Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 32


Sanskrit:

यत्ते गतीनां तिसृणामीशितु: परमं पदम् ।नार्वाचीनो विसर्गस्य धातर्वेदितुमर्हति ॥ ३२ ॥

ITRANS:

yat te gatīnāṁ tisṛṇāmīśituḥ paramaṁ padamnārvācīno visargasyadhātar veditum arhati

Translation:

O supreme controller, You control the three destinations [promotion to the heavenly planets, birth as a human being, and condemnation in hell], yet Your supreme abode is Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma. Since we appeared after You created this cosmic manifestation, Your activities are impossible for us to understand. We therefore have nothing to offer You but our humble obeisances.

Purport:

An inexperienced man generally does not know what to beg from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everyone is under the jurisdiction of the created material world, and no one knows what benediction to ask when praying to the Supreme Lord. People generally pray to be promoted to the heavenly planets because they have no information of Vaikuṇṭhaloka. Śrīla Madhvācārya quotes the following verse: There are different planetary systems, known as Devaloka (the planets of the demigods), Pitṛloka (the planet of the Pitās) and Niraya (the hellish planets). When one transcends these various planetary systems and enters Vaikuṇṭhaloka, he achieves the ultimate resort of the Vaiṣṇavas. Vaiṣṇavas have nothing to do with the other planetary systems.