Material education without Krishna consciousness pushes humanity into darkness; true knowledge purifies desires by directing them toward God.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrī Īśopaniṣad, Mantra 9 — May 13, 1970, Los Angeles 700513IP-LOS ANGELES [14:27 Minutes] Iso-09_700513IP-LOS ANGELES Prabhupāda: andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśantiye ye 'vidyām upāsate tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u vidyāyāṁ ratāḥ [Īśo mantra 9] "Those who are engaged in the culture of nescient activities shall enter into the darkest region of ignorance. Worse still are those engaged in the so-called culture of knowledge." So there are two kinds of education: material education and spiritual education, brahma-vidyā and jaḍa-vidyā. Jaḍa-vidyā means material education. Jaḍa.
Jaḍa means "which cannot move," matter. And spiritual education... Spirit can move. Our body is combination of spirit and matter.
So long the spirit is there, this body is moving. Just like coat-pant is moving so long a man wears it. It appears that the coat is moving, the pant is moving, but actually the living entity is moving, and the covering, the dress, appears to be moving. Similarly, this body is moving because the spirit soul is moving. This is only...
Just like a vehicle. A motorcar is moving; that means the driver is moving. So foolish people will think that the motorcar is moving. Motorcar does not move.
In spite of all mechanical arrangement, it cannot move. That is the wrong way of education. People who are thinking that this material nature is working, moving and manifesting so many wonderful things... Just like in the seaside we see the waves are moving.
But the waves are not moving; the air moving it. But air is not moving. In this way, you go back, back, back, what is the ultimate cause, then you'll find Kṛṣṇa is the cause of all causes. That is called philosophy, to search out the ultimate cause. So here it is said, andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti ye avidyām upāsate.
Avidyā means those who are captivated by the external movements, they are..., they are worshiping avidyā, nescience, which will not help him. The modern civilization is engaged... There are big, big institution for technology, how a motorcar can move, how aeroplane can move. So many machinery they're manufacturing.