We Are All Born Foolish
The Vedic perspective on human birth is starkly realistic: everyone is born a fool. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that regardless of nationality, family background, or social status, every human being enters the world in a state of ignorance known as abodha-jātaḥ. This is not an insult but a statement of fact regarding the conditioned soul's consciousness. At birth, the living entity falsely identifies with the material body, unaware of their true spiritual identity. This innate foolishness is the starting point of human life, but it is not meant to be the end point. The duty of a human being is to rise above this born ignorance through spiritual education.
Condition of Abodha-jātaḥ
The term abodha-jātaḥ specifically refers to one who is born without knowledge. Śrīla Prabhupāda frequently cites the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 5.5.5) to illustrate that in the material world, every living entity begins their life covered by illusion. This covering is so thick that the soul is oblivious to its eternal nature. Educational institutions exist precisely because humans are not born with knowledge; they must be trained to overcome this initial state of foolishness.
- Bhagavata says, parabhavas tavad abhodha-jatah (SB 5.5.5). Abodha-jatah. Abodha-jata means every living entity is born fools. Therefore there are so many educational institution.
- All men, they have been declared in the Bhagavata abodha-jata (SB 5.5.5), born fools and rascals. But these are very strong words. But if we state this strong, that is another foolishness.
- Every conditioned soul is inexperienced. Everyone is abodha jata - born a fool and rascal.
Identification with Body
The primary symptom of this born foolishness is the conviction that "I am this body." Śrīla Prabhupāda argues that despite observing death and decay, everyone persists in thinking they are the temporary material form. This misconception leads to the false claim of ownership over land and family. Just as a child or an animal operates solely on bodily instincts, a human being without spiritual knowledge remains on the same platform, regardless of their academic degrees or social standing.
- Every one of us is born foolish because we identify with this temporary body as myself. Therefore we are foolish. Everyone knows that the body does not exist, and still, everyone identifies himself with this body. This is called ignorance, or illusion.
- Just like we see the behaviour of small children and household cats and dogs, their behaviour is almost the same, no distinction. Because in that stage everyone is abodha-jata, born fools and rascals.
- The sastra says, everyone is born a fool: because he has this body, therefore he was born a fool. No being, either American or Indian, cat or dog, is free from this. You have come to disease, that's all.
Evolution from Animal Life
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains the cause of this ignorance through the lens of evolution. The soul transmigrates through 8,400,000 species, culminating in the human form. Since the human being has just graduated from the animal kingdom, the habits and consciousness of animal life—eating, sleeping, mating, and defending—are carried over. Therefore, birth itself is an entry into ignorance. It is only through culture and training that one can shed these animalistic propensities.
- Everyone is born foolish. Everyone. Even the human beings, because they are coming from the animal kingdom by evolution, so the birth is the same, ignorance, like animals. Therefore, even though one is human being, he requires education.
- A sisya, a disciple, comes to the guru for enlightenment. Everyone is born foolish. Everyone. Even the human being, because they are coming from the animal kingdom by evolution, so the birth is the same, ignorance, like animal.
Need for Spiritual Education
Because everyone is born a śūdra (ignorant), there is a desperate need for proper education. Śrīla Prabhupāda distinguishes between material literacy and true knowledge (vidyā). A man may be born a fool, but he is made intelligent by culture. This transformation requires approaching a guru for enlightenment. Without this spiritual "second birth" (dvija), a human being remains in their natural, foolish state, no matter how materially advanced they become.
- Janmana jayate sudrah. Everyone is born a sudra, a foolish. Sudra means a foolish man who simply laments. That is the real meaning of sudra. Anyone who has no intelligence, he is sudra.
- A man is born fool, but he is made intelligent by educational culture.
- We are born all fools and rascals, abodha-jata, without any sense. So we require education. What is that education? Atma-tattvam.
Defeat Without Knowledge
If one does not utilize the human form to dissipate this born ignorance, their life is a failure. The word parābhavaḥ means defeat. Śrīla Prabhupāda warns that without self-realization, all activities—whether political, social, or philanthropic—are ultimately a waste of time because they are performed in the darkness of bodily identification. The crisis of modern civilization is that it is led by people who have remained in their born state of foolishness.
- Everyone is born fool. So fool's activities means defeat. So human life, although born fool, they should have knowledge. Without knowledge all their activities are defeat of life, parabhava.
- Born rascal, fool. He has to be enlightened, he has to be given knowledge, and he has to receive knowledge to make his life perfect. Therefore parabhavah means one who does not make his life perfect, he's being defeated.
- These rascals, they are born fools and rascals, and they are working in rascaldom. Therefore, whatever they are doing, it is defeat. Therefore this crisis has come.
Conclusion
While it is a fact that we are all born foolish, it is our responsibility not to die that way. Śrīla Prabhupāda urges us to recognize this innate deficiency and take to the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. By engaging in the culture of knowledge, specifically understanding the difference between the body and the self, one can transform from a born fool into a liberated soul, achieving the perfection of human existence.
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