This material world is within the mahat-tattva compass. You have seen the picture, mahat-tattva compass. And that mahat-tattva is full with water. This is called Causal Ocean. And beyond that Causal Ocean, there is spiritual world. It is stated, tasyāḥ pāre paravyoma. Paravyoma means spiritual sky. And tripād-bhūtam. Tripād-bhūtaṁ sanātanam. Tripād-bhūtam means this material manifestation is only one-fourth energy of the Supreme Lord.
This inferior energy is only one-fourth manifestation of the energy. The three-fourths manifestation of energy (is) in the spiritual world, and that is sanātanam. That is not subjected to creation and annihilation, as this material world is subjected to creation and annihilation. That is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā. All Vedic literatures, they say the same thing. So we have to learn from authorized sources, and we can be informed perfectly about parāvara: para and avara. Avara means this inferior nature, and para means superior nature. Parāvaras te.
- tāra tale 'bāhyāvāsa' virajāra pāra
- ananta brahmāṇḍa yāhāṅ koṭhari apāra
- (CC Madhya 21.52)
Now, after this spiritual world, this material world, that is full of innumerable universes. 'Devī-dhāma' nāma tāra, jīva yāra vāsī (CC Madhya 21.53).
Now, this material world is called Devī-dhāma. And jīva, jīva means conditioned souls. In this Devī-dhāma, the conditioned soul . . . there are two kinds of souls: conditioned and liberated, nitya-baddha, nitya-mukta. Just like we are, similarly, there are living entities in the spiritual sky also, but they are ever-liberated.
They never become conditioned. We are conditioned. We, I mean to say, we do not know from when, but we are conditioned. So jīva yāra vāsī. In this material world, we conditioned, we are residents. But in the spiritual world the residents are all liberated souls. Jagal-lakṣmī rakhi' rahe yāhāṅ māyā dāsī.
- 'devī-dhāma' nāma tāra, jīva yāra vāsī
- jagal-lakṣmī rakhi' rahe yāhāṅ māyā dāsī
- (CC Madhya 21.53)
Ei tina dhāmera haya kṛṣṇa adhīśvara (CC Madhya 21.54). Ei tina dhāma. Tina dhāma, what is that three system? This Devī-dhāma, the Maheśa-dhāma and the Hari-dhāma. Hari-dhāma, the spiritual world; and Maheśa-dhāma, in between . . . this Maheśa-dhāma is the destination of nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa. The nirvāṇa philosophy, the Buddha philosophy, that is between this Devī-dhāma and Hari-dhāma: Maheśa-dhāma, Maheśa-dhāma, in between. They are liberated also, but not in the spiritual world, in the marginal place, which is called nirvāṇa. Their material existence is finished, but their spiritual development is not there.
So finishing material existence is not all. Just like one man is suffering from fever, and the fever subsides. That is not health. Fever subsides, that's all right. Fever has subsided. But healthy life is when he will work as a healthy man. Simply saying: "No, no more fever," no more fever, lying down on the bed, is the nirvāṇa stage. No more fever. There is no fever, but he is not competent to get up from the bed and work. So that is called nirvāṇa. The fever is finished. That is called nirvāṇa.
So when material existence is finished, that is nirvāṇa. But you have to go farther. You have to develop farther. Then your real, constitutional life as spirit soul will be manifested. So that is bhakti-mārga. That activity is healthy life after nirvāṇa. So those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they have already passed this material existence and nirvāṇa stage. They are in healthy activities, provided he is actually engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So ei tina dhāmera haya kṛṣṇa adhīśvara.
Now, these tina dhāma, three systems of existence, the material world and the marginal place, Maheśa-dhāma, and the spiritual sky. So in the Bhagavad-gītā you have learned that yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). That dhāma word is used there. Dhāma means place. Everything, Kṛṣṇa is proprietor of all places. But that does not mean that we should remain in this because this is also Kṛṣṇa's place. No.