SB 3.27.20

The cause of material bondage is…, is putting oneself under the control of matter by false ego of lording it over the material nature. The Bhagavad-gita [Bg 7.27] says: iccha-dvesa-samutthena (i-c-h-h-a-d-e-e-s-a...; samutthena: s-a-m-u-t-h-e-n-a). When there are two kinds of things arisen in the living entity, the concept of living entity, one is iccha. Iccha means desire-desire to lord it over the material nature or desire to be as great or as good as the Supreme Lord. This is desire. Everyone is desiring to be the greatest personality or one with the Supreme Lord; or if not one, some great personality in this material world. So this is called desire. And dvesa. Dvesa means enviousness. When one becomes envious of Krsna or the Supreme Personality of Godhead and "Why Krsna shall be all in all? I am also as good as Krsna." This is called dvesa. So the two things, desire and enviousness. Desire to lord it over and enviousness unto the Supreme Lord is the beginning of cause of material bondage. So long, therefore, a philosopher or a salvationist or a voidist has the same desire that he is the supreme or there is no God, he is everything, so the cause remains there, so there is no question of liberation.

So Devahūti very intelligently inquired, "So long the cause is there, theoretically one may analyze things and becomes freed, that by knowledge he has become freed and so on, speculation, but actually it is seen that he is not freed." Therefore Bhagavad-gita confirms it that after such speculative activities for many, many births, when actually one comes to his real consciousness and surrenders unto the Supreme Lord, Krsna, then his fulfillment of research of knowledge is actually achieved. Theoretical freedom from material bondage and actual freedom of material bondage, there is gulf of difference. Therefore Bhagavata says that…, that if one gives up…, gives up the auspicious path of devotional service, because devotional service is the only means to get liberation. So one who gives up this auspicious path of devotional service and simply tries to know...

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...kevala-bodha-labdhaye (k-e-v-a-l-a b-o-d-h-a; labdhaye: l-a-b-d-h-a-y-a). Kevala, klisyanti. Klisyanti means "takes trouble." A person simply spoils his valuable time in speculation but does not stick to actual devotional service of the Lord, their..., the result of such labor of love is that simply laboring, nothing more, no result. The labor of speculation is ended being exhausted only. So just like the example is given that husking the skin of paddy, there is no result of getting rice; rice is already gone. Similarly, simply by speculative process one cannot be freed from material bondage because the cause is there. So one has to nullify the cause, then the effect will be different. This is explained by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the following verses.