We are serving māyā in different varieties. So māyā has got three modes—sattva, rajas, tamas, or mixed. Just like the color displayer, very expert in mixing color. Actually there are three colors: blue, red and yellow. This blue, red, yellow, the color display of the mix—three into three equal to nine, nine into nine, it becomes eighty-one. So in this material world we, living entities, we are colored in this way. Three into three—sattva, raja, tamo-guṇa. Three into three equal to nine, and nine multiplied by nine, eighty-one. So there eighty-one colorful living entities are there. Somebody is human being; somebody is demigod; somebody is cat; somebody is dog; somebody is servant, somebody is tree; somebody is plant . . . there are 8,400,000's of forms of life. And that is our service. (dog barking in background) Just like the dog is barking. He's thinking that he is dog, so his business is barking. That means serving the laws of material nature. Similarly, somebody is serving, somebody is serving in some way, somebody—varieties.
Because we are not meant for this service. We are, as Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa (CC Madhya 20.108-109). Our main business is to serve Kṛṣṇa. In Vṛndāvana, in Goloka Vṛndāvana, somebody is serving Kṛṣṇa as His friend, cowherd boy. Somebody is serving Kṛṣṇa as gopī, as lover. Somebody is serving Kṛṣṇa as father and mother, Mother Yaśodā, Nanda Mahārāja. Somebody is Kṛṣṇa's friend as servant, as tree, as water, as flower, as land, as cows, as calf. So many ways. This is our business. But somehow or other we did not like to serve Kṛṣṇa. Therefore we have been put into the service of māyā in three modes of nature. Just like a criminal. A criminal does not like to obey the laws of the state; therefore a criminal is put into the prison house and he's forced to abide by the law of the state. The state laws are there—either outside the prison house or inside the prison house. But one who does not obey ordinarily outside the jail the orders or the laws of the state, he is put into the prison house. But he cannot avoid the laws of the state. That is not possible. Because a citizen means he must abide by the laws of the state.
Similarly, we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). I have explained many times. So as soon as we deny to render service to Kṛṣṇa, immediately the māyā is there, captures, "All right. Come here. You serve me." This is the position. Artificially you cannot become master. That is not our nature, and that will not be happy service for us—artificial. Artificial . . . I have given this example: Suppose with this finger I capture some very nice foodstuff, rasagullā, and if the finger think that "I have captured the rasagullā. I shall eat." No. You cannot eat. You must put here. And then you get the benefit. And if you spoil the rasagullā in your hand and don't put into the mouth, then everything is spoiled. Similarly, we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Our business is to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Eka bahu syāma. The Vedas, we understand God has become many. Many . . . in many ways we are also part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. There are two kinds of manys. One many is called svāṁśa. Svāṁśa means personal expansion. And another expansion is differential expansion. The differential expansion are we, the living entities. We are also expansion of Kṛṣṇa. And the viṣṇu-tattva, They are personal expansions. But all of them are meant for serving Kṛṣṇa.