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Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
“Considering all these points, one should understand that Śaṅkarācārya’s statement that Śaṅkarṣaṇa is born as a  jīva  is completely against the Vedic statements. His assertions are completely refuted by the above arguments. In this connection the commentary of Śrīdhara Śvāmī on  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  (3.1.34) is very helpful.”
For a detailed refutation of Śaṅkarācārya’s arguments to prove Śaṅkarṣaṇa an ordinary living being, one may refer to Śrīmat Śudarśanācārya’s commentary on  Śrī-bhāṣya , which is known as the  Śruta-prakāśikā .
The original quadruple forms Kṛṣṇa, Baladeva, Pradyumna and Aniruddha expand into another quadruple, which is present in the Vaikuṇṭha planets of the spiritual sky. Therefore the quadruple forms in the spiritual sky are the second manifestation of the original quadruple in Dvārakā. As explained above, Vāsudeva, Śaṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are all changeless, transcendental plenary expansions of the Supreme Lord who have no relation to the material modes. The Śaṅkarṣaṇa form in the second quadruple is not only a representation of Balarāma but also the original cause of the Causal Ocean, where Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu lies asleep, breathing out the seeds of innumerable universes.
In the spiritual sky there is a spiritual creative energy technically called  śuddha-sattva , which is a pure spiritual energy that sustains all the Vaikuṇṭha planets with the full opulences of knowledge, wealth, prowess, etc. All these actions of  śuddha-sattva  display the potencies of Mahā-Śaṅkarṣaṇa, who is the ultimate reservoir of all individual living entities who are suffering in the material world. When the cosmic creation is annihilated, the living entities, who are indestructible by nature, rest in the body of Mahā-Śaṅkarṣaṇa. Śaṅkarṣaṇa is therefore sometimes called the total  jīva . As spiritual sparks, the living entities have the tendency to be inactive in the association of material energy, just as sparks of a fire have the tendency to be extinguished as soon as they leave the fire. The spiritual nature of the living being can be rekindled, however, in association with the Supreme Being. Because the living being can appear either in matter or in spirit, the  jīva  is called the marginal potency.
Śaṅkarṣaṇa is the origin of Kāraṇa Viṣṇu, who is the original form who creates the universes, and that Śaṅkarṣaṇa is but a plenary expansion of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma.
TEXT 42
তাঁহা যে রামের রূপ—মহাসঙ্কর্ষণ ।
চিহ্নস্তি-আশ্রয় তিহোঁ, কারণের কারণ ॥ ৪২ ॥
tāṅhā ye rāmera rūpa—mahā-saṅkarṣaṇa   cic-chakti-āśraya tiṅho, kāraṇera kāraṇa
SYNONYMS
tāṅhā —there;  ye —which;  rāmera rūpa —the personal feature of Balarāma;  mahā-saṅkarṣaṇa —Mahā-Śaṅkarṣaṇa;  cit-śakti-āśraya —the shelter of the spiritual potency;  tiṅho —He;  kāraṇera kāraṇa —the cause of all causes.