Material living being

Expressions researched:
"material living being" |"material living beings"

SB Canto 2

The Lord is knowable only by one who is a surrendered soul. Herein Brahmājī, the greatest of all material living beings, acknowledges this truth

SB 2.7.43-45, Purport: In the Upaniṣads it is clearly said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead can never be known simply by working very hard and taxing the good brain, nor can He be known simply by mental speculation and jugglery of words. The Lord is knowable only by one who is a surrendered soul. Herein Brahmājī, the greatest of all material living beings, acknowledges this truth. Therefore, the fruitless spoiling of energy by pursuing the path of experimental knowledge must be given up. One should gain knowledge by surrendering unto the Lord and by acknowledging the authority of the persons mentioned herein. The Lord is unlimited and, by the grace of the yogamāyā, helps the surrendered soul to know Him proportionately with the advance of one's surrender.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Those who have accepted this material body. That means all material living being

Lecture on BG 16.10 -- Hawaii, February 6, 1975: So Prahlāda Mahārāja replied that "My dear asura father..." He said. Asura-varya. He did not say, "father." He said, "My dear asura, the best of the asuras," asura-varya. Asura-varya, means best... That is the foolishness. The best—He heard the best, but he is addressing him as "asura, best asura." Still he is pleased, "Because I am best. I am best, best asura." So Prahlāda Mahārāja, a devotee, is very humorous, so he did not address his father as "father." He said, tat sādhu manye asura-varya: "O best among the asuras." (laughter) So he said, tat sādhu manye: "I think it is very nice." Tat sādhu manye 'sura-varya... Very nice for whom? Dehinām: those who have accepted this material body. That means all material living being. Tat sādhu manye 'sura-varya dehināṁ sadā samudvigna-dhiyām: "Who are always full of anxieties..." That's a fact, full of anxiety. This is the test that we are in external material body. Therefore we are anxious.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

So this is the cage, this material body is the cage of the soul. Therefore material living being is called conditioned or encaged

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- Hyderabad, November 26, 1972: The same example. Suppose you have got a nice coat. If you simply show the coat and iron the coat and keep it very nice, that does not mean you'll be happy. Because you are trying to get happiness from the coat or shirt. That is not happiness, that is not possible. Happiness is possible when you try to make happy the soul. Then happiness is possible. Another example is given—just like a bird within the cage. If you simply wash the cage and keep it very nice and don't give any food to the bird, then the bird will never be happy simply by polishing the cage. So this is the cage, this material body is the cage of the soul. Therefore material living being is called conditioned or encaged.