Question: I understand that it’s blasphemous to say that Lord Vishnu is different from Lord Krishna. Then, how is it that a lot of ISKCON devotees say that they want to go only to Goloka Vrindavan and not to Vaikuntha? Even when Srila Prabhupada was asked to describe his spiritual master, he replied, ‘What can I say, he was a Vaikuntha man.’
Answer by Romapada Swami: In very advanced stages of devotion, a devotee becomes exclusively attached to a particular feature of the Supreme Lord. For example, Sri Hanumanji is such a staunch devotee of Lord Rama that although he respects Lord Narayana or adores the devotion of the gopis towards Krishna, his only worshipful lord and master is Lord Rama. Such exclusive attachment to the form of Krishna, Rama or any other form naturally develops in a very advanced stage of devotion.
Lord Caitanya taught that the highest object of worship is that of Svayam Bhagavan Krishna in His Vrindavan feature, which is full of sweetness, and so naturally, His devotees follow in His footsteps and aspire for unalloyed devotion to the form of Krishna. But while cultivating such an attachment, we should also understand that all of the forms of the Supreme Lord are equally worthy of our devotion and worship and are beyond any mundane discrimination. Even in the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, we find that the Lord was very pleased and encouraged to experience the exclusive devotion of some devotees of Lord Ramachandra and of Lord Narasimha. Thus a devotee’s mood of attachment to Krishna does not minimize Vaikuntha; rather, it increases one’s own attachment to the Vrindavana feature of the Lord’s pastimes.
