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THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
the living entities within the material world are but a small portion of the living entities throughout the creation. This material world is compared to a prison, and just as prisoners represent only a small percentage of the total population, so the living entities within the material world constitute but a fragmental portion of all living entities.
Those who have revolted against God—who are criminal—are placed in this material world. Sometimes criminals say that they don't care for the government, but nonetheless they are arrested and punished. Similarly, living entities who declare their defiance of God are placed in the material world.
Originally the living entities are all part and parcel of God and are related to Him just as sons are related to their father. Christians also consider God the supreme father. Christians go to church and pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” The conception of God as father is also in the  Bhagavad-gītā  [14.4]:
sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ tāsām brahma mahad yonir aham bīja-pradaḥ pitā
“It should be understood that all the species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.”
There are 8,400,000 species of life—including aquatics, plants, birds, beasts, insects, and human beings. Of the human species, most are uncivilized, and out of the few civilized species only a small number of human beings take to religious life. Out of many so-called religionists, most identify themselves by designations, claiming, “I am Hindu,” “I am Muslim,” “I am Christian,” and so on. Some engage in philanthropic work, some give to the poor, and open schools and hospitals. This altruistic process is called  karma-kāṇḍa . Out of millions of these  karma-kāṇḍīs , there may be one  jñānī  (“one who knows”). Out of millions of  jñānīs , one may be liberated, and out of billions of liberated souls, one may be able to understand Kṛṣṇa. This, then, is the position of Kṛṣṇa. As Kṛṣṇa Himself says in the  Bhagavad-gītā  [7.3]:
manuṣyāṇām sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye yatatām api siddhānām kaścin mām vetti tattvataḥ