So here Kṛṣṇa says, dharma aviruddhaḥ kāmaḥ. The... In the śāstra it is stated that jīvo jīvasya jīvanam. "Every living entity is living by eating another living entity." That is nature. Ahastāni sahastānām. Śāstra says, in the Bhāgavata, that "Those who have got no hands, they are food for the animal with hands." Those who are eating animals, they are also animals. Even human being, in the form of human being, eating animal. So one... human being means with hands, sahastānām. Hasta means hand, and sa means with. And the animals, ahastānām, ahastāni, they have no hands. They have got only legs, four legs. So ahastāni sahastānām. This, the with-hands animal, means those who are meat-eating, they are animals, but with hands. That is the difference. Here is an animal. Just like cows, goats, lambs. They are animals. And dogs. There are dog-eaters also. There is the word, śva-pacaḥ. Śva-pacaḥ means dog-eaters. Yaj-jihvāgre nāma tubhyam, aho bato śva-paco 'to garīyān yaj-jihvāgre nāma tubhyam. Even a person coming from the family of dog-eaters... There are dog-eaters still. So if he chants Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, he becomes glorious. Aho bato śva-paco 'to garīyān yaj-jihvāgre nāma tubhyam. Caṇḍāla... They are called caṇḍālas. Caṇḍālo 'pi dvija-śreṣṭho hari-bhakti-parāyaṇaḥ. Even if a caṇḍāla... Caṇḍāla means the dog-eaters. So these animal-eaters, they are also animal, describing, animal with two hands. Ahastānāṁ sahastā... Ahastāni sahastānām. Apadāni catuṣ-padām. Apadāni means those who have no legs, like plants, trees, the grass. They have no legs. They are standing. They have got legs, but they have no moving power. They are called pāda-pa. Pāda-pa means they have got legs for eating. We are eating with mouth; they are eating with legs.
Human being means
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
So this human form of life is specially meant for cultivation of spiritual knowledge. Because in any other form of life... There are eight million four-hundred-thousands of species of life, and the best developed consciousness form of life is the human form of life, especially civilized men. There are 400,000 species of human beings. Human being means with two hands and two legs. So not all of them are efficient, but they have got this Kṛṣṇa consciousness dormant. Even in the lowest aboriginal stage of life there is dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But civilized life, Aryan, Aryan family, they are quite competent to deve..., culture, to cultivate this knowledge.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
A living entity, they live by eating another living entity. What is that? Ahastāni sahastānām. Sahastānām means those who are endowed with hands. That means man, man form, human form, they have got hands. So those who have no hands..., just like the animals, they have got legs, they have no hands. So ahastāni, those who have no hands, they are food for the animal with hands: bite that animal. Those animal with hands... They are animal, those who are eating another animal; they are not human being. Although they have got the form of human being, they are not considered human being. Human being means when he's civilized, cultured, then he's human being. If he's not civilized, if he's not cultured, simply having two hands-he's animal.
So that culture begins, civilized, in the Aryan families. Therefore they are called Aryans, "advanced." Aryan means advanced. People want to group themselves in the Aryan family. Just like Hitler, he declared himself only, "The Germans are only Aryans, and Jews are not Aryans," like that. You can manufacture. But real Aryan means one who is advanced in spiritual consciousness. He is Aryan. Not a class of men. Aryan means he's advanced in spiritual consciousness. The Aryan civilization is so eulogized because they..., in the Aryan civilization there was Vedic culture. That is Aryan. Otherwise ahastāni sahastānām, and that is apadāni catuṣ-padām (SB 1.13.47). This is going on, struggle for existence. In the primitive age that human being, so-called human being, naked, in the jungle, they eating animals. The animals have no leg... The Darwin's theory is that there was no civilized man, but gradually it has developed. It is not very clearly explained; he does not know what is the evolution. Evolution means to become civilized. That is evolution. Or to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is evolution.
So this is the law of nature, that the weaker section is devoured by the stronger section. So here it is said, jalaukasāṁ jale yadvat. In the water, there are so many aquatic animals, the struggle is going on. The stronger fish eating the weaker fish. This is going on. That is the law of nature. Therefore meat-eaters, so long they are like animals, they can go on with this nature's law. You are man, you are stronger; therefore weaker animal—cows and goats—you slaughter them. They are stronger bodily, but they have no intelligence. So man has got intelligence. So if you misuse your intelligence in that way, you can do that. That is nature's law. But human being means culture, advance, in spiritual consciousness. That is human. So this consciousness is developing gradually.
Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says that viṣaya-biṣānale, dibā-niśi hiyā jwale. This means anyone who is engaged in these material affairs, Viṣaya... Viṣaya means material necessities. Everyone has got material necessities: āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithuna, how to eat, how to sleep, where to sleep, where to get apartment, where to secure money to get food, and how to secure sex pleasure, where it is available, man or woman, and how to defend. "I have got so much bank balance. It may not be taken away. I have got this property." In this way everyone is suffering. That's a fact. Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, viṣaya-biṣānale, dibā-niśi hiyā jwale: "The heart is burning." The same word. It is in simple Bengali, and this is in Sanskrit. Viṣaya-biṣānale, dibā-niśi hiyā jwale, juṛāite nā koinu upāy. So if a man simply goes on suffering like this, then he is not a human being. Human being means if there is suffering, he must try to alleviate it, to mitigate the suffering. That is human being.
Then who is above? That above—who is inquiring about the Absolute. Jijñāsuḥ śreya-uttamam. He is human being, jijñāsu. He may not know in the beginning, but if he is inquisitive about knowing the Absolute Truth, he is human being. Just try to understand what is the distinction between a human being and cat and dog. So a human being means he is inquiring about the spirit soul or the spiritual world, the supreme spirit, God, Kṛṣṇa. He is human being. Otherwise cats and dogs. It is very simple to distinguish who is a cat and dog and who is a human being. There is no difficulty. What is the subject matter of his inquiry and what he is after? What he wants in life? Everyone wants to eat very nicely in table, chair and nice plate, nicely cooked food, and palatable. Never mind whatever nonsense it is; it must be palatable. So that is eating, eating problem. So in this way, if we analyze, it is not difficult to find out who is a human being and who is a cat and dog. That is... Everything can be understood.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
This time, Kali-yuga, is very, very fallen. People are very, very much fallen. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo (SB 1.1.10). Practically cent percent of the population at the present moment, they're manda. Manda. Manda means of no value, or very bad, manda, or very slow. There are several meanings of manda. So in this age all the people, they are manda. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo. And because they are generally very bad, everyone has got a process of spiritual realization. First of all they are not interested, manda. Our real value of life, human being, means spiritual understanding. This is... This human life is meant for spiritual understanding. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. Absolute Truth. That is the only business. But on account of being manda, we have invented so many other occupational duties. That is... According to... That is a fact, not according to Vaiṣṇava philosophy, but that is a fact. We may improve the standard of living condition. So living condition, that is bodily concept of life. I am sitting in this comfortable siṁhāsana. That's all. I can sit down also on the floor. It does not make much difference. According to time, circumstances... So life... So we are combination of spirit and matter. This body is matter, and the moving force which is moving this body, that is spirit soul. So we are manda. We are so dull that the highest learned man and the so-called scientist and philosopher, they cannot understand this distinction. They think this body is everything. But that is not the fact. Body is not everything. The moving power of the body is the spirit soul. We are repeatedly trying to convince people this simple truth, but they are so dull-headed they cannot understand. Yes.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Guest (2): (Hindi)
Prabhupāda: (Hindi for some time, a few English words) (break) (Hindi for some time) (break) When the destiny of the people are to be controlled, there must be very, very intelligent man. That is Vedic civilization. There is standard aims and objects on which the people should be trained up. That is varṇāśrama-dharma. Viṣṇur ārādhanam. Worshiping Viṣṇu. This is the ultimate aim. So the whole society is divided into brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, and brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa—departmental—and they are trained up. But the aim is viṣṇur ārādhanam. But they have no idea at the present moment. Viṣṇur ārādhanam, he has no knowledge. But the civilization begins on this point. Human being means he's meant for viṣṇur ārādhanam. Otherwise what is the difference between dogs and human beings? The western people, they do not know. They simply think that dog lies down on the floor, on the road... "We have got nice, best apartment. Therefore we are civilized." So that is their defect. They are trying to improve the condition of sleeping, eating. That's all. That is advancement of civilization. But that is not advancement of civilization. Advancement of civilization means to understand Viṣṇu, how to please Him, how to go back to Him, go to the spiritual world. This is advancement of civilization.
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: No. Developed means different body. Development means different body. They cannot say it is not different body. Then if it is not different, then go to childhood again. That means they're not human being. Human being means with logic. According to their definition, man is rational animal. They're not even rational. Like cats and dogs. There is no rationality. Cats and dogs also they have got rationality. Logic plus authority, Kṛṣṇa says. How you can deny? That means they don't agree with Kṛṣṇa's instruction. You see? This logic, I am not giving this logic. This logic is given by Kṛṣṇa. So unless... The difficulty is that unless they accept the authority, it is very difficult. Logic is there. The authority is there.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Dr. Patel: (Hindi)
Prabhupāda: And Kṛṣṇa says specifically, kṣatriya, yuddhe cāpy apalāyanam: "You must fight. Face."
Dr. Patel: That yuddhe must be also religious. Not...
Prabhupāda: Yuddha... Everything must be religious. Why yuddha? Your ordinary living must be also religious. Otherwise animal. Animal also lives. But if you don't live religiously, that is animal. Dharmena hena paśave sa. If you live like animal, then you are animal. If you live like human being, that human being means dharma. We cannot expect any dharma in the animal society. It is meant for the humans. (someone gives Prabhupāda something) Hm, thank you. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita says that a flower without smell and a man without education—the same thing. A flower without smell, similarly, a man without education.
Correspondence
1973 Correspondence
Yes, you have my sanction for installing the new Deities with the cooperation of Karandhara and/or Sudama Maharaja (I think he is there on the West coast). They know how to do it. The more you can decorate the Deities soberly, not fanatically, the more you become decorated with all honors. At the present moment, civilized man has forgotten how to decorate, therefore this mini-skirt—the business of the trees—to remain naked. Human being means to be decorated, like Krsna is decorated, not naked.
| Page Title: | Human being means |
| Compiler: | Rishab |
| Created: | 06 of Feb, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=7, Con=3, Let=1 |
| No. of Quotes: | 11 |