What Is Our Actual Value? 157

‘For a person devoid of devotional service to Krsna, 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 or-
naments 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 Krsna
consciousness. We have forgotten Krsna, and therefore we simply say
“‘consciousness,”” but really ‘“‘consciousness’’ means Krsna conscious-
ness, because without Krsna we cannot have consciousness. Without the
sun, how can there be sunshine? Therefore we say ‘‘sunshine,”’ and not
just ‘‘shine.’’ Similarly, ‘“consciousness’’ means Krsna consciousness.
This requires a little intelligence to understand, but devotees like Kunti
have this intelligence and understanding. Therefore Kunti says, ‘‘The
Pandavas and Yadus are so important, but what is actually our value?”’

Because Krsna is bidding farewell, Kunti 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 ’darsanam yarhi hrsikanam ivesituh. She gives the
example that without Krsna they would be like the senses without life. In
this material world we desire sense enjoyment, but without Krsna or
without Krsna 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 Krsna consciousness—we cannot even utilize them. An
intelligent person, therefore, knows that without Krsna 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 Krsna,
as long as the senses are active it is one’s duty to use the senses in the ser-
vice of Krsna. 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 tyaga, 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 bhogi and the tyagi—are fools.

The bhogis are the karmis, 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,
