(Srila Prabhupada's books)
"What is Vedic wisdom? Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). Knowledge. Veda means knowledge. What is perfect knowledge? Perfect knowledge is that 'My constitutional position is to serve.' Bring any man in this world who can say that 'I am not servant.' Is there any man or woman within this world, within this universe, who is not a servant? Can any one of you say that you are not servant? Is there anyone? Everyone is servant. Somebody is servant of the society, somebody is servant of the country, somebody is servant of his wife or family, or some cats and dogs, ultimately. One must be a servant.
So when a man comes to this knowledge that 'I am serving, so why not serve the Supreme?' this is knowledge. This is perfection of knowledge. Nobody can be freed from being a servant. Either you become a servant of God or you become a servant of dog, you must be a servant. So the intelligent person, a wise person, he prefers to..., servant of God, instead of becoming servant of dog.
There is no escape, that one cannot..., one is master. Nobody is master. Everyone is servant. 'Therefore one who executes his duties according to My injunction,' God's injunctions, 'and who follows the teachings faithfully becomes free from bondage.' As soon as you become servant to somebody besides God, then you are in bondage. You are in obligation. Obligation there is, but that is not bondage. To become servant of God is not bondage. But servant of dog is a bondage.
So the intelligent person is he who knows that 'I am servant, so why not become servant of the greatest?' Just like somebody wants to be worker in government service. Why? Because government is very big establishment, great establishment, he has got many facilities. That is not bondage. Similarly, why not become the servant of the supreme government? That is perfection of knowledge. So long we are not servant of God, that means we are deficient in knowledge. And perfect knowledge is to become servant of God. Because you cannot escape by not being a servant. Everyone has to become a servant, this side or that side."
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Los Angeles, January 1, 1969)
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