THE TEXT BELOW GIVES A WRONG INTERPRETATION OF PARIKALPYA.
The argument put forward is that since there are eternal bodies in the spiritual world meant for the sadhaka, this same sadhaka cannot create (parikalpya) his/her siddha deha here.
Krsna is tri-kala-jna knows the past, present and future, He knows how we will choose to serve Him and therefore there is an eternal form dedicated to each jiva. This form exists and has always existed. From our point of view here in the material world, it is inactive. But there it is active. Because there is nothing inactive in the spiritual world.
Everything is arranged harmoniously. The rasa that the sadhaka chooses here is the rasa that is already there.
But both Krsna and this eternal form there have no influence on the rasa the sadhaka will choose to serve here during the sadhana.
It's as if someone is reading a barometer. Whoever reads the barometer can predict the weather, but cannot change it.
What determines which rasa the sadhaka will have is the association received in other lives and in this life.
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The text with the WRONG concept starts here.
Śrīla Krsnadās Kavirāja Gosvāmī commenting on Krishna Karnamritam, verse 2 says: ,
raganuga marge anutpanna rati sadhaka bhaktair api svepsita siddha-deham manasi parikalpya bhagavat sevadikam kriyate. jata ratinam tu svayam eva tad deha sphurteh.
On the raganuga marga the practicing devotee in whom rati has not yet arised can even mentally think /assume to serve Bhagavan in his own desired siddha deha . When rati arises, then that body will be automatically realized/manifested/revealed.
Although we may not be in the stage of jata rati , the Raganuga sadhaka has to perform bhajan by meditating on his siddha-deha. When we reach the rati and ashakti stage, we do not have to meditate consciously on our siddha-deha; it becomes spontaneous and one can see a glimpse of himself participating in the lila in his siddha deha .
svepsita siddha-deham manasi parikalpya is also thought to be self manufactured siddha deha by many devotees as parikalpana can also mean creation/manufacture in addition to assumption/supposition/ thought / impression/designing a plan . Mentally assume our siddha deha (1) revealed by gurudeva (2) created by us are two different things. Here many stresses that our own desired siddha deha is mentally CREATED/MANUFACTURED by us (not necessarily revealed by gurudeva) as per this verse. This is not correct understanding as per Jiva Goswami (10th paragraph of his Priti Sandarbha) who says the body which the liberated soul gets is ETERNAL. It signifies that body is not created after liberation and is already present in the spiritual world.
“In the spiritual world, the Supreme Lord has unlimited spiritual forms, all are expansions of Himself illuminating that world. With each one of those forms, the Lord enjoys pastimes with a single individual liberated soul”
Bhanu Swami Translation
There the people worship the Lord without desiring results, according to the words of the Lord. Unlimited forms, portions of light of the Lord, forms of the splendor of Vaikuṇṭha-loka, reside there. The Lord using one among these forms to make the form of a liberated soul.
So manufacturing siddha deha out of imagination is not the correct understanding of this verse.Thinking is the correct meaning of parikalpaya here. The guru by power of his meditation gets this eternal body’s information revealed from Krishna or Srimati Radharani . It is not just created out of wild imagination. To think that gurudeva’s revelation is erroneous is severe vaishnava aparadha even after when it is approved by acharyas as presented above . As sastra says “The scriptures proclaim the Gurudev as another form of Sri Krishna Who bestows His mercy upon the devotees in the form of Gurudev.” – (C.C.) .
Then what is created/assumed/thought here in this verse ?
It can be analyzed in two ways
First viewpoint:
Even if we consider manasi parikalpaya to be referring to siddha deha it is not wrong as initially one has to begin the meditation by mental assumption/thinking (manasi parikaypaya).
One should meditate on the various forms, qualities, natures, blooming youth and so forth of the manjaris, as described by the guru.(DhPad 107)
In this meditation, before anything else, the practitioner should meditate on the manjari-forms of his guru-pranali, beginning with his guru, then parama-guru, etc.(DhPad 344)
Mentally assume self desired siddha deha does not mean manufacture the siddha deha out of our wild imagination as it may be errorenous and not the recommended process as presented above even from the example of Jiva Goswami. parikalpaya also means thought, impression The statement just refers to mentally think/imagine about the self desired siddha deha.
It is also improper to think the siddha deha revealed by guru is not our self desired siddha deha as guru gets this information revealed from the source who is already aware of our desires. Lord reveals that Siddha swarupa in the heart of guru. No contradictions here.
Srila Ananta Das Babaji Maharaj in Vilapa kusumanjali tika states :
On the strength of meditation Sri Gurudeva is aware which one of the countless spiritual bodies in the spiritual sky will be accepted by the Lord (as the spiritual body of the candidate), and he points out that body to the practitioner. This is not anyone’s speculation. To consider the spiritual body of the practitioner, which automatically arises within the heart of Sri Gurudeva, who is the compact embodiment of the Lord’s compassion, steeped in the great power of the Lord, and which spontaneously arises within his meditation or recollection, as imaginary or false, is sheer atheism and a greatly harmful offence to devotion itself.
Sometimes devotees refer Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura’s statement .
When the spiritual master is ascertaining the aspirant’s pure personal inclinations, the aspirant should also help the spiritual master by speaking his mind about his own preferences. As long as he has not clearly established the disciple’s inclinations, the guru’s directions are not flawless.
However in any case this statement does not refer that the disciple has the right to independently create a self desired siddha deha out his imagination. It is not supported by any acharyas not even Srila BhaktiVinode Thakura(eveidence already presented). The purpose of guru discussing these details means that guru might understand the desires and convey this information to Krishna. However it is to be noted that Krishna already knows that desires and only reveals the information of the siddha deha from the already existing eternal spiritual bodies to the guru in his heart. The guru’s direction might be flawed only if he is not getting this information revealed from Krishna or he is not advanced enough to accept the position of diksha guru . It generally does not happen and more specifically one should not consider that that guru who is revealing such details is unable to connect with Krishna(even if the guru is not one’s own diksha guru) or it will be a severe vaishnava aparadha.
Second viewpoint :
Now if we consider this verse with bhagavat sevadikam kriyate just after manasi parikalpya then it actually means mentally assume to serve Bhagavan in own desired siddha deha . Here stress of assuming (for those who prefer creating then just thinking or imagine ) shifts from siddha deha to rendering mental service to Lord and now manasi parikalpaya is meant to mentally imagine rendering serving lord in one’s own desired siddha deha.
What does one create/think/assume/plan in mental service (in beginning stage)? One uses the imagination to create/assume/think/design a plan about various innovations in lila smaran and serving Lord in that lila with our siddha deha initially. But gradually when one progresses and reaches the zenith of bhajana when the self identification with the swarupa(which is already there and just revealed by gurudeva) is complete , one can see himself in siddha deha participating in the lila .It is the ripe stage as mentioned by Srila Narottama Thakura earlier . This is what is actually meant by this verse.
“On the raganuga marga the practicing devotee in whom rati has not yet arised can even mentally assume/think to serve Bhagavan in his own desired siddha deha . When rati arises, then that body will automatically manifest.”
The topic of automatically manifest has been discussed in the section of ripe and unripe conditions and is not a contradiction at all.
