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110 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 some-
where, 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 Krsna, we automatically receive all
necessities, all energy.

Srimad-Bhagavatam confirms that we are all parts and parcels
of the Supreme. If a part of the body cannot regularly render ser-
vice, it gives pain to the body, and ifa person does not render ser-
vice 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 be-
cause he is violating the laws of the state, he is giving the govern-
ment 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 ma-
terial world. In essence, He says, ‘‘You live here. You are all dis-
turbing the creation; therefore you are criminals and have to live
in this material world.’ Sthandd bhrastah patanty adhah: ‘‘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 con-
tinue to suffer pain, and God will suffer pain because of us. If lam
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
Krsna consciousness and engage in the Lord’s service. That is our
natural life, and that is possible in the spiritual sky, Goloka
Vrndavana.

The word avajananti actually means ‘‘to neglect.”’ This means

Failure and Success in Yoga 111

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 avajananti. 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 avajananti, 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 kKarma-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 jfidna-yoga, knowledge. From
the platform of knowledge, one attains to this astanga-yoga,
the eightfold yoga system—dhydna, dhdarand, pranayama, asana,
etc.—and from astdrga-yoga, as one concentrates on Visnu, one
comes to the point of bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga is the perfectional
stage, and if one practices Krsna consciousness, one attains this
stage from the very beginning. That is the direct route.

If one practices jf#dna-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 toa 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 mat-
ter 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 yogasystems, 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 Mahaprabhu, by His
