A Second Chance:
The Story of a Near-Death Experience
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter 6
The Residents Of the Spiritual Sky
Sukadeva Gosvami continued: When the order-carriers of Yamaraja, the son of the sun-god, were thus forbidden, they replied, “Who are you, sirs, that have the audacity to challenge the jurisdiction of Yamaraja? Whose servants are you, where have you come from, and why are you forbidding us to touch the body of Ajamila? Are you demigods from the heavenly planets, are you sub-demigods, or are you the best of devotees? Your eyes are just like the petals of lotus flowers. Dressed in yellow silken garments, decorated with garlands of lotuses, and wearing very attractive helmets on your heads and earrings on your ears, you all appear fresh and youthful. Your four long arms are decorated with bows and quivers of arrows and with swords, clubs, conchshells, discs, and lotus flowers. Your effulgence has dissipated the darkness here with extraordinary illumination. Now, sirs, why are you obstructing us?” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.32–36)
Divine Interference
The sins Ajamila had committed placed him within the jurisdiction of Yamaraja, the supreme judge appointed to consider the sins of the living entities. When forbidden to touch Ajamila, the order-carriers of Yamaraja were surprised, because within all the three worlds no one had ever before hindered them in the execution of their duty.
The Visnudutas were coming from Vaikuntha, and they appeared extraordinary, each with four arms. The servants of Yamaraja immediately received them with respect. They had no idea which planet the Visnudutas had come from, so they simply suggested, “You must have come from a very exalted planet, but why are you interfering with our business? We are Yamadutas. It is our duty to arrest every sinful man, and Ajamila has committed misdeeds throughout his life. Now, at the end of his life, we are authorized to take him to Yamaraja, the son of Vivasvan, the sun-god, so why are you preventing us?”
The most significant word used in verse 32 is siddha-sattamah, which means “the best of the perfect.” In the Bhagavad-gita (7.3) it is said, manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati siddhaye: out of millions of persons, one may try to become siddha, perfect—or, in other words, self-realized. A self-realized person knows that he is not the body but a spiritual soul (aham brahmasmi). At present almost no one is aware of this fact, but one who understands this has attained perfection and is therefore called siddha. When one understands that the soul is part and parcel of the Supreme Soul and one thus engages in the devotional service of the Supreme Soul, one becomes siddha-sattama. One is then eligible to live in Vaikuntha or Krsnaloka. The word siddha-sattama, therefore, refers to a pure devotee of the Lord.
Since the Yamadutas are servants of Yamaraja, who is also one of the siddha-sattamas, they knew that a siddha-sattama is above the demigods and sub-demigods and, indeed, above all the living entities within this material world. The Yamadutas therefore inquired why the Visnudutas were preventing them from carrying out the orders of such an exalted soul as Yamaraja.
It should also be noted that Ajamila was not yet dead, for the Yamadutas had been stopped before they could snatch the soul from his heart. Ajamila was simply on the verge of death as the argument progressed between the Yamadutas and the Visnudutas. The conclusion of that argument was to be a decision regarding who would claim the soul of Ajamila.
Spiritual Beauty
The Visnudutas exactly resembled Lord Visnu. The Yamadutas had never seen them before, because the Yamadutas stay in an atmosphere where only sinful activities are executed. Therefore they were astonished at the presence of these beautiful personalities and said, “By your bodily features you appear to be very exalted gentlemen, and you have such celestial power that you have dissipated the darkness of this material world with your effulgence. Why then should you endeavor to stop us from executing our duty?” It will be explained that the Yamadutas, the order-carriers of Yamaraja, mistakenly considered Ajamila sinful. They did not know that although he was sinful throughout his entire life, he was purified by constantly chanting the holy name of Narayana.
The Visnudutas were so effulgent because they were residents of the spiritual world, where everyone and everything is self-effulgent. As Lord Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita (15.6), na tad bhasayate suryo na sasanko na pavakah: “My abode is not illuminated by the sun, the moon, fire, or electricity.” The Yamadutas did not know where the Visnudutas had come from, but they could see that the Visnudutas were not ordinary, since they were so effulgent, they had four arms, and they were extremely beautiful.
The dress and bodily features of the residents of Vaikuntha are accurately described in these verses. The residents of Vaikuntha, who are decorated with garlands and yellow silken garments, have four arms holding a disc, flower, club, and conchshell. Thus they exactly resemble Lord Visnu—except for one very prominent feature: the Kaustubha jewel, which the Lord wears on His chest. The residents of Vaikuntha have the same bodily features as Narayana because they have attained the liberation of sarupya, but they nevertheless act as servants. All the residents of Vaikunthaloka know perfectly well that their master is Narayana, or Krsna, and that they are all His servants. They are all self-realized souls who are nitya-mukta, everlastingly liberated. Although they could conceivably declare themselves Narayana, they never do so; they always remain Krsna conscious and serve the Lord faithfully. Such is the atmosphere of Vaikunthaloka. Similarly, one who learns the faithful service of Lord Krsna through the Krsna consciousness movement will always remain in Vaikunthaloka and have nothing to do with the material world.
Beyond the Material World
In our conditioned state, we cannot know about the spiritual world. But the spiritual world exists. As Lord Krsna states in the Bhagavad-gita (8.20), paras tasmat tu bhavo ’nyo: “Besides this inferior, material nature there is another, superior nature.” This material nature is one nature, comprised of millions and trillions of universes clustered together in one corner of the spiritual sky. We cannot even measure the sky covered by this one universe, within which there are innumerable planets; yet there are millions and trillions of universes in the entire material creation. And the entire material creation is only one fourth of existence. In other words, this whole material world is existing in one fourth of Krsna’s energy. The other three fourths comprise the spiritual sky. Unfortunate persons think that this planet is all in all, but this is frog philosophy. A frog in a well cannot understand anything beyond the well, and he measures everything in terms of his well. When he is told about the ocean, he cannot imagine it. Similarly, persons with such a frog’s mentality imagine, “God is like this,” or “God’s kingdom is like that,” or “I am God,” or “There is no God.” But this is all foolishness.