Does Śrī Sanātana teach that merging into Brahman is not permanent?

Reader Asd ji requested a translation of a section from the Bṛhad-Bhagavatāmṛta that deals with jīvas liberated into Brahman who, after attaining Brahman upon death, are described as performing bhakti to Bhagavan. This appears to contradict my assertions on this site that Brahma-sāyujya, or merging into Brahman, is an eternal state. The translation along with my notes is below. Enjoy!

In translating this, I learned (yet again) the importance of context. Originally, I only studied the verse and commentary requested, and was stumped by it. I approached Babaji who explained that the verse and commentary has to be understood *in the context of the previous verse*. After studying it, things became plain. So I start at verse 2.206, where Śrī Sanātana writes:

ātmārāmaś ca bhagavat- kṛpayā bhakta-saṅgataḥ |

santyajya brahma-niṣṭhātvaṁ bhakti-mārgaṁ viśanty ataḥ ||206||

My translation, based on Śrī Sanātana’s commentary, is as follows —

Therefore, by the association of devotees [made possible] through the grace of Bhagavān, even the ātmārāmas, having given up fixity in experience of Brahman completely that was [achieved through] samādhi, perform bhakti alone.

The commentary is as follows —

ato’smān mukty-adhikādhika-bhakti-māhātmyād dhetoḥ | apy-arthe ca-kāraḥ | ātmārāmā api brahmaṇi niṣṭhāṁ samādhinā tad-anubhava-sthiratāṁ paritaḥ sarva-bhāvena tyaktvā bhakti-mārgam eva praviśanti muktiṁ dūrato vihāya bhaktiṁ kurvantīty arthaḥ |

Therefore (atah), meaning due to the pre-eminence of bhakti over mukti [they perform bhakti]. The word ‘ca’ carries the sense of ‘also’. Even the ātmārāmas, having given up completely, fixity in Brahman-experience achieved through samādhi, enter the path of devotion alone, that is, giving up mukti from afar, perform bhakti alone.

uktaṁ coddhavena śrī-bhagavantaṁ prati ekādaśa-skandhe—

And this is stated by Uddhava to śrī-Bhagavān in the eleventh Canto:

athāta ānanda-dughaṁ padāmbujaṁ haṁsāḥ śrayerann aravinda-locana [bhā.pu. 11.29.3] iti |

Therefore, the haṁsas take shelter of your lotus feet, which are repositories of ānanda, O lotus-eyed one!

Now he raises an objection. How can those who are interested in Brahman, suddenly give that up and take to bhakti?

nanu teṣāṁ evaṁ kutaḥ sidhyet ?

Objection: but how can this be possible for them?

tatrāhuḥ—bhagavataḥ kṛpayā yo bhaktaḥ saṅgaḥ, tasmād iti |

They reply- because of the association of devotees which is made possible by the grace of Bhagavān

He now explains this in more depth.

ayam arthaḥ—kecid ātmārāmā nija-bhakti-bhakta-jana-mahima-prakaṭana-vyagreṇa bhagavatā kathañcid anugṛhītāḥ santas tad-bhakta-jana-saṅgaṁ prāpya tat-prabhāveṇa jāta-parama-sūkṣma-vicāra-cāturyā muktes tucchatām ākalayya tāṁ sa-parikarāṁ dūrataḥ parihṛtya bhagavad-guṇa-mahimākṛṣṭā iva bhakti-mārgaṁ praviśya bahudhā bhagavantaṁ bhajantīti ||206||

The sense is this. Some ātmārāmās, somehow receive the grace of Bhagavān who is restless for bringing to light the greatness of the devotion of His own devotees. Attaining the association of His devotees, ascertaining that mukti is insignificant due to the ability for extremely subtle reasoning born out of that influence [the influence of the association of the devotees], rejecting mukti from afar, entering the path of bhakti as if pulled to it by the greatness of the qualities of Bhagavān, they worship Bhagavān in many ways.

Now, I take up the next verse, which is as follows:

muktāś cāsya tayā śaktyā sac-cid-ānanda-dehitam |
prāpitās te bhajante tam tādṛśaiḥ karaṇair harim ||207||

In contrast, the liberated, who have obtained a sac-cit-ānanda-body through [the agency of] Bhagavān’s beginninglessly existent śakti, worship Hari with senses appropriate [for such a body].

The commentary —

dig-darṣanī : nanu vinā dehendriyādikaṁ śravaṇa-kīrtana-vandanārcanādi-bhaktir na sambhaved eva | tatra jīvan-muktānāṁ brahma-niṣṭhānāṁ dehasya vidyamānatvāt sā ghaṭatāṁ nāma | prāpta-mokṣāṇāṁ tu siddhānāṁ brahmaṇi layena dehādy-abhāvāt kathaṁ sā ghaṭatām ? ity āśaṅkyāhuḥ—muktāḥ iti |

Objection: without a body and senses, bhakti starting with śravaṇa-kīrtana-vandana-arcana and so on is not possible. Bhakti is possible for jīvan-muktas, who are fixed in Brahman, because their bodies exist. But how can bhakti be possible for those siddhas who have attained moksa, given that they lack bodies owing to merging into Brahman? Raising this doubt, they speak:

If the mukta dies, he or she loses the body. Without a body, how could bhakti be performed? This question refutes the notion that there is a spiritual mind, or senses, or body inside the pure ātman. As, in that case, the question can not arise at all! He replies to the objection —

te pūrvokta-prakārā brahmaṇi layenāpi bhinnatvenaiva vartamānāḥ muktāḥ siddha-muktikāḥ |

Those (te) siddha-muktas (muktāḥ), meaning those type [of muktas] who were spoken of in the previous [verse] who remain separate indeed, even upon merging into Brahman.

This is the crucial sentence in this section! Without it, one can robustly misunderstand what is being taught. The main point is that this verse applies to those muktas who do not *want* to merge into Brahman but *want* bhakti, as mentioned in the previous verse. But because they achieved experience of Brahman when they were jīvan-muktas, which is stated in the previous verse, they get that liberation into Brahman upon death – but their identity remains separate. By Bhagavan’s grace, specifically, by means of His śakti, they are pulled out from that Brahman and given transcendental forms with which they can then perform bhakti.

Note, here, that this is not a ‘falldown’ from Brahman. It is a promotion- and the promotion occurs because they lost the desire for mukti, or liberation into Brahman while they were in the material world. Therefore, the purpose of this section is not to teach the principle that a) Brahman liberation is impossible or b) that it is temporary. This section applies specifically to a subset of jīvan-muktas, who achieve Brahma-sāyujya owing to prior fixity in Brahman, but who also get bhakti owing to the fact that their subsequent practice had changed to bhakti when they were alive in the body.

If these jīvan-muktas had not maintained their separate identity, however, meaning they were muktas who actually wanted to merge into Brahman, their liberation would have been permanent. This is the reason Śrī Sanātana writes, ‘bhinnatvenaiva vartamānāḥ’ above to qualify these siddhas.

Śrī Sanātana makes things very clear in what follows. He writes:

ata eva ṣaṣṭha-skandhe—

muktānām api siddhānāṁ nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇaḥ |
sudurlabhaḥ praśāntātmā koṭiṣv api mahā-mune || [bhā.pu. 6.14.5]

ity atra siddhānām iti prayogāt tatra tad-ādāv eva kaścin mucyeta sidhyatīti evam anyad api bahulaṁ tatra tatrānusandheyam | tv-arthe ca-kāraḥ pūrvato bhedāpekṣayā

Because in the sixth canto, the word ‘siddhānām’, ‘of perfected beings’, is used —

O great sage, even among millions of liberated and perfected beings, a person whose interior faculty of awareness is unwaveringly tranquil and who is exclusively intent upon Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa is exceedingly rare.

— therefore, prior to this [verse] itself, it is stated that “some particular individual becomes liberated (mucyeta), and even among the liberated, only one attains perfection (sidhyati)” (SB 6.14.4). A similar multitude is to be construed in other categories [i.e. among the millions of siddhas, only one will be pulled out from Brahman, because he or she is intent upon Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa etc.]. The word ‘ca’ means ‘tu’, or ‘in contrast’, and it indicates a difference from the prior [mukta who has a body].

Above, Śrī Sanātana justifies making the distinction between a jīvan-mukta, and a siddha-mukta. The word ‘siddha’ qualifying ‘mukta’ is seen in the verse 6.14.5, in which this usage is seen. Why use two separate words? What is their sense? The idea is that the prior verse 6.14.4 uses two verbs: mucyeta and sidhyati, making the distinction between ‘attains mukti’ and ‘becomes a siddha’. Thus, among those who attain jīvan-mukti, some become siddhas. As such, the difference between a jīvan-mukta and a siddha-mukta is proven.

Now, what is the difference between them exactly? The difference is that a siddha mukta has attained Brahman after death. A jīvan-mukta has experienced Brahman but still lives on in the body. If that is the case, why is Śrī Sanātana stating that after death, one gets bhakti? The answer is also in the above verse- among the many siddhas, i.e. those who attain Brahman, some get pulled out of it because they are “exclusively intent upon Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa”. So on these two verses 6.14.4 and 6.14.5 turns Śrī Sanātana’s formulation of 2.206 and 2.207.

For completeness, I provide the rest of the commentary below:

tayā anādi-siddhayety-ādinā pūrvoktayā asya bhagavataḥ śaktyā sac-cid-ānanda-mayīṁ dehitāṁ deham ity arthaḥ prāpitāḥ santas tādṛśaiḥ dehānurūpaiḥ sac-cid-ānandamayair na tu prākṛtair ity arthaḥ | karaṇair indriyaiḥ kṛtvā tad bhagavantaṁ hariṁ paramākarṣaka-guṇa-mahimānaṁ bhajante śravaṇa-kīrtanādinā sevante ||207||

By this Bhagavān’s śakti, which was mentioned priorly with the term ‘beginninglessly existent’ (in verse 185), having obtained a sat-cit-ānanda body, they perform bhakti by means of the sat-cit-ānanda senses that are consistent with such a body. That is, they do not do so with material senses. They serve with śravaṇa, kīrtana and other methods, the glory of the greatly attractive qualities of Bhagavān.

Summary

Śrī Sanātana teaches that there are jīvan-muktas, and among the jīvan-muktas, there are siddhas. These siddhas are different from the jīvan-muktas, in that they have attained their object after death.

Among the siddhas, the majority merge into Brahman, meaning exist without a separate identity.

A small minority, who have performed bhajan to Bhagavān even after having experienced Brahman mukti in the body, due to receiving the association of devotees, may attain Brahman after death but keep their separate identity.

These siddhas, by Bhagavān’s grace, attain a body with transcendental senses by which they perform devotion to Bhagavān.

Those that do not perform such bhakti while in the body, but are intent on Brahman, will merge into Brahman permanently.