992 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 23
eating and mating, one is allowed to practice the different sitting postures.
The ultimate aim of yoga is to enable one to give up this body according to
his own free will. One who has attained the ultimate summit of yoga
practice can live in the body as long as he likes, or, as long as he is not
completely perfect, leave the body to go anywhere within or outside the
universe. Some yogis leave their bodies to go to the higher planetary
systems and enjoy the material facilities therein. However, intelligent yogis
do not wish to waste their time within this material world at all; they do
not care for the material facilities in higher planetary systems but are
interested in going directly to the spiritual sky, back home, back to God-
head.

From the description in this verse, it appears that Maharaja Prthu had no
desire to promote himself to the higher planetary systems. He wanted to
return home immediately, back to Godhead. Although Maharaja Prthu
stopped all practice of mystic yoga after realizing Krsna consciousness, he
nonetheless took advantage of his previous practice and immediately placed
himself on the brahma-bhuta platform in order to accelerate his return
to Godhead. The aim of this particular system of asana, known as the sit-
ting posture for liberation, or muktasana, is to attain success in kundalini-
cakra and gradually raise the life from the muladhara-cakra to the
svadhisthana-cakra, then to the manipura-cakra, the andhata-cakra, the
visuddha-cakra, and finally to the ajiia-cakra. When the yogi reaches the
ajna-cakra, between the two eyebrows, he is able to penetrate the brahma-
randhra, or the hole in his skull, and go to any planet he desires up to the
spiritual kingdom of Vaikuntha, or Krsnaloka. The conclusion is that one
has to come to the brahma-bhita stage for going back to Godhead. However,
those who are in Krsna consciousness, or who are practicing bhakti-yoga
(Sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam), can return to God-
head without even practicing the muktasana process. The purpose of
muktasana practice is to come to the brahma-bhita stage, for without
being on the brahma-bhuta stage, one cannot be promoted to the spiritual
sky. As stated in Bhagavad-gita: mam ca yo ’vyabhicarena bhakti-yogena
sevate/ sa gunan samatityaitan brahma-bhuyaya kalpate (Bg. 14.26). The
bhakti-yogi, practicing bhakti-yoga, is always situated on the brahma-
bhuta stage (brahma-bhiyaya kalpate). \f a devotee is able to continue on
the brahma-bhuta platform, he enters the spiritual sky automatically after
death and returns to Godhead. Consequently a devotee need not feel sorry
for not having practiced the kundalini-cakra or not penetrating the six
cakras one after another. As far as Maharaja Prthu was concerned, he had
already practiced this process, and since he did not want to wait for the
time when his death would occur naturally, he took advantage of the sat-
