Section 75
The Lord's Associates are Transcendental Like the Lord

Since it is established that Çré Vaikuëöha is in the Lord's svarüpa, it naturally follows that the associates of the Lord, who are but parts of Vaikuëöha, are also like that. It is certainly befitting for His servants. Because according to the principle "one who is not divine should not worship the divine", one who lacks the consciousness of being equal in nature with the Lord is not even qualified to worship the Deity. Then certainly direct worship of the Lord requires the devotee to be directly like the Lord. In this way by the kaimutya-nyäya, or "how much more" principle, the eternal associates of the Lord are certainly of the same nature as the Lord. Therefore Çré Yudhiñöira's statement that Çré Närada's statement "the residents of Vaikuëöha, who are devoid of bodies, senses, and life air" means that the Vaikuëöha residents have bodies consisting of çuddha-sattva and not material bodies, senses, and life airs that are the cause for material birth.

 

Purport

           After establishing that Vaikuëöha is part of the Lord's essential nature, Çréla Jéva Gosvämé says that His associates are also His svarüpa bhüta, or of the same nature as Himself.  It was already established that Vaikuëöha cannot be approached by material means--it can be attained only by pure devotional service.  It has also been shown that Vaikuëöha is completely free from the material modes.  This naturally implies that everything that exists in Vaikuëöha is transcendental, including the associates of the Lord.

          The Lord has two types of associates--the eternally liberated (nitya siddhas) and those who became liberated by performing devotional service (sädhana siddhas).  Both are transcendental to the material modes.  Çréla Jéva Gosvämé says that those devotees who worship the Lord while practicing devotional service in the material world cannot properly do so unless they purify their consciousness.  The body is made of material elements and the Lord is transcendental.  Just as one with soiled hands cannot serve food to a brähmaëa, it is not possible to render service to the transcendental Lord with this material body, which is a bundle of impurities.  It will not please the Lord and hence cannot be counted as service.

          The general principle is nädevo devamarcayet--one who is not divine should not worship the divine and devaà bhütvä yajeta devaà--worship the divine after becoming divine.  Since all conditioned souls have a material body it is necessary to acquire divine qualities before performing deity service.  This process is called bhüta-çuddhi in the upäsanä-çästra.  The word upa-äsana literally means having a seat near to the Lord. But the meaning is not to be taken only physically. To worship (upäsanä) one has to be in physical proximity as well as in consciousness. This does not mean that one should mediate upon himself as the deity.  Such meditation is called ahaàgropäsana and should be shunned by those who want to walk the path of devotion.  Nor should one meditate upon himself as one of the eternal associates of the Lord, such as Nanda Mahäräja.  This is also considered ahaàgropäsanä.  In his commentary on Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu 1.2.306, Çréla Jéva Gosvämé has forbidden such meditation. 

          The tantras explain various types of bhüta çuddhis for various types of worshipers.  Çréla Jéva Gosvämé explains that pure devotees should meditate upon themselves as having a suitable form for the service of the Lord (Bhakti Sandarbha, Anuccheda Two-hundred-eight-five).  This is in accordance with the famous verse by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu (Padyävali 74):

"I am not a brähmaëa, a king, a vaiçya, or a çüdra.  I am neither a brahmacäré, a gåhastha, a vänaprastha, nor a sannyäsé.  But I am the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of the lover of the Gopis, the eternally self manifesting ocean of nectar of the highest bliss."

          The purport is that to serve the Lord one has to denounce all ephemeral designations related to the material body made of païcabhütas and situate himself in his eternal constitutional relation with the Lord.  This is called bhüta-çuddhi, or becoming free from bodily designations. This is the meaning of becoming divine. Thinking oneself as Brähmaëa or sannyäsi is material because these are material designations.

          If such qualification is necessary to worship the deity form of the Lord, then it naturally follows that direct service to Him requires that one be situated in his spiritual constitutional position.  This proves that the eternal associates of the Lord are transcendental.  They render transcendental service to the transcendental Lord with their transcendental mind and senses.

          The verse referred to is by Yudhiñöhira Mahäräja to Närada Muni regarding Lord's assocites Jaya and Vijaya. King Yudhiñöhira was surprised to hear that the Lord's gatekeepers could be cursed by the Kumäras.  A detailed analysis of this episode is in Préti Sandarbha Text 7.

          His question naturally proves that Jaya and Vijaya did not have material bodies. Their bodies were made of spirit. But this leaves the possibility of them being pure living entities belonging to tatastha çakti and not part of antaranga çakti. This doubt is cleared in the following Text.