Dr. Patel: Sir, what is the distinction between a culture and an education?
Prabhupāda: Culture means human being.
Dr. Patel: Human . . .?
Prabhupāda: Human being. Culture. Just like Cāṇakya Paṇḍita says, mātṛvat para-dāreṣu. This is culture, to see every woman as mother. This is not education. Education, the modern meaning of education is rubbish—to learn A-B-C-D. This is not education. Without culture, what is the meaning of education?
Dr. Patel: So culture is the background for all these things.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Education is required to help culture. Not that to take degrees from the university and remain a dog. That is not education. Here is education, as Cāṇakya Paṇḍita outlined:
- mātṛvat para-dāreṣu
- para-dravyeṣu loṣṭravat
- ātmāvat sarva-bhūteṣu
- yaḥ paśyati sa paṇḍitaḥ
Here is a description of paṇḍita: first of all learn how to see other woman as your mother. There the culture begins. And they are, from the very beginning of the school college life, they are learning how to entice one girl. This is education.
Dr. Patel: They are following the so-called advanced countries.
Prabhupāda: Advanced means Freud's philosophy.
Dr. Patel: So-called advancement.
Prabhupāda: Sex philosophy. This is their education. So how can you expect gentlemen? It is not possible. From the very beginning there is no culture, animal culture. Just like dog: as soon as he finds another female dog, he wants to have sex. This is education.
Dr. Patel: One friend of mine told me that this culture is vultures' culture. They eat anything and everything.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Not vultures; it is called hog civilization. The hog, they eat anything and they have sex with anyone.
Dr. Patel: Yes, yes. These animals don't distinguish between their own, I mean, bodily relatives.
Prabhupāda: Nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭan kāmān arhate yad viḍ-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1). This is the instruction. Where is culture? Culture is lost. So therefore there is no value of education. And besides that, education means spiritual education, brahma-vidyā. This education how to make aeroplane or a nice bridge or a machine, this is called kalā-vidyā. This is not vidyā.
Dr. Patel: Parā and aparā vidyā.
Prabhupāda: No, kalā. Kalā means artistic. Suppose a carpenter, he knows how to make a very nice, good furniture, does it mean that he is educated? He knows the art, some artistic way, that's all; but he is not educated. But nowadays it is going on if you know some art, technology, then you are educated. This is not education. Education means culture.