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THE PATH OF PERFECTION
the Supreme Lord, will certainly attain to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (Bg. 8.10) The words  prayāna-kāle  mean “at the time of death.” Life is kind of a preparation for the final examination, which is death. If we pass that examination, we are transferred to the spiritual world. According to a very common Bengali proverb, “Whatever you do for perfection will be tested at the time of your death.”
This process by which the  yogī  closes the doors of the senses is technically called  pratyāhāra , meaning “just the opposite.” Presently, our senses are engaged in seeing worldly beauty. “Just the opposite” means retracting the senses from that beauty and seeing the beauty inside. Hearing is concentrated on the  oṁkāra  sound that is within. Similarly, all the other senses are withdrawn from external activity. The mind is then concentrated on the  viṣṇu-mūrti  within the heart ( manaḥ hṛdi nirudhya ). The word  nirudhya  means “confining” the mind within the heart. When the  yogī  has thus withdrawn his senses and concentrated his mind, he transfers the life air to the top of the head and decides where he should go. There are innumerable planets, and beyond these planets is the spiritual world. The  yogīs  obtain information of these planets from the Vedic literatures, just as, before coming to the United States, I obtained information about this country from books. Since all the higher planets in the spiritual world are described in the Vedic literatures, the  yogī  knows everything and can transfer himself to any planet he likes. He does not need a material spaceship.
Scientists have been trying for many years to reach other planets with spaceships, but this is not the process. Maybe by this means one or two men can reach a planet, but that is not the general process. It is not possible for everyone. Generally, if one wants to transfer himself to a higher planet, he practices this  jñāna-yoga  system. Not the  bhakti-yoga  system. The system of  bhakti-yoga  is not used for attaining any material planet.
The devotees of Kṛṣṇa are not interested in any planet within this material universe, because they know that on all planets the four basic miseries exist—birth, old age, disease, and death. In the higher planets, one’s life span may be much greater than on this
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earth, but death is ultimately there. Therefore those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are not interested in material life but spiritual life, which means relief from these fourfold miseries. Those who are intelligent do not try to elevate themselves to any planet within this material world. To attain a higher planet, one has to prepare a particular type of body to enable one to live on that planet. We cannot attain these planets by artificial, materialistic means, because a suitable body is necessary to live there. We can stay within water only a short while, but fish are living there their entire lives. But the fish does not have a body suitable for living on the land. Similarly, to enter a higher planet, one has to prepare a suitable body.
In the higher planets, six of our months are equal to one of their days, and the inhabitants of these planets live ten thousand years. This is all described in the Vedic literatures. Although the life span on these planets is very long, there is ultimately death. After ten thousand years, twenty thousand years, or millions of years—it doesn’t matter—death is ultimately there.
In the very beginning of  Bhagavad-gītā , however, we learn that we are not subject to death.
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre
“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying, and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Bg. 2.20) Kṛṣṇa thus instructs us that we are spirit soul and eternal; therefore why should we subject ourselves to birth and death? One who utilizes his intelligence can understand this. One who is situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not interested in promotion to any planet where death exists; rather, being promoted to the spiritual sky, he receives a body just like God’s.  Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ . God’s body is  sac-cid-ānanda —eternal, full of knowledge, and full of pleasure.