When Sanatana Gosvamin asked Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu about svarupa, or
the real constitution of the living being, the Lord replied that the real constitution
of the entity is to render service to the Lord. Extending this, we see that one being
serves another living being in some capacity and thus enjoys its life. An animal
serves a man, a friend serves his friend, mother serves child, husband serves wife, Mr.
A serves Mr. B, Mr. B serves Mr. C, and so on. There is no exception to service in
the society of living beings. The politician convinces the voter of his capacity for
service and thus gets his job. The artisan serves the merchant; the store owner serves
his customer. In fact, no living being is exempted from rendering service to others.
Service, then, is a thing which is the constant companion of the living being, and it
can be concluded that rendering service is the eternal religion of the eternal living
entity.

When a man claims allegiance to some designated faith or sect, such as Hindu,
Buddhist, Muslim, or Christian, this is not eternal. Such faiths can be changed. The
Muslim may become a Christian, or the Christian may become a Hindu. Such
changeable faith, therefore, is not religion. However, if one be Hindu, Muslim or
Christian, one is always a servant. So the particular faith is not the religion, but
service is the religion.

We are in a relationship of service to the Supreme Lord. He is the enjoyer, and we
are His servants. We are created for His enjoyment, and if we accept that position, it
makes us happy. Going back to our earlier example, fingers cannot be independently
happy without the cooperation of the stomach. Similarly, the living entity cannot be
happy without rendering service to the Supreme Lord.

Worship of demigods is not approved in Bhagavad-gita because, in the Seventh
Chapter, twenty-eighth verse, the Lord says, “Only those who are cast adrift by lust
worship the demigods instead of the Lord.”

Now, when we speak of Krsna, we should remember that this is not a sectarian
name. Krsna means all pleasure. Krsna, the Supreme Lord, is the reservoir of
pleasure. Our consciousness seeks happiness because we are part and parcel of the
Lord. The Lord is always happy, and if we dovetail our activities with His, we will
partake of His happiness.

The Lord incarnates in order to show us His joyous nature and pastimes. When
Krsna was at Vrndavana, His activities with His friends, the cowherd boys, His girl
friends, and all His other pastimes were full of happiness. The whole population of
