Explore The Nitya Dharma Of The Jiva l-That Is Pure And Everlasting

#nitya #dharma #jiva #atma #spiritual Jaiva Dharma 1st English Edition (Ch. 2, Verse 17,18) "The jéva is infinitesimal, his dharma is full and nitya (eternal). Minuteness is only a trait by which he is identified. Parabrahma Çré Kåñëacandra, is the one and only infinite substance (båhad-vastu), and the jévas are His innumerable atomic particles. Like sparks emanating from an undivided fire, the jévas emanate from Kåñëa, who is the embodiment of immutable consciousness. Just as every spark is endowed with the potency of the complete fire, so each and every jéva is capable of displaying the full function of consciousness. If a single spark has enough fuel, it can kindle a blazing fire that will incinerate the whole world. Similarly, even a single jéva can bring about a great inundation of love by obtaining Çré Kåñëacandra, who is the real object of love. As long as he fails to contact the real object of his spiritual function (dharma-viñaya), the infinitesimal, conscious jéva is incapable of exhibiting the natural development of that function. In reality, it is only when the jéva is in connection with his object that the identity of its dharma becomes apparent. Transcendental love for Kåñëa (prema) is the jéva’s nitya-dharma. The jéva is a substance transcendental to mundane matter, and consciousness is that which he is constituted. His eternal function is divine love, and the nature of that pure prema is service to Kåñëa. Therefore, the constitutional function of the jéva is service to Kåñëa, which is the nature of prema. “Jévas exist in two conditions: çuddha-avasthä, the pure liberated state; or baddha-avasthä, the conditioned state. In the liberated state, the jéva is completely spiritual (cinmaya), and has no connection with mundane matter. However, even in the liberated state, the jéva is an infinitesimal entity. “The jéva can undergo a change in condition because he has the quality of minuteness. Kåñëa, however, never undergoes a change of condition, for by His very nature He is the entity of infinite cognition. By His essential constitution as a vastu (a factual existent entity), He is supreme, completely pure, and eternal, whereas the jéva, by his essential constitution as a vastu is minute, a part, liable to contamination, and subject to repeated change. Nevertheless, by virtue of the jéva’s dharma, or unadulterated spiritual function, he is great, undivided, pure, and everlasting. As long as the jéva is pure, his dharma displays its spotless character. However, when he is contaminated by involvement with mäyä, his true nature is perverted, and he becomes impure, bereft of shelter, and oppressed by mundane happiness and distress. The jéva’s course of material existence comes into effect as soon as he forgets his attitude of service to Kåñëa. “As long as the jéva remains pure, he maintains his identity and self-conception in accordance with his unadulterated spiritual function (sva-dharma). His innate and original egoism is therefore rooted in the conception that he is a servant of Kåñëa. However, that pure egoism recedes and assumes many different forms as soon as he is contaminated by association with mäyä. The gross and subtle bodies then cover his pure constitutional identity, and as a result, a different egoism emerges in the subtle body (liìga-çaréra). When this combines with the soul’s identification with the gross body (sthüla-çaréra), a third form of egoism is assumed. In his pure spiritual form, the jéva is exclusively a servant of Kåñëa. When the jéva identifies with the subtle body, his original, pure egoism of being a servant of Kåñëa is covered, and he thinks that he can enjoy the fruits of his actions. He then obtains a gross body and thinks, ‘I am a brähmaëa; I am a king; I am poor; I am miserable; I am overwhelmed by disease and lamentation; I am a woman; I am the master of this person and that person.’ Thus, he identifies himself with many different types of gross bodily conceptions. “When the jéva associates with these different types of false egoism, his constitutional function becomes perverted. The intrinsic, constitutional function (sva-dharma) of the jéva is unalloyed prema. This prema manifests in a perverted way in the subtle body in the form of happiness and distress, attachment and aversion, and so on. This perversion is observed in a more concentrated form in the gross body as the pleasures of eating, drinking, and contact with sense objects. You should understand clearly that the eternal function of the jéva, known as nitya-dharma, is manifest only in his pure state. The dharma that arises in the conditioned state is known as naimittika, circumstantial. Nitya- dharma is by nature complete, pure, and eternal."