Talk 181.
D.: Yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama. Which is that dhama? Is it not the Absolute state beyond cosmic consciousness?M.: Yes.
D.: `Na Nivartante' would mean not covered by ignorance again.
M.: Yes.
D.: Does it follow by inference that those who reach Cosmic Consciousness have not escaped from the clutches of ignorance?
M.: That is what is meant by saying that all lokas, even the Brahm a loka, do not release one from rebirth. Vide. the Bhagavad Gita: "Reaching ME, there is no rebirth …. All others are in bondage." Moreover, so long as you think that there is gati (movement) - as implied in the word gatva (having gone to) - there is punaravritti (return) also. Again gati implies your Purvagamanam (birth). What is birth? It is birth of ego. Once born you reach something; if you reach it you return also. Therefore leave off all this verbiage! Be as you are. See who you are and remain as the Self, free from birth, going, coming and returning.
D.: True. However often this truth is heard, still it eludes us and we forget it.
M.: Quite so. Reminders are often necessary.