The transcendental world or Vaikuntha atmosphere is enriched with
transcendental qualities. These transcendental qualities, as revealed
through the devotional service of the Krishna, are distinct from the
mundane qualities of ignorance, passion and goodness. Such qualities are
not attainable by the non-devotee class of men. In the padma purana,
Uttara-khanda, it is stated that beyond the one-fourth part of God’s
creation is the three-fourths manifestation. The marginal line between
the material manifestation and the spiritual manifestation is the Viraja
River, and beyond the Viraja, which is a transcendental current flowing
from the perspiration of the body of the Lord, there is the
three-fourths manifestation of God’s creation. This part is eternal,
everlasting, without deterioration, and unlimited, and it contains the
highest perfectional stage of living conditions. In the Sankhya-kaumudi
it is stated that unalloyed goodness or transcendence is just opposite
to the material modes. All living entities there are eternally
associated without any break, and the Lord is the chief and prime
entity. In the Agama Puranas also, the transcendental abode is described
as follows: The associated members there are free to go everywhere
within the creation of the Lord, and there is no limit to such creation,
particularly in the region of the three-fourths magnitude. Since the
nature of that region is unlimited, there is no history of such
association, nor is there end of it. The conclusion may be drawn that
because of the complete absence of the mundane qualities of ignorance
and passion, there is no question of creation or of annihilation. In the
material world everything is created, and everything is annihilated,
and the duration of life between the creation and annihilation is
temporary. In the transcendental realm there is no creation and no
destruction, and thus the duration of life is eternal unlimitedly. In
other words, everything in the transcendental world is everlasting, full
of knowledge and bliss without deterioration. Since there is no
deterioration, there is no past, present and future in the estimation of
time. It is clearly stated in this verse that the influence of time is
conspicuous by its absence. The whole material existence is manifested
by actions and reactions of elements which make the influence of time
prominent in the matter of past, present and future. There are no such
actions and reactions of cause and effects there, so the cycle of birth,
growth, existence, transformations, deterioration and annihilation–the
six material changes–are not existent there. It is the unalloyed
manifestation of the energy of the Lord, without illusion as experienced
here in the material world. The whole Vaikuntha existence proclaims
that everyone there is a follower of the Lord. The Lord is the chief
leader there, without any competition for leadership, and the people in
general are all followers of the Lord. It is confirmed in the Vedas,
therefore, that the Lord is the chief leader and all other living
entities are subordinate to Him, for only the Lord satisfies all the
needs of all other living entities.
The inhabitants in
Vaikunthaloka are all personalities with spiritual bodily features not
to be found in the material world. We can find the descriptions in the
revealed scriptures like Srimad-Bhagavatam. Impersonal descriptions of
transcendence in the scriptures indicate that the bodily features in
Vaikunthaloka are never to be seen in any part of the universe. As there
are different bodily features in different places of a particular
planet, or as there are different bodily features between bodies in
different planets, similarly the bodily features of the inhabitants in
Vaikunthaloka are completely different from those in the material
universe. For example, the four hands are distinct from the two hands in
this world.
It appears that in the Vaikuntha planets there are
also airplanes brilliantly glowing, and they are occupied by the great
devotees of the Krsna with ladies of celestial beauty as brilliant as
lightning. As there are airplanes, so there must be different types of
carriages like airplanes, but they may not be driven machines, as we
have experience in this world. Because everything is of the same nature
of eternity, bliss and knowledge, the airplanes and carriages are of the
same quality as Brahman. Although there is nothing except Brahman,
one should not mistakenly think that there is only void and no
variegatedness. Thinking like that is due to a poor fund of knowledge;
otherwise no one would have such a misconception of voidness in Brahman.
As there are airplanes, ladies and gentlemen, so there must be cities
and houses and everything else just suitable to the particular planets.
One should not carry the ideas of imperfection from this world to the
transcendental world and not take into consideration the nature of the
atmosphere, as completely free from the influence of time, etc., as
described previously.
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