kiṠduṣkarair naḥ kratubhis tapo-vratair
dÄnÄdibhir vÄ dyujayena phalgunÄ
na yatra nÄrÄyaṇa-pÄda-paá¹…kaja-
smá¹›tiḥ pramuá¹£á¹ÄtiÅ›ayendriyotsavÄt
kim - what is the value; duá¹£karaiḥ - very difficult to perform; naḥ - our; kratubhiḥ - with performances of sacrifice; tapaḥ - with austerities; vrataiḥ - vows; dÄna-Ädibhiḥ - with executing charitable activities and so on; vÄ - or; dyujayena - with achieving the heavenly kingdom; phalgunÄ - which is insignificant; na - no; yatra - where; nÄrÄyaṇa-pÄda-paá¹…kaja - of the lotus feet of Lord NÄrÄyaṇa; smá¹›tiḥ - the remembrance; pramuá¹£á¹a - lost; atiÅ›aya - excessive; indriya-utsavÄt - due to material sense gratification.
The land of BhÄrata-vará¹£a is so exalted that by taking birth there one can not only attain the heavenly planets but also go directly back home, back to Godhead. As Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.25):
yÄnti deva-vratÄ devÄn
pitá¹n yÄnti pitá¹›-vratÄḥ
bhÅ«tÄni yÄnti bhÅ«tejyÄ
yÄnti mad-yÄjino ’pi mÄm
“Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.†People in the land of BhÄrata-vará¹£a generally follow the Vedic principles and consequently perform great sacrifices by which they can be elevated to the heavenly planets. However, what is the use of such great attainments? As stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.21), kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaá¹ viÅ›anti: after the results of one’s sacrifices, charity and other pious activities expire, one must return to the lower planetary systems and again feel the pangs of birth and death. However, one who becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious can go back to Kṛṣṇa (yÄnti-mad-yÄjino ’pi mÄm). Therefore the demigods even regret having been elevated to the higher planetary systems. The denizens of the heavenly planets regret that they could not take full advantage of being born in the land of BhÄrata-vará¹£a. Instead, they became captivated by a higher standard of sense gratification, and therefore they forgot the lotus feet of Lord NÄrÄyaṇa at the time of death. The conclusion is that one who has taken birth in the land of BhÄrata-vará¹£a must follow the instructions given personally by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yad gatvÄ na nivartante tad dhÄma paramaá¹ mama. One should try to return home, back to Godhead, to the Vaikuṇá¹ha planets — or to the topmost Vaikuṇá¹ha planet, Goloka Vá¹›ndÄvana — to live eternally in full, blissful knowledge in the company of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.