Attributes of the siddha deha

Many believe that the siddha deha, the “perfected body” lies dormant inside the ātman. Śrī Jīva Goswami, who leaves no topic unexamined in the Sandarbhas, explains the attributes of the siddha deha in his characteristically precise fashion in Anuccheda 10.2 of the Prīti Sandarbha. A simple study of his writings reveals the actual fact – the siddha deha is, in fact, external to the ātman and is yet eternal.

The topic of Anuccheda 10 is mukti, of which there are broadly two types – jīvan mukti, or ‘mukti while in the living body’ and utkrānta mukti or ‘posthumous mukti’. Of these, Śrī Jīva is examining the five types of utkrānta mukti. The verse from which he derives insight into the siddha deha is the following —

vasanti yatra puruṣāḥ sarve vaikuṇṭha-mūrtayaḥ

ye ’nimitta-nimittena dharmeṇārādhayan harim

All the people residing there [in Vaikuṇṭha] are endowed with forms like that of Bhagavān Vaikuṇṭha, and they worship Hari by the execution of dharma undertaken without any motive for the fruit. (SB 3.15.14)

Here, the compound word vaikuṇṭha-mūrtayaḥ is of interest, which he explains as follows —

vaikuṇṭhasya bhagavato jyotir-aṁśa-bhūtā vaikuṇṭha-loka-śobhā-rūpā yā anantā mūrtayas tatra vartante |

There are unlimited (anantā) forms (mūrtis) existing there [in Vaikuṇṭha], each of which is an integrated portion of Bhagavān Vaikuṇṭha’s effulgence ( jyotir-aṁśa-bhūtā) and which thus constitute the divine splendor (śobhā-rūpā) of His abode.

Each word is significant here. First, note that there are unlimited forms or siddha dehas. Second, they are part of Bhagavān’s effulgence, meaning His own svarūpa-śakti, which is why they exist in His abode. Thus, the notion that the siddha deha is inside the ātman is refuted.

tāsām ekayā saha muktasyaikasya mūrtiḥ bhagavatā kriyata iti

[On the attainment of utkrāntā mukti,] the liberated individual’s essential constitution (mūrti) is made to unite with one of these forms by Bhagavān.

Note the language again. One of the forms unites with one particular mukta. This union is brought about by Bhagavān Himself. This again refutes the idea that the siddha deha is dormant in the ātman. He supports his interpretation above by citing the commentary of Śrīdhara Svāmī —

vaikuṇṭhasya mūrtir iva mūrtir yeṣām ity uktam |

For this reason, Śrīdhara Svāmī comments as follows on the compound vaikuṇṭha-mūrtayaḥ [from sb 3.15.14]: “The people residing there are endowed with forms like that of Bhagavān Vaikuṇṭha, Śrī Hari” (vaikuṇṭhasya harer iva mūrtir yeṣāṁ te).

In Anuccheda 11, he gives an example of such an attainment —

prayujyamāne mayi tāṁ śuddhāṁ bhāgavatīṁ tanum |

ārabdha-karma-nirvāṇo nyapatat pāñca-bhautikaḥ || [bhā.pu. 1.6.29]

When that divine body (bhāgavatīṁ tanum) constituted of unalloyed being (śuddhām) was conferred upon me [by Bhagavān], the matured results of my previous actions (prārabdha-karma) were extinguished and my phenomenal body constituted of the five material elements dropped away. (SB 1.6.29)

The process of Śrī Nārada’s attainment of a siddha deha is explained in SB 1.6.29. Śrī Jīva Goswami’s commentary on it explains individual terms in the verse and reminds the reader that Bhagavān had promised to award this body to Śrī Nārada in a prior verse —

hitvāvadyam imaṁ lokaṁ gantā majjanatām asi [bhā.pu. 1.6.24] iti yā tanuḥ śrī-bhagavatā dātuṁ pratijñātā, tāṁ bhāgavatīṁ bhagavad-aṁśa-jyotir-aṁśa-rūpāṁ śuddhāṁ prakṛti-sparśa-śūnyāṁ tanuṁ prati śrī-bhagavataiva mayi prayujyamāne nīyamāne ārabdhaṁ yat karma tan-nirvāṇaṁ samāptaṁ yasya sa pāñcabhautiko nyapatad iti |

In this verse, the words bhāgavatīṁ tanum, “divine body” [lit., “a body stemming from, and of the nature of, Bhagavān”], mean “a body existing as an integrated portion of the effulgence that is itself a portion of Bhagavān” (bhagavad-aṁśa-jyotir-aṁśarūpām). The word śuddhām, “constituted of unalloyed being,” means that it is untouched by matter. This divine body was brought into union (prayujyamāne) with Nārada by Bhagavān Himself.

This is the same body that Bhagavān had earlier promised to award him in the following words: “Upon casting off this defective material body, you will attain to the existential state of being an associate of Mine” (sb 1.6.24). In that moment, the matured results of Nārada’s previous actions (prārabdhakarma) were extinguished (nirvāṇam), and as a consequence, his phenomenal body constituted of the five material elements (pāñcabhautikam) dropped dead (nyapatat).

Śrī Jīva’s commentary illumines the attributes of the siddha-deha. It is śuddhā, which means it is untouched by matter (prakṛti-sparśa-śūnyāṁ). It is bhagavad-aṁśa-jyotir-aṁśa-rūpā, that is, a portion of the effulgence, which is itself a portion of Bhagavān. It is given by Bhagavān to the recipient, as seen in Śrī Jīva’s commentary where he notes that in SB 1.6.24, Bhagavān promised “to award” (dātum) this form to Nārada (śrī bhagavatā dātuṁ pratijñātā). It was brought into union with Śrī Nārada by Bhagavān Himself (śrī-bhagavataiva mayi prayujyamāne nīyamāne). This union was simultaneous with the loss of his material body.

Śrī Jīva concludes with an interesting insight —

prāktana-liṅga-śarīra-bhaṅgo’pi lakṣitaḥ | tādṛśa-bhagavan-niṣṭhe prārabdha-karma-paryantam eva tat-sthiteḥ | ittham eva ṭīkā ca—”anena pārṣada-tanūnām akarmārabdhatvaṁ śuddhatvaṁ nityatvam ity-ādi sūcitaṁ bhavati” ity eṣā |

This further indicates that Nārada’s subtle body (liṅga-śarīra) carried from previous lives was also dissolved. In those who are resolutely devoted to Bhagavān like Nārada, the subtle body continues to exist only until the prārabdha-karma has been exhausted. The same idea is also affirmed by Śrīdhara Svāmī in his commentary [on sb 1.6.29]: “By Nārada’s statement, it is indicated that the bodies of Bhagavān’s associates do not result from previously performed karma (akarmārabdhatvam), that they are constituted of unalloyed being (śuddhatvam), and that they are eternal (nityatvam).”

Here we see an additional attribute- the siddha deha is not a result of performed karma. When Śrī Nārada’s body dropped, the material citta, which is the storehouse of past karmas was also dropped. We die when our prārabdha-karma, lit. ‘begun karma’ is exhausted. But we are forced into a new body due to the presence of the liṅga-śarīra which has not been dissolved, and which is the storehouse of our a-prārabdha- karma (karma not begun). In Śrī Nārada’s case, one can infer the dissolution of the material subtle body as well, given that the new body he received was not material (śuddha) and eternal (nitya).

Summary

The siddha deha is —

1. eternally existing in Bhagavān’s abode, and is one among infinite other siddha dehas
2. not material
3. awarded by Bhagavān to a worthy recipient
4. not a result of karma
5. attained at the time of death when the material body drops
6. not dormant in the ātman