Prabhupāda: (aside) Here the translation is different.
Hm. So the example is given here, that . . . the translation is given . . . anyway, pārthivād dāruṇo dhūmaḥ. Pārthivāt. Suppose you want fire. So there are so many stages: earth, then there is wood. Wood is produced from earth. From wood, there is, first instance there is smoke, and then comes the fire. But you require the fire. When you get fire, you can get so many things done through fire—electricity. All industry is going on through fire. Your household affairs, cooking, that is also you require fire. For your living condition you require fire, heat.
So fire is necessity, not the earth, neither the wood, nor the smoke. Similarly, although Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara, they are one, from Kṛṣṇa—they are different incarnation of different modes of material nature—but the actually, Viṣṇu is required. Brahman, brahma-darśanam. If you want to see the Absolute Truth, then neither Brahmā nor Śiva is required, but Viṣṇu is required.
The example is: just like if you want to have your work done, then fire is required. The wood is also another stage of fire; the smoke is also another stage of fire. But as fire is necessity, similarly, to come to the platform of goodness, that is necessity, especially in this human form of life. In other forms of life, they're mostly in the ignorance. Just like the earth. The earth has got potency to produce wood, trees and plants, but there are some earthen plot of land, it is not producing anything, desert. It has got the potency. If you pour water, it has got the potency to produce wood, but, in that . . . similarly, the mode of ignorance, those living entities, those who are in the mode of ignorance, they cannot have any knowledge of the Absolute Truth. That's not possible.
Therefore it is gradual evolution, from mode of ignorance to mode of passion. And passion, there is little activity. Just like animal, they have got activity. Just like a dog, we have seen, in the beach and other places, running very swiftly here and there, but there is no meaning. A monkey is very active. You have not seen monkey in your country; in our country there are monkey, unnecessarily creating disturbance. But they are very active. But human being, they are not so active, but they have got brain, they're working with brain.
So foolish activity has no meaning. Without brain, simply active, that is dangerous. Sober activity is required. Just like a high-court judge: he is paid very lump sum money, but he's sitting on his chair and simply thinking. The others may think that, "We are working so hard, we are not getting so big salary, and this man is getting so big salary, he's sitting only." Because foolish activity has no value. It is dangerous.
So this modern world, they are very active, but they're foolishly active, in the ignorance and passion, rajas tamas. Therefore there is confusion activity. Foolish activity, there is accident. Sober activity required. Because, just like unless you come to the platform of fire, you cannot utilize the material things. Fire is required. Similarly, to make your life successful, there is gradual evolution from aquatics to plant life, plant life to insect life, insect life to reptiles, reptiles to bird's life, then beast life, then human life, then civilized life. In this way, gradually, evolution, we come to the platform of human life. And the Vedic knowledge is meant for the human being, not for these other animals.
Therefore it is said, dhūmas tasmād agnis trayīmayaḥ. By Vedic injunction, the human society, civilized human society, they require to perform sacrifices, fire sacrifices. Just like we do in all auspicious ceremonies . . . it is said that through the fire, God eats. We give to the fire the grains and the fruits and other thing. That is, means, God is eating, through fire. So sacrifice means you sacrifice for God, and God is accepting. God is accepting also when we offer prasāda to the Lord. He's accepting, but we want to see. That is our disease. We want to see everything.
Therefore, the fire sacrifice, you can see that whatever is offering, it is being eaten up. God can eat in many ways. Because a third-class man, they want to see that God is eating, therefore this is required, sacrifice. God, as it is stated in the Brahmā-saṁhitā: aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti (Bs. 5.32). His every limb of the body is as good as the other part of the body.