Answer
This is a good and somewhat complex question.
Our present condition is that we are completely forgetful of our real spiritual nature. We have forgotten Krishna and our eternal relationship with Him. Instead, we identify ourselves with the external gross body.
The body consists of the senses, and each sense interacts with its corresponding sense object. For example, the eyes perceive form, the ears perceive sound, the tongue perceives taste, and so on. These are the sense objects.
When I see something with my eyes, I perceive a form and identify it based on that form. For instance, something with a certain shape and structure is identified as a table, and something else is identified as a laptop. Our perception and identification are largely based on external appearance.
When the senses come into contact with their respective objects—seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, or touching—a sensation is produced. That sensation is transmitted through the bodily system to the brain, and it is ultimately experienced and interpreted by the conscious self, the spirit soul, as either pleasure or pain.
The working of this system is arranged by the Supreme Lord as Paramatma, the Supersoul, who has designed the interaction between body, mind, and senses. In essence, inert matter has no capacity to experience pleasure on its own. However, when the soul is present, consciousness animates the body, and sensations are experienced through the instrument of the material body.
The soul then interprets these sensations based on memory, conditioning, and past experience, labeling them as pleasant or unpleasant. In this way, what we commonly call “pleasure” in material life is largely a mental and sensory interpretation rather than true, independent spiritual happiness.
There is actually no real, permanent pleasure in mere sense contact with matter. What we experience is a kind of perceived or illusory pleasure, constructed by the mind under the influence of conditioning. We think, “This is very nice,” or “This is not nice,” or “I like this,” or “I don’t like that,” and in this way we manufacture the idea of enjoyment.
In the absence of knowledge of real spiritual happiness, the soul seeks satisfaction in these temporary sensory experiences.
This entire interaction between the senses and their objects is described in the scriptures as a kind of material phenomenon. Srimad-Bhagavatam explains this phenomenon of sensory contact and perception in detail, showing how the conditioned soul becomes entangled in it.
Thus, this phenomenon is an arrangement of the Supreme Lord meant to allow the conditioned soul to attempt material enjoyment. Although there is no true or lasting enjoyment in matter, because the living entity is strongly inclined toward enjoyment, the Lord facilitates this experience through the mechanism of material nature.
