SB 4.29.2a · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

सर्वेषामेव जन्तूनां सततं देहपोषणे । अस्ति प्रज्ञा समायत्ता को विशेषस्तदा नृणाम् ॥ १अ ॥ लब्ध्वेहान्ते मनुष्यत्वं हित्वा देहाद्यसद्ग्रहम् । आत्मसृत्या विहायेदं जीवात्मा स विशिष्यते ॥ २अ ॥

Verse text

sarveṣām eva jantūnāṁ satataṁ deha-poṣaṇe asti prajṣā samāyattā ko viśeṣas tadā nṛṇām labdhvehānte manuṣyatvaṁ hitvā dehādy-asad-graham ātma-sṛtyā vihāyedaṁ jīvātmā sa viśiṣyate

Synonyms

sarveṣām — all ; eva — certainly ; jantūnām — of animals ; satatam — always ; deha-poṣaṇe — to maintain the body ; asti — there is ; prajṣā — intelligence ; samāyattā — resting on ; kaḥ — what ; viśeṣaḥ — difference ; tadā — then ; nṛṇām — of the human beings ; labdhvā — having attained ; iha — here ; ante — at the end of many births ; manuṣyatvam — a human life ; hitvā — after giving up ; deha-ādi — in the gross and subtle body ; asat-graham — an incorrect conception of life ; ātma — of spiritual knowledge ; sṛtyā — by the path ; vihāya — having abandoned ; idam — this body ; jīva-ātmā — the individual spirit soul ; saḥ — that ; viśiṣyate — becomes prominent.

Translation

A desire to maintain body, wife and children is also observed in animal society. The animals have full intelligence to manage such affairs. If a human being is simply advanced in this respect, what is the difference between him and an animal? One should be very careful to understand that this human life is attained after many, many births in the evolutionary process. A learned man who gives up the bodily conception of life, both gross and subtle, will, by the enlightenment of spiritual knowledge, become a prominent individual spirit soul, as the Supreme Lord is also.

Purport

It is said that man is a rational animal, but from this verse we can also understand that rationality exists even in animal life. Unless there is rationality, how can an animal maintain its body by working so hard? That the animals are not rational is untrue; their rationality, however, is not very advanced. In any case, we cannot deny them rationality. The point is that one should use one’s reason to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for that is the perfection of human life.