Reaching Life's Perfection
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There are different kinds of salvation. There is  sālokya  liberation, to live on the same planet as the Supreme Lord. The residents of the Vaikuṇṭha planets live on the same planet as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.  Sārṣṭi  liberation means to have almost the same opulence as Nārāyaṇa. The liberated individual soul can appear just like Nārāyaṇa, with four hands, the four emblems, almost the same bodily features, the same opulence, the same ornaments, the same buildings, everything.  Sārūpya  means to have the same form or features.  Sāmīpya  means never to be far away but always to be associated with the Supreme Lord. For example, just as we are sitting together, so one can associate with the Lord. This is called  sāmīpya-mukti , the liberation of being nearer. Pure devotees, however, do not accept these various forms of liberation. They only want to be engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service. They are not concerned with any kind of liberation. Those who are actually Kṛṣṇa conscious achieve the association of the Supreme Lord, but they do not desire it; their only ambition is to be engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. The highest perfection of devotional service, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is exhibited when a devotee refuses to accept any benediction or profit from the Supreme Lord. Prahlāda Mahārāja was offered whatever he liked, he had only to ask for it, but he said, "My Lord, I am Your eternal servant. It is my duty to serve You, so how can I accept any benefit from it? Then I would not be Your servant; I would be a merchant." He replied in that way, and that is the sign of a pure person. Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He fulfills all the desires of a devotee, even if he wants material benedictions. If at the bottom of the devotee's heart there is some desire, He also fulfills that. He is so kind. But the sublime position of  bhakti-yoga , or devotional service, is that a pure devotee refuses to accept the various kinds of liberation, even if offered by the Supreme Lord.
If one has material desires or motives within himself, and for fulfillment of such desires he engages himself in devotional service, the result will be that he will never get pure love of God. If one is thinking, "I am engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in Kṛṣṇa's devotional service, because I want such and such an opulence," that desire may be fulfilled, but he will never get such unalloyed love of Kṛṣṇa as the  gopīs  had. If one has a motive, even though he discharges his devotional duty, he still will not be able to reach the stage of pure love of Godhead. In a verse from the  Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , Rūpa Goswami says, "As long as one desires some material benefit [ bhukti ], or even if he wants salvation [ mukti ], then he must take those ghostly representations." As long as that  māyā  exists within one's heart, how can one enjoy the spiritual bliss derived