“The Isopanisad says, “The wise have explained that one result is derived from the culture of knowledge and that a different result is obtained from the culture of nescience.”
As explained above, the real culture of knowledge is the advancement of spiritual knowledge. And advancement of knowledge in the matter of bodily comforts or to protect the body is the culture of nescience, because however you may try to protect this body, it will follow its natural course.
What is that? Repeated birth and death, and while the body is manifested, disease and old age. People are very busy cultivating knowledge of this body, although they see that at every moment the body is decaying.
The death of the body was fixed when it was born. That is a fact. So you cannot stop the natural course of this body–namely birth, old age, disease, and death.
The Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.84.13) says that this body is nothing but a bag containing three primary elements–mucus, bile, and air–and that one who accepts this combination of mucus, bile, and air as himself is an ass.
Even great philosophers and scientists take themselves to be this combination of mucus, bile, and air. This is their mistake. Actually, the philosophers and scientists are spirit souls, and according to their karma they are exhibiting their talent. They do not understand the law of karma.
Why do we find so many different personalities? If human beings are nothing but combinations of mucus, bile, and air, why are they not identical? One man is born a millionaire; another is unable to have two full meals a day, despite struggling very hard. Why this difference? Because of the law of karma, action and reaction. One who understands this mystery is in knowledge.
Human life is meant for understanding the mystery of life. And one who fails to utilize this human form for this purpose is a krpana, a miser. This is stated in the Garga Upanisad. If you get one million dollars and do not use it, thinking, “Oh, I will simply keep this bank balance of one million dollars,” you are a krpana.
You do not know how to use your money. On the other hand, one who uses his million dollars to make another million dollars is intelligent. Similarly, this human body is invaluable. One who uses it for cultivating spiritual knowledge is a brahmana, a wise man, and one who cultivates materialistic knowledge is a krpana, a miser. That is the difference between brahmana and krpana.”
The Laws Of Nature, Spiritual and Material Education, Knowledge vs. Nescience
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