Then they gradually direct their attention to the top of the head. One who can raise his meditation to that position is understood to have become perfect and to be no longer subject to birth and death.” Even such yogīs render causeless devotional service to the Lord when they come in contact with pure devotees.
The word ātmā also means "an endeavor." In every practice there is some endeavor, and the ultimate endeavor is the endeavor to reach the highest perfectional stage of devotional service. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.5.18) it is stated that one should try to attain the highest goal, which cannot be attained either in the higher or lower planetary systems. The idea is that material happiness and misery are automatically available in all planetary systems in the course of time, but the highest achievement, devotional service, cannot be attained anywhere without endeavor. Therefore in the Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa it is said that one who is serious about understanding the highest perfectional stage of devotional service can become successful simply by his endeavor. One cannot attain the highest perfectional stage of devotional service without personal endeavor. As Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.10):