No Sanskåt Term For Fallen Devotees

Sréla Viçvanätha Cakravarté, commenting on Çrémad Bhägavatam 10.87.32, says that there are four types of living beings:

Te ca megho pamayä avidyayä ävåtä baddha-jévä eke, anye bhakti-maj-jïänena tad-ävaraëonmuktä mukta-jéväù anye kevalayä pradhänébhütayä vä bhaktyä tadävaraëonmocita-präpita-cidänanda-maya-bhajanopayogi-çaréraù siddha-bhaktä anye avidyä-yoga-rahitä eva nitya-parñadä iti caturvidhäù.

1. Baddha--those under the influence of the avidyä potency.

2. Mukta--those liberated from the covering of avidyä by bhakti, but have not yet attained a spiritual body.  These are also called jévan-muktas, or liberated while living in the material body.

3. Siddha--those who have attained a spiritual body by the influence of bhakti.  These are called baddha-muktas or liberated after being in bondage.

4. Nitya pärñada--those who are eternally free from the association of avidyä.  They never become conditioned.  They are also called nitya-muktas or nitya-siddhas.

            He does not have a fifth category called mukta-baddha for those who were first liberated and then fell down.  In all the Vedic literature no such concept is found.  One can see words such as nitya-baddha, nitya-mukta, and baddha-mukta, but nothing describing something like mukta-baddha, liberated then bound. 

            Similarly, commenting on Vedänta-Syamantaka (3), a book by his spiritual master, Çréla Baladeva Vidyäbhuñaëa divided the jévas in three classes, 

1. Nitya-mukta--eternally liberated. 

2. Baddha-mukta--were conditioned but became liberated. 

3. Baddha--conditioned living entities. 

Again there is no mention of a class called mukta-baddha or something akin to that.  Kåñëadäsa Kaviräja (Cc.Madhya 22.10) and Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté (Vaiñëavism Real and apparent) mention only two classes, nitya-mukta and nitya-baddha.  If so many living entities have indeed fallen from Vaikuëöha then one would expect to read something about them and find a word or phrase describing this class of living entities in common usage.  But no Vaiñëava philosopher has ever used such a word in his writing.  There are no explicit statements in the Vedic literature which explain that a nitya-mukta falls.  One may try to screw out such meanings from some allegorical verses such as in the story of Puraïjana or misinterpreting words like remembrance, original relationship, forgetting Kåñëa, and so forth, still the fact remains that there are no clear statements in the scriptures to support such conclusions, but there are many statements that establish another conclusion, namely that no one falls from Vaikuëöha and the conditioned souls existence is eternal, anädi, or beginningless. 

            We have so many statements and stories describing how a nitya-baddha become liberated, although attaining liberation is such a rare thing.  On the other hand, fall down, which, if accepted, would be a very commonplace thing considering the vast number of fallen jévas in this one universe alone, yet one does not find a single historical account of such an event in the many volumes of Vedic literature.  We stipulate there is only one reason why this is so--because no one falls from Vaikuëöha and as the Kåñëa says in Bhagavad-gita (13.20) material nature as well as the conditioned living entities are beginningless.