Two tendencies manifest in the being. The first is the desire to dominate material nature, or to become as great as the Supreme Lord, because everyone in this world wants to be the greatest, and when one becomes envious of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one then comes to ask, “Why should it be only Krishna? I am just as great as Krishna.”

Now, these two factors, desiring to become the Lord and envying the Lord, represent the primary cause of material slavery.

As long as a philosopher, a nihilist, or a man seeking salvation has any desire to become supreme, to be everything, or to deny the existence of God, the cause of his enslavement remains, and there can be no question of liberation for him. The spiritual being embodied and conditioned by matter may claim, through theoretical analysis, that he is liberated by the power of knowledge, but in truth, as long as the cause of imprisonment persists, there can be no question of freedom. Atheists may achieve great material progress and create a situation of extreme comfort for their senses, but because they remain dominated by them, they cannot be satisfied. Such is the result of present-day civilization. Materialists have become very adept at obtaining money, power, fame, and women for their pleasure, yet discontent is widespread in society, for man cannot be happy or peaceful without being Krishna conscious. They may indeed increase their material enjoyment to the limits of their imagination, but they are not satisfied, for beings thus conditioned by matter are slaves to their senses.

Relationships between individuals seeking sense gratification certainly lead to slavery. But the same type of relationship with a holy person, even if it takes place unconsciously, leads to the path of liberation. The company of a holy man, in one way or another, always bears the same fruits. Anyone who is not led by his actions to turn to religion, who is not led by his ritual religious practices to choose renunciation of material nature, or whose renunciation does not result in devotional service to the Supreme Lord, must be considered dead, even if he is breathing.