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THE PATH OF PERFECTION
We can actually see how the various parts of the body serve the body. If I have an itch, the fingers immediately scratch. If I want to see something, the eyes immediately look. If I want to go somewhere, the legs immediately take me. As I receive service from the different parts of my body, God receives service from all parts of His creation. God is not meant to serve. If the limbs of the body serve the entire body, the parts of the body automatically receive energy. Similarly, if we serve Kṛṣṇa, we automatically receive all necessities, all energy.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  confirms that we are all parts and parcels of the Supreme. If a part of the body cannot regularly render service, it gives pain to the body, and if a person does not render service to the Supreme Lord, he is simply giving pain and trouble to the Supreme Lord. Therefore such a person has to suffer, just as a criminal has to suffer when he does not abide by the laws of the state. Such a criminal may think, "I'm a very good man," but because he is violating the laws of the state, he is giving the government trouble, and consequently the government puts him in prison. When living entities give the Supreme Lord trouble, the Lord comes, collects them together, and puts them in this material world. In essence, He says, "You live here. You are all disturbing the creation; therefore you are criminals and have to live in this material world."  Śthānād bhraṣṭāḥ patanty adhaḥ : "One falls down from his constitutional position." If a finger is diseased, it has to be amputated lest it pollute the entire body. Having rebelled against the principles of God consciousness, we are cut off from our original position. We have fallen. In order to regain our original position, we must resume rendering service unto the Supreme Lord. That is the perfect cure. Otherwise we will continue to suffer pain, and God will suffer pain because of us. If I am a father, and my son is not good, I suffer, and my son suffers also. Similarly, we are all sons of God, and when we cause God pain, we are also pained. The best course is to revive our original Kṛṣṇa consciousness and engage in the Lord's service. That is our natural life, and that is possible in the spiritual sky, Goloka Vṛndāvana.
The word  avajānanti  actually means “to neglect.” This means:
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thinking, “What is God? I am God. Why should I serve God?” This is just like a criminal thinking, “What is this government? I can manage my own affairs. I don’t care for the government.” This is called  avajānanti . We may speak in this way, but the police department is there to punish us. Similarly, material nature is here to punish us with the threefold miseries. These miseries are meant for those rascals who  avajānanti , who don’t care for God or who take the meaning of  God  cheaply, saying, “I am God. You are God.”
Thus the general progress of  yoga  is gradual. First one practices  karma-yoga , which refers to ordinary, fruitive activity. Ordinary activities include sinful activities, but  karma-yoga  excludes such activities.  Karma-yoga  refers only to good, pious activities, or those actions which are prescribed. After performing  karma-yoga , one comes to the platform of  jñāna-yoga , knowledge. From the platform of knowledge, one attains to this  aṣṭānga-yoga , the eightfold  yoga  system— dhyāna ,  dhāraṇā ,  prāṇāyāma ,  āsana , etc.—and from  aṣṭānga-yoga , as one concentrates on  Viṣṇu , one comes to the point of  bhakti-yoga .  Bhakti-yoga  is the perfectional stage, and if one practices  Kṛṣṇa  consciousness, one attains this stage from the very beginning. That is the direct route.
If one practices  jñāna-yoga  and thinks that he has attained the ultimate, he is mistaken. He has to make further progress. If we are on a staircase and have to reach the top floor, which is the hundredth floor, we are mistaken if we think we have arrived when we are on the thirtieth floor. As stated before, the whole  yoga  system may be likened to a staircase, connecting or linking us to God. In order to attain the ultimate, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we must go to the highest platform, and that is  bhakti-yoga .
But why walk up all these steps if we have a chance to take an elevator? By means of an elevator, we can reach the top in a matter of seconds.  Bhakti-yoga  is this elevator, the direct process by which we can reach the top in a matter of seconds. We can go step by step, following all the other  yoga  systems, or we can go directly. Since in this age of Kali-yuga people have short life spans and are always disturbed and anxious, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by His