A Foundation From Which To Start

By krishnasmercy on May 20, 2025 • ( 0 )

“One time, that wicked king of the Daityas saw his son of lotus-like face and beautiful eyes, surrounded by women, having returned from the home of the guru. In his hand, that boy was holding a slate which had the mark of a chakra at the top and the name of Krishna written with great adoration.” (Narasimha Purana, 41.35-36)

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तं पद्मवक्त्रं दैत्येन्द्रः कदाचित् स्त्रीवृतः खलः
बालं गुरुगृहायातं ददर्श स्वायतेक्षणम्
गृहीत्वा तु करे पुत्रं पट्टिका या सुशोभना
मूर्ध्नि चक्राङ्किता पट्टी कृष्णनामाङ्कितादरात्

taṃ padmavaktraṃ daityendraḥ kadācit strīvṛtaḥ khalaḥ
bālaṃ gurugṛhāyātaṃ dadarśa svāyatekṣaṇam
gṛhītvā tu kare putraṃ paṭṭikā yā suśobhanā
mūrdhni cakrāṅkitā paṭṭī kṛṣṇanāmāṅkitādarāt

“Have you ever wondered about innate intelligence? Not the kind that is sharpened through reading books. Memes were not around when I was a kid, but if they were, you could trace out two distinct paths based on how children behaved in school. On one side, you have the bookworm or the nerd. They read. They follow the rules. They earn good marks from the teachers. On the other side, you have the rebellious type. They refuse to read. They goof off. They get into trouble.

“At the same time, there is intelligence on both sides. One side knows to follow directions, to get a grasp on literacy, and to then utilize the sharpened tool. The other side has this inherent tendency to rebel. They go against what people advise. They try to find their own path. There is intelligence at the foundation in each case. This truth might be easy to overlook, as we castigate one side as foolish, as lacking intelligence, while praising the other side.

“There is intelligence, though. This truth cannot be denied. The child knows how to latch onto the breast of the mother. This is moments after emerging from the womb. It has yet to learn anything, but it already knows so much. We see a similar miracle in the animal kingdom, wherein the newborn immediately gallops away or starts to walk.

“There has to be a source. There has to be some programming involved. There is configuration to almost an exact specification. We know this based on the expected trajectory in terms of maturity. The child should reach certain milestones at set durations. For instance, crawling at six months, walking at one year, talking at two years, and so forth. There is a buffer, for sure, but the general expectation is there.

“If we agree that there is intelligence, the next logical question is to its use. What is the purpose to the intelligence? We see that people have different proclivities. They act in different ways. Not every person can be a teacher. Not every person wants to be a teacher. Even manual labor requires some kind of intelligence, in utilizing physical attributes. Just why do we have this intelligence? What is the ideal application?”

Bhagavad-gita explains that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the source of everything. As darkness is the absence of light, so ignorance is the absence of intelligence. Forgetfulness is the absence of remembrance. Shri Krishna is responsible for each condition. He is the inherent intelligence that we witness. He is also the formalized knowledge system necessary for reawakening the inherent intelligence for reaching the full potential in viability.

सर्वस्य चाहं हृदि सन्निविष्टो
मत्तः स्मृतिर् ज्ञानम् अपोहनं च
वेदैश् च सर्वैर् अहम् एव वेद्यो
वेदान्त-कृद् वेद-विद् एव चाहम्

sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo
mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca
vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham

“I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.15)

The intelligence is a foundation from which to operate. We have the historical example of Prahlada Maharaja, who started with the best foundation. He had the knowledge of Vedanta passed along to him. This transfer took place while Prahlada was within the womb. This single instance of the guru-disciple relationship is so important that it can provide guidance in a host of other areas simultaneously.

For instance, we learn that the period within the womb does not have to go to waste. The mother can act as a conduit for spiritual instruction, simply through accepting wisdom. The mother might not even understand what is being taught. She might hear tattva one day and forget it the next. There is still a benefit. There is still a chance for the child to remember. They can reawaken their dormant consciousness in connection to Divinity after taking birth.

The foundation of intelligence for Prahlada, established through the guidance of Narada Muni, was not supported by external entities; at least not in the visible sense. Rather, the parties in charge tried to physically remove that foundation. They did not want Prahlada to be linked in consciousness with Vishnu, which is another name for God. They did not want the child worshiping in his spare time, such as in drawing a chakra on a slate or beautifully writing the name of Krishna.

Yet this foundation was so strong, so profound, and so effective that not even inimical forces could remove it. It was like an immovable object, fixed in a vow like a pillar holding up a large structure. The object of worship, the strength within that foundation of intelligence, later emerged from a pillar. He gave proof to the doubting father of Prahlada, who could have had a similar foundation.

Rather, Hiranyakashipu was a Daitya in physical form and also in spirit. Hiranyakashipu was against Vishnu. The father insisted upon visible evidence from the worshiping son. Though Prahlada did not expressly invite the proof, Vishnu came through for His dear devotee by manifesting from a pillar. That manifestation was awesome and fear-instilling for the atheist Daityas, but a most wonderful and worshipable sight for the devoted like Prahlada.