The permanent jagat is the spiritual world. Paras tasmat tu bhavah anyah [Bg. 8.20]. There is another spiritual world; that is sanatana, that is permanent. This world is not permanent. So even though it is not permanent, it can be utilized for the service of the Lord. Nirbandhe krsna-sambandhe yukta-vairagyam ucyate. That is our philosophy. We don't take the jagat as mithya; we take it as fact, because it is emanation from the supreme fact. So just like gold earring is also gold -- that is not iron -- similarly, the, this material world is made of the external energy of Krsna. Therefore we do not find anything here wrong. We try to dovetail everything in the service of Krsna, because it is Krsna's. Just like one's property must be enjoyed by the proprietor. Krsna says that bhoktaram yajna-tapasam sarva-loka-mahesvaram [Bg. 5.29]. He's the proprietor of this world. Therefore everything dovetailed in His service for His satisfaction, that is devotional service. That is the professional (perfectional?) stage of serving Krsna. So we don't take the world as mithya.
Therefore those who are impersonalists, they think that they have become liberated. Actually, they are not liberated. The Bhagavata says, vimukta-maninah. Ye 'nye 'ravindaksa, ye 'nye 'ravindaksa vimukta-maninah. They are thinking like that. Actually, their intelligence is not yet completely purified. Avisuddha-buddhayah. Aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah [SB 10.2.32]. So even Brahma-sukha, the happiness derived from realization of Brahman, is not perfect. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita:
brahma-bhutah prasannatma
na socati na kanksati
samah sarvesu bhutesu
mad-bhaktim labhate param
[Bg. 18.54]
That brahma-bhutah state is a preliminary qualification to enter into devotional service. But if one does not enter into devotional service, anadrta-yusmad-anghrayah, neglects the lotus feet of Krsna, then patanty adhah. These are the statements, authoritative statements.
Thank you very much. Hare Krsna. (end)
The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 8, 1972
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