Q122. What is the result of material education but no spiritual education?

An intelligent person will realize that a degree in Law or Medicine will be completely useless at the time of death and beyond this life. Material education only has temporary benefits. When a person becomes materially engrossed, he has no capacity to hear about spiritual existence. Forgetfulness of spiritual existence entangles a man more and more in material existence. Such is the result of sinful life. Various bodies are developed with the material ingredients because of different types of sinful activities. “At death, those who have developed the mode of goodness, will go to the higher planets where the saintly persons live. Those who have developed the mode of passion will take birth among those engaged in materialistic

activities. Those who have developed the mode of ignorance, will take birth in the animal kingdom.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 14.14-15) Spiritual education has permanent benefits. The result of spiritual ignorance is that one falls down into the plant and animal kingdoms. At the end of this short life, the souls of spiritually ignorant people will go through the evolutionary process of transmigration from one body to another. After going through 8 million species in the plant and animal kingdoms, the soul will once again get another human body, which takes billions of years. You should not waste your short life on material development and ignorance of spirituality. You should become materially educated to get a good job and earn money to pay the bills, but at the same time, you should get some spiritual education and engage in Bhakti Yoga to ensure the soul does not fall down into lower species after this short life. Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein were both very well materially educated, but where are they now? Where are all those well-educated people that you once knew or came across? Do they now live eternally in the same body? Did the material education help them to overcome birth, old age, disease, misery, and death? Does any University professor guarantee that by becoming well educated, one will be able to live in the same body eternally with no problems? "Knowledge [spiritual] is the cause of liberation and ignorance is the cause of bondage to material life." (Lord Krishna, Uddhava Gita). The thousands of Vedic saints like Swami Srila Prabhupada, guarantee that if one becomes well educated in the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita, and practices them by performing Bhakti Yoga. Then at death, one will immediately be transferred to the spiritual manifestation, where people live in the same beautiful body eternally in complete bliss with no misery.