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Chapter 8: Attaining the Supreme

Bg 8.21
TEXT 21
avyakto 'ksara ity uktas
tam ahuh paramam gatim
yam prapya na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama
SYNONYMS
avyaktah—unmanifested; aksarah—infallible; iti—thus; uktah—said; tam—that which; ahuh—is known; paramam—ultimate; gatim—destination; yam—that which; prapya—gaining; na—never; nivartante—comes back; tat-dhama—that abode; paramam—supreme; mama—Mine.
TRANSLATION
That supreme abode is called unmanifested and infallible, and it is the supreme destination. When one goes there, he never comes back. That is My supreme abode.
PURPORT
The supreme abode of the Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is described in the Brahma-samhita as cintamani-dhama, a place where all desires are fulfilled. The supreme abode of Lord Krsna known as Goloka Vrndavana is full of palaces made of touchstone. There are also trees which are called "desire trees" that supply any type of eatable upon demand, and there are cows known as surabhi cows which supply a limitless supply of milk. In this abode, the Lord is served by hundreds of thousands of goddesses of fortune (Laksmis), and He is called Govinda, the primal Lord and the cause of all causes. The Lord is accustomed to blow His flute (venum kvanantam). His transcendental form is the most attractive in all the worlds—His eyes are like the lotus petals and the color of His body like clouds. He is so attractive that His beauty excels that of thousands of cupids. He wears saffron cloth, a garland around His neck and a peacock feather in His hair. In the Gita Lord Krsna gives only a small hint of His personal abode (Goloka Vrndavana) which is the supermost planet in the spiritual kingdom. A vivid description is given in the Brahma-samhita. Vedic literature states that there is nothing superior to the abode of the Supreme Godhead, and that that abode is the ultimate destination. When one attains to it, he never returns to the material world. Krsna's supreme abode and Krsna Himself are nondifferent, being of the same quality. On this earth, Vrndavana, ninety miles southeast of Delhi, is a replica of that supreme Goloka Vrndavana located in the spiritual sky. When Krsna descended on this earth, He sported on that particular tract of land known as Vrndavana in the district of Mathura, India.

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Copyright (c) 1972 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada