the highest planet in the spiritual world, since the Lord has established his home there, his residence. Unlimited and far beyond the material cosmos, the spiritual world is studded with spiritual planets called Vaikunthas. Materialists know very little about their own galaxy, what to say about the absolute kingdom. So the profane minds always remain far removed from the Lord. And even if one day they manage to make a machine whose speed would equal that of wind or thought, they can not even hope to reach the planets of the spiritual world. For them, the Lord and his sublime home will forever be a problematic myth or mystery, but the Lord will always be willing to give his company to his devotees.
The Lord unfolds in the spiritual world an immeasurable splendor. He inhabits each of the innumerable Vaikuntha planets through his plenary emanations and surrounds himself with his liberated devotees. As for the impersonalists (who think that God has no form) who aspire to melt into his existence, they will be allowed to be part of the radiance, like spiritual sparks. They are by no means qualified to live in the company of the Lord, even on the Vaikuntha planets or on Goloka Vrindavana, the supreme star.
The pure spiritual vision is that which enables us to understand that beyond the material universe is the spiritual world, a true wonder. In the spiritual world, the Lord and the living beings who live there are manifested in their original condition. The spiritual beings who live in the eternal kingdom of Krishna, God, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are, in truth, eternally liberated souls, eternally engaged in an exchange of reciprocal spiritual feelings with the Supreme Lord, whom they serve with love and devotion in his eternal kingdom. They are all pure souls who live in absolute harmony with the Supreme Lord.
The holy beings who surrender themselves to krishna, God, the Supreme Person and serve him with love and devotion, reach the spiritual planets, called Vaikunthas. On each of these planets reigns the Supreme Lord in his Narayana form, and the holy souls, not conditioned by matter, serve the Lord with devotion in an attitude of service, linked to Him by a relationship of friendship, parental affection, or by a feeling of love. Unconditioned souls living on these planets enjoy existence in the company of the Lord according to one or other of these relations with complete freedom. These planets spread all their own light, like the sun, and their radiance constitutes what is called radiance. This radiance extends to infinity, and the material cosmos represents only a tiny part, veiled, by a temporary veil hence its illusory character. This is the ultimate perfection of existence.
Only pure beings, because totally liberated from interested action, intellectual speculation, and their aftermath, can know the name, form, and spiritual and absolute activities of the Lord. These pure beings expect nothing for themselves in exchange for the service they devote to the Lord. Unreservedly and without interruption, they continue to serve him spontaneously. Those who serve Krishna with love and devotion, his (devout) devotees through his mercy, can penetrate the