Answer
First, we must understand the Absolute Truth.
In the Absolute Truth, personalities exist, relationships exist, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead exists. Every living entity is an eternal part and parcel of Krishna, and our eternal relationship with Him is real.
The purpose of human life is to perfect that eternal relationship.
The relationships we experience in this material world are perverted reflections of the original spiritual relationships. They resemble the real thing, but they are not the complete reality.
Consider our present condition. We are eternal persons who possess the ability to think, feel, and will. However, as soon as we identify with the material body, we begin to think, "I am this body." Our individuality becomes centered on bodily identity.
Then we relate to others who are also identifying themselves with their bodies. Thus, relationships are formed between bodily identities rather than between souls.
The soul itself is eternal and possesses an eternal spiritual identity. Our present identity—as a man, woman, or even as another species—is temporary.
Even the different rasas we experience in relation to these bodily identities are temporary.
A man's experiences differ from a woman's.
A dog's experiences differ from a human's.
These identities change from one lifetime to another.
Therefore, these are not the soul's eternal relationships.
Still, the material world contains relationships, affection, and enjoyment because they are reflections of the spiritual reality.
Our capacity to love and enjoy is real, but here it is only a sample or shadow of the original spiritual experience.
These experiences attract us because they hint at something higher. We experience family affection, friendship, social relationships, and other refined emotions, but eventually these become frustrating because they are centered around the temporary body.
Therefore, devotees do not place their ultimate dependence on bodily relationships. At the same time, they do not reject them or deny their value.
The human form of life provides a unique opportunity to experience refined emotions and relationships that are unavailable in lower species. Animals cannot experience the same depth of family life, social interaction, responsibility, or refined affection.
Although we describe material relationships as maya, we do not mean they are completely unreal.
Rather, they are reflections of eternal realities.
For example:
Fame exists eternally in relation to Krishna.
Krishna is supremely famous.
His devotees also become eternally glorious.
The Lord has arranged these experiences in the material world so that we can understand the nature of the spiritual world.
Human life is therefore extremely rare.
Only in the human form do we develop the vocabulary and experience necessary to understand the full spectrum of spiritual rasa. This refined understanding is not available in animal life.
For this reason, human life is meant not merely for liberation from material existence, but for cultivating spiritual culture, refinement, and higher taste.
As our appreciation becomes more refined, we begin to understand what spiritual happiness, spiritual relationships, and spiritual varieties of bliss truly are.
Ultimately, we realize that in the spiritual world everything is centered on pleasing the Supreme Lord.
This is one of the great differences between the Vaishnava understanding and impersonal philosophy.
Vaishnavas understand the purpose behind the Lord's creation and appreciate the significance of all these varieties rather than denying them.
For example, Srila Prabhupada explains that attraction between man and woman is part of the Lord's creation. It should not simply be rejected as meaningless. Rather, it should be understood according to scripture.
The sweetness experienced in conjugal relationships within the material world points toward an original spiritual reality, although here it becomes mixed with material conditioning and many complications.
The scriptures explain these distinctions in detail, including the difference between regulated and illicit sex. Krishna Himself states in the Bhagavad-gita that He is sex life which is in accordance with religious principles.
Everything has its proper place when understood through the philosophy of Krishna consciousness.
This is why understanding Vaishnava philosophy requires careful study.
Impersonal philosophy is comparatively simple because it dismisses all varieties as illusion.
Vaishnava philosophy, however, explains every detail:
Why Krishna has two hands or four hands.
Why His complexion is bluish.
Why He carries particular weapons.
Why every feature of His form has meaning.
Nothing is arbitrary; everything has spiritual significance.
If one merely concludes that everything is impersonal Brahman, there is little left to understand.
Impersonal philosophers cannot adequately explain why this material world contains such extraordinary variety—varieties of relationships, emotions, and enjoyment.
Material experience is remarkably rich, although it is produced through the body's biochemical processes.
Modern science can identify many of the chemicals associated with attraction, affection, and emotional experience.
However, these bodily chemicals merely facilitate a temporary imitation of the original spiritual experience.
The material body is like a sophisticated machine that reproduces, in a limited way, the experiences of the spiritual world.
In the spiritual world, no material chemicals are required.
The soul's spiritual body naturally possesses all the capacity for love, emotion, relationship, meeting, separation, and the unlimited exchanges of transcendental rasa.
These subjects are elaborately explained by the Goswamis in their writings on devotional mellows and the spiritual exchanges between Krishna and His devotees.
