The soul's spiritual sustenance is the supreme necessity, transcending all material comforts of the body.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.33 — April 25, 1973, Los Angeles 730425SB-LOS ANGELES [38:33 Minutes] SB-01.08.33_730425SB-LOS ANGELES Prabhupāda: [leads singing of Jaya rādhā-mādhava] [04:31] [prema-dhvāṇī prayers] [break] Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [leads chanting of verse, etc.] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] apare vasudevasya devakyāṁ yācito 'bhyagāt ajas tvam asya kṣemāya vadhāya ca sura-dviṣām [SB 1.8.33] Prabhupāda: Word meaning?
Pradyumna: apare—others; vasudevasya—of Vasudeva; devakyām—of Devakī; yācitaḥ—being prayed for; abhyagāt—took birth; ajaḥ—unborn; tvam—You are; asya—of him; kṣemāya—for the good; vadhāya—for the purpose of killing; ca—and; sura-dviṣām—of those who are envious of the demigods. [08:08] Translation: "Others say that since both Vasudeva and Devakī prayed for You, You have taken Your birth as their son. Undoubtably You are unborn, yet You take Your birth for their welfare and to kill those who are envious of the demigods." Prabhupāda: So there are two purposes of incarnation. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham [Bg. 4.7] The Lord says that whenever there is irregularities, dharmasya, of religion, irregularities...
Glāniḥ. Glāniḥ means irregularities. Just like you are executing some service. There may be irregularities, then it becomes polluted.
So yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati... Dharmasya glānir bhavati means development of irreligiosity. That means if your wealth is diminished, then your poverty is increased, balance. If you increase this side, the other side will go up, and if you increase that side, the other side will...
But you have to keep balance. That is required. So in the human society, they are meant for keeping balance. What is that balance? They do not know that...
It is just like balance. One side spirit, another side matter. We are now, actually, we are spirit soul. Somehow or other we have been encaged within this body, material body.
For that purpose, so long we have got this body, we have got necessities of the body—eating, sleeping, mating, defending. These are the necessities of the body. Soul does not require all these things. Soul has nothing to eat. That we do not know.