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Less intelligent class of men (Books)

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Chapters 1 - 6

Only the less intelligent class of men make a distinction between sāṅkhya-yoga and bhakti-yoga.
BG 2.39, Purport:

Real Sāṅkhya philosophy is described by Lord Kapila in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but even that Sāṅkhya has nothing to do with the current topics. Here, Sāṅkhya means analytical description of the body and the soul. Lord Kṛṣṇa made an analytical description of the soul just to bring Arjuna to the point of buddhi-yoga, or bhakti-yoga. Therefore, Lord Kṛṣṇa's Sāṅkhya and Lord Kapila's Sāṅkhya, as described in the Bhāgavatam, are one and the same. They are all bhakti-yoga. Lord Kṛṣṇa Said, therefore, that only the less intelligent class of men make a distinction between sāṅkhya-yoga and bhakti-yoga (sāṅkhya-yogau pṛthag bālāḥ pravadanti na paṇḍitāḥ).

BG Chapters 7 - 12

By His internal potency the Supreme Lord is not manifest to the less intelligent class of men.
BG 7.26, Purport:

Certainly the transcendental body of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is not perishable. He is just like the sun, and māyā is like a cloud. In the material world we can see that there is the sun and that there are clouds and different stars and planets. The clouds may cover all these in the sky temporarily, but this covering is only apparent to our limited vision. The sun, moon and stars are not actually covered. Similarly, māyā cannot cover the Supreme Lord. By His internal potency He is not manifest to the less intelligent class of men.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 2

The Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, manifested His virāṭ-rūpa just to convince the less intelligent class of men, who cannot conceive of the Lord as appearing just like a human being, that He factually has the potency of His claim to be the Supreme Absolute person without any rival or superior.
SB 2.1.25, Purport:

In the Bhagavad-gītā, it has been proven that the original transcendental and eternal form of the Lord is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, but by His inconceivable internal potency, ātma-māyā, He can expand Himself by multifarious forms and incarnations simultaneously, without being diminished in His full potency. He is complete, and although innumerable complete forms emanate from Him, He is still complete, without any loss. That is His spiritual or internal potency. In the Eleventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, the Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, manifested His virāṭ-rūpa just to convince the less intelligent class of men, who cannot conceive of the Lord as appearing just like a human being, that He factually has the potency of His claim to be the Supreme Absolute person without any rival or superior.

Bhagavad-gītā is also part of the Mahābhārata, and it is full of the Lord's instruction for the less intelligent class of men.
SB 2.3.14, Purport:

As we have already quoted above from the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu of Rūpa Gosvāmī, even mundane things, if dovetailed in the service of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, are accepted as transcendental. For example, the epics or the histories of Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata, which are specifically recommended for the less intelligent classes (women, śūdras and unworthy sons of the higher castes), are also accepted as Vedic literature because they are compiled in connection with the activities of the Lord. Mahābhārata is accepted as the fifth division of the Vedas after its first four divisions, namely Sāma, Yajur, Ṛg and Atharva. The less intelligent do not accept Mahābhārata as part of the Vedas, but great sages and authorities accept it as the fifth division of the Vedas. Bhagavad-gītā is also part of the Mahābhārata, and it is full of the Lord's instruction for the less intelligent class of men.

The truths described in the Vedic literatures are not theories of mundane imagination, nor are they fictitious, as the less intelligent class of men sometimes think.
SB 2.4.23, Purport:

The truths described in the Vedic literatures are not theories of mundane imagination, nor are they fictitious, as the less intelligent class of men sometimes think. The Vedic truths are all perfect descriptions of the factual truth without any mistake or illusion, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī wants to present the truths of creation not as a metaphysical theory of philosophical speculation, but as the actual facts and figures of the subject, since he would be dictated to by the Lord exactly in the same manner as Brahmājī was inspired.

SB 2.5.12, Translation:

I offer my obeisances and meditate upon Lord Kṛṣṇa (Vāsudeva), the Personality of Godhead, whose invincible potency influences them (the less intelligent class of men) to call me the supreme controller.

Ignorance is the back of the Lord, and therefore the ignorance of the less intelligent class of men is also not separate from His bodily conception.
SB 2.6.10, Purport:

Ignorance is the back of the Lord, and therefore the ignorance of the less intelligent class of men is also not separate from His bodily conception. Since His body is the complete whole of everything that be, one cannot assert that He is impersonal only. On the contrary, the perfect description of the Lord holds that He is both impersonal and personal simultaneously. The Personality of Godhead is the original feature of the Lord, and His impersonal emanation is but the reflection of His transcendental body.

When the Lord actually descends on the earth or anywhere within the universe, the less intelligent class of men also mistake Him to be one of them, and thus they imagine the Transcendence to be formless or impersonal.
SB 2.6.43-45, Purport:

When the Lord is described as formless in the Vedic literatures, it is to be understood that all these forms mentioned above, within the experience of universal knowledge, are different exhibitions of the Lord's transcendental potencies only, and none of them factually represents the transcendental form of the Lord. But when the Lord actually descends on the earth or anywhere within the universe, the less intelligent class of men also mistake Him to be one of them, and thus they imagine the Transcendence to be formless or impersonal. Factually, the Lord is not formless, nor does He belong to any of the multiforms experienced within the universal forms. One should try to know the truth about the Lord by following the instruction of Brahmājī.

This abode of the Lord, although described in revealed scriptures like the Bhagavad-gītā and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, remains only a myth for the less intelligent class of men with a poor fund of knowledge.
SB 2.9.9, Purport:

Brahmājī was able to please the Lord, and the Lord was also pleased to show Brahmājī His personal abode. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, in the comments of his Krama-sandarbha annotation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, cites quotations from the Garga Upaniṣad Vedic evidence. It is said that Yājñavalkya described the transcendental abode of the Lord to Gārgī, and that the abode of the Lord is situated above the highest planet of the universe, namely Brahmaloka. This abode of the Lord, although described in revealed scriptures like the Bhagavad-gītā and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, remains only a myth for the less intelligent class of men with a poor fund of knowledge.

In the material world the Personality of Godhead may not be visible in His personal form to the less intelligent class of men, and therefore He may sometimes be called formless.
SB 2.9.33, Purport:

The Personality of Godhead is never formless. In the material world He may not be visible in His personal form to the less intelligent class of men, and therefore He may sometimes be called formless. But actually He is always in His eternal form in His Vaikuṇṭha planets as well as in other planets of the universes as different incarnations. The example of the sun is very appropriate in this connection. The sun in the night may not be visible to the eyes of men in the darkness, but the sun is visible wherever it has risen. That the sun is not visible to the eyes of the inhabitants of a particular part of the earth does not mean that the sun has no form.

SB Canto 3

Śrīla Vyāsadeva compiled the Mahābhārata for the less intelligent class of men, who take more interest in mundane topics than in the philosophy of life.
SB 3.5.12, Purport:

The great sage Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa is the author of all Vedic literature, of which his works Vedānta-sūtra, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Mahābhārata are very popular readings. As stated in Bhāgavatam (1.4.25), Śrīla Vyāsadeva compiled the Mahābhārata for the less intelligent class of men, who take more interest in mundane topics than in the philosophy of life. The Vedānta-sūtra was compiled for persons already above the mundane topics, who might already have tasted the bitterness of the so-called happiness of mundane affairs.

SB Canto 4

The less intelligent class of men (avipaścitaḥ), attracted by the flowery language of the Vedas, engage in fruitive activities to become materially benefited. Thus they continue life after life, in different bodily forms, to search very, very hard.
SB 4.20.30, Purport:

The Lord sometimes offers benedictions to the neophyte devotees who have not yet understood that material facilities will not make them happy. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta the Lord therefore says that a sincere devotee who is not very intelligent may ask some material benefit from the Lord, but the Lord, being omniscient, does not generally give material rewards but, on the contrary, takes away whatever material facilities are being enjoyed by His devotee, so that ultimately the devotee will completely surrender unto Him. In other words, the offering of benedictions in the form of material profit is never auspicious for the devotee. The statements of the Vedas which offer elevation to heavenly planets in exchange for great sacrifices are simply bewildering. Therefore in Bhagavad-gītā (2.42) the Lord says: yām imāṁ puṣpitāṁ vācaṁ pravadanty avipaścitaḥ. The less intelligent class of men (avipaścitaḥ), attracted by the flowery language of the Vedas, engage in fruitive activities to become materially benefited. Thus they continue life after life, in different bodily forms, to search very, very hard.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Madhya-lila

The less intelligent class of men cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead without being favored by His devotee.
CC Madhya 6.151, Purport:

One who has no Vedic knowledge, who has not studied the Vedas from a bona fide spiritual master, does not know Kṛṣṇa. Therefore he is a mūḍha. Such fools take Kṛṣṇa to be an ordinary person (paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ). They do not actually know what Kṛṣṇa is. Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye (BG 7.3). It is not possible to understand Kṛṣṇa simply by studying the Vedas perfectly. One must have the mercy of a devotee (yat-pādam). Unless one is favored by a devotee, he cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Arjuna also confirms this in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.14): "My Lord, it is very difficult to understand Your personality." The less intelligent class of men cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead without being favored by His devotee.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

The benedictions derived from demigods are appreciated only by the less intelligent class of men.
Krsna Book 88:

Those devotees who take blessings from the demigods are also infected with the material qualities, especially passion and ignorance. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa has therefore stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that to take blessings from the demigods is less intelligent because when one takes benedictions from the demigods the results of such benedictions are temporary. It is easy to get material opulence by worshiping the demigods, but the result is sometimes disastrous. As such, the benedictions derived from demigods are appreciated only by the less intelligent class of men. Persons who derive benedictions from the demigods gradually become puffed up with material opulence and neglectful of their benefactors.

Sri Isopanisad

Vyāsadeva then thought of the less intelligent class of men—strī, śūdra and dvija-bandhu. For these persons he compiled the Mahābhārata, called the history of India, and the eighteen Purāṇas.
Sri Isopanisad Introduction:

Originally there was only one Veda, and there was no necessity of reading it. People were so intelligent and had such sharp memories that by once hearing from the lips of the spiritual master they would understand. They would immediately grasp the whole purport. But five thousand years ago Vyāsadeva put the Vedas in writing for the people in this age, Kali-yuga. He knew that eventually the people would be short-lived, their memories would be very poor, and their intelligence would not be very sharp. "Therefore, let me teach this Vedic knowledge in writing." He divided the Vedas into four: Ṛg, Sāma, Atharva and Yajur. Then he gave the charge of these Vedas to his different disciples. He then thought of the less intelligent class of men—strī, śūdra and dvija-bandhu. He considered the woman class and śūdra class (worker class) and dvija-bandhu. Dvija-bandhu refers to those who are born in a high family but who are not properly qualified. A man who is born in the family of a brāhmaṇa but is not qualified as a brāhmaṇa is called dvija-bandhu. For these persons he compiled the Mahābhārata, called the history of India, and the eighteen Purāṇas. These are all part of the Vedic literature: the Purāṇas, the Mahābhārata, the four Vedas and the Upaniṣads. The Upaniṣads are part of the Vedas. Then Vyāsadeva summarized all Vedic knowledge for scholars and philosophers in what is called the Vedānta-sūtra. This is the last word of the Vedas.

Page Title:Less intelligent class of men (Books)
Compiler:Labangalatika
Created:08 of Mar, 2010
Totals by Section:BG=2, SB=10, CC=1, OB=2, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:15