Now, jñānāgniḥ, knowledge, fire of knowledge. That fire of knowledge does not burn in our mind. You see? Therefore we accept this miserable life as happiness, because there is want of that knowledge. Just like a dog or a hog cannot understand what sort of miserable life he's passing on. He thinks that "I am all right. I am enjoying life very nicely." That is the . . . that is called covering influence of material energy.
A person who is suffering . . . just like you'll find in the Bowery Street there are so many drunkards lying on the street. Oh, they're also thinking, "Oh, we are enjoying life, enjoying life." But others, who are passing on cars, they are taking sympathy on him, "Oh, how miserably they are living." So that is the way of covering, covering influence of material nature. I am in miserable life, but I accept it, "Oh, I am very happy. I am very happy." This is called ignorance.
So when one is awakened to the full knowledge—he understands, "Oh, I am not happy. Oh, I want freedom. Oh, there is no freedom. I don't want to die, but there is death. I don't want to become old man. Oh, there is old age. I don't want diseases. Oh, there are diseases." These are the problems. But due to our ignorance we set aside all these big questions of human problems. We take a small problems as very important.
We take economic development as the most important thing, forgetting that how long I shall live here in this material world. So fifty or sixty or hundred years. So economic development or no economic development, my life will be finished. Suppose I develop my economic life in a very . . . I accumulate millions of dollars. But when I leave this body I'll leave everything. Then again I take my birth according to my reaction, either in poor family or old, I mean to say, rich family or even animal life. There is no guarantee.
This is knowledge. One has to acquire this knowledge. So unless this knowledge is awakened in our mind or in our consciousness, then whatever we are doing we must consider that we are being defeated, defeated by the influence of material nature. So here Kṛṣṇa says, jñānāgniḥ sarva-karmāṇi bhasmasāt kurute tathā. As soon as I understand my position, that I want freedom . . . we are trying to go to the moon planet, but because there is no freedom, oh, we are failing in every step, although we are advertising in the paper, "Now it is two years more, two years more." The Russians began to sell land in the moon planet, that "In 1965 we shall go there." But 1965 . . . now it is going to 1967. Now they are silent about selling land in moon planet.