Are We Bound or Free?
Vishakha Devi Dasi
A discussion on the options for the soul under the influence of Krishna’s material energy.
A controversy arose during a Sunday discussion at ISKCON’s Saranagati Village, in British Columbia, Canada. Some devotees quoted a famous Bhagavad-gita verse (3.27) where Krishna says, “The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of nature [goodness, passion, and ignorance].”
In other words, they said, although a person may think he or she is making choices, in fact those “choices” are chosen and that “freedom” is an illusion. We’re bound.
Other devotees read from another section of the Gita where Srila Prabhupada writes, “If one wants, he can develop, by practice, the mode of goodness and thus defeat the modes of ignorance and passion. One can similarly develop the mode of passion and defeat goodness and ignorance. Or one can develop the mode of ignorance and defeat goodness and passion. Although there are these three modes of nature, if one is determined he can be blessed by the mode of goodness.” (Gita 14.10, Purport)
In other words, they said, we’re not bound, because according to our desires, we choose how to act.
Prabhupada’s purports to the Srimad-Bhagavatam contain similar apparently contradictory statements: “The conditioned soul is forced to act under the pressure of the modes of material nature. The living entity has no independence.” (Bhag. 3.27.2, Purport) And on the other side: “One has to act in such a way that in spite of being in the material nature he is not affected by contamination.” (Bhag. 3.27.21, Purport)
So, are we forced to act by material nature, or do we freely choose how we act?
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