Although the mind may work imperfectly at the time of death, Krishna gives a devotee shelter at His lotus feet. Therefore, when a devotee gives up his body, the mind does not take him to another material body. Rather, Krishna takes the devotee to that place where He is engaged in His pastimes. One’s consciousness, therefore, must always be absorbed in Krishna, and then one’s life will be successful. Otherwise, the mind will carry the soul to another material body.
A devotee always accepts his distress as minimized by God’s mercy, though he might have to suffer many more times the suffering. Anyone who accepts this philosophy of God’s mercy in suffering conditions and still makes progress in Krishna Consciousness, He is sure to go Back Home Back to Godhead.
Krishna does not need our service, but He kindly accepts it. When Krishna asks us to surrender unto Him, this does not mean that Krishna is lacking servants and that if we surrender He will profit. Krishna can create millions of servants by His mere desire. If we surrender to Krishna, we shall be saved. As Krishna says ‘Aham Tvam Sarva Papebhyo Moksayisyami : I shall free you from all sinful reactions’.
The qualification of a spiritual master is that he must have realized the conclusion of the scriptures by deliberation and arguments and thus be able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, are to be understood as bona fide spiritual masters.