Kṛṣṇa began this teaching to Arjuna first of all, aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase (BG 2.11): "You are talking like learned scholar, but you are lamenting on the body, which is not at all important." Nānuśocanti. Here also the same thing. Tasmād evaṁ viditva enam, this body, na anuśocitum arhasi. Do not be very much serious about this body. The soul is the subject matter to be considered. But the modern civilization, they are concerned with this body. Just the opposite.
Kṛṣṇa says because the soul is immortal, therefore tasmād evaṁ viditvā, understanding of this principle, enam, this body, na anuśocitum arhasi. The real factor is the soul. We have to take care of the soul, not of the body. So far body is concerned, there are pains and pleasure like climatic changes. Āgamāpāyinaḥ anityāḥ, such bodily pains and pleasure come and go; they are not permanent. Tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata. So you have to learn how to tolerate these bodily pains and pleasure, but you have to take care of the soul.
But the modern civilization, they have no knowledge of the soul, what to speak of taking care of it, and, like animals, they are in the bodily concept of life, taking much care of the body, but they have no information of the soul, and what to speak of taking care of it. This is the lamentable condition of modern civilization. Animal civilization. The animals simply take care of the body, has no information of the soul. So this civilization is animal civilization, mūḍha. Mūḍha means animal, asses.
Now if we say to the people in general, they'll be angry upon us, but actually this is the position. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke (SB 10.84.13). I've several times explained this verse. Yasya ātma-buddhiḥ. Ātmā means self; buddhi, has taken this body as self. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ. But what is this body? The body is nothing but a bag of tri-dhātu—kapha, pitta, vāyu—and its by-product. By mucus, bile and air, by interaction of these three things . . . just like this material world, this house. What is this house? Tejo-vāri-mṛd vinimayam. Anything in this material world, what is that? Tejo-vāri-mṛd vinimayam. An exchange of fire, water and earth. Tejo-vāri-mṛd vinimayam. Exchange. You take earth, you take water, mix them, and put it into the fire, it becomes brick, then powder it, it becomes cement, then again combine them, it becomes a big skyscraper building.
So as this material world, anything you take, it is simply a combination of these three ingredients, plus air and sky for drying. Air is required for drying. So combination of the five elements. Similarly, this body is also combination of five elements. There is no difference. But because in the big skyscraper building there is no soul, it stands in one place, but the body has got the soul, therefore it moves. That is the difference. The soul is the important thing. But they do not know. Just like we have manufactured the airplane and there is no soul, but another soul means the pilot. He takes care of it. He drives; therefore it is moving. So without soul, there cannot be any movement. Either the thing must have soul or some other soul will take care of it. Then it will move. Therefore the important is the soul, not this material body.
So anyone who is accepting this material body as very important . . . just like the other day, some rascals came. They were very much eager for feeding this body, those who are starving, starvation . . . starvation of the bodily concept of life. But there is spiritual starvation. That we are not taking care. Material starvation may be there, but actually that is not a problem, because there is sufficient arrangement for maintaining this material body. Real starvation is of the soul. The soul is not getting spiritual food.
Here, in this meeting, this is meant for giving to the starving spirit soul. And as soon as you get some spiritual food, then we become happy. That is the situation. Yayātmā suprasīdati (SB 1.2.6). Unless you get spiritual food there cannot be satisfaction of the real soul. The same example: within the cage there is the bird. If you simply wash the cage very nicely and cover it and paint it and the bird within the cage is crying, starving . . . what is this civilization? Similarly, we spirit soul, we have been encaged within this body, so our natural aspiration is to get freedom from this encagement, as much as the bird is struggling to get freedom from the cage. Similarly, we are also, we are not happy being encaged.
Yesterday we learned from Bhagavad-gītā soul's position is sarva-gataḥ. Soul can go anywhere. That is, it has got the freedom. Those who are spiritually advanced by yogic mystic power, they can also move anywhere he likes—aṇimā, laghimā siddhi. There are still yogīs in India who early in the morning takes bath in four dhāmas: Haridwar, Jagannātha Purī, Rāmeśvaram and Dvārakā. There are still yogīs. Within one hour, they'll take bath in four places. Sarva-gataḥ, the speed. They'll sit down in one place, and by yogic process within few minutes will get up and dip in here, in this water. Suppose in London you dip, take your dip in the Thames River, and when you get up you see in Calcutta, Ganges. There is yogic process like that. Sarva-gataḥ.