158
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 9, Ch. 13]
“A person acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness (or, in other words, in the service of Kṛṣṇa) with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person even within the material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities.” The desire to serve the Lord establishes one as liberated in any condition of life, whether in a spiritual body or a material body. In a spiritual body the devotee becomes a direct associate of the Lord, but even though a devotee may superficially appear to be in a material body, he is always liberated and is engaged in the same duties of service to the Lord as a devotee in Vaikuṇṭhaloka. There is no distinction. It is said,  sādhur jīvo vā maro vā . Whether a devotee is alive or dead, his only concern is to serve the Lord.  Tyaktvā deham punar janma naiti mām eti . When he gives up his body, he goes directly to become an associate of the Lord and serve Him, although he does the same thing even in a material body in the material world.
For a devotee there is no pain, pleasure or material perfection. One may argue that at the time of death a devotee also suffers because of giving up his material body. But in this connection the example may be given that a cat carries a mouse in its mouth and also carries a kitten in its mouth. Both the mouse and the kitten are carried in the same mouth, but the perception of the mouse is different from that of the kitten. When a devotee gives up his body ( tyaktvā deham ), he is ready to go back home, back to Godhead. Thus his perception is certainly different from that of a person being taken away by Yamarāja for punishment. A person whose intelligence is always concentrated upon the service of the Lord is unafraid of accepting a material body, whereas a nondevotee, having no engagement in the service of the Lord, is very much afraid of accepting a material body or giving up his present one. Therefore, we should follow the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu:  mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi . It doesn't matter whether we accept a material body or a spiritual body; our only ambition should be to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TEXT 10
देहं नावरुत्सेऽहं दुःखशोकभयावहम् । सर्वत्रास्य यतो मृत्युमर्तस्यानामुदके यथा ॥१०॥