4 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 6, Ch. 1

Pariksit Maharaja was astonished that the living entities in the condi-
tional stage do not accept the path of liberation, devotional service, in-
stead of suffering in so many hellish conditions. This is the symptom of a
Vaisnava. Varicha-kalpa-tarubhyas ca krpd-sindhubhya eva ca: a
Vaisnava is an ocean of mercy. Para-duhkha-duhkhi: he is unhappy be-
cause of the unhappiness of others. Therefore Pariksit Maharaja, being
compassionate toward the conditioned souls suffering in hellish life, sug-
gested that Sukadeva Gosvami continue describing the path of liberation,
which he had explained 1 in the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam. The
word asamsrti is very important in this connection. Samsrti refers to con-
tinuing on the path of birth and death. Asamsrti, on the contrary, refers
to nivrtti-marga, or the path of liberation, by which one’s birth and death
cease and one gradually progresses to Brahmaloka, unless one is a pure
devotee who does not care about going to the higher planetary systems, in
which case one immediately returns home, back to Godhead, by execut-
ing devotional service (tyaktva deham punar janma naiti). Pariksit
Maharaja, therefore, was very eager to hear from Sukadeva Gosvami
about the path of liberation for the conditioned soul.

According to the opinion of the dGcdaryas, the word krama-
yogopalabdhena indicates that by first performing karma-yoga and then
Jfidna-yoga and finally coming to the platform of bhakti-yoga, one can
be liberated. Bhakti-yoga, however, is so powerful that it does not
depend on karma-yoga or jndna-yoga. Bhakti-yoga itself is so powerful
that even an impious man with no assets in karma-yoga or an illiterate
with no assets in jid@na-yoga can undoubtedly be elevated to the spiritual
world if he simply adheres to bhakti-yoga. Mam evaisyasy asamsayah.
Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (8.7) that by the process of bhakti-yoga one
undoubtedly goes back to Godhead, back home to the spiritual world.
Yogis, however, instead of going directly to the spiritual world, some-
times want to see other planetary systems, and therefore they ascend to
the planetary system where Lord Brahmi lives, as indicated here by the
word brahmana. At the time of dissolution, Lord Brahma, along with all
the inhabitants of Brahmaloka, goes directly to the spiritual world. This
is confirmed in the Vedas as follows:

brahmana saha te sarve
samprapte pratisaricare
