There's no such thing as instinct

Govinda: One of my most persistent memories is the sand crab story. This took place in Hawaii when we were walking on the beach. Prabhupada was talking about sand crabs, those little white crabs that run sideways and hide in their holes as one walks along. Prabhupada spoke for some time about the sand crabs, and it finally dawned on me that he was saying that there is no such word in Sanskrit as 'instinct.'

Prabhupada asked, "Why is the sand crab running?" Scientists would say, 'The sand crab is running away due to instinct. His instinct is to go to his hole.' But Prabhupada said that there is no such thing as instinct. Instinct is a word that's been coined by scientists to cover up the fact that there is Supersoul, there is God and there is past experience. He explained this in detail, and it finally dawned on me that, 'I have been taught Darwinism in school all my life, and even though I had been a devotee for seven years, I was raised to think that the birds and beasts are operating by instinct.' Day after day Prabhupada blasted this philosophy in great detail.

Prabhupada said, "Suppose you know where the privy [bathroom] is, and twenty years from now you return to the same house. Because you were here twenty years ago, you still know where the privy is. Similarly, you have been in the body for many lifetimes, so you know to look for the mother's breast. The baby animal is nudging for the mother's breast. It's past experience, the past life-time, and it's the Supersoul within the heart that guides the living entity. It's not instinct. There is no such thing as instinct. Instinct makes no sense. What does instinct mean? If you stop to think about it and analyze it, you will see that it means absolutely nothing. Yet the scientists have convinced everyone that the whole of nature is moving by instinct. But the whole of nature is not moving by instinct. It's moving by Supersoul." Prabhupada gave another example, "You can throw food outside, and within twenty minutes the birds will be eating it. They all say it's instinct, but it's actually the Supersoul guiding them, 'Oh! There is food.'" This is the kind of talk that he would get into.