The duty of human life is to understand God, Kṛṣṇa. In the Vedānta-sūtra, the first aphorism is athāto brahma jijñāsā. Athaḥ, "therefore." Because we have got this human form of body, so this is the time for inquiring about the Absolute Truth. In the other life—animal life, beast life, tree life, plant life . . . there are 8,400,000 different forms of life, and through evolutionary process we have passed through 8,000,000 forms of life or a few more thousand forms of life, because human beings, they are of 400,000 forms of life. Just like we have got experience over this planet there are different forms of life, different system of religion, different system of culture, even though all of them are of human form life. Similarly, there are other forms of life—aquatics in the water—in the jungle, trees, plants, mountains; and then insects, reptiles, ants; then birds, flies. Jalajā nava-lakṣāni sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati (Padma Purāṇa). In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa the description is there what are the different forms of life. Jalajā nava-lakṣāni. In the water there are 900,000 forms of life. Who knows that? But in the Vedic śāstra everything perfectly calculated given there. This is called Vedic knowledge.
Vedic knowledge means perfect knowledge. There is no . . . (indistinct) . . . who can calculate how many forms of life are within the ocean. But from the Vedic literature you get just exact conclusion—900,000 species of life. The botanists, they cannot say how many forms of trees and plants are there. But in the Vedas you'll find, sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati—2,000,000's forms of life, of trees and plants. Sthāvara. Sthāvara means the living entities which cannot move, stand in one place. This is a punishment, those who are too much dull. Means . . . dull means cannot understand what is God. That is dullness. Otherwise for eating, sleeping, sex life and defense there is no need of university education. Nobody goes to the university to learn how to eat, how to sleep, how to enjoy sex life, how to defend. There is no education required, because these four kinds of bodily necessities of life are known even to the animals. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca sāmānyam etat paśubhir narāṇām. How to eat, the animal knows. Even the newborn child who has no education, no experience, he still . . . even the cats and dogs, cubs, as soon as born, they find out the nipples of their mother and eat or suck. Even the eyes are blind at that time, but still he knows where is their food. Similarly, human child also knows.
So for eating, sleeping, mating and defending, there is no need of education. Education means athāto brahma jijñāsā. That is education. How to know the Supreme Absolute Truth—that is education. But the university, they are educating people how to eat, how to sleep. Eh? They're manufacturing so many eatables, different types of eatables, although God has given immense foodstuffs for human society. Just like these fruits, they're made for human being. They're not eatables for the cats and dogs. They are meant for human being. So eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has supplied. He is supplying immense foodstuff for all living entities. Tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā (ISO 1). But there is allotment. For the pig, the foodstuff is stool, and for human being, the foodstuff—fruits, flowers, food grains, milk, sugar. So as God has allotted, you use that for your eating. Eating is required. Then your life is successful. Tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā. Do not try to imitate others. Do not try to imitate the hog and the pig to eat stool. That is not human bodies' foodstuff. You eat your own foodstuff. Tena tyaktena bhuñjīthāḥ. This is life.