In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ: (BG 9.13) "Those who are mahātmā, they are under the protection of the spiritual energy." And those who are not mahātmās, durātmās, they are under the protection of the material energy. And the living entity is called marginal energy. Because he has to remain under the control or under the supervision of one of these two energies, material energy and spiritual energy. And he can select whether to remain under the control of material energy or under the control of spiritual energy. Therefore he's called marginal. The living entity's position is marginal, in between the two energies. So he can select. So Kṛṣṇa therefore comes to canvass that "Why you are working under material energy..."
- prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
- guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
- ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
- karta aham iti manyate
- (BG 3.27)