The holes develop into nine holes: two eyes, two ears, two nostril, one mouth, one genital, one rectum. In this way the body develops. And so long it requires to develop within the embryo, within the mother's womb, it remains there. And when it is sufficiently developed to grow outside, it comes out. Then it grows the body grows. Grows means changing the body.
Growing, we . . . we are imperceptibly—cannot understand—but it is actually changing the body. Just like in your childhood you had a small body. That is no longer existing. That means you have changed your body. Similarly, you'll have to change this body. When this body will not work anymore . . . because it is material. Every material things deteriorate, and it becomes useless at certain length of time. Any machine, any cloth. Therefore it has been taken as dress, vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya (BG 2.22).
So this is going on, but unfortunately modern universities, educational system, they do not know anything about this. And still, they are very much proud of advancement of education. Actually, there is no education. Without this knowledge, spiritual knowledge, this education for earning bread—eating, sleeping, mating—that can be done without education. The animals, they are not educated. They are not technologist, or they have no education in the universities, degrees; they're also eating, sleeping, mating and defending.
So if our education is meant for simply eating, sleeping, mating and defending, then what is the difference? That is not education. Real education is to understand what you are. That is real education. Ātma-jñāna. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said:
- parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto
- yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam
- (SB 5.5.5)
So long a man does not develop consciousness to understand his self, ātma-tattvam, the truth of the self, then whatever he's doing in ignorance, it is all defeat for his life.
This human life is meant for victorious, to become victorious over the laws of material nature. Actually we are trying for that purpose. The whole struggle is how to counteract the onslaught of material nature. The whole activities are going on. But what is the ultimate victory? The ultimate victory is how to conquer over birth, death, disease and old age. That is the outcome, victory.
But we have set aside, neglected this important point, and our education system is for how to eat, how to sleep, how to defend. What is . . . God is giving us to eat so many things. What your education system will improve? We are eating fruits, grains, or whatever we eat. That is given by God. Food is supplied to the animals.
The four-legged animals . . . ahastāni sahastānām. Sahastānām ahastāni (SB 1.13.47). In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, everything is . . . the food is there. Jīvo jīvasya jīvanam: "One living entity is the food for another living entity." Ahastāni sahastānām. Just like animals, they have got no hands, so they are food for the animals which has . . . who has got hands. We are animals with hands, and there are animals without hands. So ahastāni sahastānām. Sahasta means hand. With-hands animals, they're eating others which has no hand.