Without any hope of liberation, we become slaves to material energy, through its form of “matter.” One must have sufficient intelligence to know how to use these material assets for spiritual realization. Everything we have must be used in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One must strive to worship God, the Supreme Lord, with everything one possesses. There are many forms of service to the Supreme Lord, and each living entity can serve Him to the best of their ability. After engaging in speculative activities for many, many lives, one who truly awakens to his true consciousness and surrenders to the Supreme Lord, Krishna, finds his quest for knowledge truly fulfilled.
There is a vast difference between theoretical freedom and the actual liberation from material slavery.
One who turns away from the auspicious path of devotional service to seek knowledge of the truth through speculation is only wasting their precious time. The fruit of such effort is only the effort itself; there is no other gain. Speculative efforts always end in exhaustion. It is sometimes explained, as an example, that there is no point in threshing rice husks since the grain has already been extracted. Similarly, the mere practice of speculation is not enough to free us from material slavery, for its cause remains. The cause must first be neutralized; only then will the effect be eliminated.
The Lord gives us the solution: Liberation can be attained by earnestly performing devotional service and thus listening for a long time to the words concerning Me, or emanating from Me. One who thus fulfills his prescribed duties will not suffer any repercussions for any of his actions and will be freed from material defilement.
Listening to the glories of the Sovereign Lord cleanses the heart of all defilement caused by the influence of the three attributes of material nature. Regular and continuous listening to the words and teachings of God reduces the effects of the contamination stemming from lust and greed, that is, the desire to dominate material nature. When these defilements diminish, one establishes oneself in virtue. This is the level of spiritual realization. Thus, one can establish oneself at the absolute level, which amounts to liberation from the shackles of matter.
To free oneself from material bondage, one simply needs to surrender to God and make the firm resolve to serve Him with love and devotion for eternity. The key to liberation is love for Krishna, God, the Supreme Personality.
Lord Krishna teaches that anyone who knows the absolute nature of His advent and actions will return to Him, in His kingdom, once the time comes to leave their material body.
Thus, simply truly understanding the mystery of the Lord's appearances in this world is enough to free us from material bondage. His advent and actions, which He manifests for the good of all, cannot therefore be considered ordinary. Their nature is mysterious, and is revealed only to those who take the time to examine the subject in depth with truly spiritual devotion. This is how one frees oneself from bondage to matter. When darkness and ignorance of all facts relating to God and the Absolute Truth are covered, the conditioned soul forgets his relationship with the Supreme Lord and becomes submerged in attachment, hatred, pride, ignorance and misconception of his identity, the five forms of illusion which lead to material bondage.