170
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 9, Ch. 5]
jñāna  is concerned, if one is a perfect devotee of Vāsudeva, he is the greatest  mahātmā  ( vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ ). A  mahātmā  is one who has full knowledge of the Absolute Truth. Thus Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, being a devotee of the Personality of Godhead, was in full awareness of Paramātmā, Brahman,  māyā , the material world, the spiritual world, and how things are going on everywhere. Everything was known to him.  Yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati . Because the devotee knows Vāsudeva, he knows everything within the creation of Vāsudeva ( vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ ). Such a devotee does not give much value to the highest standard of happiness within this material world.
nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati svargāpavarga-narakeṣv api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ (Bhāg. 6.17.28)
Because he is fixed in devotional service, a devotee does not regard any position in the material world as important. Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī has therefore written ( Caitanya-candrāmṛta 5 ):
kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate vidhi-mahendrādiś ca kīṭāyate yat-kāruṇya-katākṣa-vaibhava-vatāṁ taṁ gauram eva stumaḥ
For one who becomes a pure devotee through devotional service to great personalities like Caitanya Mahāprabhu,  kaivalya , or merging into Brahman, appears no better than hell. As far as the heavenly planets are concerned, to a devotee they are like a phantasmagoria or will-o'-the-wisp, and as far as yogic perfection is concerned, a devotee does not care a fig for such perfection, since the purpose of yogic perfection is achieved automatically by the devotee. This is all possible when one becomes a devotee of the Lord through the medium of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instructions.