Do impersonalist & atheist also achieves place in Gods abode?
The attraction of the gopis for Krishna and the affection of the members of the Yadu dynasty are both accepted as spontaneous, or raganuga. The attraction of Kamsa to Krishna in fearfulness and the attraction of Sisupala in enviousness are not accepted as devotional service, however, because their attitudes are not favorable. Devotional service should be executed only in a favorable frame of mind. Therefore, according to Srila Rupa Gosvami, such attractions are not considered to be in devotional service. Again, he analyzes the affection of the Yadus: If it is on the platform of friendship, then it is spontaneous love, but if it is on the platform of regulative principles, then it is not. And only when affection comes to the platform of spontaneous love is it counted in the category of pure devotional service. There may be some difficulty in understanding that both the gopis and Kamsa achieved the same goal, so this point should be clearly understood because the attitudes of Kamsa and Sisupala were different from that of the gopis. Although in all these cases the focus is on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and all of the devotees are elevated to the spiritual world, there is still a distinction between these two classes of souls. In the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, it is said that the absolute truth is one, and He is manifested as impersonal Brahman, Paramatma (Supersoul), and Bhagavan (the Supreme Personality of Godhead). Here is a spiritual distinction. Although Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan are the same-and-one Absolute truth, still devotees like Kamsa or Sisupala could attain only to the Brahman effulgence. They could not have the realization of Paramatma or Bhagavan. That is the distinction.
An analogy can be given with the sun globe and the sunshine: to remain in the sunshine does not mean one has gone to the sun globe. The temperature of the sun globe is different from the temperature of the sunshine. One who has gone through the sunshine in jet planes or in spaceships has not necessarily gone to the sun globe. Although the sunshine and the sun globe are actually one and the same, still there is a distinction, for one is the energy and one is the energetic source. The absolute truth and His bodily effulgence are in the same way simultaneously one and different. Kamsa and Sisupala attained to the absolute truth, but they were not allowed to enter into the Goloka Vrndavana abode. Impersonalists and the enemies of the Lord are, because of attraction to God, allowed to enter into His kingdom, but they are not allowed to enter into the Vaikuntha planets or the Goloka Vrndavana planet of the Supreme Lord. To enter the kingdom and to enter the king’s palace are not the same thing.
Source: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (2011 edition), “The Nector of Devotion”, Page 120 & 121
