BHAKTI IN THE JĪVA: INHERENT OR INHERITED?

Part 4: The Source of Our Siddha-Deha

Part 4 of an eleven-part series by Swāmī Bhakti Praṇaya Padmanābha

In our previous articles, we have tried to establish how, according to Gauḍīya revelation, bhakti is noninherent in
the jīva—bhakti, the essence of the svarūpa-śakti, comes to us from bhakti itself. Also, we have shown that if
bhakti is not intrinsic to the constitution of the jīva-śakti, neither is prema nor rasa, the soul’s ultimate experience
in relation to Bhagavān in transcendence. Although one naturally implies the other—thus the noninherence of
bhakti should thereby naturally prove the noninherence of rasa and prema as well—in this article we will further
elaborate on this idea but from a different vantage point, analyzing the original source of our siddha-deha, or
perfected spiritual body.

To begin, we can invoke Paramātmā-sandarbha 47, where Śrī Jīva Goswāmī states that there are two categories
of jīvas—those who are fortunate to have received the knowledge of Bhagavān (nitya-siddhas) and those who are
unfortunate and thus ensnared in māyā (nitya-baddhas). Similar to what Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī establishes in his
own devotional treatise, here Śrī Jīva categorically establishes the existence of the nitya-siddhas, or those souls
perpetually possessed of a siddha-deha, and the nitya-baddhas, or those beings materially conditioned from
beginningless time, who do not possess any siddha-deha at all, although the potential for it is latent in them—
everyone has the container, but not everyone’s container is filled with a specific divine identity. All throughout
his Paramātmā-sandarbha, Śrī Jīva has established that God has three distinct potencies—intrinsic, intermediary,
and external. While he also defines the characteristics of the ātmā in utmost detail, he never mentions that the
siddha-svarūpa is within the ātmā. Rather, in his Prīti-sandarbha (10), he declares that the siddha-deha is given
by God when one becomes qualified to enter the spiritual world. There, Śrī Jīva explains that spiritual forms
eternally exist in the spiritual domain, and jīvas who desire those forms in their sādhana are blessed with them
upon attaining their spiritually desired sādhya.1 This is also the experience of Nārada, which he relates to Vyāsa
in the Bhāgavata by using the specific word prayujyamāne (“having been awarded,” or, in the words of Śrīdhara
Swāmī while commenting on this verse, “the siddha-deha is brought by the Lord”) thus:

Having been awarded a transcendental body befitting an associate of the Personality of

Godhead, the body made of five material elements, with karmas relating to the present body,
fell away.2

Similarly, there are two other famous instances in the Bhāgavata where the awarding of a siddha-deha is clearly
described, in connection to Ajāmila and Gajendra, respectively:

After seeing those forms, he gave up his body at this holy place on the Ganges and immediately
attained a spiritual body as an associate of the Lord.3

Persons desiring dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa worship the Lord and attain the desired
destination. What to speak of other benedictions, they also receive a spiritual body. May that
Lord of unlimited mercy liberate me and bestow such a spiritual body.4

A siddha-deha is a body constituted of ecstatic expression, sometimes known as a bhāva-deha (a body made of
emotions). Another way of referring to its constitution would be in terms of divine love, Kṛṣṇa prema. This Kṛṣṇa
prema is nitya-siddha, or eternally existent and eternally perfect, since it perfectly exists in Kṛṣṇa’s eternal
associates. On the other side, the baddha-jīva’s connection with this nitya-siddha-prema begins inside of time, in
this world. So although bhāva/prema is eternal, our participation in it has a beginning within time. But in Goloka,
bhāva is always manifesting itself differently in newer and newer ways—prema is full in its “eternal beingness”
yet always increasing in its “eternal becoming.” And it is only because of this that we can actually have events in
the spiritual world, such as our attaining a siddha-deha.5 In other words, we could say that our siddha-deha is
latent in the svarūpa-śakti, but not as a suit waiting for us in a closet of some abstract spiritual energy. The
svarūpa-śakti is personified in the figures of the nitya-pāriṣadas of Bhagavān. And when corresponding devotion
appears in our hearts, a new “wave of eternal becoming” manifests from their hearts, making it possible for us to
fully become a particular identity.6 This is clearly established in Rūpa Goswāmī’s very definition of sādhana-
bhakti:

Action of the senses, which produces the stage of bhāva, is called sādhana-bhakti. This attained
state of bhāva-bhakti (sādhyatā) is an eternal sthāyi-bhāva, which is not created but simply
manifests within the soul by the spiritual energy of the Lord.7

Śrī Jīva Goswāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī both comment thus:

A doubt may arise that since this state is achieved (sādhya), implying that it is artificially
produced, it is not the ultimate goal. The second line responds to this doubt by saying that it is
eternal and simply appears within the heart. That is because its appearance (but not its creation)
will be accomplished in the future by the special actions of the most excellent transformations
(samvit and hlādinī) of the Lord’s svarūpa-śakti (which are perfect and eternal).

In this connection, Śrīla Jīva Goswāmī declares in his Prīti-sandarbha (65) that “Kṛṣṇa has always placed an all-
blissful item of his pleasure potency (hlādinī-śakti) within the hearts of his devotees, and when it is captured in
the devotee’s heart, it shines there as prema.” Although some may take this statement as proof of bhakti’s
inherence, this section actually speaks of the opposite. It clearly says bhakta-vṛndeṣv eva nikṣipyamānā (placed in
the devotees), so it does not speak about something already there that suddenly “awakens.” Moreover, Śrī Jīva
has done a very elaborate and minute analysis of prīti, or prema, in his Prīti-sandarbha, and he never says there
even once that prema is dormant in the jīva. He clearly establishes that prema is the hlādinī-śakti and that it
comes from Kṛṣṇa. If it were dormant in the  jīva, he would have said so in a totally evident way, as is his style of
presentation in his Sandarbhas.

So although the bhāva one will attain is eternal, the specifics of that bhāva have a beginning resulting from a
combination of grace and spiritually advanced will. The svarūpa-śakti is eternally manifesting new līlās. Are they
already there? No. Similarly, new siddha-dehas (perfect spiritual identities) manifest out of the eternal bhāvas for
the service of Kṛṣṇa, just as new līlās do. Was Gopa-kumāra’s meeting Kṛṣṇa in Goloka and Kṛṣṇa’s fainting, and
so on, a new līlā, or was it already going on? In this way, we have new svarūpas and corresponding new līlās,
both of which are constituted of eternal bhāvas. Thus prema is full yet ever expanding in newer and newer
episodes. It is not static eternity like nirviśeṣa Brahman—it is a dynamic and eternal becoming.

In this connection, there is an important verse from Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta (2.4.190) that says, “Who is capable of
conjecturing the opulence of his pastime of giving various tastes? He has the majesty of performing varied līlās,
and his heart is deep like millions of oceans.” In his commentary to his own verse, Śrī Sanātana Goswāmī
explains the compound word vicitra-tat-tad-ruci-dāna-līlā-vibhūtim thus: “[He] distributes (dānam) to them (the
various people who take to different types of worship) the various types of (vicitrāṇām) specific bhāvas
(rucinām), or relish. If the reading is tāna instead of dāna in the compound word, then the meaning is that ‘he
expands’ (instead of ‘he distributes’). The reason behind expanding (or distributing) various types of relish is
given in the adjective vicitra-līlā-vibhāvasya—one who has various types of majesties (vibhāva) in his wonderful
(vicitra) līlās. Otherwise, he would not accomplish the purpose of his various līlās.” In other words, the nature of
Kṛṣṇa’s svarūpa-śakti is to constantly expand new types of relish in the context of līlā, which includes the
manifestation of new siddha-dehas that further nourish the līlā.

When a bhakta receives his or her spiritual identity, his or her taṭastha constitution does not change into the
svarūpa-śakti; it becomes fully imbued with the svarūpa-śakti. This actually begins even before receiving a
siddha-deha, so what to speak of at this highest point, when one receives a sthāyi-bhāva. In other words, the
taṭastha-śakti can have a kind of integration with the svarūpa-śakti that it cannot have with the māyā-śakti. That
is why when attaining a siddha-deha, the devotee actually becomes (totally one with) that body, whereas this
does not happen with a material body, because the jīva-śakti and māyā-śakti do not mix. But interestingly, the
svarūpa-śakti also has the power to transform the māyā-śakti and spiritualize it, in the form of a sādhaka-deha.
So even more so, it has the power to integrate with the jīva-śakti, which is consciousness. It makes its ingress into
the jīva, culminating in a form of love—a spiritual body. So we may compare a taṭastha-jīva who is fully imbued
with the svarūpa-śakti to an iron rod that is made red hot by putting it into the fire, and thus the ātmā becomes
eternally linked to a body consisting of the svarūpa-śakti. Indeed, there is oneness between the two śaktis because
the taṭastha-jīva does not feel at that point that the sthāyi-bhāva is external to it. So at the proper time and as a
gift from Bhagavān and his svarūpa-śakti, a devotee receives a fully accomplished siddha-deha according to the
specific inner affinity cultured during sādhana:

O Lord! You, who are approached by being heard about, seen, and directly served, enter and
remain in the lotus of your devotees’ hearts infused with bhakti-yoga. Much praised Lord! By
your mercy, you bestow upon them spiritual bodies appropriate to the mood they cultivate
during sādhana.8

To conclude this section, let us analyze some further śāstra-pramāṇa that proves how the siddha-deha is
inherited and not inherent in the taṭastha-jīvas’ nature:

1. In Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda’s commentary to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.7.18, he explains the famous lines
muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ sva-rūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.10.6) as meaning “to attain a
spiritual form.”

2. In Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.3.54, Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmīpāda declares that “by an offense against the
dearest devotee of the Lord, even real bhāva will be destroyed if the offense is grave. If the offense is
medium, the bhāva will turn to bhāvābhāsa. If the offense is slight, the bhāva will become an inferior
type.” Since the latter option speaks of bhāva’s being downgraded in terms of the five sthāyi-bhāvas
(madhura-rati becoming dāsya-rati, dāsya-rati becoming śānta-rati, and so on), how could we explain
such degradation if the siddha-deha were inherent in the ātmā?9

3. In his Rāga-vartma-candrikā (2.7), Śrī Viśvanātha reveals that in order to attain his or her ultimate
destination in Goloka (also called vastu-siddhi), a sādhana-siddha has to first be born in the womb of a
gopī in the Earthly Vṛndāvana where Kṛṣṇa is performing his nara-līlā. By receiving the association of
 nitya-siddha-parikaras, such a devotee can further develop his or her prema to the point of entering the
nitya-līlā. If our own siddha-deha were already inherent, what necessity would there be of this process?

4. In Paramātmā-sandarbha 28, the words eka-rūpa svarūpa-bhāk mean that the jīvātmā is “uniform in
nature” and “situated in its own essential nature,” respectively. It does not undergo any modification, and
it has inherent potencies. Therefore, it is eka-rūpa, or fixed in form and uniform, and svarūpa-bhāk, or
situated in its own essential nature. Here “uniform” also means that the souls are all equal, just as
individual atoms are uniform in nature. There are no sakhya-rasa-baddha-jīvas or mādhurya-rasa-
baddha-jīvas. However, jīvas can eventually experience rasa by the ingress of bhakti. Baddha-jīvas are of
one uniform kind, while there are different kinds of bhakti. Thus, “situated in its own essential
nature” means that the taṭastha-jīva is complete in itself, and that is why it can become ātmārāma, or self-
satisfied. But it also has other qualities that, relative to the discussion, give it the potential to attain a
bhakti-siddha-svarūpa. 

5. In Bhakti-sandarbha 112, we find a statement from Sarvajña Muni cited by Śrīdhara Swāmī in his
commentary on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.87.21, which says, “Even liberated souls accept a body out of
their free will [this being implied by the term līlayā—that is, ‘playfully’] and thus worship the Lord.”
Here, again we can appreciate that acceptance of a siddha-deha is voluntary, out of free will, rather than a
predetermined condition in the jīva’s constitution.10

6. Regarding the jīva’s choice, we could even present another interesting vantage point: If the spiritual body
is eternally present in the heart as a seed, how can the jīva then attain final (and thus eternal) mukti
(sāyujya-mukti) and thus choose not to attain a spiritual body?11 It is certainly not the case that the
liberated soul, desiring eternal merging with Brahman, recognizes the seed of a siddha-deha and then
decides to send it back to the Lord like a package to Amazon.

7. Finally (and in connection to the previous two statements), the Vedānta-sūtra discusses the state of the
mukta in liberation once they have given up their material body. Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s Govinda-
bhāṣya confirms that the liberated sādhaka can either accept a spiritual body (or even several!) or have no
body at all (sāyujya-mukti). In his commentary to Sūtra 4.4.12, he says,

“Now, since the liberated self is satya-saṅkalpa (one whose desires are instantly fulfilled), Bādarāyaṇa
Ṛṣi (Vyāsadeva) thinks that the liberated self can be ‘of both kinds,’ since we find śruti statements to both
effects. He accepts that the jīva in its liberated state can exist with a body or without a body. It is just like
the Dvādaśāha sacrifice. According to the desire of the sponsor (yajamāna) of the Dvādaśāha, the
sacrifice can be a Satra when it has many sponsors or an Ahīna when there is only one sponsor. There is
no contradiction here.

“The meaning is that in the same way, the liberated soul, by its own will, can accept a body or not accept
one. This is the truth—by brahma-vidyā, the liberated ones have cut away all coverings and become
satya-saṅkalpas. Among them, those who desire a body attain one just by that desire. As the śruti
(Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.26.2) says, ‘He becomes one, two, eleven, and so on.’ But those who do not
desire a body will not become such (spiritually embodied), just as the śruti statement (Chāndogya
Upaniṣad 8.12.1) that says, ‘It is certainly bodiless.’”12
Again, our conclusion is that there is certainly no eternally fixed blueprint in the heart of the ātmā determining
which suitable siddha-deha the soul will eventually attain. Although the aforementioned paragraphs should
provide a sufficient resolution to this particular topic, we will try to develop this idea for further clarification in
our following articles.

To be continued.

Endnotes
1
Caitanya-caritāmṛta 3.4.192–193 presents this same point by way of describing how the sādhaka-deha becomes
spiritualized through dīkṣā (which is awarded through sādhu-saṅga) to the point of becoming worshipable by Bhagavān
himself (who is the one who ultimately bestows such spiritualization): “At the time of initiation, when a devotee surrenders
to the spiritual master, Kṛṣṇa makes him or her equal to himself. He transforms the devotee’s body into spiritual substance;
the devotee then worships the Lord in that spiritualized body.”
2
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.6.28. Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments the following on this verse: “At the time of being made
to accept a body that was śuddha-sattva because it was not a material body and because it belonged to the Lord, my material
body fell away.” The previous Bhāgavata verse (1.6.27) also presents a similar expression (“receiving my spiritual body”):
“O brāhmaṇa Vyāsa! Concentrating only on Kṛṣṇa, not attached to material enjoyment and pure in mind, the time of
receiving my spiritual body occurred simultaneously with that of giving up my material body, like lightning flashing
simultaneously with lightning.”
3
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.2.43

4
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.19. While commenting on this verse in his Krama-sandarbha, Śrī Jīva Goswāmī states, “They
receive blessings such as sāmīpya, sālokya, and so forth as well as an eternal body as an associate of the Lord.” In his
Sārārtha-darśinī commentary, Śrī Viśvanātha says, “He [the Lord] also gives a spiritual body as he gave to Dhruva and
others. Thus, he is unlimitedly merciful. May he liberate me from the crocodile and saṁsāra, and give me a spiritual body
and prema-bhakti.”
5
Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura confirms this in his famous song Iṣṭa-deve Vijñapti (Hari hari! biphale janama) when he says,
golokera prema-dhana, harināma-saṅkīrtana: “The treasure of prema from Goloka has descended into this world in the
form of harināma-saṅkīrtana.”
6
In his commentary to Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 3.4.76, Śrī Jīva Goswāmī mentions that “having (the Vraja vāsīs) entered
there, Kṛṣṇa made all their unmanifested forms, which already existed there (in the nitya-līlā), merge into the forms that
they brought from the manifested pastimes.” Although this may seem to indicate that the siddha-deha is predetermined, this
passage speaks about nitya-pāriṣadas, who are eternally possessed of those identities. In no place is it said that this idea
applies to those sādhakas who will eventually become siddhas.
7
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.2
8
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.11. This verse does not mean, however, that Bhagavān is bound to appear in whatever concocted
form a sādhaka may imagine. Rather, a sādhaka will meditate on God as he is described in the scriptures and explained by
realized sādhus. This is the significance of the phrase śrutekṣita-pathaḥ (seen through the ear) in this verse. See also
Vedānta-sūtra 3.3.52, Jayākhya-saṁhitā 12.27, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.24.31, Bhagavad-gītā 4.11, and Chāndogya
Upaniṣad 3.4.12.
9
The term sthāyi-bhāva is expressed here in terms of considering it a not-yet-perfected sthāyi-bhāva (since this section
speaks about the stage of bhāva and not prema). In other words, the downgrade referred to here has to do with the sprout of
the sthāyi-bhāva (also called the bhāvāṅkura) before it is established and fixed (sthāyi). Thus, there is a difference between
the bhāvāṅkura sprouting in bhāva-bhakti and the fully developed sthāyi-bhāva that matures in prema-bhakti, and the
quoted verse from Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu here refers to bhāva-bhakti, not prema-bhakti. One interesting example in this
regard is that of the Kumāras, who experienced the sprout of a sthāyi-bhāva upon entering Vaikuṇṭha and meeting the
dāsya-bhaktas at the gate. Because of their offense, their budding prospect of dāsya was downgraded to śānta, which later
then ascended to mādhurya. For the possibility of śānta-rati being upgraded to a higher rati due to its lack of mamatā
(possessiveness), see Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 3.1.43.

10
Although a mukta chooses to have a body or not, this does not do away with the fact that mukti is bestowed by Bhagavān
in every single case. The choice of the mukta has mainly to do with the fact that his or her ultimate condition in
transcendence is not predetermined. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.4.13 confirms how both mukti and (prema-) bhakti are bestowed
on those who desire them: “Again I offer respects to you, the destroyer of the suffering of the devotees and giver of
liberation to the demons, the form of śuddha-sattva, the shelter of those with the mood of the paramahaṁsas, the giver of
Brahman to the bhakti-miśra-jñānīs and prema to the pure devotees.” Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī writes in his commentary to
this verse, “You are the giver of the bliss of Brahman to the bhakti-miśra-jñānīs and the giver of the bliss of prema to the
pure devotees (vyavasthitānām), who are under your shelter.”

11
Another common misunderstanding is the idea that those who attain Brahman will eventually fall from there. Actually,
since Brahman is nirguṇa and thus not affected by the māyā-śakti, it constitutes a permanent condition of liberation called
sāyujya-mukti. Although thoroughly rejected by Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, this attainment is an eternal one, as much as any type
of mukti is a permanent condition in itself (see Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.10.6). For more on this, see Prīti-sandarbha 2–5 and
15 as well as Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda’s commentary to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.2.32.

12
Since a jīva can exercise its will by choosing to have or not have a spiritual body in eternity, the idea of inherent
predeterminism would make no place whatsoever for personal choice.