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XXI] A General Idea of Nimbārka's Philosophy 415 this light has always to be kept burning (tasmāt vidyo-dayāya svāśrama-karmā-gnihotrā-di-rūpam grhasthena, tapo-japā-dīni karmāņi ürdhwa-retobhir anusțheyāni iti siddham). But the conglomeration of deeds which has started fructifying must fructify and the results of such deeds have to be reaped by the saint either in one life or in many lives as the case may be. The realization of Brahman consists in the unflinching meditation on the nature of God and the participation in Him as His constituent which is the same thing as the establishment of a continuous devotional relationship with Him. This is independent of the ontological fusion and return in Him which may happen as a result of the complete destruction of the fructifying deeds (prārabdha karma) through their experiences in the life of the saint (vidyā-yoni-śarīra) or in other lives that may follow. A saint, after the exhaustion of his fructifying deeds, leaves his gross body through the suşumnā nerve in his subtle body, and going beyond the material regions (prākṣta-mandala) reaches the border regionthe river virajā-between the material regions and the universe of Vişnul. Here he leaves aside his subtle body in the supreme being and enters into the transcendent essence of God (Vedāntakaustubha-prabhā, iv. 2. 15). The emancipated beings thus exist in God as His distinct energies and may again be employed by Him for His own purposes. Such emancipated beings, however, are never sent down by God for carrying on an earthly existence. Though the emancipated beings become one with God, they have no control over the affairs of the world, which are managed entirely by God Himself
Though it is through the will of God that we enjoy the dream experiences and though He remains the controller and abides in us through all stages of our experiences, yet He is never tainted by the imperfections of our experiental existence (Vedānta-kaustubha and its commentary Prabha, III. 2. 11). The objects of our experiences are not in themselves pleasurable or painful, but God makes them so to us in accordance with the reward and punishment due to us according to our good or bad deeds. In themselves the objects are
para-loka-gamane dehād utsarpaņa-samaye eva vidusah punya-pāpe niravašesam kşlyate,... vidyā hi sua-sāmarthyād eva sva-phala-bhūta-brahma-prāptipratipādanāya...enam deva-yānena pathā gamayitum sūksma-sariram sthāpayati. Vedānta-kaustubha-prabhā, III. 3. 27.
muktasya tu para-brahma-sādharmye pi nikhila-cetană-cetana-patitvatan-niyantrtva-tad-vidhārakatva-sarva-gatatvā-dy-asambhavāt jagad-vyāpāravarjam aiswaryam. Ibid. iv. 4. 20.
