The scriptures outline the real definition of liberation as establishing our eternal identity. So, what is our real identity? This is answered by the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Himself in the form of Lord Chaitanya, in response to questions posed by Srila Sanatan Goswamipad. Sanatan Goswami met Lord Chaitanya in Varanasi (Kashi) on the banks of Ganga, at Dashashwamedh Ghat. Sanatan Goswami already knew what the real identity of a living entity is, but for the sake of enlightening mankind, he approached Lord Chaitanya and asked:

ke āmi’, ‘kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya’ihā nāhi jāni — ‘kemane hita haya
’Who am I? And why am I suffering the three types of miseries of this material world?The three types of miseries are: ādhyātmika– suffering caused by one’s body and mind;adhibhautika is suffering caused by other living entities; and adhidaivika is suffering caused by natural forces such as natural calamities. Sanatan Goswamipad continued
‘sādhya’-‘sādhana’-tattva puchite nā jānikṛpā kari’ saba tattva kaha ta’ āpani
”I do not know what the goal of life is and how to attain it. Please mercifully explain all the truths to me (how to be liberated from these three types of miseries).Lord Chaitanya replied to Sanatan Goswami’s questions:
jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nityadāsa’kṛṣṇera ‘taṭasthā-śakti’ ‘bhedābheda prakāśa’
Living entities (jiva) are the eternal servants of Lord Krishna because the living entities are the marginal energy (tatastha shakti) of the Supreme Lord. The living entity and the Lord are simultaneously one with (ābheda) and different (bhed) from the Lord.The Lord is the supreme controller of the entire universe, but living beings are within His control. They are controlled by the Lord’s maya shakti—His illusory energy. It is not possible to escape the Lord’s maya. The Lord is vibhu (huge), whereas the jiva (the soul)is only a tiny fire spark of the Lord. The Lord is transcendental and so is the jiva. So, the acintya bhedābheda describes the inconceivable oneness and difference between the Lord and His living entities. A person can be liberated when they realise themselves to be the eternal servants of the Lord and is able to establish their position as such. We must also be the recipient of the Lord’s mercy to be liberated. His mercy will lift maya’s grasp on us, and this is only possible when we please the Supreme Lord with our each and every activity. Service to the Lord and pleasing Him is not dictated by the ashram we belong in nor our caste. It does not matter if we are in the grihasta ashram (householder), brahmacari (celibate), vanaprastha (retiring to the forest), or sannyas ashram (in the renounced order of life). It also does not matter if we are a Brahmin or from any other caste. The single destination for all of us is service to the Divine Master Sri Krishna as His servants.Different scriptures may inform us otherwise, but the first living entity in this universe was Brahma, and he reveals that Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and He is sat-cit-ananda—eternally blissful. Here is the connection between the living beings and the Supreme Lord. The Lord is eternal, and the jiva desires to be eternally happy. Our eternal happiness lies in serving the Lord eternally. This the goal of life and this is called mukti (liberation)
Philosophers from various school of thoughts have their own ideas on what liberation is. Karmis perform fruitive activities and seek material recognition, name, fame, and desire only materialism. Some philosophers emphasise on gyan (knowledge) and believe that gyanis (seekers of knowledge) are the best because they meditate to attain mukti. There are five types of mukti one can attain.sārūpya mukti is when one attains the same form as the Lord residing in Vaikuntha with chatur-bhuja (four arms) holding the shanka (conch), chakra (disc), gada (mace) and padma (lotus). An example of one who attained sarupya mukti is Gajendra, the elephant. In his previous life, Gajendra was Indradyumna Maharaj. When Indradyumna Maharaj accepted vanaprastha and went to the mountains to meditate, sage Agastya arrived with his disciples.
Indradyumna Maharaj was deeply absorbed in his meditation and was oblivious to the sage’s presence. Feeling offended that the king did not rise to greet him, and being stubborn like an elephant, sage Agastya cursed Indradyumna Maharaj to take the form of an elephant. Indradyumna Maharaj became Gajendra the elephant. One day, when Gajendra went to the lake, a crocodile attacked him. Now, this crocodile also took this form because of another sage’s curse. The crocodile was previously a Gandharva named Huhu. One day, sage Deval went to the river to bathe and offer morning oblation of water to the Sun God. Huhu Gandharva jokingly pulled on sage Deval’s leg. Feeling angry, Deval rishi cursed Huhu to take the form of a crocodile since that is what he was trying to imitate. Both these animals took their forms now because of curse from different sages. The crocodile did not loosen his grip on Gajendra, the elephant. Although elephants are powerful, Gajendra could not break free from the crocodile’s clutch. Gajendra was suffering like this for a long time. Feeling helpless, Gajendra turned his attention to the Supreme Lord for help. He reached out and plucked a lotus flower from the lake and offered it to the Lord. Pleased by his prayer, the Lord appeared on his Garuda vehicle and cut the crocodile’s neck with His disc. The crocodile was liberated and entered his Gandharva body once again. Since Gajendra prayed to the Lord, he attained sarupya mukti and attained the same form as the Lord. In Vaikuntha, it is very difficult to distinguish between the Lord and the others. The only visible mark that distinguishes the Lord from the rest are the footprints of Bhrigu Muni on Lord Vishnu’s chest. However, sarupya mukti is not real mukti and certainly does not establish our eternal identity. sāyujya-mukti is another type of mukti in which one merges with the Lord. Gyanis think that they can merge with the rays emanating from the Lord. We have been given this human form after going through 900,000 jalaja (water-based life forms); 2million sthavara (immobile implying plants and trees); 2 million krimayo (reptiles); 1.1million pakshinam (birds); and 3 million pashavah (animals). After all these births, if one chooses to merge with the rays of the Lord then human life is wasted because this too, is not real mukti. sāmīpya-mukti is to stay near to the Lord (as a close associate), but not with the purpose of serving Him. Souls that reach samayasmukti desire to be respected like the Lord.This too, is not the goal of our life since it is not true mukti. sārṣṭi-mukti is to have the opulence of the Lord and to enjoy it. This type of mukti also does not involve performing any services to the Lord.Lord Chaitanya explained the true nature of mukti, and that is to become the servant of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna,
jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’
Lord Chaitanya gave us the solution to attain true liberation, and in this Kali Yuga, the solution is only one. The Padma Purana describes the number of species in each type of living form. When, in one of these life forms the living entity gets used in the service of the Lord, they are able to leave their inferior life form and enter the human body.Within these various species of aquatic, moving and non-moving life forms, if by chance an organism is directly or indirectly used in the service of the Lord, then they get the opportunity to leave their inferior life form and enter a human body so that they can practice spirituality and deliver themselves from this material world and the endless cycle of birth and death.
Take for example a conch. It belongs in the ocean where there are many other aquatic life forms – for example, whales and other fish. If the conch gets used by a devotee in the Lord’s service (the conch is blown duringarati and used to offer water), then the soul that was inside the mollusc which was inside the conch transmigrates into a human body in a devotee’s family where it can practice spirituality. Organisms such as trees and stones fall into the non-moving category of living entities. A banyan tree alone can survive for up to 500 years, so a soul transmigrating through two million species of non-moving life forms will be stuck within this category of living entities for thousands of years in harsh conditions. However, when the soul enters the Tulasi plant, if it is offered to the Lord by a devotee, then the soul within the plant, like the conch, will also get a human body and can perfect its life by practicing sadhana. The Tulasi plant is significant because during the Golden Age there was a king named Kedar and he had a daughter named Vrinda. Princess Vrinda was out one day with her friends and maids near the banks of the river Yamuna when she suddenly heard a woman crying loud. She sent her associates to find out the reason. They came back and told Vrinda that this woman’s husband had passed away and she was crying out of grief. Vrinda called this woman a fool and wondered why anyone would marry someone who would die. “When my father looks for a husband for me, I will be firm with my choice of marrying someone who will never die”, Vrinda told her friends. Vrinda relayed this story to her father and her expectations of the type of man she will marry. Her father explained to Vrinda that no one is eternal, and everyone has a limited time in this material world, bound by their karma. ‘This is the nature of this world,’ King Kedar told his daughter. This world is also called ‘mrityuloka’ – the planet where the body dies. Vrinda remained persistent that she would not marry anyone who would not live eternally. King Kedar said that only the Supreme Lord Vishnu is eternal in the entire universe. Vrinda innocently said “I want to marry Him”. “That is impossible”, said her father. She asked her father how she can attain the Supreme Lord. King Kedar explained that to reach the Lord one must meditate. Vrinda then meditated near the banks of the river Yamuna for thousands of years to please the Lord. One day the Lord appeared and asked Vrinda what she desired. She said that she wants to marry Him. The Lord refused and Vrinda started her meditation again. The Lord refused once again, but Vrinda being determined, meditated again. Finally, the Lord being affectionate towards His devotees, accepted her wish but told her that she would have to be born as a Tulasi plant. He will accept all offerings made to Him by the devotees when Tulasi is placed in the offering. After this incident, Vrinda outwardly married a pious and powerful asura named Jalandhar. Jalandhar became unconquerable due to the potency of Vrinda’s purity and chastity. Out of fear, the gods and goddesses approached Lord Vishnu and explained that Jalandhar drew strength from his wife’s chastity and therefore no one could defeat him. The only solution was to somehow break Vrinda’s chastity. Since previously, Vrinda wanted the Lord as her husband, Lord Vishnu decided to go and break Vrinda’s chastity. Whilst the gods were in battle with Jaladhar, Lord Vishnu assumed the form of Jalandhar and went to Vrinda. Lord Vishnu broke Vrinda’s chastity and when she realised that it is not her husband but Lord Vishnu, enraged, she cursed the Lord to become a stone. Meanwhile, the gods defeated Jalandhar as Vrinda’s chastity broke. Lord Vishnu gave Vrinda the benediction that she will eternally be with Him as the Tulasi plant. In truth, the Lord can never break anyone’s chastity. My grand spiritual master, HDG Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur explained:kaminir kama, nahe tava dhama,tahar-malika kevala ‘yadava’It is not a man’s place to lust after women.The only proprietor (or enjoyer) is Yadava(Krishna).From this writing, we understand that Lord could not have broken Vrinda’s chastity. On the contrary, she became blessed by the Lord’s presence. Lord Vishnu takes the form of Shaligram stones in the Gandaki river in Nepal. The ‘vajrakita’ takes the form of these Shaligram, and various forms of the Lord can be found in these stones, such as Damodar, Kurma, Nrishingadev, etc. Therefore, when a soul enters the Tulasi plant and is offered to the Lord, the soul gets the chance to leave the non-moving category of life forms and enter a human body and perform sadhana. Another example of being delivered from an inferior life form can be seen in the honey bees. They collect nectar from flowers and make honey. When this honey is taken from the hive and offered to the Lord, the bees have indirectly helped in serving the Lord so they too can be delivered from the insect form of life. The Lord adorns the peacock feather on His head, and it is also used in fanning Him. When the soul enters the peacock bird and if its feathers are used in the Lord’s services, then again, it can escape its 1.1 million forms as a bird and enter the human body as a devotee. A soul can be delivered from the animal kingdom when it gets the chance to become a cow. The cow’s milk is offered to the Lord and the cow benefits from this service. When the soul eventually enters a human body, the human can become a karmi, gyani, yogi or an acharya. It is still not possible to liberate oneself in these positions.
It is stated in the scriptures:
Acharya dharma paricharjja Vishnu, bichorjo tirthani, bicharjo vedamBina na gaura-priya-pada-sevam vedadidushprapya-padam-vidanti.
The duty of an achraya is that he should always be engaged in Lord Vishnu’s service, travel to pilgrimages and describe the message of Vedas to everyone. Even if they do all that and perform puja, if they do not render service to the dear devotees of Gouranga Mahaprabhu, it is impossible to reach Vrindavan to the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha Krishna.The scriptures further explain that:
harer nāma harer nāmaharer nāmaiva kevalamkalau nāsty eva nāsty evanāsty eva gatir anyathā
In this age of Kali Yuga, the only way to be delivered is by chanting Harinaam, Harinaam and Harinaam. There is no other way! Not through meditation (performed in Satya Yuga), not through fire sacrifice (performed in Treta Yuga), and not through worship (performed in Dwapur Yuga.We see people performing fire sacrifice but unlike the past yugas, no divine personalities or items appear other than billowing smoke. In the ancient times, we know that Draupadi and her brother Drishtadyumn appeared from the sacrificial fire. When Bali Maharaj performed fire sacrifices, chariots, elephants,and horses appeared from the sacrificial fire. Nowadays, due to our contaminated state, fire sacrifices have no potency. During fire sacrifice, the priest conducting the sacrifice should be free of any disease. The ghee that is used should come from a cow that has birthed a male calf, and the wood that is used should come already dry from an uncut tree. So, it is clear to see that it is not possible to perform pure fire sacrifices in today’s age. Worshipping (puja) too cannot be done properly in our current condition where people and items are impure. For the people of Kali Yuga, Lord prescribed the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra and to serve the Vaishnavas. That is the easiest way to deliver oneself from this miserable and mundane world and reach the lotus feet of the Lord and His pleasure potency, Srimati Radharani.Srila Narottam Das Thakur writes:
golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-sańkīrtana
The divine loving wealth of Goloka Vrindavan has descended in the form of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra.‘Bina na gaura-priya-pada-sevam’ – also, without taking shelter of Gouranga Maharprabhu and His devotees, it is not possible to reach Goloka Vrindavan.Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswamipad writes:
‘bhajanera madhye śreṣṭha nava-vidhābhakti‘kṛṣṇa-prema’, ‘kṛṣṇa’ dite dhare mahā-śaktitāra madhye sarva-śreṣṭha nāma-saṅkīrtananiraparādhe nāma laile pāya prema-dhana
The nine limbs of devotion are superior to all types of devotional methods and can grant one love for Krishna, but out of these nine limbs of devotion, the best is the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. When done without committing any offences, chanting will give us the wealth of pure love for Krishna.krishna anghri labha mukti – Real liberation is when one reaches the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna and Srimati Radharani. This is our eternal home where we will experience eternal bliss and peace

B.B.Bodhayan Swami
Written by HDG Srila B.B.Bodhayan Goswami Maharaja in May 2024