Destinations of different performers of sacrifice
Sacrifices performed with perfect knowledge and without material desires carry the performer to the spiritual sky. This pure performance of sacrifice is true renunciation.
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Destinations of different performers of sacrifice
Sacrifices performed with perfect knowledge and without material desires carry the performer to the spiritual sky. This pure performance of sacrifice is true renunciation. However, when one doesn't have the proper understanding, he is instead elevated to the higher planets, up to Satyaloka. As Krsna mentions in the Gita, one's destination follows his mentality and process of worship. Sacrifices thus grant different results according to the mentality of the performer.
Text 1.2.6
ehy ehīti tam āhutayaḥ suvarcasaḥ
sūryasya raśmibhir yajamānam vahanti
priyām vācam abhivadantyo ’rcayantya
eṣa vaḥ puṇyaḥ sukṛto brahmalokaḥ
"Come, come!" Say the oblations in the form of shining rays, as they carry the pure performer of sacrifices. They greet him and glorify his activities. "This is the spiritual world, attained by you on the strength of our devotional service."
Commentary: In the sixth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, during the conclusion of the narration of the history of Ajamila, it is mentioned:
"Ajāmila fully engaged in devotional service. Thus he detached his mind from the process of sense gratification and became fully absorbed in thinking of the form of the Lord. When his intelligence and mind were fixed upon the form of the Lord, the brāhmaṇa Ajāmila once again saw before him four celestial persons. He could understand that they were those he had seen previously, and thus he offered them his obeisances by bowing down before them. Upon seeing the Viṣṇudūtas, Ajāmila gave up his material body at Hardwar on the bank of the Ganges. He regained his original spiritual body, which was a body appropriate for an associate of the Lord. Accompanied by the order carriers of Lord Viṣṇu, Ajāmila boarded an airplane made of gold. Passing through the airways, he went directly to the abode of Lord Viṣṇu, the husband of the goddess of fortune." (SB 6.2.41-44)
When a devotee is elevated to the Vaikuntalokas, he is greeted at the time of death by the Vishnudutas, who warmly greet him and glorify his devotional activities as he travels back home, back to Godhead. This is the destination of the pure performers of sacrifices.
Srila Madhvācārya corroborates this by quoting the Vyasa Smrti: "Sacrifices performed without material desires and with perfect knowledge, carry the performer to the eternal Brahman. Such performance of sacrifice is the true renunciation that carries one to the ancient Eternal."
However, when one doesn't have the proper understanding, he doesn't reach this ultimate goal, being instead elevated to the celestial planets, Satyaloka, etc. As Krsna explains in the Bhagavad-gita: "Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship the ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; and those who worship Me will live with Me."
The final destination of the practitioner, indicated in the verse by the word "brahmalokaḥ" depends on the line one of understanding one is following. Depending on the context, brahmalokaḥ can be interpreted as the world of Brahman, the spiritual world, or the planet of Brahma (Satyaloka). Śaṅkarācārya, who interprets the previous verse as meaning that one goes to Svargaloka, interprets it as meaning heaven, the land of light. This serves as yet another example of the distinction between parā-vidyā and aparā-vidyā. In the highest sense, all verses of the scriptures speak about the Lord, His Supreme abode, and devotional service to him. This perfect understanding is captured by pure devotees, as well as the inhabitants of Satya-yuga. When this meaning is missed, however, the verses appear to indicate something else, like fruitive sacrifices and promotion to Svargaloka. The verses thus acquire different meanings according to the mentality of the student.
All the previous verses, from one to six, have at least four different meanings, according to the adhikari (qualification) of the student. In his commentary, Madhvācārya emphasizes the highest meaning, pure devotional service, while Śaṅkarācārya emphasizes the lower meaning, interpreting the verses in terms of fruitive activities and results.
Madhvācārya classifies the performers of sacrifice into four classes. Three are transcendentalists, classified as Apratīkālambanās (perfect devotees), Pratīkālambanas (intermediate devotees), and Dehālambanas (yogis who meditate on Paramatma). To these three, ordinary karmis who perform sacrifices to be elevated to the celestial planets can be added. Each of these classes will understand the verses in a different way, and different acaryas may emphasize one understanding or another according to whom they are speaking.
Apratīkālambanās perform sacrifices with the highest understanding and without material desires. For them, the fire is Lord Vishnu Himself, and the oblations are offered with a devotional sentiment, with the sole goal of pleasing him. For them, the Vishnudutas appear at the time of death and carry them to the spiritual world.
Pratīkālambanas, intermediate devotees, also practice sacrifices with a devotional sentiment, but they are not so elevated in knowledge and are not completely free from material desires. They are thus conducted by the rays of the sun, by the grace of the Lord, to the planetary systems of Maharloka, Janaloka, or Tapoloka, from where they can continue perfecting their devotional service until they attain perfection. Dehālambanas, who meditate on Paramatma inside their hearts, are elevated to Satyaloka, from where they can attain liberation at the end of Brahma's life.
Ordinary karmis, however, have just a poor fund of knowledge, and thus they can't see the Lord at all in the verses. For them, sacrifices are performed for the demigods, the fire is a representative of Agni, and the goal is to attain fruitive results. They are elevated to Svargaloka with the help of the demigods, according to their Karma, but from there they fall back to earth.
As Krsna explains in the Bhagavad-gita: "When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death."