Prabhupada's lecture - Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.7.28-29 - Vṛndāvana, September 25, 1976


So when there is no material obstacles, then the spiritual world can be utilized for any purpose. Here, because we are covered with the material body... There are two energies, it is described in the Bhagavad-gītā: material energy and spiritual energy. Bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca [Bg. 7.4]. This is material energy. And Kṛṣṇa says apareyam; this is inferior. Aparā. Itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parām. There is another, superior energy. What is that superior energy? Living. It is not dead. Jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat [Bg. 7.5]. Without spiritual energy, this whole universe is useless, anywhere you go. The modern scientists, they are going to—so-called—they are going to this planet, that planet. And they do not find any spiritual energy. They simply see the material energy-sand and rocks. That cannot be. Because... They can bluff because people are not aware of the whole science. They can bluff. In this material world there are two energies working: material and spiritual. There cannot be only material. There must be spiritual energy.

So they say that there is no life, that means there is no spiritual energy. It cannot be accepted. It cannot be. It is out of question. Because here we find jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat [Bg. 7.5]. There must be living entity who is conducting this material energy. This body is very beautiful, very useful. Why? Because the spiritual energy, the soul, is there. Otherwise, it has no value. So when there is a planet, when there are other things, how it has developed? This is a reasoning. This is sense. Because the material energy cannot develop without spiritual energy. Jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat. There cannot be anything material without spiritual energy. What is this body? How this body came into existence? Because the spiritual energy, the soul, is there. A dead child born, it will not grow because the spiritual energy is not there. So it has to be concluded that as soon as there is material, a manifestation of the material energy, there must be spiritual energy. It cannot...