You cannot make a cat and dog sober to understand the philosophy of life. They have degraded so much. That is described in the śāstra. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke (SB 10.84.13). Ātma-buddhiḥ, thinking, "I am this body." "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am brāhmaṇa," "I am black," "I am white," "I am fat," "I am thin," "I am this." No, no. You are not this body at all. That is knowledge. That is knowledge. Knowledge begins when you understand that you are not this body. That is the beginning of knowledge. Otherwise, "I am this body," this knowledge is there in the cats and dogs also. The dog also jumping, because he is thinking, "I am very nice dog" or "nice cat."
So śāstra therefore says, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke (SB 10.84.13). This body is a bag of three elements—kapha, pitta, vāyu—according to Āyurveda system. This physiological condition, anatomical condition of this body, is made of kapha, pitta, vāyu. So it is a bag of kapha, pitta, vāyu, or flesh, bones, blood, urine, stool and mucus. If you dissect this body, you will find. Do you mean to say combination of these things can make a life, so nice brain? If you are so competent, then take these ingredients, bones, flesh. They are easily available in the slaughterhouse. Make a good brain. But that is not possible. They simply speak, but it is not possible. Therefore this body is not the . . . moving spirit soul, that is different.
Therefore śāstra says, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhiḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhiḥ. And as soon as you take this body, that "I am this body," then, in bodily relation . . . because a woman has got bodily relation, "She is my wife," and the children born out of the womb of that woman, "That is my children . . ." Sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ (SB 10.84.13). Bhauma means the land where we live or where this body is produced. That is worshipable. That is called nationalism. Bhauma ijya-dhīḥ. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ, yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicit. And tīrtha, holy place . . . just like people go to Vṛndāvana, Haridwar. Salile. They take bath in the Ganges and the Yamunā, and they think that, "Now we have finished our tīrtha." No. Tīrtha is not that. Tīrtha means we have to find out sober person to take instruction from him.
So people who are not interested to the sober man and lives like this that, "I am this body, and the bodily productions or relation, they are my own men, and if I go to holy place, take bath and then come back . . ." No. Śāstra says: "No." Yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janeṣu abhijñeṣu. You must approach abhijñaḥ person. That is the meaning of pilgrimage. As the Vedas says, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet, śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham (MU 1.2.12). You must find out a sober man or guru, so that he can instruct you, he can deliver you from ignorance of life.
So you'll find in this Bhagavad-gītā, when there was talks going on between Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa, friendly talks . . . Arjuna was speaking, "Let them enjoy this kingdom. I don't want to fight with my own men." That was his decision. Kṛṣṇa said: "No, no. This is not your duty. You are a kṣatriya. Now you are in the battlefield. You must fight." In this way, ordinary topics were going on. But when Arjuna saw it very difficult to understand, "Whether I shall fight or not fight?" he accepted Kṛṣṇa as guru. Because he thought that "Friendly talks will not make solution. Let me accept Kṛṣṇa as my . . ." Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam (BG 2.7). Prapannam: "I surrender unto You. You are my guru. Now You are not my friend; You are my guru." Because a disciple cannot disobey the guru. A friend can disobey. Kṛṣṇa is asking to fight. As a friend, he was disobeying. But if a guru says that, "You must fight," then you cannot disobey. Therefore he accepted, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam.
So actually we are all in the ignorance. The same formula:
- yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke
- sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma idya-dhīḥ
- yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij
- janeṣu abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ
- (SB 10.84.13)
Go-kharaḥ. Go means cow, and khara means ass. This is the verdict of the śāstra that, "If anyone is in the bodily concept of life, he is no better than the animal go and khara, ass and cow."
So this ignorance, when this ignorance prevails, that is called dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata. Kṛṣṇa said, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7). When people are become like cats and dogs, the bodily concept of life, and working whole day and night without any spiritual understanding, without the aim of life . . . so this human life is not meant for that purpose. This is the mistake. It is not that the dogs and cats are eating in a different way. Now we eat in a nice table, in nice plate, and very nicely dressed, and you are eating . . . but the eating process is there. Either you nicely eat or wrongly eat, but you have to fulfill your bell(y) and satisfy your hunger. That is not advancement of civilization. To eat nicely, to sleep nicely, to defend nicely and to have sexual life nicely, that is not advancement of civilization. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca sāmānyam etat paśubhiḥ narāṇām (Hitopadeśa). Sexual intercourse with beautiful woman and sexual intercourse with the female dog, the pleasure is the same. That is not advancement of civilization. Advancement of civilization is ātma-tattvam. Ātma-tattva.