Nothing connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead is material.
For those who are materially engaged, control of the senses is required, but a devotee’s senses are all engaged in the service of the Lord, which means that they are already controlled. param drstva nivartate (Bg. 2.59). A devotee’s senses are not attracted by material enjoyment. And even though the material world is full of misery, the devotee considers this material world to be also spiritual because everything is engaged in the service of the Lord. The difference between the spiritual world and material world is the mentality of service. Nirbandhah krsna-sambandhe yuktam vairagyam ucyate. When there is no mentality of service to the Supreme personality of Godhead, one’s activities are material.
prapanci-kataya buddhya hari-sambandhi-vastunah
mumuksubhih parityago vairagyam phalgu kathyate
(Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.256)
That which is engaged in the service of the Lord is not material, and nothing thus engaged should be given up. In the construction of a high skyscraper and the construction of a temple, there may be the same enthusiasm, but the endeavors are different, for one is material and the other spiritual. Spiritual activities should not be confused with material activities and given up. Nothing connected with Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is material. A devotee who considers all this is always situated in spiritual activities, and therefore he is no longer attracted by material activities (param drstva nivartate).
Source: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (2014 edition), “Srimad Bhagavatam”, Ninth Canto, Chapter 4 – Text 25
