BBD 5: Associating With Kṛṣṇa

Show noteIf one gets something superior, he naturally gives up all inferior things. We want enjoyment, but impersonalism and voidism has created such an atmosphere that we have become addicted to material enjoyment. There must be enjoyment in connection with the Supreme Person (purusaḥ sa paraḥ), whom we can see face to face. In the spiritual sky we are able to speak personally with God, to play, eat with Him, etc. All of this can be attained by bhaktya-transcendental loving service. However, this service must be without adulteration, that is to say that we must love God without expecting material remuneration. Loving God to become one with Him is also a form of adulteration.

Show noteOne of the major differences between the spiritual sky and the material sky is that in the spiritual sky the head or leader of the spiritual planets has no rival. In all cases, the predominating personality in the spiritual planets is a plenary expansion of Sri Krsna. The Supreme Lord and His multifarious manifestations preside over all the Vaikuntha planets. On earth, for instance, there is rivalry for the position of president or prime minister, but in the spiritual sky everyone acknowledges the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be supreme. Those who do not acknowledge Him and attempt to rival Him are placed into the material universe, which is just like a prison house. As in any city there is a prison, and the prison forms a very insignificant part of the whole city, so the material universe is a prison for the conditioned souls. It forms an insignificant part of the spiritual sky, but it is not outside the spiritual sky, just as a prison is not outside of the city.

Show noteThe inhabitants of the Vaikuntha planets in the spiritual sky are all liberated souls. In Srimad-Bhagavatam we are informed that their bodily features are exactly like God's. On some of these planets God is manifested with two arms, and on others He has four. The inhabitants of these planets, like the Supreme Lord, also manifest two and four arms, and it is said that one cannot distinguish between them and the Supreme Person. In the spiritual world there are five kinds of liberation. Sayujya-mukti is a form of liberation in which one merges into the impersonal existence of the Supreme Lord, called Brahman. Another form of liberation is sarūpya-mukti, by which one receives features exactly like God's. Another is salokya-mukti, by which one can live in the same planet with God. By sarsti-mukti one can have opulences similar to the Supreme Lord's. Another type enables one to remain always with God as one of His associates, just like Arjuna, who is always with Krsna His friend. One can have any of these five forms of liberation, but of the five the sayujya-mukti, merging with the impersonal aspect, is not accepted by Vaisnava devotees. A Vaisnava wishes to worship God as He is and retain his separate individuality to serve Him, whereas the Mayavadi impersonal philosopher wishes to lose his individuality and merge into the existence of the Supreme. This merging is neither recommended by Sri Krsna in Bhagavad-gita nor by the disciplic succession of Vaisnava philosophers. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu wrote on this subject in His Siksastakam:

Show noteAlthough Sri Krsna indicates that He can be easily reached by one who is devoted to Him, there is an element of risk involved for the yogis who practice other methods of yoga. For them, He has given directions in Bhagavad-gita regarding the proper time to leave the gross body.

Show note"O best of the Bharatas, I shall now explain to you the different times at which, passing away from this world, one does or does not come back." (Bg. 8.23)

Show noteThe sun spends six months on the northern side of the equator and six months on the southern side. In Srimad-Bhagavatam we have information that as the planets are moving, so also the sun is moving. If one dies when the sun is situated in the northern hemisphere, he attains liberation.

Show note"The devotees who know these two paths, O Arjuna, are never bewildered. Therefore, be always fixed in devotion." (Bg. 8.27)

Show note"Oh my Lord! Your holy name alone can render all benediction upon the living beings, and therefore You have hundreds and millions of names, like Krsna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies, and there is no hard and fast rule for chanting these holy names. O my Lord! You have so kindly made approach to You easy by Your holy names, but unfortunate as I am, I have no attraction for them." (Siksastakam, 2)