The śuddha-bhakta, the pure devotee, regards even the loftiest forms of liberation as dim reflections of true fulfillment. Material happiness in heaven may glitter with celestial pleasures, yet it remains bound within the cycles of karma and decay. The devas themselves, though radiant, must eventually return to mortal birth when their accumulated merit fades. The different conceptions of heaven found in the Abrahamic traditions—where eternal life is often imagined as an endless feast, reunion with loved ones, or sensual delight—are rooted in the same fundamental misunderstanding: that the pleasure of the material senses constitutes ultimate happiness. Such ideals simply magnify the bodily experience and mistake it for the soul’s joy. These theologies fail to understand that pleasing one’s own senses will never bring eternal satisfaction; only by serving and pleasing the senses of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Enjoyer (bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ)¹, does the jīva taste real and lasting bliss. Thus, the devotee seeks not the transient delight of the senses, even when refined to the heavenly plane, but the eternal service of the Lord’s lotus feet.
Beyond heaven lies the tranquil expanse of impersonal Brahman realization. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.11) declares, vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam / brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate²—“Learned sages describe the same Absolute Truth in three phases—as Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān.” These are not different truths, but progressive realizations of one Reality. The impersonal Brahman is the all-pervading effulgence of the Lord’s transcendental body, the Paramātmā is His localized aspect dwelling within every heart, and Bhagavān is the Supreme Person—Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself—possessing all opulence, sweetness, and beauty. Although different yoga paths—jñāna-yoga, dhyāna-yoga, and karma-yoga—may lead to partial realizations of these aspects, Kṛṣṇa makes it abundantly clear that above all stands bhakti-yoga, the path of devotion, wherein the jīva attains the most exalted position—not as master or enjoyer, but as servant, fully surrendered and enjoyed by Kṛṣṇa. In the Bhagavad-gītā (6.47) He declares, yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntarātmanā / śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ³—“Of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in loving devotion, is most intimately united with Me and is the highest of all.”
To merge into Brahman is to know only His light; to meditate upon Paramātmā is to glimpse His majesty; but to serve Bhagavān is to touch His heart. The śuddha-bhakta thus sees that Brahman and Paramātmā realizations, though exalted, are incomplete, because they lack the sweetness of personal relationship with Kṛṣṇa, the origin of both. To merge into undifferentiated consciousness is to extinguish individuality—the very spark by which love may flow. The devotee sees this as a spiritual suicide, because in gaining relief from suffering one loses the capacity to love the Supreme Beloved. As the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes, “When the breeze carrying the aroma of tulasī leaves from the toes of the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead entered the nostrils of those sages [the Kumāras], they experienced a change both in body and mind”⁴. Having once tasted the sweetness of devotion, the peace of Brahman appears pale by comparison—like water in the hoofprint of a calf beside the ocean of bhakti⁵.
Even realization of the Paramātmā, though higher than Brahman, remains tinged with self-interest and separation. The yogī who beholds the Lord as witness within the heart does not yet taste the intimacy of personal service. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, in his Jaiva-dharma, explains that such realizations belong to the nimitika-paths—secondary or instrumental spiritual pursuits that arise from mixed desires for peace, power, or knowledge⁶. They are respectable and purifying, yet they do not lead to the eternal, spontaneous service (nitya-dharma) of the jīva, because only pure devotion, free from all ulterior motives, allows entrance into the realm of prema.
For the śuddha-bhakta, liberation itself is an obstacle if it obscures service. The devotee prays, “I do not care for heaven or liberation, O Lord; let me always serve You.” Such devotion transcends even the desire for freedom, because it springs from love alone. To live or die, to be in bondage or liberation—these are trivial matters beside the joy of surrender. Only in that mood does the jīva awaken to its true nature as the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. In its purest expression, this bhakti-yoga matures into rāgānugā-bhakti—the path of spontaneous love, wherein the soul serves Kṛṣṇa not out of duty or fear, but from the deepest longing of divine affection.
Footnotes
[1] Bhagavad-gītā 5.29 — “bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati.” Translation: “The sages know Me as the ultimate enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets, and the well-wisher of all beings, and thus attain peace.”
[2] Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.11 — “The Absolute Truth is realized as Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān, though all three are one and the same.”
[3] Bhagavad-gītā 6.47 — “Of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in loving devotion, is most intimately united with Me and is the highest of all.”
[4] Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.15.43 — The Four Kumāras’ transformation upon smelling the fragrance of the Lord’s tulasī leaves.
[5] Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 19.170 — “bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī sakali aśānta / kṛṣṇa-bhakta niṣkāma ataeva śānta.” Translation: “The karmīs, jñānīs, and yogīs are all restless, desiring enjoyment, liberation, or powers. Only the devotee of Kṛṣṇa, who desires nothing for himself, is truly peaceful.” (Note: This verse is often cited to illustrate the superiority of bhakti over other goals, aligning with the essay’s theme that even Brahman bliss is small compared to bhakti.)
[6] Jaiva-dharma, Chapters 16–18 — Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s delineation of nitya-dharma (eternal function of the jīva, pure bhakti) versus nimitika-dharma (temporary, secondary spiritual practices leading toward realization but not culminating in bhakti).
[7] Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 14.36 (quoted in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 6.174) — “My dear Lord, since I have directly seen You, my transcendental bliss has taken the shape of a great ocean. Being situated in that ocean, I now realize all other so-called happiness to be like the water contained in the hoofprint of a calf.”