148
THE PATH OF PERFECTION
has the same features as the Lord. There are five kinds of liberation:  sāyujya ,  sārūpya ,  sālokya ,  sārṣṭi , and  sāmīpya .  Sāyujya-mukti  means merging into God's impersonal effulgence, the  brahmajyoti . We have discussed this, and have concluded that the attempt to merge and lose individuality is not desirable and is very risky.  Sārūpya-mukti  means attaining a body exactly like God's.  Sālokya-mukti  means living on the same planet with God.  Sārṣṭi-mukti  means having the opulence of God. For instance, God is very powerful, and we can become powerful like Him. That is called  sārṣṭi .  Sāmīpya-mukti  means always remaining with God as one of His associates. For instance, Arjuna is always with Kṛṣṇa as His friend, and this is called  sāmīpya-mukti . We can attain any one of these five types of liberation, but out of these five,  sāyujya-mukti , merging into the  brahmajyoti , is rejected by Vaiṣṇava philosophy. According to the Vaiṣṇava philosophy, we worship God as He is and retain our separate identity eternally in order to serve Him. According to the Māyāvāda philosophy, impersonalism, one tries to lose his individual identity and merge into the existence of the Supreme. That, however, is a suicidal policy and is not recommended by Kṛṣṇa in  Bhagavad-gītā .
This has also been rejected by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who advocated worship in separation. As stated before, the pure devotee does not even want liberation; he simply asks to remain Kṛṣṇa's devotee birth after birth. This is Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu's prayer, and the words "birth after birth" indicate that there is no liberation. This means that the devotee doesn't care whether he is liberated or not. He simply wants to engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to serve the Supreme Lord. Always wanting to engage in God's transcendental loving service is the symptom of pure devotion. Of course, wherever a devotee is, he remains in the spiritual kingdom, even though in the material body. On his part, he does not demand any of the five types of liberation, nor anything for his personal superiority or comfort. But in order to associate with God in the spiritual planets, one must become His pure devotee.
For those who are not pure devotees, Lord Kṛṣṇa explains at what times one should leave the body in order to attain liberation.
The Path of Perfection
149
yatra kāle tv anāvṛttim āvṛttim caiva yoginaḥ prayātā yānti taṁ kālaṁ vakṣyāmi bharatarṣabha
"O best of the Bhāratas, 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) In India, unlike in the West, it is common for astrologers to make minute calculations of the astronomical situation at the moment of one's birth. Indeed, a person's horoscope is read not only when he is born but also when he dies, in order to determine what his situation will be in the next life. All this can be determined by astrological calculation. In this verse, Lord Kṛṣṇa is accepting those astrological principles, confirming that if one leaves his body at a particular time, he may attain liberation. If one dies at one moment, he may be liberated, or if he dies at another moment, he may have to return to the material world. It is all a question of "chance," but that chance someway or other is what one has. For the devotee, however, there is no question of chance. Whatever the astrological situation, the devotee in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is guaranteed liberation. For others, there are chances that if they leave their body at a particular moment, they may attain liberation and enter the spiritual kingdom, or they may be reborn.
agnir jyotir ahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇ-māsā uttarāyaṇam tatra prayātā gacchanti brahma brahma-vido janāḥ
"Those who know the Supreme Brahman pass away from the world during the influence of the fiery god, in the light, at an auspicious moment, during the fortnight of the moon and the six months when the sun travels in the north." (Bg. 8.24) As we all know, the sun's movements are different: six months it is north of the equator, and six months it is south. The sun is also moving, according to Vedic calculations, and from  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  we