We have got so many books, so many newspapers, so many magazines. We hear and read. But we are not interested in hearing Bhagavad-gita or Srimad-Bhagavatam, where atma-tattvam, the science of soul, is described. So why they are not interested? Now, apasyatam atma-tattvam grhesu grha-medhinam [SB 2.1.2]. Grhesu, now, household life... They are thinking, "This is life." Tatala saikate vari-bindu-sama, suta-mita-ramani-samaje. Vidyapati, a great poet, Vaisnava poet, he has sung that... We are happy within this material world. How? Suta-mita-ramani-samaje. Suta. Suta means children, and mita means friends, and ramani means woman. So actually, our material life, existing, is society, friendship and love. If there are nice, beautiful women at home, children and friends, we are taking, "This is our life." But that is not life. Real life is to understand what I am, atma-tattvam. Atma-tattvam. Without understanding atma-tattvam, the life is failure.
Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 7.4, Vrindavana, August 10, 1974