Laws of material nature means

Expressions researched:
"Laws of material nature means"

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

You cannot control the laws of material nature and you are thinking you are independent? And the laws of material nature means material nature is the agent. Real conductor is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 3.26.6 -- Bombay, December 18, 1974:

So this is going on, foolishness, so many foolish persons, full of... And they are controlling this material world. Therefore it is very precarious condition. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ (SB 7.5.31). Īśa-tantryām. Just like if your hands and legs are tied very fast with some rope, and if you say, "I am independent," what is the meaning of it? If your hands and legs are tied up by a strong rope and still you think that you are independent, has it got any meaning? Similarly, we are tied up by the stringent rules and regulation of the material nature so fast, and still if we think that we are independent, is that very sanity conjecture? No. Even in your eating process, you are so much tied up by the rules and regulation that if you eat little more than you can digest, then there will be some disease immediately. Immediately there will be indigestion, diarrhea. You will have to suffer. If you enjoy when you are youthful too much sex life, then after a few days you will be impotent, no more sex life. In this way we are simply tied up by the rules and regulation of the material nature, and still, we are defying the authority and thinking, "I am independent." This is called rascaldom, mūḍha. They have been described in the Bhagavad-gītā as mūḍha, all rascals. You cannot control the laws of material nature and you are thinking you are independent? And the laws of material nature means material nature is the agent. Real conductor is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says,

mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ

sūyate sa-carācaram

hetunānena kaunteya

jagad viparivartate

(BG 9.10)

So behind the material nature there is God. Under His direction material nature is working. Chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā (Bs. 5.44). Durgā, the material nature power, is working just like chāya, shadow. So in this way... There is a Bengali verse,

piśācī pāile yena mati-cchanna haya

māyā-grasta jīvera haya se bhāva udaya

Piśācī, ghost, witch. There is some haunting of ghost, and when a man is ghostly haunted, he speaks so many nonsense. Māyā-grasta. Piśācī pāile yena mati-cchanna haya. Similarly, under the spell of māyā we defy everything, "Where is God? Can you show me God?" He is seeing every step God. God is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, how you can see God in every step, if you learn how to see God. That is taught in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ (BG 7.8). God is teaching that "You try to see Me in this way." What is that? "When you taste the water of, the taste of the liquid, water or anything," raso 'ham apsu kaunteya, "that taste is I am." So you want to see God, but you are tasting so many liquid thing. Why don't you think that "Here is God. The taste is God"? God is teaching. You learn how to see God. Your this blunt eyes, how you can see God now? You try to see God in this way, as God says, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ (BG 7.8).

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

Laws of material nature means karma. You act in a certain way and you get the result, good or bad; that is called karma.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 25, 1973:

Devotee: Suppose one does not develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness in this human form of life. He will be thrown into the cycle of birth and death involving 8,400,000 species of life, and his spiritual identity will remain lost. One does not know whether he is going to be a plant or a beast or a bird or something like that, because there are so many species of life. The recommendation of Rūpa Gosvāmī for reviving our original Kṛṣṇa consciousness is that somehow or other we should apply our minds to Kṛṣṇa very seriously and thus become fearless of death. After death we do not know our destination because we are completely under the control of the laws of nature. Only Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is controller over the laws of nature. Therefore if we take shelter of Kṛṣṇa seriously, there will be no fear of being thrown back into the cycle of so many species of life. A sincere devotee will surely be transferred to the abode of Kṛṣṇa, as affirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā."

Prabhupāda: We are under the control of the material nature. Everyone can realize it. Nobody can be free. But the process of freedom is also stated there: Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā, mām eva ye prapadyante (BG 7.14). If anyone takes to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, surrenders there, and be engaged in His service, then these laws of nature will be slackened, or almost nil. Karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām (Bs. 5.54). These are the statements of the śāstras. Laws of material nature means karma. You act in a certain way and you get the result, good or bad; that is called karma. Sat-karma or asat-karma. Actually everything is asat-karma. Antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām (BG 7.23). So even taking, accepting that good work is nice, but it is also bondage. Suppose you give in charity. So the laws of nature is that if you give one by charity, you get four. So now to accept that four, you have to take birth again. Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, karma-kāṇḍa jñāna-kāṇḍa sakali viṣera bandha. Karma-kāṇḍa means if you act very piously, next life you get good birth, good opulence, money, janma iśvarya-śruta, good education, beautiful body. These are the resultant actions of sat-karma. And asat-karma means you become poor, ugly, without any education, no riches, always hungry. These are the results of asat-karma. So this is called karma-kāṇḍa. And jñāna-kāṇḍa means to try to merge into the existence of the Lord, which, even if we do, but because you are under the impression of impersonalism, you again fall down. So both by the action of karma-kāṇḍa and jñāna-kāṇḍa one is not secure.