Vaikuntha : the Supreme Abode

Heaven and future existence

Vaisnavas have no faith in heaven which is attained by performing sacrifices and rituals. Heaven attained by sakāma karma cannot grant permanent bliss and happiness, nor can it free the jiva from rebirth. As soon as the merits get exhausted, the jivas come down again to earth and again go through the processes of birth and death.

Rājasuya kari yeve brahmaloka care
punyaksaya bhaile dunāi samsārata pare
bance brahmalokata ācari tapa-yoga
nāhi ātmasukha indriyara mātra bhogā
māyāmaya devadharma samaste bināsi
āta sukha āche buli suni uthe hāsi
[Sankaradeva, Bhakati Pradip]

A man goes to the abode of Brahmā performing the Rājasuya sacrifice. When his sacrificial merits end, he again falls into this world. Another lives in the abode of Brahmā through the merits of contemplation and meditation, only to find that there is no happiness (even) there, only the pleasures of the senses. Hence, the illusory religions of the gods are perishable. It makes me laugh to hear that there is happiness there.

But Vaisnavas aspire for Vaikuntha, the Supreme Abode, from which there is no fall. kāla (time) and māyā, consisting of the three gunas, have no hold over this divine region. It is a Region of pure bliss and happiness where the devotees can have the beatific vision of the Lord constantly.

The released self attains the nature of the Lord in Vaikuntha. It desires nothing else and has no chance of returning to samsāra.The devotee prefers distinct existence, in whatever form in which he can worship God, to complete unity. The highest desire that a bhakta can have is the attainment to a place in the Celestial Abode of the Lord, Vaikuntha. It is thus that when a bhakta dies, he is spoken of as having 'passed to Vaikuntha'.