“Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.11)

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अवजानन्ति मां मूढा
मानुषीं तनुम् आश्रितम्
परं भावम् अजानन्तो
मम भूत-महेश्वरम्

avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā
mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam
paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto
mama bhūta-maheśvaram

1. The madman

“Yeah, it is sad to see. I did not want to tell you. Almost heartbreaking. They have obviously gone mad. Sort of like that professional wrestling character from the 1980s. You know, the one that would eat the turnbuckle and couldn’t put together a full sentence when speaking.

“I hope there is a way to correct the situation. This person says one crazy thing after another. They cannot accept wise counsel. If you ask them to wake up on time, to take a shower, to eat meals at regular intervals, they will look at you as if you are the crazy one.”

2. The foolish man

“Listen, I do not have the highest expectations in this area. I am not after a comparative analysis based on intelligence quotients. But if you follow the same pattern of behavior over and over, with the same undesirable result, you would think it is wise to change course.

“But that is the thing. This person is not wise. They are foolish. That is why they say one crazy thing after another. It is better not to maintain their association or soon you won’t be able to tell the difference between right and wrong, what should be done and what should not be done, and what is beneficial and what is harmful.”

प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च जना न विदुरासुरा:
न शौचं नापि चाचारो न सत्यं तेषु विद्यते

pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca
janā na vidur āsurāḥ
na śaucaṁ nāpi cācāro
na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate

“Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 16.7)

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains that there are generally two classes of people who do not accept the supreme authority of God. The Sanskrit word to describe them is mudha. This can refer to someone who has gone mad or simply one lacking intelligence. The madman and the foolish man will never surrender to God.

It is foolishness to consider that this vast creation, with intelligence embedded into every aspect, came about through randomness, chance, or accident. If it were possible to generate an entire universe without an explicit cause, then that same lack of a cause would produce many more planets and many more suns. That host of objects would be completely lacking in precision. That is to say, the one sun might be thousands of miles away from the earth and another sun would be only hundreds of miles from the earth.

There would be no predictability to the development of the human body. There would be no such thing as seasons. There would be no expectation of flowers blossoming on trees. There would be no retention of witnessed events, since there would be no such thing as memory.

मोघाशा मोघकर्माणो मोघज्ञाना विचेतस:
राक्षसीमासुरीं चैव प्रकृतिं मोहिनीं श्रिता:

moghāśā mogha-karmāṇo
mogha-jñānā vicetasaḥ
rākṣasīm āsurīṁ caiva
prakṛtiṁ mohinīṁ śritāḥ

“Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demonic and atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their fruitive activities, and their culture of knowledge are all defeated.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.12)

To deny the amazing intelligence required for the universe to function surely indicates foolishness. The stipulation is there as a kind of warning. We should not indulge the side of madness. That will not benefit us in the long run. After all, every person is interested in their welfare. Artha is one of the four primary rewards to a human existence.

Purushartha, the highest gain for the living being [purusha], is to reconnect with the source of intelligence. To reach this goal is to first cure the degraded condition. When we are struggling with an intense fever, it is difficult to think straight. We don’t like anything. The entire existence is a burden.

When we get better, however, everything changes. We start to think and see clearly. Everything becomes enjoyable. The healed condition in the human experience is to realize, connect with, and serve the Almighty. That is the meaning to an existence, and the representative traverses this earth to bring the healing herb in the form of sound, to drive away our madness and bring us again into the proper way: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

Randomness of matter,
Cause of universe to scatter.

No intelligence at the source,
Just happened in due course.

This thinking of the person mad,
Or case of intelligence gone bad.

First priority the illness to clear,
Guru with vision of seer.

Categories: the two

Tags: dailyprompt, poem, poems, poetry, prabhupada, religion