Lecture on Sridhar Swami, the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Sampradaya, Jiva Tattva, the Manus, Sankarsana, Deity Worship, Anartha-nivritti, Guru Tattva, and Rasa Tattva

Madhu Gopal dasa - Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.2.37 - Sat 11th Apr 2026

ŚB 11.2.37

भयं द्वितीयाभिनिवेशत: स्या-
दीशादपेतस्य विपर्ययोऽस्मृति: ।
तन्माययातो बुध आभजेत्तं
भक्त्यैकयेशं गुरुदेवतात्मा ॥ ३७ ॥

bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād
īśād apetasya viparyayo ’smṛtiḥ
tan-māyayāto budha ābhajet taṁ
bhaktyaikayeśaṁ guru-devatātmā

Synonyms

bhayam — fear; dvitīya — in something seeming to be other than the Lord; abhiniveśataḥ — because of absorption; syāt — it will arise; īśāt — from the Supreme Lord; apetasya — for one who has turned away; viparyayaḥ — misidentification; asmṛtiḥ — forgetfulness; tat — of the Lord; māyayā — by the illusory energy; ataḥ — therefore; budhaḥ — an intelligent person; ābhajet — should worship fully; tam — Him; bhaktyā — with devotion; ekayā — unalloyed; īśam — the Lord; guru-devatā-ātmā — one who sees his own spiritual master as his lord and very soul.

Translation

Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the material body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the Lord. When the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme Lord, he also forgets his own constitutional position as a servant of the Lord. This bewildering, fearful condition is effected by the potency for illusion, called māyā. Therefore, an intelligent person should engage unflinchingly in the unalloyed devotional service of the Lord, under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, whom he should accept as his worshipable deity and as his very life and soul.

Purport by MGDAS

The key word is dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ; dvitīya — in something seeming to be other than the Lord; abhiniveśataḥ — because of absorption -  a living entity misidentifies himself as the material body. Dvitīya means seeing a duality between oneself and the Lord. The Lord is always acting in the best interest of the living entity, somehow the living entity (the soul) apetasya — has turned away from the Lord. The cure for this is given Bg. 14.26: māṁ ca yo ’vyabhicāreṇa, bhakti-yogena sevate - One who engages in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances [...]. Here avyabhicāreṇa means without fail, but can also be seen in light of this word dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ. This verse is also quoted in CC Madhya 20.119 as well as CC Madhya 24.137. Please also see ŚB 11.28.2. And there is another verse in Bhagavad-gita that is proposing the opposite: Bg. 2.41: vyavasāyātmikā buddhir, ekeha kuru-nandana - Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. ekeha kuru-nandana - their aim is one.

Jiva-tattva

CC Madhya 20.108-109

জীবের ‘স্বরূপ’ হয় — কৃষ্ণের ‘নিত্যদাস’ ।
কৃষ্ণের ‘তটস্থা-শক্তি’, ‘ভেদাভেদ-প্রকাশ’ ॥ ১০৮ ॥

সূর্যাংশ-কিরণ, যৈছে অগ্নিজ্বালাচয় ।
স্বাভাবিক কৃষ্ণের তিনপ্ৰকার ‘শক্তি’ হয় ॥ ১০৯ ॥

jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’
kṛṣṇera ‘taṭasthā-śakti’ ‘bhedābheda-prakāśa’

sūryāṁśa-kiraṇa, yaiche agni-jvālā-caya
svābhāvika kṛṣṇera tina-prakāra ‘śakti’ haya

Synonyms

jīvera — of the living entity; svarūpa — the constitutional position; haya — is; kṛṣṇera — of Lord Kṛṣṇa; nitya-dāsa — eternal servant; kṛṣṇera — of Lord Kṛṣṇa; taṭasthā — marginal; śakti — potency; bheda-abheda — one and different; prakāśa — manifestation; sūrya-aṁśa — part and parcel of the sun; kiraṇa — a ray of sunshine; yaiche — as; agni-jvālā-caya — molecular particle of fire; svābhāvika — naturally; kṛṣṇera — of Lord Kṛṣṇa; tina-prakāra — three varieties; śakti — energies; haya — there are.

Translation

“It is the living entity’s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa because he is the marginal energy of Kṛṣṇa and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or fire. Kṛṣṇa has three varieties of energy.

Purport by MGDAS

Tatastha is a designation not a destination.

The following is from: Following Srila Prabhupada - A Chronological Series - DVD 9 - 01:19:53

Revatinandana Das: We were walking right along the shoreline and Prabhupada was talking about the pebbles on the shoreline, that we are like those pebbles. He said taṭasthā sakti means in the margin, can turn toward Krsna or away from Krsna. Sometimes the pebbles are covered by the water and sometimes they are uncovered. He made it sound like it was almost very random.

But he said that's similar to the position of the living entity as marginal energy. For him the taṭasthā region wasn't an area in space or something, it was the attitude of the souls. The jivas form the taṭasthā sakti. They have the capacity to turn toward Krsna or away from Krsna by nature, and that is the meaning of this marginal energy.

The following is from: Prabhupada Memories DVD 11 Tamal Krsna Goswami, Kaushalya Dasi, Revatinandana Dasa

And I said, 'Is it true that just recently you've been talking about how sometimes even having gone back to Godhead, a soul sometimes falls again into the material energy?' And Prabhupāda said, 'Yes.' (1:18:55) And I said, 'Well, how does that relate with what the Gītā says when it says never?' (1:19:01) Then Prabhupāda smiled a little bit and he said, 'Actually,' he said, 'never means practically never.' (1:19:09) ...And he said, 'Because really we are eternally the same, so marginal means that there is that capacity to turn away or turn toward. So sometime it might happen.' (1:19:14)

The following is from a Letter to: Revatinandana - Dated: June 13th 1970 - Location: Los Angeles 

The next question, about the living entities falling down in this material world are not from the impersonal brahman. Existence in the impersonal brahma is also within the category of non-Krsna consciousness. Those who are in the brahman effulgence they are also in the fallen condition, so there is no question of falling down from a fallen condition. When fall takes place, it means falling down from the non-fallen condition.

The non-fallen condition is Krsna consciousness. So long one can maintain pure Krsna consciousness he is not fallen down. As soon as he becomes out of Krsna consciousness immediately he is fallen down. It does not matter where a living entity stays. In the material world also there are different stages of living conditions, and to remain in the brahman effulgence is also another phase of that fallen condition. Just like in the Bhagavad-gita it is stated that conditioned souls by their pious activities are elevated to the higher planetary system, but as soon as the stock of pious activities is finished he again comes down on the earthly planet. Similarly those who are elevated beyond the planetary system to the brahma effulgence, they are also prone to fall down as much as a living entity from the higher planetary system.

As such those who are thinking that they are liberated by being situated in brahman effulgence are described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam as impurely intelligent. In other words, they are actually not liberated, and because they are not actually liberated they again come down to the material world as much as a living entity elevated to the higher planetary system comes down to this earthly planet. So we do not accept anyone elevated to the brahman effulgence as actually liberated.

I hope this will clarify the matter for you.

Hope this will meet you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

The following is from a: Letter to: Madhudvisa  --  Los Angeles 16 May, 1972

There is a dormant attitude for forgetting Krsna and creating an atmosphere for enjoying independently. Just like at the edge of the beach, sometimes the water covers, sometimes there is dry sand, coming and going. Our position is like that, sometimes covered, sometimes free, just like at the edge of the tide. As soon as we forget, immediately the illusion is there. Just like as soon as we sleep, dream is there.

Rasa-tattva

Govinda has inconceivable potency to enchant and give pleasure, and by the mercy of the spiritual master the disciple gradually develops his own blissful relationship (rasa) with Govinda. (ŚB 11.2.37, purport)

But when the samvit factor of cognition is enlightened by the hlādinī potency of the same internal energy, they work together, and only thus can one attain knowledge of the Personality of Godhead. (CC Ādi 4.67, purport )