The jīva’s complete dependence on Bhagavān

Q: You state in your articles that the jīva has no independence. This is not mentioned anywhere in the Goswamis’ writings.

A: That claim is incorrect. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī explicitly teaches the jīva’s complete dependence on Bhagavān in Bhakti Sandarbha, Anuccheda 144. There he explains that Bhagavān is the sole cause of bhakti. To illustrate this, he cites a verse from the Bhāgavata spoken by Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya ṛṣi —

kiṁ varṇaye tava vibho yad-udīrito’suḥ saṁspandate tam anu vāṅ-mana-indriyāṇi |

spandanti vai tanu-bhṛtām aja-śarvayoś ca svasyāpy athāpi bhajatām asi bhāva-bandhuḥ || [bhā.pu. 12.8.40]

O omniscient, omnipresent Lord (Vibhu), how can I praise You? Being impelled by You alone, the vital life current of all embodied beings, of Brahmā and Śiva, and of me as well, is set in motion, and following it, the faculties of speech, mind, and the other senses are certainly also activated. Yet, You are the loving friend of those who serve You. (sb 12.8.40)

This verse directly declares the dependence of even Brahmā and Śiva upon Bhagavān—what then to say of the ordinary jīvas? The life airs, the senses, and their activities all move only because He impels them.

One might still ask whether this dependence allows any room for limited autonomy—perhaps Bhagavān is a general cause, while the jīva provides the specific impulse. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī closes that door completely. At the start of Anuccheda 144 he writes:

evaṁ bhakti-rūpāyās tac-chakter jīve’bhivyaktau bhagavān eva kāraṇam | tat-tad-indriyādi-pravṛttau ca sa eveti ..

Thus, Bhagavān alone is the cause of His own potency in the form of bhakti manifesting in a living being. Although Bhagavān is also the sole cause behind the living entities’ senses and so on being engaged in their respective objects ..

Note here that Bhagavān is called the sole cause of both bhakti’s manifestation in the jīvas, as well as the jīva’s engagement with their respective objects.

Bhakti is not dormant in the jīva

As an aside, we see here that bhakti cannot be dormant in the jīva, because Bhagavān is the sole cause of its manifestation. One could argue that bhakti’s manifestation here implies that it is already in the jīva and is brought out by Bhagavān by His grace. This does not work, however, because in Anuccheda 142, Śrī Jīva has already written this —

tasya paramānandaika-rūpasya sva-parānandinī svarūpa-śaktir yā hlādinī-nāmnī vartate, prakāśa-vastunaḥ sva-para-prakāśana-śaktivat parama-vṛtti-rūpaivaiṣā | tāṁ ca bhagavān sva-vṛnde nikṣipann eva nityaṁ vartate| tat-sambandhena ca svayam atitarāṁ prīṇātīti|

Bhagavān, who is the one and only embodiment of supreme bliss, is intrinsically self-endowed with the potency known as hlādinī, “the delight-giving potency,” which is an aspect of His svarūpa-śakti, the potency that constitutes His very nature. It is this hlādinī potency that conveys bliss to Him and to others, just as the light emanating from a luminous object illuminates both itself and other objects. Bhakti is itself the supreme functional capacity (parama-vṛtti) of this intrinsic potency. Bhagavān remains eternally situated in His fullness while constantly transmitting this potency of bhakti to His devotees. Then, by contact with His own bliss-giving potency in the form of the bhakti situated in His devotees, He experiences still greater delight.

Note the many important concepts in this simple paragraph. First, Bhagavān is the one and only embodiment of supreme bliss – which means the jīva cannot have this bliss in it unless Bhagavān bestows it upon the jīva. This bliss is bhakti and it is Bhagavān’s śakti as explained in the paragraph, and. The underlined statement is especially significant, as it explicitly states that Bhagavān transmits bhakti to His devotees. As such, the idea that abhivyakti means manifestation of an already existing dormant prema in the jīva is refuted.

Explicit rejection of the jīva’s independence

Returning to Anuccheda 144, we find the following explicit rejection of any independence whatsoever of the jīva:

na kevalaṁ prākṛtānāṁ tanu-bhṛtāṁ kintu aja-śarvayoś ca | ataḥ svasya mamāpi tathaiva evaṁ yadyapi na kvacid api kasyāpi svātantryam, tathāpi dāru-yantravat pravartitair api vāg-ādibhir bhajatāṁ puṁsāṁ bhāvena sva-dattayaiva bhaktyā bandhur asi iti

The fact that the life current, speech, mind, and senses function only on being impelled by Bhagavān is true not only for materially conditioned beings, but for Brahmā and Śiva as well. Therefore, Mārkaṇḍeya acknowledges that this is certainly the case for himself as well (svasya, i.e., mamāpi). Thus, even though nobody is independent in any respect, Bhagavān is the loving friend (bhāva-bandhu) of those who worship Him by way of their speech and other faculties, which are set in motion by Him like a wooden puppet moved by strings. The term bhāva-bandhu means that Bhagavān is the friend (bandhu) of those who worship Him by means of love (bhāva), or in other words, by means of the bhakti that is certainly also transmitted by Him alone.

I have underlined the relevant statement; note the categorical language:

evaṁ yadyapi na kvacid api kasyāpi svātantryam,

Thus, even though nobody is independent in any respect,

The statement additionally makes clear that even the devotees have zero independence, comparing them to wooden puppets moved by strings.

Is there any evidence of tihs outside of the Bhāgavata sb 12.8.40 ? Śrī Jīva Goswami writes —

tatra hetuḥ—vai anvaya-vyatirekābhyāṁ śrotrasya śrotram [bṛ.ā.u. 4.4.18] ity-ādi-śrutibhyaś ca tatprasiddham ity arthaḥ
The reason in this regard [i.e., the evidence for the above view’s validity], is indicated by the emphatic particle vai, “certainly,” implying that this view has been well-established in scripture (prasiddha) both by positive and negative inferences (anvaya-vyatireka) and by Śruti statements such as:

prāṇasya prāṇam uta cakṣuṣaś cakṣur uta śrotasya śrotraṁ manaso manaḥ
“He is the life of the vital air, the sight of the eye, the auditory capacity of the ear, and the mental discernment of the mind” (bau 4.4.18)

Not only is this idea in the Śrutis, but it is prasiddha — well-known or well-established in scriptures both through logic and through clear statements in the Upaniṣads.

Therefore, the fact that most people these days find it to hard accept this principle, or are actually taught the opposite of this principle, shows how far modern minds have strayed from the fundamental principles of the śāstras. This same principle is taught in statements like

dāsa-bhuto harer eva na anyasya kadācna

and

jīvera svarūpa haya kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa.

I have examined these statements here.

Summary

According to Śrī Jīva Goswami, other than Bhagavān, nobody has any independence in any respect (evaṁ yadyapi na kvacid api kasyāpi svātantryam)..

This principle is well-established (prasiddha) in the scriptures through logical inference and also in explicit Śruti statements.

Neither bhaktas nor non-bhaktas have any independence.