Text 44
tatra labdha-padaṁ cittam
ākṛṣya vyomni dhārayet
tac ca tyaktvā mad-āroho
na kiñcid api cintayet
tatra — in such meditation on the Lord’s face; labdha-padam — being established; cittam — consciousness; ākṛṣya — withdrawing; vyomni — in the sky; dhārayet — one should meditate; tat — such meditation in the sky as the cause of material manifestation; ca — also; tyaktvā — giving up; mat — to Me; ārohaḥ — having ascended; na — not; kiñcit — anything; api — at all; cintayet — one should think of.
Being established in meditation on the Lord’s face, one should then withdraw the consciousness and fix it in the sky. Then giving up such meditation, one should become established in Me and give up the process of meditation altogether.
As one becomes established in pure consciousness, the duality of “I am meditating and this is the object of my meditation” vanishes, and one comes to the stage of spontaneous relationship with the Personality of Godhead. Every living entity is originally part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, and when that forgotten eternal relationship is revived one experiences remembrance of the Absolute Truth. In that stage, described here as mad-ārohaḥ, one no longer sees oneself as a meditator nor the Lord as a mere object of meditation, but rather one enters the spiritual sky for an eternal life of bliss and knowledge in direct loving relationship with the Lord.
Uddhava originally inquired about the procedure of meditation for those desiring liberation. The word labdha-padam indicates that when one fixes the mind upon the Lord’s face, one achieves full liberation. In the postliberation phase one then proceeds to render service to the original Personality of Godhead. By giving up the concept of being a meditator, one casts off the last small remnant of illusory energy and sees the Lord as He actually is.