Category:Goal of Devotional Service to God

Theme Analysis

Śrīla Prabhupāda makes it unequivocally clear that the ultimate goal of devotional service is completely divorced from mundane aspirations. The sincere practitioner does not engage in devotional service to attain material enjoyment, heavenly elevation, or even impersonal liberation. There is a vast gulf of difference between the material goals of religiosity, economic development, sense gratification, and liberation, and the supreme, transcendental goal of pure devotion. The actual destination of the spiritual journey is unalloyed love of Godhead. By executing the various processes of devotion, such as hearing and chanting, the seed of devotion grows into a magnificent plant that pierces the material coverings, bypasses the impersonal brahmajyoti, and takes eternal shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa in Goloka Vṛndāvana. Ultimately, the goal is to be eternally situated in this loving service, enjoying the boundless spiritual bliss that comes exclusively from pure, uninterrupted devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

• Rejecting Material Aspirations: Even those who initially approach the Lord with material desires ultimately realize that mundane enjoyment and material achievements are not the true goals of devotion.
• Surpassing Liberation: The ambition to merge into the impersonal Brahman falls infinitely short of the true spiritual destination; there is a gulf of difference between liberation and devotional service.
• Attaining Pure Love of Godhead: Across all Vedic literatures, the ultimate, undisputed goal of devotional service is established as developing pure attraction and love for the Supreme Lord.
• Returning Back to Godhead: The perfection of the devotional process is returning to the spiritual world, Goloka Vṛndāvana, to engage in eternal, blissful service.
• Executing the Process: Whether one practices a single limb of devotion like hearing or chanting, or multiple processes simultaneously, the steady execution of these activities guarantees the attainment of the supreme goal.

• Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Material Enjoyment Is Not the Goal of Devotional Service to God.