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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 9]
from devotional service, what to speak of the temporary blissfulness of elevating oneself to the heavenly planets, which is ended by the separating sword of time? Although one may be elevated to the heavenly planets, he falls down in due course of time.
PURPORT
The transcendental bliss derived from devotional service, primarily from  śravaṇam   kīrtanam , hearing and chanting, cannot be compared with the happiness derived by  karmīs  by elevating themselves to the heavenly planets or by  jñānīs  or  yogīs  who enjoy oneness with the supreme impersonal Brahman.  Yogīs  generally meditate upon the transcendental form of  Viṣṇu , but devotees not only meditate upon Him but actually engage in the direct service of the Lord. In the previous verse we find the phrase  bhavāpyaya , which means birth and death. The Lord can give relief from the chain of birth and death. It is a misunderstanding to think, as do the monists, that when one gets relief from the process of birth and death he merges into the Supreme Brahman. Here it is clearly said that the transcendental bliss derived from  śravaṇam   kīrtanam  by pure devotees cannot be compared with  brahmānanda , or the impersonal conception of transcendental bliss derived by merging into the Absolute.
The position of  karmīs  is still more degraded. Their aim is to elevate themselves to the higher planetary systems. It is said,  yānti deva-vratā devān : persons who worship the demigods are elevated to the heavenly planets (Bg. 9.25). But elsewhere in  Bhagavad-gītā  (Bg. 9.21) we find,  kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokam viśanti : those who are elevated to the higher planetary systems must come down again as soon as the results of their pious activities are exhausted. They are like the modern astronauts who go to the moon; as soon as their fuel is used up, they are obliged to come back down to this earth. As the modern astronauts who go to the moon or other heavenly planets by force of jet propulsion have to come down again after exhausting their fuel, so also do those who are elevated to the heavenly planets by force of  yajñas  and pious activities.  Antakāsi-lulitāt : by the sword of time one is cut from his exalted position within this material world, and he comes down again. Dhruva Mahārāja appreciated that the results of devotional service are far more valuable than merging into the Absolute or being elevated to the heavenly planets. The words  patatām vimānāt  are very significant.  Vimāna  means airplane: those who are elevated to the heavenly planets are like airplanes, which drop when they run out of fuel.