A person who is not bewildered by the inevitable miseries of material existence, and who remains aloof from them by remembering the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is to be considered a bhagavata-pradhaana, the foremost devotee of the Lord.
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.
For a person who is suffering in the fire of countless miseries and who desires to cross the insurmountable ocean of material existence, there is no suitable boat except that of cultivating devotion to the transcendental taste for the narrations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s pastimes.
By hearing about and glorifying the Lord, all a person’s activities become molded into spiritual activities and thus all conceptions of material miseries become completely vanquished.