Krishna smiled at this and replied, "Arjuna! What greater benefit is there than that? That holy victory makes mortal man a Mahatma. You may still pose the question: Of what benefit is it to become a Mahatma? Listen. The Mahatma is far superior to the ordinary man. The latter is established in the body and the Jiva, he identifies himself with the body and with breath, with the particular, 'the wave'. So, he is tossed about by joy and grief; he rises or falls with each experience. Between snatches of calm and storm, he reels under many a blow."

"The Mahatma is free from all dual experience. He is above and beyond. He has released himself from identity with the particularised; he is in the universal, the eternal, the changeless, the Brahmabhaava, not the Jiva bhaava. He knows that the Atma is not a limited entity, he feels that it extends beyond all limits; he is free from the blemish of Thamas and Rajas; he is neither dull nor driven about by desire; he has pure consciousness, unaffected by attachment or hate. Many who style themselves as such, nowadays, have no purity in their hearts; their consciousness is soiled by foulness. But the pure in heart have no further birth and death. They are under no obligation to appear again on earth. Without attaining that purity, you cannot escape the round of birth and death, however many your meritorious deeds, however high your spiritual status, however glorious the heaven you have secured! Only those who are perpetually in that Brahmabhaava can attain this timeless Me, and be freed from the chain, by merging in Me."

At this Arjuna gave expression to another doubt that worried him. He asked, "If that is so, why do the Upanishads declare that those who reach heaven, Brahmaloka, need not be born again? Please explain who exactly are those that are freed from this cycle of birth and death?"

"Arjuna! There are two types of liberation mentioned in the Upanishads, Sadyomukthi and Kramamukthi. Sadyomukthi is also referred to as Kaivalyamukthi. For earning this, no one need aspire for any heaven. They get this on the spot, and not by stages, step by step. Liberation secured thus is a possession for ever. The rest are liable to change. When the effect of the merit acquired wears out, heaven has to be given up, and life on earth starts anew. Such souls know no merging; only, those who attain Kaivalya, merge and become one with the eternal, the universal."

"This is to say," intercepted Arjuna, "the souls that attain Kaivalya are destroyed, is it not? Or is there any difference between merging and destruction, Laya and Naasam?"

"No, Partha! Layam is not Naasam, merging is not destruction. Layam happens when it becomes invisible."

"That is what happens when a thing is destroyed; it becomes invisible, we cannot see it any more."