Liberation from Material Planets 37
ously. Kysna’s abode in the transcendental kingdom
is called Goloka Vrndavana. The Vyndavana in India
is that same Vrndavana descended on this earth.
When Kysna descends Himself by His own internal
potency, His dhama, or abode, also descends. In
other words, when Krsna descends on this earth, He
manifests Himself in that particular land. Despite
this, Krsna’s abode remains eternally in the transcen-
dental sphere, in the Vaikunthas. In this verse Krsna
proclaims that one who comes to His abode in the
Vaikunthas never has to take birth again in the
material world. Such a person is called mahatma.
The word mahatma is generally heard in the West in
connection with Mahatma Gandhi, but we should
understand that mahatma is not the title of a poli-
tician. Rather, mahatma refers to the first-class Krsna
conscious man who is eligible to enter into the abode
of Krsna. The mahatma’s perfection is this: to utilize
the human form of life and the resources of nature
to extricate himself from the cycle of birth and
death.

An intelligent person knows that he does not
want miseries, but they are inflicted upon him by
force. As stated before, we are always in a miserable
condition due to this mind, body, natural disturbances
or other living entities. There is always some kind
of misery inflicted upon us. This material world is
meant for misery; unless the misery is there, we
cannot come to Krsna consciousness. Miseries are
actually an impetus and help to elevate us to Krsna
consciousness. An intelligent man questions why
these miseries are inflicted on him by force. However,
