live only for a moment, while others enjoy a fabulous longevity. But all of them, from Brahma to the ant, they act under the direction of God, the Supreme Person, who is in their hearts.

The Lord said,“I stand in the heart of every being, and from Me come memory, knowledge and forgetfulness.”

However, it is not true that the Sovereign Lord guides certain beings in a particular way and others in a different way. In fact, every being is animated by a certain desire, and the Lord gives him the possibility of satisfying this desire. The best course of action is therefore to surrender to God, the Supreme Person, and to act according to his will; whoever does so is released.

No material means can allow us to escape happiness and unhappiness, intended for our particular body. There are eight million four hundred thousand (8,400,000) kinds of bodies, and each is intended to experience a certain amount of joy and pain. There is nothing we can do about it, because happiness and unhappiness are ordered by the Supreme Lord, by whose will our body was given to us. Since we cannot escape his designs, we must accept to be guided by Him, like a blind man who is led by a person with the use of his eyes. If in all circumstances we remain faithful to the condition to which the Supreme Lord intended us while following his instructions, we will reach perfection. The primary purpose of existence is to follow the directions of God, the Supreme Person; these instructions constitute everyone's religion and state duty.

Lord Krishna said,“Leave all other forms of occupation there, just surrender to Me, and follow Me.”

Our real duty is to carry out the supreme order of God. If we are firmly determined to do his absolute will in this way, we will always be safe, secure, whatever our situation, in heaven or in hell. The original and eternal position of every living being is to be the eternal servant of God.

Brahma advises us: “Remain in your position of eternal servant of the Lord. If you carry out his orders, you will never fall, even in the midst of material pleasures.”

The material pleasures obtained through self-help differ from those enjoyed by the Sovereign Lord. A holy being sometimes seems to enjoy great opulence, but if he accepts this position, it is only to conform to the orders of God, the Supreme Person. As a result, a holy being is never affected by any material influence. When the time comes, he will find the refuge of the Supreme Lord, and will thus remain eternally in his company.