s the power to offer his respects to God. Unfortunately, the living entity is artificially educated by society not to obey God, and that is the cause of his suffering.
Syamasundara dasa: When Descartes inspects reality, he concludes that reality consists of substances. He defines substance as "a thing which exists in such a way as to stand in need of nothing beyond itself." He says that there is only one absolutely independent substance—God. All other substances are created by Him. There are also two types of substances—matter and spirit.
Srila Prabhupada: This is all described in Bhagavad-gita. The summum bonum substance is Krsna, and everything emanates from Him. All these emanations can be divided into two categories: inferior and superior. The inferior energy is matter, and the superior energy is spirit. Everything that we see or experience is a combination of the inferior and superior energies. Since these energies emanate from Krsna, Krsna is the origin of everything, the cause of all causes.
Syamasundara dasa: Descartes states that the chief attribute of this spirit or soul is consciousness.
Srila Prabhupada: That is so.
Syamasundara dasa: And the chief attribute of the body is extension. Both the body and mind are finite and depend upon God for their existence, whereas God is completely independent.
Srila Prabhupada: Jivera 'svarupa' haya—krsnera 'nitya-dasa' (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madh. 20.108). Therefore every living entity is the eternal servant of God, or Krsna. Since we all depend upon Krsna for our existence, it is our duty to please Him. That is the process of bhakti. In the material world, we see that we depend upon our employer for our salary. Therefore we always have to please him. Eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman. (Katha Upanisad 2.2.13) God is providing everything for everyone. So why not please Him? Our only duty is to please Him, and that process is perfectly manifested in Vrndavana. It is in Vrndavana that everyone is trying to please Krsna, and because they are trying to please Him, they are happy. Krsna in turn is pleasing them.
jaya radha-madhava kunja-bihari
"Krsna is the lover of Radha. He displays many amorous pastimes in the groves of Vrndavana. He is the lover of the cowherd maidens of Vraja, the holder of the great hill named Govardhana, the beloved son of mother Yasoda, the delighter of the inhabitants of Vraja, and He wanders in the forests along the banks of the River Yamuna." (from Bhaktivinoda Thakura'sGitavali) Krsna engages in pleasing the gopijana, and the gopijana is engaged in pleasing Krsna. That is the perfect relationship. In a perfect family, the head of the family tries to please all the members by providing them with food, shelter, clothing, and everything else. Therefore he works hard to please them, and their duty is to please him. When the father comes home, the wife and sons try to please him, and that makes the perfect home. Similarly, God is the original creator, and we are all subordinates maintained by Him. Our only duty is to please Him, and if He is pleased, we will all remain pleased. If we pour water on the root of a tree, all the parts of the tree—the leaves and flowers and branches—are nourished. The process of bhakti-yoga is the process of pleasing the Lord. This is our only business, and as long as we take to some other business, we are in maya. We have no other business. The living entity who does not serve Krsna is in maya and is diseased, and the living entity who is constantly engaged in Krsna's service is liberated and situated in his constitutional position. If anyone within the creation is not cooperating with God or not satisfying the senses of the Lord, he is not in his normal condition. It is the function of this Krsna consciousness movement to engage everyone in Krsna's service and bring everyone to his normal condition. People are suffering because they are in an abnormal condition.
Syamasundara dasa: Descartes believed that God's truth is the basis for our knowledge of the truth, and that God is truth.
Srila Prabhupada: Since God is truth, everythi