In Bhakti Sandarbha Anuccheda 186, Śrī Jīva Goswami classifies perfected beings (siddhas) into two broad categories: Brahman-realized jñānīs and devotees established in prema. The jñānī-siddhas are further divided into jīvan-muktas and videha-muktas, those who attain liberation after death. In this article, I examine his classification of the bhakti-siddhas in Anuccheda 187.
Śrī Jīva writes:
atra bhakti-siddhās trividhāḥ—prāpta-bhagavat-pārṣada-dehāḥ, nirdhūta-kaṣāyāḥ, mūrcchita-kaṣāyāś ca
In the second classification of siddhas, there are three categories of perfected devotees (bhakta-siddhas): those who have attained eternal forms as associates of Bhagavān (prāpta-bhagavat-pārṣada-dehāḥ), those whose material desires are completely washed away (nirdhūta-kaṣāyāḥ), and those whose material desires are dormant (mūrcchita-kaṣāyāḥ).
Śrī Jīva has already stated that bhakti-siddhas have obtained prema (bhakti-mārge labdha-bhagavat-premāṇo). Therefore, what distinguishes them in this classification is the presence or absence of kaṣāya. The word kaṣāya means ‘stain’ or ‘impurity’, which here can be taken to mean mental stains i.e. materail desires. In the associates of Bhagavān, there is no possibility of any kaṣāya, given that they do not have material bodies. They have attained eternal forms which are made of Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śakti. Because their forms are constituted of Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śakti rather than material elements, there is no possibility of material impurity.
The remaining two categories of bhakti-siddhas continue to reside within this world. Of these, one type are nirdhūta-kaṣāyāḥ, meaning those who are completely free of material desires. The other type are mūrcchita-kaṣāyāḥ, meaning those who whose material desires are mūrchhita or dormant.
Śrī Jīva Goswami provides examples of these types of siddhas. The first type of siddha is Śrī Nārada, who attained the body of Bhagavān’s associate as described in the following verse:
prayujyamāne mayi tāṁ śuddhāṁ bhāgavatīṁ tanum |
prārabdha-karma-nirvāṇo nyapatat pāñca-bhautikaḥ ||When I was endowed with that body of an associate of Bhagavān [bhagavat-pārṣada-rūpām], constituted of unalloyed being [śuddha-sattva-mayī], the matured results of my previous actions were exhausted and my phenomenal body constituted of the five material elements fell off. [bhā.pu. 1.6.29]
Śrī Jīva next offers Śukadeva as an example of nirdhūta-kaṣāyas.
sva-sukha-nibhṛta-cetās tad-vyudastānya-bhāvo ‘py ajita-rucira-līlākṛṣṭa-sāras tadīyam|
kṛpayā yas tattva-dīpaḿ purāṇaḿ tam akhila-vṛjina-ghnaḿ vyāsa-sūnuḿ nato ‘smi||I offer obeisance unto Śrīla Vyāsadeva’s son, Śrī Śuka, who destroys all sins. Although his consciousness was completely filled with the bliss of the Self, and although he had consequently cast off all other feelings and thoughts, his essence (sāra) was irresistibly drawn to the enchanting līlās of Bhagavān Ajita. Out of compassion, he thus delineated this Purāṇa, which illumines Reality. (sb 12.12.69)
Finally, he offers the example of Śrī Nārada again, but in a previous life, when he was the son of a maid-servant.
hantāsmin janmani bhavān mā māṁ draṣṭum ihārhati |
avipakva-kaṣāyāṇāṁ durdarśo’haṁ kuyoginām ||Alas, dear boy, you will not be able to see Me here in this life. I am imperceptible to immature yogīs [i.e., those who have not yet attained the completion stage (aniṣpanna-yoginām)], whose impurities are unburnt. bhā.pu. 1.6.22
As we see in the verse, the impurities in Śrī Nārada had not been completely removed; rather, they were dormant. This might lead to the question whether Śrī Nārada had attained prema at all in that life. As if anticipating this objection, Śrī Jīva Goswami cites a verse from the Bhāgavata again, which shows that he had attained prema even then —
premātibhara-nirbhinna-pulakāṅgo’tinirvṛtaḥ |
ānanda-samplave līno nāpaśyam ubhayaṁ mune||O sage [Vyāsa], with my bodily limbs erupting with horripilation due to excessive divine love (prema), I experienced overwhelming joy. Being absorbed in an inundation of bliss, I could perceive neither myself nor Bhagavān. [bhā.pu. 1.6.18]
He also offers the example of Śrī Bharata –
śrī-bharata evātrodāharaṇīyaḥ | tasya ca bhūta-pipālayiṣā-rūpaḥ prārabdhālambanaḥ sāttvika-kaṣāyo nigūḍha āsīt, premā ca varṇita iti |
The example of Śrī Bharata can also be cited in this context. His sāttvika taint (kaṣāya) in the form of the desire to protect and nurture another living being, which was rooted in prārabdha, was latent in him. His experience of divine love has also been described.
Śrī Bharata became absorbed in protecting the deer, causing his attention to deviate from exclusive absorption in Bhagavān. This desire was latent in him (mūrcchita) because it only manifested after he went to the forest; before that, he had willingly given up his role as a king, and his kingdom.
Finally, Śrī Jīva Goswami explains that there is a gradation of prema among the three types of siddhas described above —
kvacit sthite’pi [prākṛta-dehāditve yadi premṇaḥ parimāṇataḥ svarūpato vādhikyaṁ dṛśyate], tadā premādhikyenaivādhikyaṁ jñeyam
Yet it is to be understood that the prema of the first type of siddha (bhagavat-pārṣada-prāpta) is superior to that of the second (nirdhūta-kaṣāya), and the prema of the second is superior to that of the third (mūrcchita-kaṣāya).
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