Material condition of life means

Expressions researched:
"material condition of life means"

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Our present material condition of life means that we are forgotten of our relationship with God. This is our position.

Lecture on SB 7.6.2 -- Vrndavana, December 3, 1975:

So sambandha-jñāna, Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, what is the position between the living entities and the Supreme Lord. In the Vedas it is stated, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānāṁ eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). We are related with God because He is the chief leader. Nityo nityānāṁ. We are all nityas, eternal, and He is the chief eternal. From eternal, chief eternal, small eternals come. Just like the sun is the big illumination, and the sunshine is coming from the sun, small, bright particles. It is also individual. But because it is automatic, molecules, we cannot see differently. We see simply the illumination. But it is combination of bright particles, the sunshine. So in this way, nityo nityānām. Kṛṣṇa is the big, bright subject, and we are small particles coming from Kṛṣṇa. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). It is perpetually we are connected. Just like the sun and the sunshine is perpetually connected, Similarly, we are also perpetually connected. Take it any way. Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu, the supreme father, and we are all sons.

sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya

sambhavanti mūrtayoyāḥ

tāsāṁ mahad-yonir brahma

ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā

(BG 14.4)

He is the supreme father, and as the father and the sons are related eternally, you cannot be separated. There may be misunderstanding between the father and the son, but the son is always the son, and the father is always the father. That cannot be separated. So our present material condition of life means that we are forgotten of our relationship with God. This is our position. Therefore people are... Some of them are agnostics. Some of them are atheist. Some of them are this, that, so many. They want to forget God. They have already forgotten, and on account of their forgetfulness they are conditioned by nature. The father wants the sons may come back, and the sons have forgotten the father. Therefore the father comes as incarnation. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham (BG 4.7). Why Kṛṣṇa comes? Not only He comes, He sends His so many incarnation. Some of them are svāṁśa. Some of them are vibhinnāṁśa. Everyone is coming here to canvass, to get back the sons back to home, back to Godhead. In different countries, in different atmosphere the business is going on to reestablish the lost or forgotten relationship with God. This is going on.

General Lectures

We are in this material condition of life means we are in danger.

City Hall Lecture -- Durban, October 7, 1975:

Just like if you are in danger, you ask your friends to help you. This is prayer. So our prayer is, to Kṛṣṇa, ayi nanda-tanuja. Nanda-tanuja means... Kṛṣṇa appeared as the foster son of Nanda Mahārāja; therefore He is addressed as nanda-tanuja, means "the son of Mahārāja Nanda." So patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau. "I am your eternal servant. Somehow or other, I am now fallen in this ocean of nescience, ignorance." Just like if you are a person of the land, if you are thrown in the ocean, it is struggle for existence. Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). This is struggle for exis... Everyone is struggling. But what you will struggle in the ocean? You may be a very big swimmer, but how long you shall swim? You will be tired. The only means is to take you out of the ocean. Even one inch above the ocean is your safety. It doesn't matter how many inches you are taken from the ocean. Similarly, the prayer is, "My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, I am your eternal servant. Somehow or other, I am now fallen in this ocean. Please pick me up and fix me again as the dust of Your lotus feet." This is the prayer. So we should know in what dangerous position we are. Then there is necessity of prayer. And prayer to whom? To the Supreme Person to save us. Therefore there are so many prayers in the śāstra. Prayers means addressing the Lord to save us from this. The real saving is to pick us up from this ocean of nescience, ignorance. Then everything is all right. As soon as we come to the knowledge that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul, part and parcel of God," then our knowledge is perfect. This is called brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā. This is called Brahman realization.

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā

na śocati na kāṅkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu

mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

(BG 18.54)

So prayer is needed because we are in danger. And actually we pray when we are in great danger. Suppose if immediately there is some earthquake or there is some danger, naturally, spontaneously, we pray. We pray. But we forget it. But the prayer, the tendency of offering prayer to the Lord at the time of danger, is automatic. So we should know that we are in danger. We are in this material condition of life means we are in danger. Therefore we should pray. We must pray to pick him up, to pick us up. That is necessity of prayer.