Less Intelligent Men Worship Demigods

Śrīla Prabhupāda consistently uses the phrase "less intelligent men" to describe those who lack the spiritual discrimination to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Drawing from the Bhagavad-gītā (BG 7.23), he explains that such persons are bewildered by material desires. Consequently, they either worship demigods for temporary material rewards or mistakenly conclude that the Absolute Truth is formless, unable to perceive the eternal, personal nature of God.

Demigod Worship for Temporary Fruits

The primary symptom of less intelligent men is their attraction to demigod worship. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that because they are motivated by immediate sense gratification, they approach various demigods to acquire wealth, health, or power. They fail to understand that these fruits are anta-vat—temporary and perishable. A truly intelligent person seeks the eternal connection with Kṛṣṇa, whereas the less intelligent settle for the flickering rewards of the material world.

• Demigod worship is discouraged in Bhagavad-gita: Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet."
• Anta-vat tu phalam tesam tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam: "Less intelligent men take shelter of the demigods due to bewilderment and are satisfied with the temporary benefits they award."
• Generally in all the material sacrifices recommended in the Vedic literature there are offerings to the demigods. This demigod worship is especially meant for less intelligent men.

Misunderstanding the Supreme Form

Another characteristic of the less intelligent is the inability to understand the transcendental form of the Lord. Confused by the material energy, they think God is impersonal or that His form is material. Śrīla Prabhupāda compares them to aborigines who are struck with wonder by lightning (God's energy) but cannot conceive of the powerhouse behind it. They may study the Vedānta-sūtra but without devotion, they remain unable to grasp the personal feature of the Absolute Truth.

• Less intelligent men cannot conceive the transcendental all-spiritual form of God, they are astounded by His different energies as aborigines are struck with wonder by the manifestation of lightning, a gigantic mountain or a hugely expanded banyan tree.
• The impersonal view of the Absolute Truth is accepted by less intelligent men, because unless one is engaged in the service of the Lord one cannot understand how the Supreme is acting - one cannot even know the Lord’s name.

Identification with Matter

Ultimately, this lack of intelligence stems from the bodily concept of life. In the age of Kali, the population is described as "less intelligent" because they identify solely with a body that lasts only forty or sixty years. Ignorant of the spirit soul, they waste their valuable human form in animalistic propensities, criticizing those who are actually advancing in spiritual life.

• In human society all over the world there are millions and billions of men and women, and almost all of them are less intelligent because they have very little knowledge of spirit soul.
• They (men in the age of Kali) are less intelligent because they have no information of the eternity of life; they identify with the temporary material body existing for forty years and consider it the only basic principle of life.

Conclusion

Intelligence is not measured by material education but by the ability to recognize the Supreme. The less intelligent remain entangled in temporary rituals and impersonal speculation, while the intelligent soul surrenders to Kṛṣṇa, knowing Him to be the cause of all causes and the only source of eternal satisfaction.

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