What is the difference between knowledge in the three modes and intelligence in the three modes?
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Question.
What is the difference between knowledge in the three modes and intelligence in the three modes? Both are mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita’s 18th chapter. Answer. Knowledge refers more to perception, whereas intelligence refers more to action.
Krishna talks about knowledge in the three modes in 18.20 to 22. And there we see that when he talks, whether it is of knowledge in goodness or in passion or in ignorance, he is talking about how people see the world. So, for example, he talks in goodness.
People see that. One who sees the same imperishable spirit in all living beings, that person is seeing the truth, is actually seeing in goodness. On the other hand, one who says that every living being essentially is the same as its body and therefore every living being is different.
So that vision, So again he is talking about vision, perception or vision. How one sees things is what Krishna refers to as knowledge. And when you talk about intelligence, he talks about, for example, he talks about intelligence in the mode of ignorance.
What does he say? He says that one who acts the opposite of all the way one should act. So that intelligence which does, which considers the adharma to be dharma and dharma to be adharma. That means that which is to be done, one does it.
And that which is to be done, one does not do it. That is intelligence in the mode of ignorance. So what does he say is sattvic intelligence? That one who understands what should be done, what should be given up.
And Krishna talks about this earlier how the demoniac people don’t know this. He uses the same first line there. But here Krishna is talking about something different.
That what is to be done, what activity is to be feared and what activity is to be not feared. As it is said, fools rush in where angels fear to tread. So such activities are considered to be actually not advisable.
So they know this. Some activities are to be feared. So again here we see the focus is on action.
They understand this kind of action can cause bondage, this kind of action will bring about liberation. And in that way, they differentiate. So knowledge is more in terms of how we look at the world, whereas intelligence is more concerned with how we act in the world.
Thank you. Hare Krishna.