124 The Nectar of Devotion

Sometimes an impersonalist may gradually elevate himself to the
personal conception of the Lord. The Bhagavad-gita confirms this:
“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge
surrenders unto Me.” By such surrender, an impersonalist can be ele-
vated to the Vaikuntha-loka (spiritual planet) where, as a surrendered
soul, he attains bodily features like the Lord.

In the Brahmanda Purana it is stated: ““Those who have achieved
liberation from material contamination, and those who are demons
and are killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, become ab-
sorbed in the Brahman concept of life and reside in the spiritual sky
of the brahma-jyoti.”” That spiritual sky is far beyond the material
sky, and it is confirmed also in the Bhagavad-gita that beyond this
material sky there is another, eternal sky. The enemies and the im-
personalists may be allowed to enter into this Brahman effulgence,
but the devotees of Krsna are promoted all the way to the spiritual
planets. Because the pure devotees have developed their spontaneous
love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are allowed to
enter into the spiritual planets to enjoy spiritual bliss in association
with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In the Tenth Canto, 87th Chapter, 19th verse, of Srimad-
Bhagavatam, the Vedas personified address the Lord in this way:
“My dear Lord, yogis meditate upon Your localized features, and
thus they achieve the spiritual perfection of being merged in the im-
personal brahma-jyoti. Persons who treat You as an enemy achieve
the same perfection without meditating. The gopis, who are em-
braced by Your serpentine hands and who have such lusty attitudes,
also achieve the same perfection. And, as far as we are concerned,
being different demigods in charge of the different parts of Vedic
knowledge, we are always following in the footsteps of the gopis.
Thus we hope to attain the same perfection.” By “the same perfec-
tion” we must always remember the example of the sun and the
sunshine. Those who are impersonalists can merge into the sunshine-
like brahma-jyoti, whereas those who are in love with the Supreme
Person enter into the supreme abode of the Lord, Goloka Vrndavana.

The “lusty attitude” of the gopis does not refer to any sort of sex
indulgence. Srila Ripa Gosvami explains that this “lusty desire” re-
