56 Beyond Birth and Death
sayujya-mukti, merging with the impersonal aspect,
is not accepted by Vaisnava devotees. A Vaisnava
wishes to worship God as He is and retain his sepa-
rate individuality to serve Him, whereas the Mayavadi
impersonal philosopher wishes to lose his individu-
ality and merge into the existence of the Supreme.
This merging is neither recommended by SriKrsna in
Bhagavad-gita nor by the disciplic succession of
Vaisnava philosophers. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu
wrote on this subject in His Siksastakam:
na dhanam na janam na sundarim
kavitam va jagadisa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare
bhavatadbhaktir ahaituki tvayi

“O almighty Lord! I have no desire to accumulate
wealth, nor have I any desire to enjoy beautiful wo-
men, nor do I want any number of followers. What I
want only is that I may have Your causeless devo-
tional service in my life—birth after birth.”
(Siksastakam, 4)

Here Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu refers to “birth
after birth.” When there is birth after birth, there is
no liberation. In liberation either one attains the
spiritual planets or merges into the existence of the
Supreme—in either case, there is no question of re-
birth into the material world. But Caitanya
Mahaprabhu doesn’t care whether He is liberated or
not: His only concern is to be engaged in Krsna con-
sciousness, to serve the Supreme Lord. The devotee
doesn’t care where he is, nor does he care whether
he is born in the animal society, human society,
demigod society or whatever—he only prays to God
