God and the Liberated Souls - Transcendental Life Beyond Māyā
The goal of all authentic spiritual practice is to escape the entanglement of the material world and return to our original, pure condition. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that those who achieve this supreme perfection, as well as those who are eternally situated in the spiritual sky, are known as liberated souls, and their relationship with God is characterized by unending transcendental bliss.
The Nature of the Liberated Soul
In the spiritual sky, the Lord eternally associates with His pure devotees in a dynamic exchange of love. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that these eternally liberated souls share features that are almost identical to the Lord, yet they always remain in the subordinate position as the predominated energy, joyfully serving the supreme predominator.
- The nitya-muktas are eternally liberated souls, and they are eternally engaged in the reciprocation of transcendental loving service with the Lord in His eternal abode beyond the manifested mundane creations.
- The features of the liberated souls and those of Hari are almost the same, yet Hari is predominator and the liberated souls are predominated.
- Liberated souls can join in this blissful reciprocation of predominator and predominated without materially concocted ideas. Example of such a transcendental exchange between the predominator and the predominated is the Lord's rasa-lila with the gopis.
- The planets within the glowing effulgence are called Hari-dhama. On these planets the predominating Deity is Hari, and the predominated deities are the liberated souls.
Immunity to the Material Energy
Unlike the conditioned souls who are constantly battered by the three modes of material nature, liberated entities remain completely unaffected by material illusions. Śrīla Prabhupāda compares the material energy to a state's criminal department, which is highly troublesome for lawbreakers but has absolutely no jurisdiction over the obedient, liberated citizens.
- The criminal department is troublesome for the criminal but not for the obedient citizen. Similarly, this material energy is troublesome for the conditioned soul, but it has nothing to do with the liberated souls who are engaged in the service of the Lord.
- This material energy is troublesome for the conditioned soul, but it has nothing to do with the liberated souls who are engaged in the service of the Lord.
- If one has a strong desire to serve the Lord, even if he accepts a material body, there is no cause of anxiety, since a devotee, even in a material body, is a liberated soul.
- By His internal potency, Maha-sankarsana maintains the transcendental existence of all the planets in the spiritual sky, where all the living beings are eternally liberated souls. The influence of the material energy is conspicuous there by its absence.
Attraction to the Lord's Pastimes
What occupies the minds of those who are entirely free from material anxiety? Śrīla Prabhupāda reveals that because the Supreme Lord possesses infinite transcendental qualities, He effortlessly attracts the minds of the liberated souls, who find their sole pleasure in relishing His divine pastimes.
- The Lord possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including liberated souls.
- By the association of pure devotees like Vyasadeva, even the liberated soul becomes attracted to the transcendental qualities of the Lord.
- The pastimes of the Lord are generally heard and relished by liberated souls. Those who are conditioned souls are interested in reading stories of the material activities of some common man.
- O my Lord, there is no reason for the liberated souls to take shelter at Your lotus feet except that such souls are constantly thinking of Your feet.
The Rarity of Pure Worship
Achieving actual liberation is exceedingly rare, and understanding the Supreme Lord in truth is even rarer. The Vedic literature confirms that out of many liberated souls, perhaps only one truly comprehends the Supreme Personality of Godhead, free from impersonal misconceptions.
- In the Bhagavad-gita it is also said by the Lord Himself that out of many hundreds of thousands of people, one may try for perfection in human life, and out of many liberated souls, one may know Him as He is.
- Out of many liberated souls, someone may be qualified to know the Personality of Godhead.
- In other words, only the liberated souls can worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Less intelligent Mayavadis take to the worship of the demigods, thinking that the demigods and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are on the same level.
- Those fortunate living entities who catch the truth and surrender unto the lotus feet of Vasudeva after many, many births in the material world join the eternally liberated souls and thus are allowed to enter into the kingdom of Godhead.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Śrīla Prabhupāda establishes a clear distinction between the miseries of conditioned life and the boundless freedom of the liberated souls. Unlike the conditioned living entities who are hopelessly entangled in the stringent laws of material nature, the liberated souls—whether eternally situated in the spiritual sky (nitya-muktas) or newly admitted from the material world—are completely immune to the agonizing influence of māyā. They exist in the Hari-dhāma, possessing transcendental forms almost identical to the Lord's, yet they eternally relish their sublime position as the predominated energy serving the supreme predominator. Because they have shed all material desires, their only occupation is to constantly hear, relish, and participate in the captivating pastimes of the Supreme Lord. However, achieving this platform is the rarest of all spiritual feats; as the Bhagavad-gītā confirms, out of many thousands of self-realized, liberated souls, only an extraordinary few actually understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead in truth and engage in His unalloyed, personal worship.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category God and the Liberated Souls. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.