The following is a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in Murwillumbah, Australia, on February 16, 2002

 

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Come with me now to Godruma in Navadvīpa-dhāma, where Sannyāsī Ṭhākura asks a question to his guru, Paramahaṁsa Bābājī Mahārāja. He told him, “For a long time, I have heard of the preeminence of dharma. On numerous occasions, I have asked many people the question, ‘What is dharma?’ And, it is a cause of distress to me that those people’s answers contradict each other. So, please tell me, what is the true constitutional dharma of the jīvas, and why do different teachers explain the nature of dharma in such diverse ways? If dharma is one, why don’t all learned teachers cultivate that universal dharma which is one without a second?”

Paramahaṁsa Bābājī Mahārāja replied, “Religion is one, and that religion is love and affection for the Supreme Lord. Only this love and affection is real vaiṣṇava-dharma, sanātana-dharma, or bhagavad-dharma. This sometimes transforms, however, as water transforms into ice, fog, or steam. When it becomes ice, one can throw it at anyone and it will cause injury, but water will not do so. Similarly, love for Kṛṣṇa, the intrinsic mood of the jīva, has now been transformed. Now we love each other, or we love dogs, cats, our own bodies, or boyfriends and girlfriends, which is called anitya-dharma. That love originally comes from Goloka Vṛndāvana. That love is in the heart of jīvas, but now it has been transformed, as water transforms into ice when the temperature is low. Due to māyā, our real dharma, prema for Kṛṣṇa, has now been transformed and changed, and now we are ‘loving’ each other. In this world, ‘love’ is perverted and has become lust, but in its pure stage, it is love and affection for Kṛṣṇa, and it comes from the hearts of the gopīs and Vrajavāsīs.

Paramahaṁsa Bābājī Mahārāja quoted Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 20.108-109):

jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’
kṛṣṇera ‘taṭasthā-śakti’ ‘bhedābheda-prakāśa’

sūryāṁśa-kiraṇa, yaiche agni-jvālā-caya
svābhāvika kṛṣṇera tina-prakāra ‘śakti’ haya

[“It is the living entity’s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa because he is the marginal energy of Kṛṣṇa and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or fire. Kṛṣṇa has three varieties of energy.”]

kṛṣṇa bhuli’ sei jīva anādi-bahirmukha
ataeva māyā tāre deya saṁsāra-duḥkha

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 20.117)

[“Forgetting Kṛṣṇa, the living entity has been attracted by the external feature from time immemorial. Therefore the illusory energy (māyā) gives him all kinds of misery in his material existence.”]

We are eternally kṛṣṇa-dāsa, servants of Kṛṣṇa, but now we are kṛṣṇa-bhuli; we have forgotten Him. The words ‘kṛṣṇa bhuli’ are used here. It means ‘the jīva forgets Kṛṣṇa’, but what does this actually mean? It seems to mean that the jīva was once engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service, but now he has forgotten that service. Actually, this is not true. This is not the meaning. There is a defect in worldly languages. They are not perfect, and therefore, they cannot purely express the nature of our svarūpa (constitutional form). To clarify the meaning of ‘kṛṣṇa bhuli’, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī writes in the next line, “kṛṣṇera ‘taṭasthā-śakti’ ‘bhedābheda-prakāśa.’”

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has clearly explained all these truths. You should very carefully note this down in your heart and on paper. He took his understanding from Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī’s Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī’s Ṣaṭ-sandarbha, and then he wrote:

Puṇḍarīka dāsa (reads from Jaiva Dharma, Chapter Sixteen): “Innumerable jīvas appear from Śrī Baladeva Prabhu to serve Vṛndāvana-vihārī Śrī Kṛṣṇa as His eternal associates in Goloka Vṛndāvana, and others appear from Śrī Saṅkarṣaṇa to serve the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, Śrī Nārāyaṇa, in the spiritual sky. Eternally relishing rasa, engaged in the service of their worshipable Lord, they always remain fixed in their constitutional position. They always strive to please Bhagavān, and are always attentive to Him. Having attained the strength of cit-śakti, they are always strong. They have no connection with the material energy. In fact, they do not know if there is a bewildering energy called māyā or not. Since they reside in the spiritual world, māyā is very far away from them and does not affect them at all. Always absorbed in the bliss of serving their worshipable Lord, they are eternally liberated and are free from material happiness and distress. Their life is love alone, and they are not even conscious of misery, death or fear.”

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: They are all liberated. What is māyā, and what is this material world? They don’t know. Who knows? We know. We have come from the taṭasthā-śakti, from a manifestation of Baladeva Prabhu called Kāraṇābdhiśāyī Viṣṇu, who is situated on the marginal line, in the Kāraṇābdhi (Causal Ocean). The jīvas are not coming to this world from Goloka Vṛndāvana, nor are they coming from Vaikuṇṭha. They are coming from the marginal line, from the glance of Kāraṇābdhiśāyī Viṣṇu. Among them, those who look towards Vaikuṇṭha are liberated and go there without delay. Conversely, those who look toward this world will come here.

Jīvas are independent because Kṛṣṇa has made them so. This independence is like a special jewel, which the jīvas can use properly or misuse. If they use it well, they will quickly go towards Vaikuṇṭha; if they misuse it, they will suffer.

Here is an example. If you drop some tiny round mustard seeds upon the sharp edge of the blade of a sword, some will fall to one side and some will fall to the other. The jīva has some independence to go here or there. This is not the fault of Kṛṣṇa, but rather it is their independence to look here and there. If they look towards Vaikuṇṭha or Goloka Vṛndāvana, Yogamāyā will at once help them, and they will go there. On the other hand, those who look towards the material world will be attracted by Mahāmāyā. Kṛṣṇa is not at fault here.*

You cannot understand this now, but you will realise something when you come to our stage. You should chant, follow your guru, and follow all these teachings. Don’t conclude that the jīvas have come from Goloka. Although Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja (Śrīla Prabhupāda) never said that the jīvas fell from Goloka, some of his disciples try to prove that he has said the opposite. But I know the truth. He has told me, and it is also stated in the śāstras. Śrīmatī Śyāmarāṇī dāsī has collected so many of Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja’s words, confirming that he never accepted that the jīvas came from Goloka Vṛndāvana.

na tad bhāsayate sūryo
na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ
yad gatvā na nivartante
tad dhāma paramaṁ mama

Bhagavad-gītā (15.6)

[“That supreme abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach it never return to this material world.”]

Goloka is such a dhāma that there is no māyā. Rather, only Yogamāyā is there. A person who is seriously chanting, remembering and following passes through the stages of śraddhā, niṣṭha, ruci, aśakti, and prema, after a long, long, long time. If he has gone to Goloka Vṛndāvana-dhāma and is serving Kṛṣṇa, there is no chance at all to fall down. There is no example in the Vedas, Upaniṣads, or other scriptures.

Śrīla Gaura Govinda Svāmī Mahārāja used to say very boldly that those who wear big kaṇṭhī-mālās and chant, “Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa,” at the same time being duplicitous, hypocritical and critical, are kali-celās (disciples of Kali). They are not Vaiṣṇavas because they have none of the symptoms of a Vaiṣṇava. Such persons think they can vote to determine siddhānta or who is ācārya or guru. This is totally against Vaiṣṇava law. Experts are experts. A guru is a guru.

Who made Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja guru? Has Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura made him ācārya? Has he given him a certificate saying, “After me you will be ācārya, and you will do such-and-such”? It’s one’s service that makes one ācārya or guru. There was no duplicity in him, and he was very kind and merciful to all. He realised this fact, and he served like that. Similarly, Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has not made our Guru Mahārāja an ācārya. He did not tell him, “After me, you shall be ācārya,” but still he has become a very famous ācārya – strong like a lion. Those who serve their Gurudeva properly will become ācārya. Who made Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī ācārya? Who made Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī ācārya? Who made Śrīla Gaura Govinda Svāmī Mahārāja ācārya? Who made Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura ācārya? Has Śrīla Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja instructed him, “After me, you should be ācārya.”? Those who serve their gurus properly, following the footprints of our guru-paramparā and especially of Gaura-Nityānanda Prabhu, will automatically be recognised throughout the world as ācārya.

It would be quite absurd to think that liberated souls in Goloka Vṛndāvana can ever be covered by māyā. You should have strong faith that the jīvas did not fall from there. They have come from the marginal point. They have come from Kāraṇābdhiśāyī Viṣṇu and the taṭasthā-śakti. The jīva himself is taṭasthā-śakti.

Śrīmatī Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: Throughout his books, Śrīla Prabhupāda confirms Śrīla Gurudeva’s statements that the jīva never fell from Goloka Vṛndāvana. In the First Canto Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, first chapter, first verse, last line, it’s stated:

dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi

[“I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.”]

Śrīla Vyāsadeva says, “I meditate on that Absolute Truth, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who eternally resides in His own abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of this material world. This means that at no time is there any amount of māyā in Kṛṣṇa’s abode. In the Third Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in the history of Jaya and Vijaya, Parīkṣit Mahārāja asks Śukadeva Gosvāmī, “How is it possible that Jaya and Vijaya could have fallen down from that realm? I don’t believe it.” Any pure devotee will not believe it. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes in the purport of the Seventh Canto, Chapter 1 (Text 35), “Therefore it is to be understood that when Jaya and Vijaya descended to this material world, they came because there was something to be done for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Otherwise it is a fact that no one falls from Vaikuṇṭha.” Jaya and Vijaya had a desire to please the Lord. All the associates of the Lord have only one desire: to give Him pleasure.

Lord Nārāyaṇa has a desire to enjoy vīra-rasa (the mood or humour of chivalry). But who will He fight with in Vaikuṇṭha? Everyone there worships Him in awe and reverence. Jaya and Vijaya desired, “We should do something to fulfil this desire.” Then, knowing that they had that desire to please Him, Lord Nārāyaṇa called on Yogamāyā to arrange for the four Kumāras to come and for the gatekeepers Jaya and Vijaya to be cursed to come to the material world as demons. Actually, they never came here and became demons. Only a part of them manifested in this world to give the Lord pleasure. Bhagavān came in the form of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva and Lord Varāha to fight with their manifestations, and the complete and original Jaya and Vijaya remained in Vaikuṇṭha as gatekeepers.

In Prabhupāda’s translation of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed Sanātana Gosvāmī that there are two kinds of living entities. Those who are eternal associates of the Lord have never seen the material world, and those who are conditioned jīvas, who have come to this material world, have never yet seen that world. Mahāprabhu made a distinction between the two. He said that apart from one, there is the other.

‘nitya-mukta’ — nitya kṛṣṇa-caraṇe unmukha
‘kṛṣṇa-pāriṣada’ nāma, bhuñje sevā-sukha

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.11)

[“Those who are eternally liberated are always awake to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and they render transcendental loving service at the feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa. They are to be considered eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa, and they are eternally enjoying the transcendental bliss of serving Kṛṣṇa.”]

‘nitya-bandha’ — kṛṣṇa haite nitya-bahirmukha
‘nitya-saṁsāra’, bhuñje narakādi duḥkha

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā (22.12)

[“Apart from the ever-liberated devotees, there are the conditioned souls, who always turn away from the service of the Lord. They are perpetually conditioned in this material world and are subjected to the material tribulations brought about by different bodily forms in hellish conditions.”]

Caitanya Mahāprabhu also explained to Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī that beyond the Virajā River, which is the dividing point between the material and spiritual worlds, there is no māyā, what to speak of in the Vaikuṇṭha planets or the highest planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana.

kāraṇābdhi-pāre māyāra nitya avasthiti
virajāra pāre paravyome nāhi gati

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 20.269)

[“The Virajā, or Causal Ocean, is the border between the spiritual and the material world. The material energy is situated on one shore of that ocean, and it cannot enter onto the other shore, which is the spiritual sky.”]

It’s not that this is a new teaching or something hidden deep in Caitanya-caritāmṛta. I joined Prabhupāda in New York in October 1966, and two months later, I heard him speak this same thing in his morning class. [Dec. 17, 1966: Kāraṇābdhi-pāre. Just on the other side of the ocean, Causal Ocean, this material energy is situated. Virajāra pāre paravyome nāhi gati. And this material energy has no entrance in the spiritual kingdom.

pravartate yatra rajas tamas tayoḥ
sattvaṁ ca miśraṁ na ca kāla-vikramaḥ
na yatra māyā kim utāpare harer
anuvratā yatra surāsurārcitāḥ

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 20.270)

In the spiritual world, there is neither the mode of passion, the mode of ignorance nor a mixture of both, nor is there adulterated goodness, the influence of time or māyā herself. Only the pure devotees of the Lord, who are worshipped both by demigods and by demons, reside in the spiritual world as the Lord’s associates.

Now, the description of the spiritual world is that there is no rajas-tamaḥ. These modes of passion and modes of ignorance is not there. Śuddha-sattva. Śuddha-sattva means simply goodness, pure goodness, without any tinge of passion and ignorance. So pravartate yatra rajas tamas tayoḥ sattvaṁ ca miśraṁ na ca kāla-vikramaḥ. There is no mixed goodness; simply goodness. And na ca kāla-vikramaḥ: “And there is no influence of time.” This is the description of the spiritual world: “There is no modes of passion, and there is no modes of ignorance, and there is no influence of time.” That means there is simply pure goodness. And in pure goodness we can understand our constitutional position: we can understand what is God, what is creation, everything.]

Śrīla Gurudeva often quotes a verse from the Bhagavad-gītā, as does Prabhupāda. In his translation and commentary of the Bhagavad-gītā, Prabhupāda writes that one leaves the lower taste when one experiences a higher taste.

viṣayā vinivartante
nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso ’py asya
paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate

Bhagavad-gītā (2.59)

[“Though the embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.”]

One gives up lower engagements when one experiences a higher taste. Even in the stage of ruci (taste), one has no desire for material pleasures. In aśakti, in bhāva, what to speak of prema, and what to speak of the devotees who are enraptured, enjoying the pleasures of Goloka Vṛndāvana; there is no desire for such mundane pleasures. Kṛṣṇa says in the Gītā that one who takes shelter of His spiritual energy is free from māyā. That spiritual energy is Yogamāyā, and Yogamāyā is an expansion of Śrīmatī Rādhikā. For one who serves Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, there is no question of ever having the desire to come to this material world.

Someone wrote Prabhupāda a letter and asked, “Did we ever see Kṛṣṇa?” Prabhupāda replied, “Yes, we saw Kṛṣṇa, just as the child was with the father before coming out of the mother’s womb.”

[“Regarding your second question, have the conditioned souls ever seen Kṛṣṇa? Were they with the Lord before being conditioned by the desire to lord it over material nature? Yes, the conditioned souls are parts and parcels of the Lord and thus they were with Kṛṣṇa before being conditioned. Just as the child must have seen his father because the father places the child in the womb of the mother, similarly each soul has seen Kṛṣṇa or the Supreme Father.” (Letter to Jagadīśa, Los Angeles, 25 April, 1970)]

In other words, he was saying that we never saw Kṛṣṇa. We were with Kṛṣṇa because we came from Kṛṣṇa – from His taṭasthā-śakti. That person who came out of his mother’s womb had never previously been associated with the father. Later on, he meets his father.

Gokula dāsa: Actually, within ISKCON, there were two or three.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: I know. I have read them. Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja sometimes gave baby food to babies. When I give a baby medicine like quinine, I tell him, “Baby, baby, it is very sweet.” I’m telling him something that is not true so that I can give him the medicine. Similarly, Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja has written to someone very low in bhakti. A letter cannot always be proof. What Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja has written in Caitanya-caritāmṛta and his Gītā and Bhāgavata explanation is authentic. These are proofs. He can write something else for a baby, but it is not proof.

Gokula dāsa: Śrīla Gaura Govinda Svāmī Mahārāja said that he was doing it to encourage them. Otherwise.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Yes, certainly. Someone may say that Citraketu Mahārāja fell down, proving that the jīva fell from Goloka. Actually, however, he has never fallen down. He is a liberated soul. He came to see his friend, Śaṅkara Mahādeva, when Śaṅkara was sitting naked with the very beautiful Umā (Pārvatī) on His lap. Citraketu began joking with him because a friend can joke with another friend when both are on the same level. Citraketu Mahārāja was not less than Śaṅkara. He was Śaṅkara’s god-brother and fully liberated. He told him, “What are you doing? You’re quite naked, and at the same time, you’re taking this beautiful young lady on your lap. What will everyone think?” He was laughing, and Śaṅkara was also smiling, but Pārvatī could not tolerate his joking statements. She immediately cursed him, saying, “You should become a demon.”

Śaṅkara became upset and told Pārvatī, “You have done wrong. He is a liberated soul. Whether he is here or elsewhere, he will be a devotee. He cannot be transformed at all. He has the power to resist your curse, but see how humble he is, because he is a Vaiṣṇava. He is beyond hankering and lamentation; therefore, he tolerated your words and accepted your curse. If he wished, he could have also cursed you, but he did not do so.”

Citraketu Mahārāja willingly came to establish this truth – that whether a devotee is in this world or hell, he will glorify his Prabhu and give instructions to all to serve Kṛṣṇa. For this reason, for a very short time, he became the demon Vṛtrāsura. When he was in the body of that demon, his enemy, Indra, was in great wonder, thinking, “How can I kill him? He’s telling me, ‘Kill me. I cannot serve my Prabhu in this body. So kill me,’ but I cannot.” Even Indra’s thunderbolt failed.

Vṛtrāsura prayed:

ajāta-pakṣā iva mātaraṁ khagāḥ
stanyaṁ yathā vatsatarāḥ kṣudh-ārtāḥ
priyaṁ priyeva vyuṣitaṁ viṣaṇṇā
mano ’ravindākṣa didṛkṣate tvām

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (6.11.26)

[“O lotus-eyed Lord, as baby birds that have not yet developed their wings always look for their mother to return and feed them, as small calves tied with ropes await anxiously the time of milking, when they will be allowed to drink the milk of their mothers, or as a morose wife whose husband is away from home always longs for him to return and satisfy her in all respects, I always yearn for the opportunity to render direct service unto You.”]

This is a highly elevated verse. Here, Vṛtrāsura’s mood to serve Kṛṣṇa is like that of the gopīs. By this prayer, Śrīla Vyāsadeva and Śukadeva Gosvāmī have glorified the love and affection of the gopīs. So Citraketu Mahārāja did not fall from Goloka Vṛndāvana. He came only to establish these truths.

When Jaya and Vijaya became demons for three births, they were still Jaya and Vijaya. They remained there in Vaikuṇṭha, and their manifestations came here to act like demons. Jaya and Vijaya can have so many forms, just as Yaśodā has unlimited forms, and just as Kṛṣṇa has so many forms in Vaikuṇṭha, in Dvārakā, and here and there. There are lakhs of universes. In each universe, there is one Vṛndāvana, and Kṛṣṇa is there in Vṛndāvana. We cannot imagine this. Brahmā has said that a person may be able to count the stars in the sky and the sands on the earth, but he will not be able to glorify the sweet pastimes of Kṛṣṇa.

It is absurd to think that any jīva can fall from Goloka Vṛndāvana. Any liberated soul can come with Kṛṣṇa to assist in His pastimes, as Śrīdama and Subala do. Kṛṣṇa sends them here only to help the rebellious souls.

Try to remember Kṛṣṇa and follow this doctrine: God is one, there is one religion, and that religion is love and affection for the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Gaura-premānande!

Devotee: You said that Kṛṣṇa’s associates go with Him to the innumerable universes, and they have so many expansions. Does that also apply to the sādhana-siddha jīva? In other words, if we ever become perfect, do we also go to all those places, all those universes, at the same time, along with Kṛṣṇa?

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: If you will be perfect like them, then you can go. A perfect devotee, one who always remembers the aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, will go to Goloka Vṛndāvana. Those who always worship Gaura-Nityānanda Prabhu, always remembering Their pastimes, will go to Śvetadvīpa. Those who remember both Gaurāṅga and Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and want to serve both have two svarūpas, and they go to both places. There are so many universes, and there is Śvetadvīpa, and there is Vṛndāvana. Such perfect and liberated souls will be in all these places.

Rādhānātha dāsa: Citraketu Mahārāja was initiated with a saṅkarṣaṇa-mantra. How would he be able to have a mood like the gopīs?

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: If by taking mantra from my Gurudeva, Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Mahārāja, I can have this, then why, by taking the mantra from Baladeva Prabhu, would one not be like the gopīs?

Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja: Baladeva Prabhu is the undivided guru-tattva.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: It may be that he did not have that at first, but later on he may have attained it. Nārada Muni gave him the mantra. Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanātana, and Sanat-kumāra were originally jñānī-bhaktas, but later they began chanting and remembering aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā, and now they are gurus of aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā. How can you say they are still jñānī-bhaktas? It may be that they are real Vrajavāsīs. Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanātana, and Sanat-kumāra have so many forms, as do Subala and Śrīdāmā, and they also have forms like the gopīs. Otherwise, how would they be able to teach the truths about the gopīs to Nārada Gosvāmī? Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanātana, and Sanat-kumāra have explained their aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā to Nārada. They are the gurus of Nārada. If they don’t know about that līlā and are not practising that meditation and service, how can they explain it to Nārada? Don’t have any doubt in this.

* Consider this analogy. If tiny round mustard seeds are dropped upon the sharp edge of the blade of a sword, some seeds will fall to one side and some will fall to the other. Like those mustard seeds that fall to one side or the other, from the taṭasthā region, the jīvas are either elevated to the spiritual world or degraded to this material world. After emanating from the glance of Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, if they look towards Goloka Vṛndāvana, Yogamāyā at once helps them to go there. On the other hand, those who look towards the material world are attracted by Mahāmāyā, whereupon Mahāmāyā drags them to this inert netherworld. Kṛṣṇa is not at fault; it is their free will to look here or there.

Of course, no analogy can give a perfect understanding of spiritual truth, but there are some similarities to help us understand. The knife’s sharp edge represents the taṭasthā region, and the mustard seeds represent the innumerable jīvas. Like a knife’s edge, the taṭasthā region is not a place of rest. The jīva cannot stay there; he has to decide his destination quickly. What is not similar in this analogy is that, unlike the jīvas, the mustard seeds are not conscious and therefore have no ability to choose. (Journey of the Soul, Part One, Chapter Four)

Source(s): Purebhakti.com

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Unless indicated differently, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)