What is the interest of maintaining body and soul together?

One earns money for the maintenance of the body (personal or social), but unless there is God-consciousness unless the body is being properly maintained to realize one's relation with God, all good efforts to maintain body and soul together are similar to the attempts of the animals to maintain body and soul together. The purpose of maintaining the human body is different from that of animals. Similarly, advancement of learning, economic development, philosophical research, a study in the Vedic literature, or even the execution of pious activities (like charity, the opening of hospitals, and the distribution of food grains) should be done in relation to the Lord. The aim of all such acts and endeavors must be the pleasure of the Lord and not the satisfaction of any other identity, individual or collective (saḿsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam [SB 1.2.13]). In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.27) the same principle is confirmed where it is said that whatever we may give in charity and whatever we may observe in austerity must be given over to the Lord or be done on His account only. The expert leaders of a godless human civilization cannot bring about a fruitful result in all their different attempts at educational advancement or economic development unless they are God-conscious. And to become God-conscious one has to hear about the all-auspicious Lord, as He is described in literature like the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.