Text 41] The Advent of Lord Krsna: Introduction 69

vikalpa, accepting something and rejecting it, is very important in
transferring the soul to another material body at the time of death.

yam yam vapi smaran bhaévam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya

sada tad-bhava-bhavitah

‘Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that
state he will attain without fail.” (Bg. 8.6) Therefore one must train the
mind in the system of bhakti-yoga, as did Maharaja Ambarisa, who
kept himself always in Krsna consciousness. Sa vai manah krsna-
padadravindayoh. One must fix the mind at the lotus feet of Krsna
twenty-four hours a day. If the mind is fixed upon Krsna’s lotus feet, the
activities of the other senses will be engaged in Krsna’s service. Hrsikena
hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate: to serve HrsikeSa, the master of the
senses, with purified senses is called bhakti. Those who constantly engage
in devotional service are situated in a transcendental state, above the ma-
terial modes of nature. As Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (14.26):

mam ca yo ’vyabhicadrena
bhakti-yogena sevate

sa gundn samatityaitan
brahma-bhiydya kalpate

“One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in
any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and
thus comes to the level of Brahman.” One must learn the secret of suc-
cess from the Vedic literatures, especially when the cream of Vedic
knowledge is presented by Bhagavad-gitd as it is.

Because the mind is ultimately controlled by the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, Krsna, the word apasmrtih is significant. Forgetfulness of
one’s own identity is called apasmrtih. This apasmrtih can be controlled
by the Supreme Lord, for the Lord says, mattah smrtir jidnam
apohanam ca: “‘From Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetful-
ness.”” Instead of allowing one to forget one’s real position, Krsna can
revive one’s original identity at the time of one’s death, even though the
