What Is Our Actual Value?
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“For a person devoid of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, his birth in a great family or nation, his knowledge of revealed scripture, his performance of austerities and penance, and his chanting of Vedic  mantras  are all like ornaments on a dead body. Such ornaments simply serve the concocted pleasures of the general populace.” ( Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya  3.11)
We all have consciousness, but what is this consciousness? It is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We have forgotten Kṛṣṇa, and therefore we simply say “consciousness,” but really “consciousness” means Kṛṣṇa consciousness, because without Kṛṣṇa we cannot have consciousness. Without the sun, how can there be sunshine? Therefore we say “sunshine,” and not just “shine.” Similarly, “consciousness” means Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This requires a little intelligence to understand, but devotees like Kuntī have this intelligence and understanding. Therefore Kuntī says, “The Pāṇḍavas and Yadus are so important, but what is actually our value?”
Because Kṛṣṇa is bidding farewell, Kuntī laments, “You will go, and we shall not be able to see You. What then will be the value of our name and fame?”  Bhavato 'darśanam yarhi hṛṣīkāṇām iveśituḥ . She gives the example that without Kṛṣṇa they would be like the senses without life. In this material world we desire sense enjoyment, but without Kṛṣṇa or without Kṛṣṇa consciousness there is no possibility of sense enjoyment. We may have strong arms and legs, but when there is no consciousness—when there is no Kṛṣṇa consciousness—we cannot even utilize them. An intelligent person, therefore, knows that without Kṛṣṇa his senses have no value, and therefore he becomes a devotee. He rightly concludes that because there is an intimate relationship between the senses and Kṛṣṇa, as long as the senses are active it is one’s duty to use the senses in the service of Kṛṣṇa. This is  bhakti .
To use an example I have given many times, suppose in an assembly one finds a hundred-dollar note that has fallen from someone’s pocket. If one takes that note and puts it in one’s own pocket, one is a thief because that note does not belong to him. This is called  bhoga , false enjoyment. Then again, someone else may think, “Oh, why shall I touch it? It belongs to someone else. Let it remain there. I have nothing to do with it.” This is called  tyāga , renunciation. So although the hundred-dollar note is the same, one person is trying to enjoy it while another is trying to give it up. But both of them—the  bhogī  and the  tyāgī —are fools.
The  bhogīs  are the  karmīs , those who are working very hard to exploit the resources of the material nature, like the scientists, for example, who are doing research to further such exploitation. Their intention, actually,