Srila Prabhupada – “So everyone can know that independence means one can use it properly, or one can misuse it. That is independence. If you make it one way only, that is not independence, that is force.” (Los Angeles, June 23, 1975)
Srila Prabhupada – “You have got little independence therefore you can violate. Because you are part and parcel of God you have got independence, proportionately, therefore if he likes he can return. That independence has to be accepted, little independence. We CAN misuse that. (Mayapur, February 19, 1976)
Having "free will" is the constitutional make up of all marginal living entities (jiva-souls) that is ALWAYS part and parcel within their eternal character and personality in the Spiritual Worlds.
This means the jiva-souls can even choose to leave the Vaikuntha Planets or Goloka-Vrindavana if they want, this is also what free will allows and if it didn't, then they have no free will.
This is why it is foolish that big, big sannyasis and gurus claim once entering the Spiritual Worlds the jiva-souls can never fall down again.
No, they CAN fall down again and again if they choose to do so!
And such fall downs have nothing to do with Maya (material energy), it is simply free will.
The fact is Maya or material energy does NOT exist in Vaikuntha or Goloka-Vrindavana.
The choice to leave Vaikuntha or Goloka-Vrindavana is possible because Krsna allows love to be a "two-way" street, this means one can accept or reject Krsna if they choose to do so.
Srila Prabhupada - "Free will means that you can act wrongly. That is free will. Unless there is chance of doing wrong or right, there is no question of free will. Where is free will then? If I act only one sided, that means I have no free will. Because we act sometimes wrongly, that means free will."
Hayagriva - "A man may know better but still act wrongly".
Srila Prabhupada -"Yes", but that is free will. He misuses his. Just like a thief, he knows that his stealing, it is bad, but still he does it. That is free will. He cannot check his greediness, so in spite of his knowing that he is doing wrong thing—he will be punished, he knows; he has seen another thief, he was punished, he was put into prison— everything he knows, but still he steals. Why? Misuse of free will. Unless there is misuse of free will, there is no question of free will. (Talk with Rene Descartes)
Syamasundara - "But can we predict returning back home back to Godhead will be permanent? Can we predict that? Just like many prisoners leave the prison, however some do come back?''
Srila Prabhupada - "No, there is no permanent effect because we have got little independence. There is nothing permanent because you can misuse your independence at any time".
Syamasundara - "And some come back?"
Srila Prabhupada - "Yes. Otherwise there is no meaning of independence. Independence means you can do this, you can do that. "All right. Whatever you like."
Devotee - "Then he is so many times falling down, again and again, so will he eventually permanently come back?"
Srila Prabhupada - "He has got independence, therefore there is always the possibility he can misuse his independence, he CAN fall down. That's why when a man is released from the prison house, that does not mean permanently because he can come back again, the general law is NOT to come back, but if he likes, he can come back, otherwise what is the meaning of independence? Just like one becomes free from the prison house, naturally he should not go there again". (Talk with Syamasundara and Henri Bergson)
Even though Krsna has promised there is no return to the material creation once returning to the Spiritual Worlds, the fact is there IS return if the jiva-souls want to return as Prabhupada explains here-
Acyutananda – “In Bhagavad Gita Krsna says, once coming to the Spiritual World, the jiva-soul never returns, so He can return?”
Srila Prabhupada – “If he likes he can return”.
Guru-kripa – “How is it that one can become envious of Krsna?”
Srila Prabhupada – “You have got little independence, you can violate. Because you are part and parcel of God. God has got full independence, but you have got independence too, proportionately, because you are part and parcel, so if he likes, he can return. That independence has to be accepted. We can misuse that. Krsna-bahirmukha haïä bhoga väïchä kare. That misuse is the cause of our falldown”. (Mayapur February 19, 1976)
Devotee - “Well, I believe you once said that once a conditioned soul becomes perfected and gets out of the material world and he goes to Krsnaloka, there’s no possibility of falling back”.
Srila Prabhupada - “No! There is possibility, but he does not come IF he is intelligent. Just like after putting your hand in the fire, you never put it in again. So those who are going back to Godhead, they MUST become intelligent. Why going back to Godhead? (Talk with Syamasundara Dasa).
Srila Prabhupada - ''As soon as we try, "Oh, this material world is very nice," "Yes," Kṛṣṇa says, "yes, you can go." Otherwise what is the meaning of free will? Every living entity has got a little free will. And Kṛṣṇa is so kind, He gives him opportunity, "All right, you enjoy like this." It is free will''. (Morning Walk Cheviot Hills May 13, 1973, Los Angeles)
Srila Prabhupada - “So everyone can know that independence means one can use it properly or one can misuse it. That is independence. If you make it one way only, that you cannot fall down, that is not independence, that is force. Therefore Krsna says, yathecchasi tathä kuru. “Now you do whatever you like.” (Los Angeles, June 23, 1975)
Therefore returning back home back to Godhead is not necessarily permanent Prabhupada has explained above, that choice to stay with Krsna or go is ALSO the jiva-soul's choice too.
Therefore it is NOT just a one-way decision that Krsna only makes, no, real loving exchanges can NEVER exist in a one-sided affair because there is ALWAYS "free will"
Krsna does NOT control the "surrendered" jiva-souls by force like a puppet master controls every movement of his puppets with the manipulations of strings, denying self expression, individual contributions and voluntary service.
Srila Prabhupada - "Krsna does not want to become a lover by force, from the point of revolver. ‘You love me, otherwise I shall kill you!’ That is not love; that is threatening. Love is reciprocal, voluntary, good exchange of feeling. Then there is love. Not by force; that is rape. Why one is called lover, another is called rape?” (July 8, 1976 in Washington, D.C.)
Such free will means the jiva-souls are "marginal" and that ALL decision making is a "two-sided" affair, that allows the jiva-souls to choose for themselves, EVEN if it means rejecting Krsna.
Srila Prabhupada - "If you have no free will, then you are a stone. The stone has no free will. You want to be stone? Then you must have free will. But don't misuse your free will. But don't try to become stone either. That is not life". (August 5, 1976, New Mayapur France)
Having "free will" ALWAYS allows the jiva-souls to voluntarily choose their own unique contributions that they want to selflessly offer to Krsna in loving service.
This is the real meaning of surrender.
If Krsna forced you to love Him in a "one-way" totalitarian dictatorship, then how can such an impersonal existence freely express genuine loving affection when the jiva-souls are denied their own freedom of choice?
Without "free will", loving voluntary exchanges with Krsna are NOT possible.
Loving relationships can only work in a "two-way" exchange based on reciprocation and loving selfless service with two sharing loving exchanges.
In this way, the Kingdom of God is NEVER a domineering "one-way" bullying dictatorship run by a forceful so called God.
No! Krsna is not like that at all.
The fact is, such a "one-way" impersonal master/servant dictatorship is actually a loveless relationship that only destroy one's real freedom of expression (free will) and having a sense of individual self and unique personality independent from Krsna's Personality.
How can a "lifeless puppet" in a puppet show express loving emotions when it is ALWAYS controlled and manipulated by the strings in the hands of the puppet master?
Similarly, how can the jiva-souls express loving emotions in Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavana if Krsna does not allow "free will" or individual independence and self expression which is the real meaning of being a "marginal living entity?
Surrendering to Krsna and His pure devotee is NOT impersonal like that, surrender does NOT mean giving up your intelligence, free will, individuality and the awareness of being an independent unique contributing free thinking PERSON you are eternally.
Srila Prabhupada - ''Love means you take and you give also. Suppose if you love somebody and you simply take from him, but you don't give. Oh, do you think it is very good? No. It is not good. That is NOT love. That is exploitation. If I go on simply taking from you, and if I don't offer you anything, that is simply exploitation. (Lecture on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 text 2-5, New York, November 23, 1966)
Srila Prabhupada - ''We have got the propensity to love. Love means somebody else. Love cannot be one or love cannot be executed only one, personally. There must be another one. I love somebody; somebody loves me, there must be lover, there must be beloved, and the transaction, then love''. (Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 2 text 6, Delhi, November 12, 1973)
Srila Prabhupada - ''The (impersonalist) philosophy is oneness. So how there can be love, one? Is it possible? Have you got any such experience? Love means one? No. Love means two. There must be two, the lover and the beloved. Kṛṣṇa is already lover. He's so lover of you that He's trying to get you back. That is Kṛṣṇa's attempt. "Please, My dear boy, or My dear friend, My dear servant..." (Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 2 Chapter 1 text 3, Paris, June 12, 1974)
Devotee – “Srila Prabhupada, I can’t understand why we can have impure desire when we are already serving Krsna”
Srila Prabhupada – “Because you have got little freedom, it is one's desire".
Devotee – “But in the Srimad Bhagavatam it says that Krsna did not want us to come to this material world. If Krsna did not want us to come here, why are we here?”
Srila Prabhupada – “Yes, you forced Krsna to allow you to come. Just like sometimes a child forces his father. Father says, “My dear son, do not do this. Do not go there” But he insists, “Oh, I must go. I must go.” “All right, you go at your risk and suffer. What can be done?" (June 25, 1974)
Srila Prabhupada - "Because you are Son of God you have got independence, full independence, therefore you have acquired the quality of your father, so God does not interfere with your independence". (June 25, 1974)
Srila Prabhupada - "If you persist that “I must go and enjoy independently,” so God says, “All right, you can go.” This is the position. You have to take sanction. That is a fact. But when you persist, God sanctions. And you come and enjoy”. (Melbourne, Australia June 25, 1974)
The Spiritual Worlds of Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavana are NOT a dictatorial domineering impersonal place, where everyone is forced to do what Krsna only wants without the jiva-souls having their marginal right to voluntarily offering personal unique contributions too.
For genuine love to exist with Krsna, there must be a voluntary relationship based on reciprocation and loving exchanges.
Therefore the Kingdom of God (Krsna) is NOT an impersonal stagnant emotionally dead place where everyone is just told what to do and how to act.
No, the Spiritual Worlds are NOT like that because there are ALWAYS loving exchanges going on with Krsna and His devotees based on voluntary cooperation, reciprocation, self expression and personal contributions.
That Impersonal Mayavadi version of God's Kingdom, where some foolishly claim the jiva-souls MUST give up their free will in order to enter Krsna's abode, only leads to a loveless impersonal fools paradise.
The jiva-souls are not dead mindless stone, the jiva-souls are ALWAYS endowed with their own unique free will so they can voluntarily choose to be the contributing PERSON they eternally are eternally.
If the jiva-souls in Vaikuntha and Goloka-Vrindavana reject Visnu and Krsna, then they obviously cannot stay there in the Spiritual Worlds.
The only place available to them is the temporary material creation meant for those who CHOOSE to reject Krsna also.
Maya or material energy does NOT exist in Vaikuntha or Goloka-Vrindavana.
If the jiva-souls choose to stay in Vaikuntha or Goloka-Vrindavana, or choose to enter the material creation, it is THEIR free will that allows them to make that choice and nobody elses including Krsna.
Srila Prabhupada - "Love is reciprocal, voluntary, good exchange of feeling, then there is love. Not by force! Krsna does not want to become a lover like that, ‘You love me, otherwise I shall kill you!" (Washington DC July 8, 1976)
Srila Prabhupada - ''Because you are son of God you have got independence, so God does not interfere with your little independence. If you persist that “I must go and enjoy independently'', God says, “All right, you can go and enjoy”. (Melbourne, Australia June 25, 1974)
Srila Prabhupada says in "Nectar of Devotion",
Srila Prabhupada - "Just like the Sun-disc cannot be separated from the sun-rays, similarly Krsna cannot be without the association of His loving devotees". (Nectar of Devotion)
In Krsna Book Prabhupada further explains -
Srila Prabhupada - "As the sun disc and the sunshine cannot be separated, similarly Kṛṣṇa and His bodily rays, the brahmajyoti, cannot be separated". (Krsna Book, 89)
The relationship between Krsna and His jiva-tattva expansions (marginal living entities) is NEVER one-sided, never forced and never impersonal, it is ALWAYS a personal relationship of reciprocation, nurturing, voluntary service based on free will, in a two-way exchange, ONLY then can there be REAL love in the relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
Srila Prabhupada explained to us many years ago -
“If you love me, then I will love you”
Being on the "marginal plane" (jiva-souls) means there is ALWAYS free will where love is based on the reciprocation between two.*
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