Bhāgavatārka Marīci Mālā

Jīva Tattva
(The Principle of the Jīva)

gauḍa-rāṣṭra-sacīvatvaṁ hitvā gaura-padāśrayāt
sanātanaṁ namas taṁ yo jīva-tattvam aśikṣayat

Obeisance unto that Sanātana, who, abandoning his ministerial office in the province of Gauḍa and taking refuge at the feet of Śrī Gaura, gave instructions on jīva-tattva.

(1)
Kavi tells Nimi:

bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād
īśād apetasya viparyayo’smṛtiḥ
tan-māyayāto budha ābhajeta
bhai-treka-yeśaṁ guru-devatātmā
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.12.37)

Having fallen away from the Supreme Lord, the jīva’s memory has become perverted. Having thus fallen and become absorbed in that which is secondary – namely, the qualities of māyā – the fear born of bodily identification arises. The jīva is bound by Kṛṣṇa’s māyā. Therefore, taking shelter at the feet of the spiritual master, a learned person, worshipping that Kṛṣṇa with exclusive bhakti, shall cross over māyā.

(2)
Kṛṣṇa says to Uddhava:

ekasyaiva mamāṁśasya jīvasyaiva mahā-mate
bandho’syāvidyayānādir vidyayā ca tathetaraḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.11.14)

Bhagavān said – O Uddhava! O greatly intelligent one! The jīva is an aṁśa (portion) of Mine. He is bound by beginningless avidyā (ignorance) and liberated by beginningless vidyā (transcendental knowledge).

Here it is necessary to understand the meaning of the word aṁśa. Īśvara is an indivisible conscious substance (cid-vastu), hence, He cannot be portioned off piece by piece as one might split wood or stone. Were such a division possible, the original substance would be diminished. Thus, a portion may be acknowledged in the manner in which many lamps are lit from one lamp — though even this material analogy is not wholly adequate. The cintāmaṇi gem, while itself remaining unaltered, produces gold — this analogy too is only partial. The portions of Īśvara are of two kinds – one kind is called svāṁśa, and the other kind is called vibhinnāṁśa. Regarding svāṁśa, this is to be said – just as from a great lamp another great lamp is kindled and receives all the powers of the original great lamp, yet the original lamp remains perfectly intact — this is the characteristic of svāṁśa, which belongs to the Puruṣāvatāras and the Līlāvatāras.

Regarding vibhinnāṁśa, this is to be said – from the cintāmaṇi there come small gems and gold, but these do not obtain the great potency of the cintāmaṇi. Some portion of its properties is manifest in these atomic fragments. All jīvas — from Brahmā downward — are produced as its effects, and if they do not remain subordinate to the cintāmaṇi they become corrupted. They acquire responsibility for their own respective activities and also a certain measure of dependence. Yet in some vibhinnāṁśas greater qualities and potency manifest, and in others they are very slight. The vibhinnāṁśa can never attain the abundant nature of the cintāmaṇi. The jīva is a vibhinnāṁśa.

(3)
guṇinām apy ahaṁ sūtraṁ mahatāṁ ca mahān aham
sūkṣmāṇām apy ahaṁ jīvo durjayānām ahaṁ manaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.16.11)

Kṛṣṇa has declared – Among those endowed with qualities, I am the principal thread-like Pradhāna. Among the great, I am Mahat. Among the subtle, I am the jīva, and among the unconquerable, I am the mind.

From this passage it becomes known that the jīva is a subtle particle of consciousness.

(4)
Sūta tells Śaunaka and the sages:

ataḥ paraṁ yad avyaktam avyūḍha-guṇa-bṛṁhitam
adṛṣṭāśruta-vastutvāt sa jīvo yat punar-bhavaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.32)

After describing Bhagavān and His svāṁśa avatāras, Sūta declared that beyond these there is yet another tattva, named the jīva. Being subtle, it is unmanifest to the sphere of inert material existence. Being beyond the material senses, it is neither seen nor heard. This jīva — whose qualities are not overpowered by the three bondages — undergoes repeated transmigration from body to body. Being a minute particle of consciousness, it is not expansive, that is to say, it is exceedingly small; and accordingly it is nourished or sustained by a correspondingly limited potency.

(5)
Pippalāyana explains to Nimi:

nātmā jajāna na mariṣyati naidhate’sau
na kṣīyate savana-vid vyabhicāriṇāṁ hi
sarvatra śaśvad anapāyy upalabdhi-mātraṁ
prāṇo yathendriya-balena vikalpitaṁ sat
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.3.38)

Pippalāyana declared that the ātmā is of two kinds — namely Paramātmā and jīvātmā. Both share one common characteristic. The distinction is this – the Paramātmā, by virtue of His all-pervading nature, is fully capable, whereas the jīvātmā, by virtue of its atomic nature, is incapable — and therefore the jīva must be impelled by an external potency. The general characteristic of the ātmā is that it has neither decay nor birth. The ātmā does not die, does not grow, and suffers no diminishment. Just as prāṇa, though driven by the force of the senses and apparently associated with transient and variable objects, yet remains distinct from them — similarly, the ātmā is pure existence (sat), pure consciousness alone, and is ever without cessation in all places and at all times. The purport is that the ātmā is unborn, immortal, devoid of diminishment of intelligence, cognisant of time, all-pervading within its sphere of residence, and is of the very nature of knowledge (jñāna-svarūpa).

(6)
Prahlāda addressed his friends:

ātmā nityo’vyayaḥ śuddha ekaḥ kṣetra-jña āśrayaḥ
avikriyaḥ sva-dṛg hetur vyāpako’saṅgy anāvṛtaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.19)

Prahlāda said – The ātmā is eternal, imperishable, pure, one, the knower of the field (kṣetrajña), the shelter, unchanging, self-luminous, the cause, all-pervading, unattached, and uncovered.

(7)
etair dvādaśabhir vidvān ātmano lakṣaṇaiḥ paraiḥ
ahaṁ mamety asad-bhāvaṁ dehādau mohajaṁ tyajet
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.20)

By means of these twelve supreme characteristics of the ātmā, a wise person, having directed attention to the ātmā, shall abandon the illusory notion, born of delusion, of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ in relation to the material body and such things.

(8)
svarṇaṁ yathā grāvasu hema-kāraḥ
kṣetreṣu yogais tad-abhijña āpnuyāt
kṣetreṣu deheṣu tathātma-yogair
adhyātma-vid brahma-gatiṁ labheta
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.21)

Just as a goldsmith expert in gold, by applying yogic processes to stone-ores, extracts and obtains the particles of gold contained within them, so too one who is a knower of ātma–tattva, through the yoga of ātma-realisation, searches out and finds the innermost consciousness (the jīva) residing within the bodily field, and thereby attains the station of Paramātmā.

(9)
dehas tu sarva-saṅghāto jagat tasthur iti dvidhā
atraiva mṛgyaḥ puruṣo neti netīty atat tyajan
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.23)

Within the aggregate body composed of all moving and non-moving forms of existence, one should carefully discern which part is the self and which part is not the self. Rejecting that which is not the self, one should seek the indwelling self (ātma-puruṣa).

(10)
buddher jāgaraṇaṁ svapnaḥ suṣuptir iti vṛttayaḥ
tā yenaivānubhūyante so’dhyakṣaḥ puruṣaḥ paraḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.25)

Wakefulness, dream, and deep sleep — these are the three states (vṛttis) of the intellect (buddhi). He who perceives those states is the Puruṣa, the conscious self, who presides over material nature and is the transcendental principle beyond it.

(11)
The Śrutis say to Bhagavān:

sva-kṛta-pureṣv amīṣvabahir-antara-saṁvaraṇaṁ
tava puruṣaṁ vadanty akhila-śakti-dhṛto’ṁśa-kṛtam
iti nṛ-gatiṁ vivicya kavayo nigamāvapanaṁ
bhavata upāsate’ṅghrim abhavaṁ bhuvi viśvasitāḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.87.20)

The jīva-puruṣa, situated within the body obtained through his own karma, is by nature uncovered both within and without. O Possessor of all potencies, You describe him as Your own part. Reflecting upon the condition of the jīva in this way, the wise sages conclude that bhakti in the form of worship of Your lotus feet is the eternal duty enjoined by the Vedas, and they perform it with faith. The significance of the expression ‘uncovered within’ is this – in every state of existence, Your infinite spiritual realm lies within. The significance of the expression  ‘devoid of an outer covering’ is this – in the external direction, there extends the infinite world of māyā.

(12)
Kapila tells Devahūti:

yatholmukād visphuliṅgād dhūmād vāpi sva-sambhavāt
apy ātmatvenābhimatād yathāgniḥ pṛthag ulmukāt
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.28.40)

Now He will explain the context – It has been shown that, just as the mortal jīva appears distinct from son, wealth, etc, so the personality who is called the ātmā is distinct from the body and related things. Here it is being shown that from an ulmuka – that is, a burning piece of wood – the particles of fire that come out are sparks (visphuliṅgas), and the smoke that comes out from it is a particular form of darkness (tamas). He who may be called the jīvātmā is situated in the position of a spark – a particular fire distinct from the burning log.

That the jīva is a particle of a ray, situated as a beam emanating from Kṛṣṇa, who is like the sun of consciousness, has been established in the Vedas and Purāṇas. As a particle of consciousness (cit-kaṇa), the jīva is eternally different from the Supreme; and as possessing the nature of consciousness (cid-dharmatva), he is eternally non-different from the Supreme. The jīva is a particular potency of Īśvara. A potency cannot be separate from the possessor of the potency. Therefore, between the jīva and Īśvara there is inconceivable simultaneous difference and non-difference (acintya-bhedābheda).

(13)
Bhagavān tells Pṛthu:

ekaḥ śuddhaḥ svayaṁ-jyotir nirguṇo’sau guṇāśrayaḥ
sarva-go’nāvṛtaḥ sākṣī nirātmātmātmanaḥ paraḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.7)

In order to show the ultimate distinction of the jīva from Bhagavān, he now describes the svarūpa of Bhagavān.

(1) He is one, whereas the jīvas are many.
(2) He is eternally pure, whereas the jīva is capable of becoming bound.
(3) He is eternally pure light; the jīva becomes tainted through misconception of its own svarūpa.
(4) He is nirguṇa — He never comes into contact with the material modes; the jīva, through the fault of material desires, becomes virtually bound in the material modes.
(5) He is the shelter of transcendental qualities; the jīva may identify itself with material qualities.
(6) He is all-pervading (sarva-ga); the jīva is by nature atomic (aṇu).
(7) He is the witness (sākṣī) — He observes the activities of the jīva; He is nirātmā, free from attachment to matter, whereas the jīva becomes bound by material attachment.
(8) He is the innermost ātmā (free of any interior veil); the jīva is of His nature.
(9) He is superior to the ātmā; the jīva is subject to Him.

These nine are the distinctions between the jīva and Īśvara.

(14)
Gajendra tells Bhagavān:

yathārciṣo’gneḥ savitur gabhastayo
niryānti saṁyānty asakṛt sva-rociṣaḥ
tathā yato’yaṁ guṇa-sampravāho
buddhir manaḥ khāni śarīra-sargāḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.23)

From fire, flames issue forth, and from the sun, rays issue forth; and those manifestations of their own effulgence again enter back into them. In the same way, from Kṛṣṇa there continuously issue forth the jīvas, inert material nature in the form of the flow of the guṇas, the intellect, the mind, the senses, and the creation of bodies; and they again enter within Him.

(15)
Kapila says to His mother:

bhūtendriyāntaḥ-karaṇāt pradhānāj jīva-saṁjñitāt
ātmā tathā pṛthag draṣṭā bhagavān brahma-saṁjñitaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.28.41)

Therefore, from the elements, the senses, the inner organ, from prakṛti, and above all from the jīva-tattva, the ātmā — in other words, Īśvara, who is Bhagavān as the inherent witness — is also known as Brahman, the vast one.

(16)
guṇair vicitrāḥ sṛjatīṁ sa-rūpāḥ prakṛtiṁ prajāḥ
vilokya mumuhe sadyaḥ sa iha jñāna-gūhayā
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.5)

He now explains of how the jīva, who is by nature pure consciousness, has become bound. The māyā-avidyā, which creates manifold progeny through the three qualities — sattva, rajas and tamas — rises up and obscures the jīva’s own svarūpa. The contemplation of Bhagavān is the jīva’s svarūpa-dharma. Abandoning that, the jīva casts its gaze upon māyā. This indeed is the cause of the jīva’s subjugation.

(17)
Pippalāyana tells Nimi:

aṇḍeṣu peśiṣu taruṣv aviniściteṣu
prāṇo hi jīvam upadhāvati tatra tatra
sanne yad indriya-gaṇe’hami ca prasupte
kūṭa-stha āśayam ṛte tad-anusmṛtir naḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.3.39)

By absorption in the identification with the body, remembrance of the ātmā remains nearly lost; and again, when the senses become dormant, the false ego is also destroyed; then, lacking the support of the gross body, the ego-sense is dissolved, and remembrance of Kṛṣṇa, the kūṭastha ātmā (the immutable ātmā), arises. One illustration of this is the fourfold acquisition of bodies — aṇḍaja (born from eggs), jarāyuja (born from the womb), udbhijja (sprouting from the earth), and svedaja (born from sweat). Into whatever body the jīva goes, the prāṇa follows and hastens into that body along with him. Similarly, with the cessation of the senses, the absence of false ego, and the dissolution of the subtle body, the ātmā’s recollection of its own nature becomes ever more clear.

(18)
Sūta explains to Śaunaka and the ṛṣis:

yatreme sad-asad-rūpe pratiṣiddhe sva-saṁvidā
avidyayātmani kṛte iti tad brahma-darśanam
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.33)

What is called sat, the subtle body, and asat, the gross body, both these bodies have been imposed upon the ātmā by avidyā. When, through the intelligence residing in consciousness, one comes to understand that neither of these two bodies is truly ‘I, then the jīvātmā attains the vision of Brahman.

(19)
yady eṣoparatā devī māyā vaiśāradī matiḥ
sampanna eveti vidur mahimni sve mahīyate
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.34)

When that ignorance, which is the intelligence skilled in material objects, ceases, then the jīva is able to know himself as complete, and becomes glorious in his own spiritual greatness.

(20)
Vidura says to Maitreya:

bhagavān eka evaiṣa sarva-kṣetreṣv avasthitaḥ
amuṣya durbhagatvaṁ vā kleśo vā karmabhiḥ kutaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.7.6)

Now, in this way, a question can arise – when Bhagavān is present together with all the jīvas in every field (kṣetra), what is the cause of the jīva’s misfortune and suffering from karma?

(21)
seyaṁ bhagavato māyā yan nayena virudhyate
īśvarasya vimuktasya kārpaṇyam uta bandhanam
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.7.9)

The answer is simply this – Bhagavān’s Māyā is that specific potency capable of achieving the impossible. From this very Māyā arise both the compassionate grace of the ever-liberated Īśvara and the bondage of the jīva. This cannot be understood by reasoning alone. It is not possible to apply the method of argumentation to matters that are acintya (inconceivable). Through Bhagavān’s acintya-śakti there is both the jīva’s infatuation with Māyā and Bhagavān’s gracious disposition toward the jīva.

(22)
yad arthena vināmuṣya puṁsa ātma-viparyayaḥ
pratīyata upadraṣṭuḥ sva-śiraś chedanādikaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.7.10)

In reality, the jīvātmā is a pure entity. He does not become subjugated. The identification of the self with the subtle body received from māyā, arising from being deluded by māyā, is alone subjugation. Therefore, the subjugation of the jīva is not real. The jīva’s self-perversion – in other words, his confusion regarding his true intrinsic nature, is merely the perception of meaning where there is none. It is simply an illusion, like seeing the moon cut in half (in water) and similar misconceptions.

(23)
yathā jale candramasaḥ kampādis tat-kṛto guṇaḥ
dṛśyate’sann api draṣṭur ātmano’nātmano guṇaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.7.11)

Shivering and similar qualities appearing in the moon reflected in water are qualities produced by the water alone. There is no shivering in the actual moon. Even though nothing has happened to the moon itself, it appears as though the moon trembles. Similarly, the superimposition of non-inherent qualities upon the ātmā of the jīva, who is a witness, are false. Thus, it is precisely this nature of vivarta (illusory appearance) that constitutes the misfortune of the jīva. The cognition of something as other than what it truly is, is called vivarta. The false understanding that what has not occurred has occurred — that is vivarta. The illusion of a serpent as a rope, and the illusion of silver in a shell — these are all examples of vivarta.

(24)
The jīvas told Nārada:

evaṁ yoni-gato jīvaḥ sa nityo nirahaṅkṛtaḥ
yāvad yatropalabhyeta tāvat svatvaṁ hi tasya tat
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.8)

In this way, such a jīva, though in reality eternal and free from false ego, nevertheless, for as long as he remains in a particular body, there remains upon him  the identity superimposed by that body.

(25)
Kṛṣṇa says to Uddhava:

daivādhīne śarīre’smin guṇa-bhāvyena karmaṇā
vartamāno’budhas tatra kartāsmīti nibadhyate
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.11.10)

Remaining in the body obtained under Providence, the foolish jīva afflicted by ignorance, through actions conditioned by the modes, remains bound, declaring “I am the doer.”

(26)
Kapila tells Devahūti:

evaṁ parābhidhyānena kartṛtvaṁ prakṛteḥ pumān
karmasu kriyamāṇeṣu guṇair ātmani manyate
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.6)

In this way, through identification with prakṛti, which is different to the ātmā, the jīva assumes the false conception of doership in the actions and qualities that belong to prakṛti.

(27)
tad asya saṁsṛtir bandhaḥ pāra-tantryaṁ ca tat-kṛtam
bhavaty akartur īśasya sākṣiṇo nirvṛtātmanaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.7)

In truth, the jīva is not the doer. He is independent of māyā, a witness, and by his very nature, a servant of Kṛṣṇa, possessed of a liberated nature — yet he accepts subjugation brought about by enslavement to prakṛti. This is what is called the jīva’s subjugation to the world of saṁsāra. In this there is no fault of partiality or cruelty on the part of the Supreme Lord.

(28)
kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve kāraṇaṁ prakṛtiṁ viduḥ
bhoktṛtve sukha-duḥkhānāṁ puruṣaṁ prakṛteḥ param
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.8)

It has come to pass in this way – prakṛti alone is the cause of the agency of action and effect. Although the puruṣa–jīva is utterly distinct from prakṛti, through the shelter of vivarta (apparent transformation) He has become the experiencer of pleasure and pain.

(29)
The purity of the jīva is revealed in the account of Nārada:

prayujyamāne mayi tāṁ śuddhāṁ bhāgavatīṁ tanum
ārabdha-karma-nirvāṇo nyapatat pāñca-bhautikaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.6.28)

antar bahiś ca lokāṁs trīn paryemy askandita-vrataḥ
anugrahān mahā-viṣṇor avighāta-gatiḥ kvacit
deva-dattām imāṁ vīṇāṁ svara-brahma-vibhūṣitām
mūrcchayitvā hari-kathāṁ gāyamānaś carāmy aham
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.6.31-32)

In the narrative of Nārada, the svarūpa of the jīva that transcends the phenomenal world is revealed. (Śrī Nārada speaks thus:) — O Vyāsa, when, by the grace of Bhagavān, my prārabdha karma was exhausted, my body composed of the five elements fell away and was separated from me. Then that transcendental body was bestowed upon me. With my vow unbroken (my brahmacarya unsullied), I travel throughout the inner and outer regions of the three worlds. Sounding melodious strains upon this vīṇā, adorned with the Brahman of sound bestowed by Bhagavān, I roam about, ever singing the narrations of Hari.

(30)
The nature of the liberated jīva situated in Paravyoma has been revealed by Śrī Śuka

śyāmāvadātāḥ śata-patra-locanāḥ
piśaṅga-vastrāḥ surucaḥ supeśasaḥ
sarve catur-bāhava unmiṣan-maṇi-
praveka-niṣkābharaṇāḥ suvarcasaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 02.9.11)

The description of the eternally liberated jīvas dwelling in Paravyoma is as follows – they are of a dark-lustrous complexion, spotlessly pure, with eyes like lotuses, clad in golden-yellow garments, beautiful, and sweet of speech; all are four-armed, adorned with excellent clusters of jewels, and they radiate a beautiful effulgence. Such is the inherent spiritual forms of the eternally pure jīvas in whom divine majesty is predominant. The eternally liberated jīvas in whom mādhurya is predominant are manifested in Goloka-Vraja with a measure of sweetness even greater than this.

(31)
Pippalāyana explains to Nimi:

yarhy abja-nābha-caraṇaiṣaṇayoru-bhaktyā
ceto-malāni vidhamed guṇa-karma-jāni
tasmin viśuddha upalabhyata ātma-tattvaṁ
sākṣād yathāmala-dṛśoḥ savitṛ-prakāśaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.3.40)

When, by pure bhakti in the form of hankering for Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, the heart destroys the impurities produced by the guṇas and karma, then the perfectly pure truth of the self arises before that Personality who is the Pure seer, like the appearance of the spotless sun.

(32)
Maitreya says to Vidura:

sa vai nivṛtti-dharmeṇa vāsudevānukampayā
bhagavad-bhakti-yogena tirodhatte śanair iha
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.7.12)

By the path of nivṛtti-dharma (the tendency to renounce sense-enjoyment), by the mercy of Vāsudeva, and by the yoga of pure bhakti unto Bhagavān, the influence of ignorance is gradually and completely dispelled. The purpory is this – in all the activities of bodily life one must accept only those dealings which are sāttvika in nature, and by degrees one must remove the rājasika and tāmasika tendencies of character and conduct from oneself. Simultaneously, through the yoga of pure bhakti, all these sāttvika dealings must also be made nirguṇa (transcendent). The more purified sādhana-bhakti becomes, the more the mercy of Kṛṣṇa arises. Then alone does the power of ignorance diminish, and the dawn of pure transcendental knowledge takes place.

(33)
yadendriyoparāmo’tha draṣṭrātmani pare harau
vilīyante tadā kleśāḥ saṁsuptasyeva kṛtsnaśaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.7.13)

When the senses naturally become inclined toward the Supreme, then –  just as a sleeping person, upon awakening, sees that his false dream has completely vanished — so also the perception of Hari arises of itself, and all the afflictions bound up with this world are dissolved.

(34)
aśeṣa-saṅkleśa-śamaṁ vidhatte
guṇānuvāda-śravaṇaṁ murāreḥ
kiṁ vā punas tac-caraṇāravinda-
parāga-sevā-ratir ātma-labdhā
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.7.14)

By hearing narrations of Murāri’s qualities with faith, all miseries gradually come to an end. What more can be said of the result when one attains loving attachment through contact with the pollen of His lotus feet?

From this Ray, it has been seen that Kṛṣṇa is the all-pervading conscious Reality (vibhu–caitanya), possessed of all qualities and potencies. By Kṛṣṇa’s jīva-śakti, the jīva comes into existence as a minute conscious being (aṇu-caitanya). In the constitution of the jīva, the māyā potency has no role whatsoever. Because of his atomic nature, when the jīva turns away from Kṛṣṇa, he becomes fit to be bound by māyā. By the force of circumstance, the jīva, thus bound by māyā, accepts worldly existence, characterised by identification of the self with the body, in accordance with the principle of transformation (vivarta). By the accumulation of spiritual merit (sukṛti), he again becomes restored to his proper condition through kṛṣṇa-bhakti.

This is the Seventh Ray of Śrīmad Bhāgavatārka Maricī-Mālā
on the topic of sambandha-jñāna called Jīva-Tattvam (The Principle of the Jīva)

Here ends the Gauḍīya Commentary known as the Marīci Prabhā
on the Seventh Ray of Śrīmad Bhāgavatārka Maricī-Mālā
called ‘jīva-Tattvam.’