74
The Nectar of Instruction
“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.”
At the time of death, the mind and intelligence of a living entity create the subtle form of a certain type of body for the next life. If the mind suddenly thinks of something not very congenial, one has to take a corresponding birth in the next life. On the other hand, if one can think of Kṛṣṇa at the time of death, he can be transferred to the spiritual world, Goloka Vṛndāvana. This process of transmigration is very subtle; therefore Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī advises devotees to train their minds in order that they will be unable to remember anything other than Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, the tongue should be trained to speak only of Kṛṣṇa and to taste only  kṛṣṇa-prasāda . Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī further advises,  tiṣṭhan vraje : one should live in Vṛndāvana or any part of Vrajabhūmi. Vrajabhūmi, or the land of Vṛndāvana, is supposed to be eighty-four  krośas  in area. One  krośa  equals two square miles. When one makes Vṛndāvana his residence, he should take shelter of an advanced devotee there. In this way one should always think of Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes. This is further elucidated by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his  Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu  (1.2.294):
kṛṣṇam smaran janam cāsya preṣṭham nija-samīhitam tat-tat-kathā-rataś cāsau kuryād vāsam vraje sadā
“A devotee should always reside in the transcendental realm of Vraja and always engage in  kṛṣṇam smaran janam cāsya