Q: Is the jiva in the spiritual world, who is anadi Bhagavad-unmukha, a part of tatastha sakti or antaranga sakti?
A: tatastha sakti
Q: So how else can we differentiate anadi Bhagavad-unmukha jivas and parsadas? Do they have any difference in lakshana?
A: Not in their external appearance. This can be only known through sastra. Also, there is a hierarchy – dasa-dasa-anudasah. So the jivas are servants of svarupa sakti manifestations, generally. Exceptions are Garuda, who is a jiva.
Q: What is the difference between the two categories of tatastha sakti?
A: They are identical in svarupa. Some of the nitya siddha jivas have Bhagavan’s svarupa sakti imbued in them.
Q: So we are saying some part of tatastha sakti is always imbued with svarupa sakti while rest are always bahirmukha?
A: They are not always bahirmukha. They are beginninglessly bahirmukha. Bahirmukhatva can come to an end.
Q: So are they favoured by the Lord? Or we can’t comment on it because it is a beginningless state.
A: It is a beginningless state. So the lord has not ‘favored’ one jiva over another, as such an event never happened.
Q: If the Lord has not favoured one jiva from another why is one able to render service in proximity to the lord while other suffers pangs of material existence, even after coming to know about such conception – obtaining gurupadashraya is so difficult
A: There is no ‘why’ for something that is beginningless. When we ask ‘why’, we assume that a) an event happened, and b) there was a cause for that event. The question ‘why’ seeks to identify the cause.
As I mentioned, some jivas are beginninglessly rendering service. There is no question of ‘why’, as there was never a time that they did not render service. If there was a time when they were not doing service, and then they started doing it, then one can ask ‘why’. Some are beginninglessly not rendering service. If there was a time they were rendering service, and they switched to not rendering it, then you can ask ‘why’. Neither event happened.
The reason obtaining guru padasraya is difficult is that it is not in one’s control. One has to get the grace of a genuine guru, which comes of its own accord, and if one gets it, then one will seek it more by taking shelter of a genuine guru and taking diksha.
Hare Krishna,
Dandavat Pranam,
I am very intrigued by the difference between the nitya-siddha jivas and the nitya-parsad jivas (I hope I am using the correct terms, referring to the eternal associates from the tatastha-sakti and svarupa-sakti, respectively). Where can I read further in shastra regarding the distinction between the two? Like where is this distinction outlined?
I was also wondering if it is correct to say that the Ragatmika souls in the eternal Lila are thus all from that svarupa-sakti category, and so the jiva who attains the sadhya of his raganuga-bhakti remains, somewhat eternally, following in the footsteps of the ragatmika devotee, and thus it is impossible for a jiva to ever become “ragatmika”?
Sorry for the confusing second question.
Pranams. See this article
https://bhaktitattva.com/2022/11/06/sri-jiva-goswami-teaches-that-the-jivas-are-taṭastha-sakti-in-their-svarupa/
Your terms are incorrect. You can read about this in the Paramatma Sandarbha.
All jivas are tatastha sakti. Saying a soul is from a Svarupa sakti category is like saying a proton is from an electron category or iron is from the gold category. Iron is iron and gold is gold. One can never be the other.
A Jiva can become ragatmika when his or her raganuga sadhana bears fruit.
Thank you so much for your response. It is very clarifying. My understanding is that we can speak of some associates as being manifested from the svarūpa-śakti, is this correct? And those we wouldn’t call souls. Or am I wrong even in this? I have read comments that would seem to indicate that certain central associates, like Mother Yashoda and Rupa Manjari are not tatastha-shakti, including in the comments on the linked article. Am I still confused in my terminology.
Thank you so much again for sharing your time and wisdom.
Yes Bhagavan’s parents are not jivas. They are not different from Him – as they are manifestations of His Svarupa sakti.