evaḿ cīrṇena tapasā
munir dhamani-santataḥ
māḿ tapo-mayam ārādhya
ṛṣi-lokād upaiti mām
evam -- thus; cirnena -- by the practice; tapasa -- of austerity; munih -- the saintly vanaprastha; dhamani-santatah -- emaciated so much that the veins are visible throughout his body; mam -- Me; tapah-mayam -- the goal of all penance; aradhya -- worshiping; rshi-lokat -- beyond Maharloka; upaiti -- achieves; mam -- Me.
The saintly vanaprastha, practicing severe penances and accepting only the bare necessities of life, becomes so emaciated that he appears to be mere skin and bones. Thus worshiping Me through severe penances, he goes to the Maharloka planet and then directly achieves Me.
A vanaprastha who develops pure devotional service achieves the Supreme Lord, Krishna, while in the vanaprastha stage of life. One who does not become completely Krishna conscious, however, first goes to the planet Maharloka, or Rishiloka, and from there directly achieves Lord Krishna.
One achieves Maharloka, or Rishiloka, through strict observance of positive and negative regulations. However, without developing a taste for chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord (sravanam kirtanam vishnoh [SB 7.5.23]), it is not possible to achieve the perfect liberation of going back home, back to Godhead. Therefore, on the Maharloka planet the unsuccessful sage gives more attention to chanting and hearing, and thus he gradually develops pure love of Godhead.
