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or pleasure potency, of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
This pleasure potency is manifested as Srimati Radharani, or
Ifer expansion Laksmi, the goddess of fortune. When the in-
dividual jiva souls are under the control of the internal en-
ergy, their only engagement is the satisfaction of Krsna, or
Visnu. This is the position of a mahdtma. If one is not a
mahdatma, he is a duratmé, or a cripple-minded person.
Such mentally crippled durdtmdés are put under the control
of the Lord’s external potency, mahdmaya.

Indeed, all living entities within this material world are
under the control of mahamdya, whose business is to sub-
ject them to the influence of threefold miseries:
adhidaivika-klesa (sufferings caused by the demigods, such
as droughts, earthquakes and storms), adhibhautika-klesa
(sufferings caused by other living entities like insects or
enemies), and adhydtmika-kleéa (sufferings caused by one’s
own body and mind, such as mental and physical infir-
mities). Daiva-bhitdtma-hetavah: the conditioned souls,
subjected to these three miseries by the control of the exter-
nal energy, suffer various difficulties.

The main problem confronting the conditioned souls is
the repetition of birth, old age, disease and death. In the ma-
terial world one has to work for the maintenance of the body
and soul, but how can one perform such work in a way that
is favorable for the execution of Krsna consciousness?
Everyone requires possessions such as food grains, clothing,
money and other things necessary for the maintenance of
the body, but one should not collect more than necessary for
his actual basic needs. If this natural principle is followed,
there will be no difficulty in maintaining the body.
