There are, for the materialistic person, there are two varieties of self-interest. One is concentrated interest and other is expanded interest. Just like a child, if you give him some foodstuff, a cake, he will immediately eat, himself - and if he is little liberal, then his other friends also he will give. First of all, first is, he wants to eat, and then the other friend, "Oh, you are eating, give me something." "All right, you also take." So this is called extended interest, and the beginning is self-interest, anna brahman, "I shall . . ." Self-preservation is the first law of nature. So in our ordinary activities we find the same thing. Suppose a big political leader, in the beginning he is interested with his family, with his family members, but sometimes he takes to national interest, for all members of the country or the society, community. And then there is fight between one community to another community, one family to another family, one nation to another nation, because that extended self-interest does not make the thing perfect. That extended self-interest must be up to Viṣṇu. Then it will be perfect. But that they do not know, because they have no idea that there is Viṣṇu, the Supreme Lord, or Kṛṣṇa. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). They do not know. They think that "I have extended my self-interest to my country, to my family. I have become a big man." And people also give him honor. This we have practical experience. But that is extended self-interest. That is not actually philanthropy.
Philanthropy is when one becomes interested in Kṛṣṇa's interest. That is real philanthropy. Otherwise it is all kāma. There is no question of prema. It is going on as prema, deśa-bhakti, love for humanity. Hmm? The whole world is going on, but these are all imperfect things. The so-called philanthropism, altruism, humanitarianism, they are all . . . means imperfect, na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). That is not self-interest. Self-interest . . . Just like this finger, pick up some nice cake, rasagullā. But if the fingers think that "We have got it, we shall use it," all the fingers together, it will be spoiled. But if the fingers think that "Give it to the stomach," then it will be everyone's interest. As soon as the rasagullā goes to the stomach, the energy is distributed not only to these fingers of the right hand, but the left-hand fingers also. This law they do not know. This law they do not know. Therefore it is yadā na paśyanti, paśyaty ayathā guṇehām. Everyone is trying communally, nationally, individually for his or their interest. So that is not good. Svārthe pramattaḥ. They do not know what is real self-interest.
Yadā na paśyaty ayathā guṇehāṁ svārthe. Everyone should be interested, but svārtha. This is svārtha, that if you get a nice foodstuff, if you put to the stomach, then real svārtha. Not only the fingers which have picked up the foodstuff, not only his interested, tasmin tuṣṭe jagat tuṣṭaḥ. Yathā taror mūla, prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇām (SB 4.31.14). If you put the foodstuff through this one way, not foolish way, that we have to put the foodstuff within the body. So there are nine holes in the body: this mouth, the eyes, the ears and the genital, the rectum, the navel. There are nine holes. If some rascal says that any hole will do, you put the foodstuff through any hole . . . Sometimes it is done. When one cannot eat, the foodstuff is forced through the body through the rectum, through the nose. That is very troublesome. But the real process is, one process, you put the foodstuff through the mouth.