So God, or the Supreme Truth, Absolute Truth, is that from whom everything has come. So that is the beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Janmādy asya yataḥ, "Absolute Truth is that from whom everything has come into existence." Now, what is the nature of the Absolute Truth? "Everything" means . . . there are two things: matter and spirit. Two things. Just like at the present moment we are covered by two kinds of dresses—the subtle dress: mind, intelligence and ego; and the gross covering. Subtle means we know there is this thing, but we cannot see it. Just like you know I have got mind; I know you have got mind, but I don't see your mind, you don't see my mind. I know you have got intelligence, you know I have got intelligence, but we don't see what is that intelligence. Similarly, identification. I am this consciousness, that also you have got consciousness, I have got consciousness, but we don't see. So things which are not visible to these material eyes, that is called subtle. And spirit soul is still subtler. So human life is meant for understanding that spirit soul and the Supreme Soul.
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So the common platform is, therefore, if we try to understand the Supreme Soul, and we turn our loving propensities to that Supreme Soul, that is called religion. Religion is not kind of . . . in the dictionary it is said, "Religion is a kind of faith." No. It is a permanent, I mean to say, arrangement. It is not the faith. Faith we can change. Today I am Hindu; I can become Christian tomorrow. You are Christian, you can change your faith tomorrow. So religion . . . in Sanskrit word religion does not mean faith. Religion means the original characteristic. That is called religion. So original characteristic means that cannot be changed. That quality, that characteristic, is always with us.
So Vedic version is that the living entity is eternal servant of God. When he forgets this relationship, that he is eternal servant of God, that means his material existence. In the material existence, nobody is prepared to become servant. Everyone is prepared to become the master. That is struggle for existence. Everyone is trying to become master. Even in the cats' and dogs' society you will find one dog is trying to predominate by barking that, "I am better than you." So this is called struggle for existence. Everyone, individual to individual, nation to nation, society to society, religion to religion, so-called religion—everyone is trying to become the master. Nobody is trying to become the servant. But real position is we living entities, we are eternal servant of God. As soon as we forget this formula, we are in the material existence. And as soon as we revive this our original consciousness, that is called spiritual platform. Therefore we are propagating Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or God consciousness, to come to the point to understand that we are eternal servant of God.