The Bhagwatam teaches that there is something beyond liberation. Whereas the Gita finished with liberation, the very second verse of the Bhagwatam throws out liberation as a goal. It says,
धर्म: प्रोज्झितकैतवोऽत्र परमो निर्मत्सराणां सतां
वेद्यं वास्तवमत्र वस्तु शिवदं तापत्रयोन्मूलनम् ।
श्रीमद्भागवते महामुनिकृते किं वा परैरीश्वर:
सद्यो हृद्यवरुध्यतेऽत्र कृतिभि: शुश्रूषुभिस्तत्क्षणात् ॥Dharmaḥ projjhit-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ.
Vedyaṁ vāstavamatra vastu śhivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam.
Shrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛite kiṁ vā parair īśvaraḥ.
Sadyo hṛidy avarudhyate ’tra kṛitibhiḥ śhuśhrūṣhubhis tat-kṣhaṇāt.- Bhagwatam 1.1.2
This verse says that what is taught in the Bhagwatam is ‘kaitav-rahit’ (without deception). ‘Kaitav’ means ‘deception’, and ‘rahit’ means ‘without’. So what is taught, the path that is taught in the Bhagwatam is without deception.
So what are the deceptions which are not allowed in the Bhagwatam? The Saints, all the Saints who have written their explanations of the meaning of this have said that there are four types of kaitav. The four traditional aims of human life that people generally associate with Hinduism are dharm (righteousness), arth (wealth), kam (desire), and moksh (liberation). So this is rather surprising to people when they hear it for the first time. Dharm, arth, kam, moksh. Everybody knows these are the four aims of human life.
Dharm means you perform good actions.
Arth means you gain wealth and possessions in this world.
Kam means you try to satisfy your desires in this world, enjoy the world.
Moksh is what I just explained, liberation.
But all four of these in the Bhagwatam are said to be deceptions, that there is something else beyond that which you are meant to be aiming for. There is a fifth aim of human life.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji, a very famous Divine personality from 500 years ago, said,
পঞ্চম পুরুষার্থ সেই প্রেম–মহাধন ।
কৃষ্ণের মাধুর্য–রস করায় আস্বাদন ॥ ১৪৪ ॥पंचम पुरुषार्थ सेइ प्रेम-महाधन।
कृष्णेर माधुर्य-रस कराय आस्वादन ॥Paṇcham puruṣhārth sei prem-mahādhan.
Kṛiṣhṇer mādhurya-ras karāya āsvādana.- Śhree Chaitanya-Charitāmṛit Ādi 7.144
In other words, there is a fifth aim of human life which is beyond these four - it is the Divine love of God. Divine love is what you experience when you interact with God on a personal level. And that Divine love is an actual power. It is the essence of Divine bliss, which is the essence of His personal power. Bliss is a power in the Divine world, and the essence of bliss is love, or prem (Divine love). So that is the ultimate goal of a soul. If you get that, you got the best thing.
And when you get that, you get a Divine body, senses, and mind so you can experience God and interact with God directly. In other words, you can take part in those leelas (Divine pastimes) forever in the Divine world.
