Consciousness attached to matter binds; consciousness attached to Krishna liberates through the holy name.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.25.15 — November 15, 1974, Bombay 741115SB-BOMBAY [40:43 Minutes] SB-03.25.15_741115SB-BOMBAY [loud noise of fireworks in background] Nitāi: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse, etc.] cetaḥ khalv asya bandhāya muktaye cātmano matam guṇeṣu saktaṁ bandhāya rataṁ vā puṁsi muktaye [SB 3.25.15] [01:36] "The stage in which the consciousness of the living entity is attracted by the three modes of material nature is called conditional life.
But when that same consciousness is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one is situated in the consciousness of liberation." Prabhupāda: cetaḥ khalv asya bandhāya muktaye cātmano matam guṇeṣu saktaṁ bandhāya rataṁ vā puṁsi muktaye [SB 3.25.15] Two words: bandhana, bondage, and mukti, liberation. So people in ignorance, dull-headed, mūḍha, they do not know what is mukti and what is bandhana, what is liberation and what is bondage. They do not to know. Just like animals.
The animal, he does not know, the dog, that "I am bound up in this dog's body. This is bondage. This is not my life." He does not know. Similarly, a human being, if he does not know what is bondage and liberation, then he's animal.
From animal life, this human life is evolved for understanding this: what is mukti and what is liberation. So mukti and liberation, if you keep your consciousness materially affected... Guṇeṣu saktam. Material world means the three qualities, tri-guṇa, guṇamayī. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, guṇamayī, mama māyā.
Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te [Bg. 7.14]. Tribhir guṇamayair bhāvaiḥ. We are being conducted in this material world by three guṇas: sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. Out of these three guṇas, the sattva-guṇa is the best: knowledge, the qualification of brāhmaṇa.
Satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā ārjavaṁ jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam [Bg. 18.42]. One who has developed sattva-guṇa, then the following qualification will be found in him: he'll be truthful and controlled of the mind, of the senses, satyaṁ śamo damas; titikṣā, tolerant; ārjava, simplicity; jñānam, jñānam, full knowledge; vijñānam, practical application of knowledge in life; āstikyam, āstikyam, to have full faith in the authority of the Vedas. That is called āstikyam. Āstikyam and nāstikyam. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has explained what is nāstikyam and what is āstikyam. According to Vedic understanding, anyone who does not believe in the Vedas, he's called nāstika.
Just like Buddha philosophy. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, veda nā māniyā bauddha haila nāstika. Veda. Lord Buddha, he defied Vedic authority. His mission was different.