Material advancement is childish play; only spiritual knowledge reveals life's true purpose and reality.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Morning Walk — May 29, 1974, Rome 740529MW-ROME [63:59 Minutes] Walk_740529MW-ROME Prabhupāda: ...advancement is different from others. There are three stages: bodily, mental, intellectual, and above that, spiritual. So we are propagating spiritual advance. Therefore those who are on the bodily platform, mental platform or intellectual platform, they cannot understand our process.
Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ [SB 7.5.31]. Bahiḥ means external. Those who are captivated by the external feature, they cannot understand what we mean by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The external feature, those who are on the bodily platform, they think this material advancement—big, big house, big, big road...
This is also required, but this is not all. But they do not know that beyond this, there is other things which is really essential for the human form of... They are captivated by this, external, bahiḥ. Just like I am, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, I am Brahman, spirit soul.
And this body is bahiḥ, the mind is bahiḥ, the intelligence is bahiḥ. That they cannot understand. This water is supplying, what is this? Dhanañjaya: Yes, this is keeping the water fresh so that it doesn't become stagnant. Prabhupāda: Oh. Wherefrom this water is coming? Dhanañjaya: This is coming from the municipal supply.
It is not natural. It's not natural spring water or stream water. It's artificially pumped. Prabhupāda: And the water is also going out? Dhanañjaya: Somewhere, yes. It is being circulated.
[pause] So therefore there must be two kinds of intelligence: intelligence which is being generated by the brain, and intelligence coming from the Supersoul.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Dhanañjaya: So everyone in the material world is caught up with the intelligence generated by the brain. Prabhupāda: Yes. Because they are bahir-artha-māninaḥ, they are thinking that this is all. A group of men is coming, and they are exploiting the resources, material world. Just like this building.