The Absolute truth covered by maya is called matter – What does this mean?

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the absolute truth covered by Maya is called matter what does this mean answer, Shri Prabhupada makes this statement in his purport Bhagavad Gita 4.24 this section of the Bhagavad Gita is talking about how by the cultivation of the mood of sacrifice that was the previous verse that when we act in the mood of sacrifice of contribution of yajna then our consciousness becomes spiritually elevated and then after having talked about this spiritualization of consciousness through action in the mood of selfless service Krishna gives a philosophical principle over here in 4.24 after which he will talk about various forms of yajna from 4.25 onwards so this verse essentially is telling us that ultimately everything is spiritual the word spiritual and material can be used in two senses one is compositional and other is applicational in terms of composition spirit is made of Satchitananda and matter is made up of Panchamahabhut, earth, water, fire, air, ether so in that sense matter and spirit are categorically different at the same time in terms of application we could say that both can be used in Krishna’s service and not only both can have the same destination but both can also have the same do also have the same origin both are Krishna’s energies and both are meant to be used in his service so the illusion essentially is to see anything separate from Krishna when we see anything separate from Krishna that is when we come under that separatist vision itself is illusion so in that sense if you use the word matter as referring to things that we see disconnected from Krishna and keep us in illusion then absolute truth covered by illusion is Maya or matter sorry absolute truth covered by Maya is matter so in a functional or application sense even the material can become spiritual when it is used for a spiritual purpose but as long as we don’t have that spiritual vision as long as our vision is covered by illusion we see material things as meant for our enjoyment and thus we cannot move forward spiritually in our journey towards Krishna and if we see earlier also Srila Prabhupada said the same thing when Jyoti is covered by illusion it is called material so here Prabhupada uses the word Jyoti not just in a sense of the effulgence of Brahman but he is using the word Brahma Jyoti as the foundation of existence so in a sense everything is the energy of Krishna and everything is potentially spiritual in the sense that everything can be used in Krishna’s service but to the extent we don’t see it in connection with Krishna to the extent we see it in connection only with ourselves to that extent we stay in illusion to the extent in fact that perception itself is illusion and that perception perpetuates our illusion if we can get bhakti wisdom and practice bhakti yoga then we start seeing more and more the connectedness of everything with Krishna connectedness of our own selves with Krishna and connectedness of objects around us with Krishna and when we see that connectedness of everything then all our actions become spiritualized and the mood of yajna which is what is highlighted in this section of the Gita is that we stop seeing things in connection with ourselves in connection with the vision of how they will give us sense gratification but instead we start seeing them in connection with Krishna with the absolute truth and how they can be used in his service when this is done then everything becomes spiritualized so one explanation of this verse which sometimes samacharyas give is that Krishna is telling Arjuna that the vision of yajna can be so inclusive that even this war field can be seen as yajna this war field is the yajna sthali the the fire of devastation that will come out from your Gandiva bow that will be the fire of yajna and the Kauravas are meant to be the ahuti in the yajna and you Arjuna are the priest who is meant to put the oblations into the fire so in this way even your yajna even your martial activities can be spiritualized so if you look at the overall purport Srila Prabhupada says that as long as we that whenever we do anything in the consciousness of doing it for Krishna’s service for his pleasure then that becomes spiritualized so Krishna is using the word Brahma repeatedly in this purport to illustrate that actually everything is potentially spiritual and our consciousness helps us realize and relish its potential spirituality helps us to release, realize and relish the potential spirituality of things thank you