Anta-kāle, at the end of life, at the time of death. Anta-kāle ca mām eva, one who thinks of Kṛṣṇa, smaran, if he can remember. A dying person, at the time of death, if he remembers the form of Kṛṣṇa and while remembering in that way, if he quits the present body, then surely he approaches the spiritual kingdom, mad-bhāvam. Bhāvam means the spiritual nature. Yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti. Mad-bhāvam means just like the nature or the transcendental nature of the Supreme Being. As we have described above, that the Supreme Lord is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). He has His form, but His form is eternal, sat; and full of knowledge, cit; and full of bliss, ānanda. Now just we can compare our present body, whether this body is sac-cid-ānanda. No. This body is asat. Instead of being sat it is asat. Antavanta ime dehā (BG 2.18), Bhagavad-gītā says that this body is antavat, perishable. And... Sac-cid-ānanda. Instead of becoming sat, it is asat, just the opposite. And instead of becoming cit, full of knowledge, it is full of ignorance. We have no knowledge of the spiritual kingdom, neither we have got any perfect knowledge of this material world. So many things unknown to us, therefore this body is ignorant. Instead of becoming full of knowledge it is ignorant. The body is perishable, full of ignorance, and nirānanda. Instead of becoming full of bliss, it is full of miseries. All the miseries that we experience in this material world, it is all due to this body. The Lord says that anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram (BG 8.5). One who quits this material body, simply by remembering Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he at once gets the spiritual body of sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). The process of quitting this body and getting another body in the material world is also organized. A man dies after it has been decided what form of body he will have in the next life. But that is decided by higher authorities. Just like according to our service we are promoted or degraded. Similarly, according to our acts we are... Acts of this life, the activities of this life are preparation ground for the next life. We are preparing for our next life by our activities of this life. So if we can prepare our this life for getting promotion to the kingdom of God, then surely, after leaving, after quitting this material body... The Lord says yaḥ prayāti, one who goes, sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti (BG 8.5), mad-bhāvam, he gets the same spiritual body as the Lord has or the same spiritual nature. Now, there are different kinds of transcendentalists as we have already explained above. The brahmavādī, paramātmavādī and the devotees. In spiritual sky or in the brahma-jyotir there are spiritual planets, innumerable spiritual planets, we have already discussed. And the number of those planets are far, far greater than all the universes of this material world. This material world is ekāṁśena sthito jagat (BG 10.42). This is one-fourth part manifestation of the whole creation. Three-fourths part of the creation is the spiritual world and in the one-fourth part of this creation there are millions of universes like this which we are experiencing at the present moment. And in one universe there are millions and billions of planets. So there are millions and billions of suns and stars and moons in all this material world, but all this material world constitute only one-fourth manifestation of the whole creation. The three-fourths manifestation is in the spiritual sky. Now, this mad-bhāvam, one who desires to merge into the existence of the Supreme Brahman, they merge in the brahma-jyotir of the Supreme Lord. Mad-bhāvam means that brahma-jyotir as well as the spiritual planets in the brahma-jyotir. And the devotees, who want to enjoy in the association of the Lord, they enter into the planets, Vaikuṇṭha planets. There are innumerable Vaikuṇṭha planets, and the Lord, Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, by His plenary expansion as Nārāyaṇa with four hands with different names, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, and Mādhava, Govinda... There are many innumerable names of this four-handed Nārāyaṇa. So one of the planets, that is also mad-bhāvam, that is also within the spiritual nature. So any transcendentalist who at the end of life, either he thinks of the brahma-jyotir or meditates upon the Paramātmā or thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, in either case, they enter into the spiritual sky. But only the devotees, those who have practiced personal touch with the Supreme Lord, they enter into the Vaikuṇṭha planets or in the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet. The Lord says, yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ (BG 8.5). There is no doubt. One should not disbelieve. That is the question. So you are reading Bhagavad-gītā throughout the whole life, but when the Lord speaks something which does not tally with our imagination, we reject it. That is not the process of Bhagavad-gītā reading. Just like Arjuna said that sarvam etaṁ ṛtam manye, "I believe in everything, whatever You have said." Similarly, hear, hearing. The Lord says that at the time of death, whoever thinks of Him, either as Brahman or Paramātmā or the Personality of Godhead, certainly he enters into the spiritual sky and there is no doubt about it. One should not disbelieve it. And the process is, general rule is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, how one can, how it is possible to get into the spiritual kingdom simply by thinking of the Supreme at the time of death. Because the general process is also mentioned:
- yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ
- tyajaty ante kalevaram
- taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya
- sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ
- (BG 8.6)
There are different bhāvas. Now, this material nature is also one of the bhāvas, as we have already explained, that this material nature is also the display of one of the energies of the Supreme Lord. In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa the total energies of the Supreme Lord have been summarized.
- viṣṇu-śaktiḥ parā proktā
- kṣetra-jñākhyā tathā par
- avidyā-karma-saṁjñānyā
- tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate
- (CC Madhya 6.154)
All the energies, potencies of the..., parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). The Supreme Lord has diverse energies, innumerable energies, which we cannot conceive. But great learned sages, liberated souls, they have studied and they have summarized the whole energies into three parts, into three headings. The first is... All the energies are viṣṇu-śakti. All the energies, they are different potencies of the Lord Viṣṇu. Now, that energy is parā, transcendental. And kṣetra-jñākhyā tathā parā, and the living entities, kṣetra-jña, they are also belonging to the group of that superior energy, as it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā also. We have already explained. And the other energies, the material energy is tṛtīyā karma-saṁjñānyā (CC Madhya 6.154). The other energy is in the mode of ignorance. So that is material energy. So material energy is also bhagavad-(indistinct). So at the time of death, either we can remain in the material energy, or this material world, or we can transfer into the spiritual world.