If one obtains something of a higher order, it is natural that one renounces all things of a lower order. We want happiness, but impersonalism and shunyavada have created such a condition that we have become addicted to material happiness. Happiness should be in relation to the Supreme Being (puruṣaḥ sa paraḥ), whom we can see directly. In the spiritual sky we can talk to the Lord face to face, play with Him, eat with Him, etc. All this can be obtained only by bhaktya, that is, by doing loving transcendental service. But this service should not be adulterated. That is to say, we should love the Lord without any expectation of any material gain. Loving the Lord in order to become one with Him is also a state of adulteration.
There is a main difference between the spiritual world and this physical world The difference is that on the spiritual planets the leader or the chief has no rival. In every case on the spiritual planets the chief personality is the full expansion of Lord Krishna. In all the Vaikuntha planets the Lord and His various incarnations are the head. For example, on this earth there is rivalry for the position of President or Prime Minister, but in Vaikuntha planet everybody accepts the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the best. Those who do not accept Him as such or try to oppose Him are put into the material universe, which is like a prison. Just as there is a prison in a city and the prison is a very insignificant part of the whole city, similarly this material universe is also a prison for the conditioned souls. It is an insignificant part of the spiritual sky, but it is not outside it, just as the prison is not outside the city.
All the inhabitants of the Vaikuntha planets in the spiritual sky are liberated souls. From Srimad Bhagavatam we learn that their body features are exactly like the body of the Lord. In some of these planets the Lord appears with two arms and in others with four arms. The inhabitants of these planets also have two or four arms like the Lord and it is said that no one can see the difference between them and the Lord. Five types of liberation in the Vaikuntha world Sayujya Mukti is the Mukti in which one merges with the unmanifested existence of the Lord, called Brahman. Another type of Mukti is Sarupya Mukti in which one gets the same form as the Lord. And another type of Mukti is called Salokya Mukti in which one can live with the Lord in the same world. In Sarti Mukti one has the same opulences as the Lord. In another type of Mukti one can always live with the Lord as His companion - like Arjuna who always lived with Lord Krishna as a friend. One can get any of these five types of Mukti, but of these five, Sayujya Mukti, that is, merging into the unmanifested aspect of the Lord, is not acceptable to Vaishnava devotees. The Vaishnavas want to worship the Lord in His real form and retain their separate individuality to serve Him, while the Mayavadi impersonalist philosophers want to lose their individuality and merge into the Supreme Being. This type of merging is neither recommended by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita nor by the lineage of Vaishnava philosophers. Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu writes on this subject in his Shikshashtakam ६२
beyond birth and death
"O Almighty Lord, I do not wish to accumulate wealth, nor do I wish to enjoy the company of beautiful women, nor do I wish to have many followers. I only want to be engaged in Your causeless devotional service life after life."
Here Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu uses the term "janma-janmantar." When there is repeated birth, there cannot be liberation. Upon attaining liberation one either goes to the transcendental realms or merges with the Supreme Truth. In either case, the question of being born again in this material world does not arise. But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu does not care whether liberation is attained or not; His only concern is to serve the Lord by being engaged in Krsna consciousness. The devotee does not care where he is or whether he is born in animal society, human society, devata society or anywhere else; he only prays to the Lord that he may not forget the Lord and may always be able to be engaged in His transcendental service. These are the marks of pure devotion. Of course, wherever the devotee lives, he lives in the spiritual kingdom, even though he is in this material body. But he does not ask the Lord for anything for his personal advancement or happiness.
Although Lord Krishna indicates that those whose devotion Those who are engaged in meditation can easily reach Him, but for those Yogis who practice other Yoga methods, there is always some danger. The Lord has instructed them in the Bhagavadgita about the proper time to give up their physical body.
It is given in (8.23):
At that time, however, the yogī does not return to the universe. O best of the Bhāratas, I shall now describe the time when those who have passed away pass away.
"O best of Bharatas, I will now tell you about the different periods in which a person, after departing from this world, either returns or does not return."
Here Krishna tells us that if a man can give up his body at a particular time, he can attain liberation and he will never come back to this material world. On the contrary, He also tells us that if one dies at any other time, he will have to come back again. Here it is a question of opportunity, but for devotees who are always in Krishna consciousness, there is no question of opportunity, because by devotion to the Lord it is certain that they will enter Krishna's abode.
The day of fire and light is white and the six months are Uttarayana. Those who have gone there and know the Absolute Truth go to the Absolute Truth. "Those who are knowers of the Supreme Brahman are under the influence of the god of fire, in the light, at the auspicious moment of the day, in the Shuklapaksha or when the sun Lives in Uttarayan, those students depart from the world. (Bhagavad Gita 82)
The Sun remains north of the Equator for six months and south of it for ten months. Srimad Bhagwatam says that just as all the planets keep revolving, the east also keeps revolving. If someone dies at the time when the Sun is in Uttarayan, he attains salvation.
Smoke is the night and darkness is the six months of the southern moon. There, having attained the lunar moon, the astrologer ceases to move in the white and black, according to the eternal view of the world.
By one he goes to the unreturned, and by another he returns again.
"The Yogi who passes away during the dusk, night, dark fortnight or the six months of the Sun's southward march, or who reaches the moon, returns (to earth). According to the Vedic view, there are two ways of departing from this world - one of light and the other of darkness. When a man goes into the light, he does not return, but he who goes into darkness returns again." (Bhagavad Gita 8.25-26)
It is all a matter of chance. We don't know when we are going to die and we can die at any time by chance. But for a bhakti yogi, one who is situated in Krishna consciousness, there is no question of chance. He is always confident.And His name is one and the same. Krsna and His transcendental abode are also one and the same. By the sound of words we can be in the association of Krsna. For example, if we chant Hare Krsna on the street, we will feel that Krsna is walking with us, just as when we look up and see the moon, we feel that the moon is also walking with us. If the lower energy of Lord Krsna seems to be walking with us, is it not possible that when we chant His names, Lord Krsna Himself will be with us? He will be with us, but we have to make ourselves capable of being in His association. If somehow we are absorbed in the thought of Krsna all the time, we should be absolutely assured that Krsna is always with us. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu prays,
Name-named in many ways his own omnipotence
There is no time for regular remembrance devoted to it
Such is your grace, O Lord, to me also
Unfortunately, there is no affection for such a person in this world.
"O my Lord! Your holy name alone can bring welfare to every living being, that is why you have thousands and crores of names like Krishna, Govinda etc. In these divine names you have filled all your divine powers and there are no strict rules for chanting these holy names. O my Lord! You have kindly made it easy to reach You through Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them." (Shikshashtak 2)
Only by doing kirtana can we have all the benefits of personal association with the Lord. Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is not only a great self-realized person but is also considered to be an incarnation of Krishna Himself, has said that although in this Kali-yuga there is no real facility for Self-realization, Krishna is so kind that He has given this Shabda (sound incarnation) to be used as the Yugadharma, the method of Self-realization in this age. This method does not require any special qualification, not even knowledge of Sanskrit. The sound waves of Hare Krishna are so powerful that any human being can immediately start chanting it without the slightest knowledge of Sanskrit language "A person who accepts the path of devotion, studies the Vedas, performs austerities, sacrifices, charity, philosophical and selfish deeds He is not deprived of the fruits of his actions. Ultimately he attains the supreme eternal abode." (Bhagavad Gita 8.28)
Here Krishna says that the purpose of the study of all Vedic scriptures is to achieve the ultimate goal of life, and that is to return to the abode of God. This is the purpose of all scriptures of all countries. This has been the message of all religious reformers and teachers. For example, in the Western countries, Jesus Christ preached this message. So did Lord Buddha and Mohammed. No one preaches that we should make arrangements to live permanently in this material world. There may be slight variations according to country, time, situation and the injunctions of the scriptures, but the main principle that we are not meant for this material world but for the spiritual world is accepted by all true spiritualists.
All signs of satisfaction of inner desires point to the realms of Lord Krishna beyond birth and death.