Text 46]
The Pāṇḍavas Retire Timely
827
to the principles of  sanātana-dharma , one must retire from family life after half the duration of life is finished and must engage himself in self-realization. But the question of engaging oneself is not always decided. Sometimes retired men are bewildered about how to engage themselves for the last days of life. Here is a decision by authorities like the Pāṇḍavas. All of them engaged themselves in culturing favorably the devotional service of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. According to Svānū Śrīdhara,  dharma, artha, kāma  and  mokṣa , or fruitive activities, philosophical speculations or salvation, as conceived by several persons, are not the ultimate goal of life. They are more or less practiced by persons who have no information of the ultimate goal of life. The ultimate goal of life is already indicated by the Lord Himself in the  Bhagavad-gītā  (Bg. 18.64), and the Pāṇḍavas were intelligent enough to follow it without hesitation.
TEXT 46
ते साधुकृतसर्वार्था ज्ञात्वाऽऽत्यन्तिकमात्मनः । मनसा धारयामासुर्वैकुण्ठचरणाम्बुजम् ॥४६॥
te sādhu-kṛta-sarvārthā   jñātvātyantikam ātmanaḥ   manasā dhārayāmāsur   vaikuṇṭha-caraṇāmbujam
te —all of them;  sādhu-kṛta —having performed everything worthy of a saint;  sarva-arthāḥ —that which includes everything worthy;  jñātvā —knowing it well;  ātyantikam —the ultimate;  ātmanaḥ —of the living being;  manasā —within the mind;  dhārayāmāsuḥ —sustained;  vaikuṇṭha —the Lord of the spiritual sky;  caraṇa-ambujam —lotus feet.
TRANSLATION
They all had performed all the principles of religion and as a result rightly decided that the lotus feet of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa are the supreme goal of all. Therefore they meditated upon His feet without interruption.
PURPORT
In the  Bhagavad-gītā  the Lord says (Bg. 7.28) that only those who have done pious deeds in previous lives and have become freed from the results