Religion means a culture of the spirit soul. It may be in different way understood in different countries, but the whole idea is to understand the spirit soul. So dharmena hinah pasubhih samanah. If the human society is not very eager to understand the real position of the soul or consciousness, then he is no better than the animals. That is the version of the Vedic, and actually it is so. Our developed consciousness, our developed life should be utilized in this human form of life to understand "What I am." The whole trouble of the human society is because they have forgotten the constitutional position of his self.
Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.46-47, New York, 28 March, 1966