1166
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 25]
gence does not go beyond the range of life's primary necessities—namely, eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Dogs, cats and tigers are always busy trying to find something to eat or a place to sleep, trying to defend and have sexual intercourse successfully. In the human form of life, however, one should be intelligent enough to ask what he is, why he has come into the world, what his duty is, who is the supreme controller, what is the difference between dull matter and the living entity, etc. There are so many questions, and the person who is actually intelligent should simply inquire about the supreme source of everything:  athāto brahma-jījñāsā . A living entity is always connected with a certain amount of intelligence, but in the human form of life the living entity must inquire about his spiritual identity. This is real human intelligence. It is said that one who is simply conscious of the body is no better than an animal, even though he be in the human form. In  Bhagavad-gītā  Śrī Krṣṇa says:
sarvasya cāham hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanam ca vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham
“I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the  Vedas  am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of  Vedānta  and I am the knower of the  Vedas .” (Bg. 15.15)
In the animal form the living entity is completely forgetful of his relationship with God. This is called  apohanam , or forgetfulness. In the human form of life, however, consciousness is more greatly developed, and consequently the human being has a chance to understand his relationship with God. In the human form one should utilize his intelligence by asking all these questions, just as Purañjana, the living entity, is asking the unknown girl where she has come from, what her business is, why she is present, etc. These are inquiries about  ātma-tattva —self-realization. The conclusion is that unless a living entity is inquisitive about self-realization he is nothing but an animal.
TEXT 27
क एतेऽनुपथा ये त एकादश महाभटाः ।
एता वा ललनाः सुभ्रु कोऽयं तेऽहिः पुरःसरः ॥२७॥
ka ete 'nupathā ye ta ekādaśa mahā-bhaṭāḥ