​How can an intellectual practice bhakti without becoming intellectually deviated?

Answer Podcast

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Question How much can an intellectually oriented devotee study intellectual things for serving Krishna and still maintain a devotional mood, if we study too many intellectual things, can that distract us from Bhakti? Answer In this world, there is nothing that is a pure lesson so Kunti Maharaj says He says that these four things can intoxicate us and make us feel that I don’t need Krishna and one of those things is Shruta, learning which comes from intelligence so there definitely it’s a valid fear that over intellectualism may take us away from Krishna and it is good that we are on guard, at the same time we cannot serve Krishna with gifts that we don’t have we can only serve him with the gifts that we have so so the gifts that I have can be used to go towards him they can be also misused and I may go away from him but if I don’t use that gift, what else am I going to do? so I can only, if I have musical talent, I can use music but by music I can get intoxicated and I can think that oh I am such a good singer and I can impress people and attract people to myself it’s possible but then if a person who is very good at music that person, if they don’t serve through music how are they going to serve? Unless they have somebody some person, people are as I say, they have an embarrassment of riches, they have many many talents and they have the luxury of choosing among various talents about how to serve Krishna so if we have that then we may choose a low profile service where we are using our talents we are working according to our interests but maybe it’s not so high profile or it’s not so much likely to cause deviation but that way, anything can be a source of deviation so that’s why, just because there is a danger in using some faculty in Krishna’s service, that does not mean that we should not use that faculty so in general when we are intellectually oriented the plain narration of past times just doesn’t appeal much to us so is that a devotional disqualification? maybe, maybe not I don’t know because I used to think that if I really love Krishna then I should simply be able to hear Krishna’s past times that’s what I had heard earlier and I used to feel that I also just can’t relish past times alone there has to be some analysis, there has to be some explanation then I look at how Jiva Goswami has analysed how he has analysed 10th Canto or Vishwamitra Thakur has analysed the Bhagavatam they are bhaktas, but they are analysing especially Jiva Goswami’s Gopal Champu there is so much analysis even the Sanu Goswami’s commentary also the Shemtipani there is so much analysis on the 10th Canto so here there are Vaishnavas who are great devotees, at the same time they are using their scholarly capacity in Krishna’s service so that’s what we too need to do so we get to follow in their footsteps we cannot wish away our intellectual side so yes there is some sometimes we may just be required to hear just pure narration of past times or plain narration of past times see the word plain is not right because Krishna’s past times are always rich, but still there may not be much analysis in it, but in general for our own study, for our own absorption we need analysis and we can we can when we are doing some intellectual work, try to find an intersection between the intellectual and the devotional and that means I found that happens best in verses and bhajans because if I just decide to chant 64 rounds it is, I cannot absorb myself so much, but if I decide that I will recite Vaishnava songs, I will recite verses, I will memorize verses, that I can do throughout the day because there is the verses, especially 10th Canto verses or some verses of prayers or verses of songs, there is quite a good amount of devotion in it, but there is also some analysis there there is also some intelligence involved over there and that combination of intellectual and devotional is very absorbing that means we need to find something like that and do that on a regular basis where there is something which is directly devotional and at the same time there is some intellectual aspect to it, so I recently wrote an article on my website about a commentary sort of on Prabhupada’s Markine Bhagavad Dharma song, Make Me Dance so that is one of my favorite songs and I took that and I tried to analyze that and I felt deeply nourished by that so now after that, even if I have to sing that song or participate in singing of that song anytime I will read that and then that will help me to get a deeper absorption so in general we cannot wish away the intellectual but at the same time we cannot neglect the devotional so we have to find out the intersection between the intellectual and the devotional and nourish ourselves that way as far as reading reading some other books for getting a better analytical framework for understanding people, for doing things in life for organizing ourselves that is okay again in general we especially if we are intellectual, we are very intellectually influenceable that means if somebody is a brilliant intellectual they will be impressed by that so what we have to be careful if we read books by other authors is that we shouldn’t let them let them influence our goal we learn our goal from Krishna from Prabhupada, from the Acharyas and the means to that goal for that we may learn from other people just like if say I am leading a bus party and there is a driver but I also need to learn to drive then I will learn driving from someone that is a skill which has a means to an end which is to serve Krishna so the more physical the skill, the more external or gross the skill the less there is likelihood of confusion between ends and means I may learn from an expert driver how to drive a car or a truck but that is not going to influence my understanding of the goal of life similarly I may learn how to do online outreach for that I may do some website development course or something like that that also is quite a gross skill but when it comes to say understanding people or analyzing relationships or having a more positive attitude in life these are subtle things they are much more connected with a subtle body than with a gross body and when we learn these things from others we may be required to do that because if we see that way in the Vedic scriptures there was Paravidya and Aparavidya and much of the Aparavidya today is lost even Jiva Swami says in the Sandarbhas that much of the Vedas are lost so we don’t have that Aparavidya the knowledge of living in this world and if we have to learn it from somewhere else and we find that helpful that is okay but we need to be careful is that if we don’t confuse the ends and the means so for that we need to have regular regular study of scripture in a way that is intellectually appealing and convincing for us because when we read other books they are also going to be intellectually appealing and stimulating and then we need intellectually appealing and intellectually stimulating convincing presentations of Bhakti also so when we have this also and this also then here there is Krishna also and then that will give us the higher test but if we do this very less and if we do this then we may get distracted so in the regulation we can read other books and we should also monitor ourselves what is my understanding is it changing of my life what is the purpose what is the priority as long as our goal is clear we can use some means for moving towards that goal that is okay and often that is an intellectual need what should happen over generations is that or over decades or over generations is that all of the devotees needs should be fulfilled within the devotee community that means say if I want to study science then if there are devotee scientists who have already written books on science and spirituality, science and bhakti then I won’t have to go out and read other authors to read about to understand science and bhakti or if I want to learn about say relationships or self development or self organization or whatever whatever field it may be if we already have the books written within our devotee tradition bhakti tradition that would be the best so in general if we want to look at look at any particular subject first we can look at whether that kind of material is available from devotees and if that is available that is what we should first avail of and overall if we are an association of devotees we are practicing the pursuit of bhakti there is not much fear that the intelligence alone will take us away it is more that somehow because of some conditioning coming up or some temptation we may expose to our intentions change and then the intelligence takes away so the intelligence is not culpable the intelligence is not culpable it is the intention that is responsible and that intention takes time to change or rather that intention changing is a different process that may change because of the intelligence that may change because of something else so we have to be careful about that does that answer your question?