Category:God and the Liberated Souls
Theme Analysis
The ultimate goal of spiritual practice is to escape the entanglement of the material world and return to the pure, eternal association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. According to Śrīla Prabhupāda, those who achieve this supreme perfection, along with those who have never fallen into the material world (nitya-muktas), are known as liberated souls. In the spiritual sky, specifically in the Hari-dhāma planets, the influence of the material energy is completely conspicuous by its absence. There, the liberated souls possess bodily features that are almost identical to the Lord's, yet they eternally and blissfully maintain their constitutional position as the predominated energy, while Lord Hari acts as the supreme predominator.
A defining characteristic of liberated souls is their complete immunity to material suffering. Śrīla Prabhupāda uses the practical analogy of a state's criminal department: just as the police force only troubles criminals and has no jurisdiction over obedient citizens, the material energy (māyā) causes profound suffering for conditioned souls but has absolutely nothing to do with liberated souls. Even if a liberated devotee accepts a material body to execute the Lord's mission, they remain completely free from material anxiety due to their intense desire to serve God.
What occupies the minds of those who are entirely free from material demands? Liberated souls are singularly attracted to the transcendental qualities and pastimes of the Lord. While conditioned souls waste their time reading mundane literature and news about common men, liberated souls relish hearing about Kṛṣṇa. The Lord's qualities are so infinitely attractive that they enchant even those who are already perfectly self-realized. However, true devotion is exceedingly rare. As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, out of many millions of people, only a few strive for perfection, and out of many liberated souls, perhaps only one truly comprehends the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His pure, personal feature.
- The Nature of the Liberated Soul: Eternally liberated souls share features similar to the Lord but blissfully remain the predominated energy in loving reciprocation with Him.
- Immunity to the Material Energy: Just as the police only trouble criminals, the material energy only affects conditioned souls, leaving liberated souls completely untouched.
- Attraction to Transcendence: Liberated souls are deeply attracted to the Lord's qualities and find their sole pleasure in hearing and relishing His divine pastimes.
- The Rarity of Pure Worship: True understanding of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is extremely rare, achieved by only a select few even among those who are already liberated.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: God and the Liberated Souls - Transcendental Life Beyond Māyā.
Pages in category "God and the Liberated Souls"
The following 23 pages are in this category, out of 23 total.
A
- As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (4.8), the Lord and His eternal associates, who are also liberated souls like the Lord, come down on this earth at certain intervals
- Associates of the Lord are eternally liberated souls, and they cannot bear the separation of the Lord even for a moment because of intense affection for the Lord. Thus the inhabitants of the city of Dvaraka were in a mood of dejection
B
- By His internal potency, Maha-sankarsana maintains the transcendental existence of all the planets in the spiritual sky, where all the living beings are eternally liberated souls. The influence of the material energy is conspicuous there by its absence
- By the association of pure devotees like Vyasadeva, even the liberated soul becomes attracted to the transcendental qualities of the Lord
I
- If one has a strong desire to serve the Lord, even if he accepts a material body, there is no cause of anxiety, since a devotee, even in a material body, is a liberated soul
- In other words, only the liberated souls can worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Less intelligent Mayavadis take to the worship of the demigods, thinking that the demigods and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are on the same level
- In the Bhagavad-gita it is also said by the Lord Himself that out of many hundreds of thousands of people, one may try for perfection in human life, and out of many liberated souls, one may know Him as He is
O
T
- The criminal department is troublesome for the criminal but not for the obedient citizen. Similarly, this material energy is troublesome for the conditioned soul, but it has nothing to do with the liberated souls who are engaged in the service of the Lord
- The features of the liberated souls and those of Hari are almost the same, yet Hari is predominator and the liberated souls are predominated
- The Lord possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including liberated souls
- The nitya-muktas are eternally liberated souls, and they are eternally engaged in the reciprocation of transcendental loving service with the Lord in His eternal abode beyond the manifested mundane creations
- The pastimes of the Lord are generally heard and relished by liberated souls. Those who are conditioned souls are interested in reading stories of the material activities of some common man
- The Personality of Godhead has innumerable liberated souls engaged in His transcendental loving service, and He is the ultimate resort of liberation
- The planets within the glowing effulgence are called Hari-dhama. On these planets the predominating Deity is Hari, and the predominated deities are the liberated souls
- The ways and means were envisaged by the liberated souls and especially by the sages of India, and I am proud to feel that Lord Buddha happened to be an Indian and we worship Him as incarnation of Godhead
- This material energy is troublesome for the conditioned soul, but it has nothing to do with the liberated souls who are engaged in the service of the Lord
- Those fortunate living entities who catch the truth and surrender unto the lotus feet of Vasudeva after many, many births in the material world join the eternally liberated souls and thus are allowed to enter into the kingdom of Godhead