By Abhaya Mudra Dasi
Material intelligence so vastly differ from spiritual intelligence that even a materially intelligent person is perceived as unintelligent when measured by spiritual standards. The reason is that what we call intelligent in the material world has nothing to do with spiritual intellect. Only after recognizing that intelligence is not a personal asset but that it is an all-pervasive form of the Supreme Lord can we receive the blessings of spiritual intelligence.
The Supreme Lord Shri Krishna divides into four forms (chatur vyuha) that enter in the different divisions spiritual spheres first. These forms are also the all pervasive deities of the (1) soul (Vasudeva), (2) mind (Anruddha), (3) intelligence (Pradyumna) and (4) false ego (Sankarshana) in the material world:
The three types of egotism (ahankara) are technically known as vaikarika, taijasa and tamasa. The mahat-tattva is situated within the heart, or chitta, and the predominating Deity of the mahat-tattva is Lord Vasudeva (Bhag. 3.26.21). The mahat-tattva is transformed into three divisions: (1) vaikarika, egotism in goodness (sattvika-ahankara), from which the eleventh sense organ, the mind, is manifest and whose predominating Deity is Aniruddha (Bhag. 3.26.27-28); (2) taijasa, or egotism in passion (rajasa-ahankara), from which the senses and intelligence are manifest and whose predominating Deity is Lord Pradyumna (Bhag. 3.26.29-31); (3) tamasa, or egotism in ignorance, from which sound vibration (shabda-tanmatra) expands. From the sound vibration, the sky (akasha) is manifest and, the senses, beginning with the ear, are also manifest (Bhag. 3.26.32). Of these three types of egotism, Lord Sankarshana is the predominating Deity… (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta – Madhya 20.276 Purport)
From these statements we understand that intelligence is a product of passion. Further the functions of intelligence are described thus:
Doubt, misapprehension, correct apprehension, memory and sleep, as determined by their different functions, are said to be the distinct characteristics of intelligence. (SB 3.26.30)
Women are generally considered less intelligent because they lack the first function of intelligence, namely doubt. They blindly accept things due to their compassionate and simple nature. Without protection women tend to get in trouble due to tendency to accept facts without evaluation. But when blind acceptance is applied to spiritual realization this can be an advantage. According th Shrila Prabhupada, doubting the spiritual authority is misuse of intelligence:
Doubt is one of the important functions of intelligence; blind acceptance of something does not give evidence of intelligence. Therefore the word samshaya is very important; in order to cultivate intelligence, one should be doubtful in the beginning. But doubting is not very favorable when information is received from the proper source. In Bhagavad-gita the Lord says that doubting the words of the authority is the cause of destruction… (SB 3.26.30 Purport)
The other important function of intelligence is memory that is fed by sleep:
…Smriti means “memory,” and svapa means “sleep.” Sleep is also necessary to keep the intelligence in working order. If there is no sleep, the brain cannot work nicely. (SB 3.26.30 Purport)
In the material world education is based on memory. It the modern slaughterhouses we call schools, students are given good or bad grades based upon how adept they are at remembering facts. This abolity alone encompasses the primary consideration as to why one gets promoted. If he lacks memory he is considered stupid. But the real function of intelligence is to be able to properly remember Shri Krishna. Remembrance and forgetfulness come from Shri Krishna and the main function of intelligence is to provide the facility to constantly remember Shri Krishna (Bg 15.15). The true spiritual smriti is smarana or constant remembrance of the activities and names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A person who always remembers Krishna is truly intelligent.
Shri Krishna is the source of remembrance and of forgetfulness as well. To forget in the material world is considered a disadvantage or a negative effect of the limited existence. But in the spiritual sense forgetfulness has an absolute function. When the liberated living entity forgets he does not forget Shri Krishna. The forgetfulness in the Absolute World feeds the taste to always want to relish the same pastime of Shri Krishna again and again as if it has never been experienced before. When we train out intelligence to remember and forget in the absolute sense we can relish Krishna’s Names always wanting for more. The taste to always chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare is the proof that someone is spiritually intelligent.
www.vedicastrologers.org
One time Narada Muni arrived at Dwaraka and he had a question for Queen Satyabhama. He asked, “What is it like to be the queen of Lord Krishna?” Queen Satyabhama replied, “Oh, yes indeed, Krishna is the Controller of all the Universes and the almighty Supreme Being but I know the name of every servant here in the palace and I know the names of all of their family members and there’s not a paisa (fraction of a penny) that goes in and out of here that I don’t know about.”
Interestingly enough there is also a standard experiment in Sociology course work that bears out this response. A room is assembled to look like a standard typical room in any house and subjects are asked to sit in it for ten minutes. Then they are taken to another room, given a pencil and paper and asked to write down everything they can remember from the other room they were in. The men generally draw a blank while many times women will fill up the page and ask for another sheet of paper.
“As far as the women class are concerned, they are accepted as a power of inspiration for men. As such, women are more powerful than men. Mighty Julius Caesar was controlled by a Cleopatra. Such powerful women are controlled by shyness. Therefore, shyness is important for women. Once this control valve is loosened, women can create havoc in society by adultery. Adultery means production of unwanted children known as varna-sankara, who disturb the world.”
S.B. 1.9.27 Purport.
kášášŁáša-varášaáš tviᚣÄkášášŁášaáš
sÄáš gopÄáš gÄstra-pÄrᚣadam
yajĂąaiḼ saáš kÄŤrtana-prÄyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḼ
“In the Age of Kali, people who are endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of saáš kÄŤrtana-yajĂąa.” (BhÄg. 11.5.32)
ĹrÄŤmad BhÄgavatam 11.5.32
kášášŁáša-varášaḿ tviᚣÄkášášŁášaḿ
sÄĹgopÄĹgÄstra-pÄrᚣadam
yajĂąaiḼ saĹkÄŤrtana-prÄyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḼ
kášášŁáša-varášam â repeating the syllables kášášŁ-áša; tviášŁÄ â with a luster; akášášŁášam â not black (golden); sa-aĹga â along with associates; upa-aĹga â servitors; astra â weapons; pÄrᚣadam â confidential companions; yajĂąaiḼ â by sacrifice; saĹkÄŤrtana-prÄyaiḼ â consisting chiefly of congregational chanting; yajanti â they worship; hi â certainly; su-medhasaḼ â intelligent persons.
In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of KášášŁáša. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is KášášŁáša Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.
PURPORT
This same verse is quoted by KášášŁášadÄsa KavirÄja in the Caitanya-caritÄmášta, Ädi-lÄŤlÄ, Chapter Three, verse 52. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami PrabhupÄda has given the following commentary on this verse. “This text is from ĹrÄŤmad-BhÄgavatam (11.5.32). ĹrÄŤla JÄŤva GosvÄmÄŤ has explained this verse in his commentary on the BhÄgavatam known as the Krama-sandarbha, wherein he says that Lord KášášŁáša also appears with a golden complexion. That golden Lord KášášŁáša is Lord Caitanya, who is worshiped by intelligent men in this age. That is confirmed in ĹrÄŤmad-BhÄgavatam by Garga Muni, who said that although the child KášášŁáša was blackish, He also appears in three other colors â red, white and yellow. He exhibited His white and red complexions in the Satya and TretÄ ages respectively. He did not exhibit the remaining color, yellow-gold, until He appeared as Lord Caitanya, who is known as Gaurahari.
“ĹrÄŤla JÄŤva GosvÄmÄŤ explains that kášášŁáša-varášam means ĹrÄŤ KášášŁáša Caitanya. KášášŁáša-varášam and KášášŁáša Caitanya are equivalent. The name KášášŁáša appears with both Lord KášášŁáša and Lord Caitanya KášášŁáša. Lord ĹrÄŤ Caitanya MahÄprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He always engages in describing KášášŁáša and thus enjoying transcendental bliss by chanting and remembering His name and form. Lord KášášŁáša Himself appears as Lord Caitanya to preach the highest gospel. Varášayati means ‘utters’ or ‘describes.’ Lord Caitanya always chants the holy name of KášášŁáša and describes it also, and because He is KášášŁáša Himself, whoever meets Him will automatically chant the holy name of KášášŁáša and later describe it to others. …/…
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He injects one with transcendental KášášŁáša consciousness, which merges the chanter in transcendental bliss. In all respects, therefore, He appears before everyone as KášášŁáša, either by personality or by sound. Simply by seeing Lord Caitanya one at once remembers Lord KášášŁáša. One may therefore accept Him as viᚣášu-tattva. In other words, Lord Caitanya is Lord KášášŁáša Himself.
“SÄĹgopÄĹgÄstra-pÄrᚣadam further indicates that Lord Caitanya is Lord KášášŁáša. His body is always decorated with ornaments of sandalwood and with sandalwood paste. By His superexcellent beauty He subdues all the people of the age. In other descents the Lord sometimes used weapons to defeat the demoniac, but in this age the Lord subdues them with His all-attractive figure as Caitanya MahÄprabhu. ĹrÄŤla JÄŤva GosvÄmÄŤ explains that His beauty is His astra, or weapon, to subdue the demons. Because He is all-attractive, it is to be understood that all the demigods lived with Him as His companions. His acts were uncommon and His associates wonderful. When He propagated the saĹkÄŤrtana movement, He attracted many great scholars and ÄcÄryas, especially in Bengal and Orissa. Lord Caitanya is always accompanied by His best associates like Lord NityÄnanda, Advaita, GadÄdhara and ĹrÄŤvÄsa.
“ĹrÄŤla JÄŤva GosvÄmÄŤ cites a verse from the Vedic literature that says that there is no necessity of performing sacrificial demonstrations or ceremonial functions. He comments that instead of engaging in such external, pompous exhibitions, all people, regardless of caste, color or creed, can assemble together and chant Hare KášášŁáša to worship Lord Caitanya. KášášŁáša-varášaḿ tviᚣÄkášášŁášam [SB 11.5.32] indicates that prominence should be given to the name KášášŁáša. Lord Caitanya taught KášášŁáša consciousness and chanted the name of KášášŁáša. Therefore, to worship Lord Caitanya, everyone should together chant the mahÄ-mantra â Hare KášášŁáša, Hare KášášŁáša, KášášŁáša KášášŁáša, Hare Hare/ Hare RÄma, Hare RÄma, RÄma RÄma, Hare Hare. To propagate worship in churches, temples or mosques is not possible because people have lost interest in that. But anywhere and everywhere, people can chant Hare KášášŁáša. Thus worshiping Lord Caitanya, they can perform the highest activity and fulfill the highest religious purpose of satisfying the Supreme Lord.
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“ĹrÄŤla SÄrvabhauma BhaášášÄcÄrya, a famous disciple of Lord Caitanya, said: ‘The principle of transcendental devotional service having been lost, ĹrÄŤ KášášŁáša Caitanya has appeared to deliver again the process of devotion. He is so kind that He is distributing love of KášášŁáša. Everyone should be attracted more and more to His lotus feet, as humming bees are attracted to a lotus flower.’ ”
The incarnation of Caitanya MahÄprabhu is also described in the ĹrÄŤ Viᚣášu-sahasra-nÄma, which appears in Chapter 189 of the DÄna-dharma-parva of MahÄbhÄrata. ĹrÄŤla JÄŤva GosvÄmÄŤ has quoted this reference as follows: suvaráša-varášo hemÄĹgo varÄĹgaĹ candanÄĹgadÄŤ. “In His early pastimes He appears as a householder with a golden complexion. His limbs are beautiful, and His body, smeared with the pulp of sandalwood, seems like molten gold.” He has also quoted, sannyÄsa-kášc chamaḼ ĹÄnto niᚣášhÄ-ĹÄnti-parÄyaášaḼ: “In His later pastimes He accepts the sannyÄsa order, and He is equipoised and peaceful. He is the highest abode of peace and devotion, for He silences the impersonalist nondevotees.”
Mother Abhaya Mudra,
I am pleased to hear your explanation for the statements of womenâs lack of intelligence. I think many devotees would do well to candidly admit that it is a puzzle to figure out how to neither deny the statements of the scripture nor the objective facts of modern women excelling in many areas that require material intelligence. I really think the answer to the whole puzzle is that we erroneously, yet naturally, project the exploitive attitudes of modern society into the statements of the scripture.
It appears insulting when we hear that women need protection despite the fact that what they need protection from, are unscrupulous men. When we hear that all men, in every universe, because of their lust, are controlled like dancing dogs, this indicates men are stupefied by lust. But rather than seeing this as an insult to the intelligence of men we tend to see this as an insult to women.
So we not only see statements regarding natural shortcomings of women as insults to women we also see statements regarding the shortcomings of men as insults to women. This can only be because of our own insulting attitude. Thus we are not compromising the scripture when we carefully qualify these statements ; we are simply trying to explain that they are not products of insulting attitudes which are pervasive (yet invisible due to our constant acceptance of them).
I believe this applies to virtually every area where the scripture make statements we are uncomfortable with. We put our parents in old folkâs homes and do well if we can phone them once a month, so when they die, our guilt for not showing human gratitude manifests as intense grieving. Thus the statements in the scripture explaining how to overcome that grief sounds to us like a justification for our lack of gratitude; which it isnât!
A measure of intelligence can be found in how much faith we have in Krishna, and in the process for realising Him. The story of the brahmana and the cobbler, and how a brahmana, who is meant to be more intelligent, has difficulty believing that the Lord threads a camel through the eye of a needle.
The materially less intelligent cobbler was more intelligent, because he did not doubt that a camel can be threaded through the eye of a needle.
BG 6. 25 speaks of having ââŚintelligence sustained by full convictionâŚâ (buddhyÄ dhrĚŁti-grĚŁhÄŤtayÄ)
Intelligence then, really means to be able to assess spiritual subject matter with keen insight â buddhi â which comes from purity, and of course faith. Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji was able to answer deep philosophical questions without academic assets.
We could say that the more genuinely faithful or convinced l a devotee is, the more intelligent he or she is. But this is earned by â sevonmukhe hi jivadhau⌠– menial service performed for the Lordâs pleasure, beginning with the tongue.
Ys Kesava Krsna Dasa