Just like within the earth you have seen, you go to the beach, you'll find within the sand there are so many living entities. But they are inferior. And the plants on the sand, we have seen there are many green plants, herbs—they are better. They have improved their consciousness. But better than these plants and herbs are the crawling insects, snakes, snail, because they can move. The herbs, they cannot move, and within the sands there are living entities, they cannot sprout. So in this way, this is called evolution—one after another. So the insects, the reptiles, they are better than the standing herbs and plants; and these insects, the worms, they grow wings at the end of their life. In this way they are elevated to the bird's life. In this life they could not attain the bird's life, but on account of very strong willingness they grow the wings, and next life they become small birds, they fly. So they are better, the small birds, they are better than these insects. Then there are birds, big, big birds, the eagle birds, they can fly very high. In this way, beast life, that is better. In this way, beast life, then human life, uncivilized life, that is better. And then civilized life, that is better. Then civilized life, those who are organized—brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra—they are better. And amongst the brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, the brāhmaṇa is the best, because they are on the platform of spiritual realization. This is the evolution. Evolution, we are coming in that evolution. Bahu-sambhavānte. Bahu-sambhavam, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19), bahu-sambhavānte.
So this human life is after many, many evolutionary process. We have forgotten that. So this life is meant for jñānam, ultimate knowledge. In the lower grade of life, there is jñānam, there is consciousness, there is knowledge. A mosquito bug, mosquito, knows where to bite. The knowledge is there. They will bite on the joints. Therefore there is mosquito, you have to eat your hands and legs, the joints, but they know where to bite. This knowledge is there, for eating, sleeping and sex life. Nobody takes education for sex life. Nobody takes education for eating or sleeping. Where is the education that, "You shall eat like this," "You shall sleep like this," "You shall have sexual intercourse like this"? That is automatically known. This knowledge is automatically known. So human civilization does not mean that scientifically you have to do this, do that, eating, sleeping, mating. That is going on, scientifically. Now this science of mating is that we shall have sex intercourse, but there will be no pregnancy. Contracept.
So this is not knowledge. Knowledge is different thing. Knowledge means jñānaṁ niḥśreyasārthāya puruṣasya ātma-darśanam. That is knowledge. Atma-darśanam, self-realization. That is jñānam. Otherwise this lower jñāna, or knowledge—how to eat, how to sleep, how to perform sexual life and how to defend—this knowledge is there even in the mosquito or small ant, and what to speak of other, higher grade living entities. That is jñānam, but that is not niḥśreyasāya. Śreya and preya, there are two things. Preya means to fulfill immediate necessities of life. That is called preya. And śreya means the knowledge; śreya means the goal of life. Niḥśreyasāya. Niḥśreyasāya. Niḥśreyasāya means the ultimate benefit. That education is lacking. In the material world, the jñāna, especially in the present age, jñāna means technical knowledge: how to eat, how to sleep. Now they are . . . somebody was telling me that they have invented eating, eatables, from petrol.