
Begging your mercy,
VKT
A sadhana-siddha is a devotee who becomes liberated by executing the process of devotional service. According to the revealed scriptures and all the great Vedic authorities one requires the mercy of the pure devotee spiritual master in order to advance on the pathway of sadhana bhakti. It is not that one can perfect in sadhana bhakti without the grace of the bona fide spiritual master. So sadhana-siddha does not mean the kripa or mercy is absent. It means that there is combination of sadhana and kripa. For example, you are executing sadhana bhakti and in your email you are begging for mercy. This is proper way to attain sadhana siddha. We beg the beg the mercy of the spiritual master for becoming perfect in the execution of sadhana.
A kripa-siddha is someone who becomes liberated exclusively by mercy without being engaged in the process of devotional service. He does not follow any rules and regulations, but simply by pure mercy becomes liberated. This is like someone who gets an honorary degree without having to attend the university. An example in this connection is given in the Nrsimha Purana. A Muslim was being killed by a wild boar being jabbed by his tusk. While he was being killed he uttered, "harama, harama." Harama is an Urdu word which means condemned. The Muslims do not eat pig flesh because they consider it to be condemned. But in spite of his being a sinful man he got the result of chanting "ha rama"--"O my Lord Ramacandra" and become liberated from the cycle of birth and death. This is kripa-siddha.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema 'sādhya' kabhu naya
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
"Pure love for Krishna is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens."
--CC Madhya 22.107
So now may all the conditioned souls throughout all the material universes become re-established in their original pure Krishna consciousness.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Answers According to the Vedic Version:
Question: What is Sadhana Siddha?
Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja,Dandavat pranam.
In the Caitanya Caritamrita Adi Lila Chapter 8, I was reading about the three types of perfections: nitya siddha, kripa siddha, and sadhana siddha. I'll be highly thankful if you would please help me understand these three. I am expressing here, what I had understood after reading them:
Nitya siddha is like when vaishnavas or gurus appear such as Srila Prabhupada and the other acaryas in our sampradaya. They are nitya siddhas.
Kripa siddha is what we are taught to strive for. Please your spiritual master by serving him, attract his mercy and then become perfect.
Sadhana siddha,........... I thought was attaining perfection by your own efforts. I don't know what can be it's example. But in your "Thought for the Day" entitled "Take Shelter of the Pure Devotee" you mentioned that we cannot become self-realized on our own strength. I got perplexed after reading this. Please throw some light on this. Also tell me if I've understood the other two namely, kripa siddha and nitya siddha correctly.
Begging your mercy,
VKT
Answer: Sadhana Perfected by Mercy of Guru
You have understood nitya-siddha correctly. Now please try to understand properly sadhana-siddha and kripa-siddha.A sadhana-siddha is a devotee who becomes liberated by executing the process of devotional service. According to the revealed scriptures and all the great Vedic authorities one requires the mercy of the pure devotee spiritual master in order to advance on the pathway of sadhana bhakti. It is not that one can perfect in sadhana bhakti without the grace of the bona fide spiritual master. So sadhana-siddha does not mean the kripa or mercy is absent. It means that there is combination of sadhana and kripa. For example, you are executing sadhana bhakti and in your email you are begging for mercy. This is proper way to attain sadhana siddha. We beg the beg the mercy of the spiritual master for becoming perfect in the execution of sadhana.
A kripa-siddha is someone who becomes liberated exclusively by mercy without being engaged in the process of devotional service. He does not follow any rules and regulations, but simply by pure mercy becomes liberated. This is like someone who gets an honorary degree without having to attend the university. An example in this connection is given in the Nrsimha Purana. A Muslim was being killed by a wild boar being jabbed by his tusk. While he was being killed he uttered, "harama, harama." Harama is an Urdu word which means condemned. The Muslims do not eat pig flesh because they consider it to be condemned. But in spite of his being a sinful man he got the result of chanting "ha rama"--"O my Lord Ramacandra" and become liberated from the cycle of birth and death. This is kripa-siddha.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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