SB 11.07.31 – Use the intelligence to realize our need for Krishna, not to exhibit our knowledge about Krishna

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you.
So here in the narrative there is a step backwards, previous verses where Yudhumaharaj is speaking to Avadhut Brahma, now Krishna is telling what is happening in between the pause in the conversation, so Yudhumaharaj has completed his speech, he has asked some questions, and now his disposition is described, so actually Maharaj Yudhumaharaj is extremely intelligent, and despite being intelligent, still in front of the brahmanas, he honoured the brahmana, and he was humble in front of the brahmana, so in general Yudhumaharaj was respectful to brahmanas, and this brahmana he especially loved, and he was especially respectful to him, so Chitrali, we often think that the more intelligent we are, the more we know things, and the less we need to know any other things, or the less we need to know from others, because we think that we know more than them, now to some extent, it may happen that if we have been given intelligence by Krishna due to our past karma, then it may well be that we may know more than others, but that doesn’t make any difference in terms of our spiritual advancement, our spiritual advancement depends not so much on how much we know, but on how much we love, so there may be other people who may know less than us, but they may love Krishna more than us, and they will be more spiritually advanced, so now here Maharaj Yudhumaharaj is himself intelligent, he is Sumedhasa, the word Sumedhasa comes in the famous verse where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s incarnation is transmitted Bhagwatam yajanti hi sumedhasa, the intelligent people, those who are endowed with Sumedha, good brain substance, they worship Lord Chaitanya, the same adjective is used over here Sumedhasa, and it is described that Maharaj Yudhumaharaj is intelligent, and his intelligence is exhibited not through his pride in his knowledge, but in his humility in seeking knowledge, so he realizes that this Brahmana though having very misleading externals is actually far more advanced than him, and far more advanced than general populace, and far more advanced than even amongst spiritualists in general, so he offers appropriate respects, and with a humble disposition he seeks the answers, so in general our intelligence can help us in our Krishna consciousness if it helps us to fix the mind on Krishna, if with our intelligence we understand that everything apart from Krishna is peripheral, superficial and unfulfilling, even entangling, then we will not be attracted to those things, and that will help us to Lord Krishna described in the Bhagavad Gita 6.20 why that with intelligence sustained by conviction one should fix the mind on the Self, ultimately on Krishna, so intelligence can be useful, but if we use our intelligence to exhibit our knowledge instead of to apply that knowledge, applying that knowledge means turning towards Krishna, using the intelligence to fix the mind on Krishna, exhibiting that knowledge means showing that knowledge and to get prestige and honor from others, to brag about our knowledge level, so if that happens, the second thing happens in our intelligence and our knowledge can become obstacles in our shelter, taking shelter of Krishna, so Maharaja Yaduba his disposition of humility is exhibiting how though he is Sumedasa, still he is also humble, he is prashraya vanatam, prashraya is out of humility, bowing is avanatam, and he is asking questions, so similarly when we chant, if we are proud of our intelligence, then we feel that we have our life in control and we don’t need Krishna’s help, but if you have that humility, I did okay, some things may be in control right now, but anything can spring out of control at any moment, given the unpredictable nature of the world and the unpredictable nature of the mind, and that will also help us to cultivate humility, we don’t know what is going to happen and we often don’t even know what is good for us, so prashraya avanatam, therefore the extent to which you have humility, that humility is not necessarily a sign of intellectual deficiency, but it is a sign of intellectual proficiency, because by our humility, we understand the power of the mind, the power of maya, and it makes us shelter of somebody who is greater than maya, that is Krishna, and thereby the intelligence can be used to, are we intelligent enough to understand that we are not intelligent enough by ourselves, that is the question, if we can be intelligent in that way, then our intelligence can increase our awareness of the need to take shelter of Krishna and can help us to learn more from Krishna, from devotees and from the whole process of Krishna consciousness, just as we can get insights from others, if we are humble while talking with them, similarly even when we are chanting, if we are humble and receptive, we will get so many insights through our chanting too, so prashraya avanatam, with humility we will get knowledge and we will make spiritual advancement, and we will get deeper understanding of Krishna’s glories and thereby become attracted to him.