Prahlāda Mahārāja says . . . he was instructing his class friends—he was a five-years-old boy—and he said: "My dear friends," that, "the material happiness . . ." Material happiness means sense gratification. This is material happiness. Everyone is materialistic, or materially advanced, means he has got better facility for satisfying the senses. That is material life. And spiritual life means that he does not satisfy his own senses, but he satisfies the senses of God. That is spiritual life.
Just try to understand. Senses, as I have already explained . . . God is also living entity. He is the chief living entity, chief intelligent man or god, whatever you say, and we are subordinate. Now, material life means . . . God . . . and what is our relationship? God is the supreme father, we are all children. So as in the family—the father is one, the children are many, say ten—if the children are very obedient to the father, then that family is very nice. Is very nice. If every children is obedient to the father, then father is happy and they are also happy. The father is also very open to satisfy the children. Father knows what is the needs of the children. He automatically supplies. And if the children become disobedient, the father is not satisfied. He may do as duty, to give them some food, but he is not satisfied. The same relationship with our relationship with God.
You know, those who are Christian, you pray in the church, "O Father." So God is actually the father. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is also it is said: "Father." Ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā (BG 14.4). Pitā means father. Ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā. So actually, God supplies everything through the material agent. That's all. Just as God supplies . . . the father supplies the money in the hands of the mother and mother expends for the children, similarly, God is the supreme father of the whole living entities, and the material nature is the agent of the Supreme Lord, and she produces food for you.
You may have tractor, you may have very good arrangement for producing food, machinery; but still, if the land or earth does not produce food, your this tractor or all other arrangements will be failure. So after all, we should know the supply of things are in the hands of the material nature. And material nature works under the direction of God. That is stated in Bhagavad-gītā: mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). Prakṛti means this material nature.
You don't think material nature is blind. Material nature has got her intelligence, and she is taking intelligence from the Supreme Lord. And according to that, she is supplying food or grains and everything. Because you get everything from the earth. Either you take metal or this wood or water or food grains, whatever you are taking, using, you are exploiting the resources of material nature, but material nature is the agent of God. Material nature is an energy of God. So if God does not wish to supply you, however you may bring tractor and anything . . . just like in desert. In desert you cannot make it fertile because there that particular tract of land is forbidden by God: "No, nothing should be produced." You cannot do it. If you have got producing power, then why don't you produce sufficient grains and vegetables in the desert? That is not possible.
So after all, we have to accept the supreme authority, the Personality of Godhead. Even if you study scrutinizingly, very scientifically or, whatever you may say, philosophically, you will have to accept a supreme arrangement, a supreme hand over everything. That is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means a person who is Kṛṣṇa conscious, he can see everything. He can see in everything the hand of God. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If you see . . . a Kṛṣṇa conscious person sees a flower. He sees the flower—created . . . creation of God, Kṛṣṇa. "Oh, Kṛṣṇa is so artistic that He has created this flower by His energy so nicely, so decorately, so good flavor. So it is Kṛṣṇa's thing. Let me offer it to Kṛṣṇa." This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.