When Lust Takes Control Intelligence Is Lost
When lust and the desire for material rewards dominate the mind, a person can lose sight of spiritual truth and act against their real self-interest. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains both how desire clouds intelligence and how anger can carry a person toward further spiritual decline (Bhagavad-gītā 7.20).
Teachings Overview'
Intelligence is lost when lust, material ambition, anger, or envy obscures spiritual understanding. The search for temporary rewards can redirect a person’s worship, while anger can disturb memory and judgment. Śrīla Prabhupāda presents real intelligence as recognizing one’s spiritual self-interest and turning toward the Supreme Lord.
Key Teachings
- Lust and material desire can weaken discernment.
- Material rewards can draw people toward demigod worship.
- Anger can lead through delusion and confused memory to lost intelligence.
- True intelligence recognizes spiritual self-interest and the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Lust and the Loss of Discernment
Lust can cover the intelligence that allows a person to distinguish clearly and act with sound judgment. Śrīla Prabhupāda uses the example of Agnidhra to show how desire can bewilder even ordinary perception. The short category entry and the related statements below express the same central teaching from different angles.
Lust Clouds Intelligence
When intelligence is lost.
Śrīla Prabhupāda identifies the result of lost intelligence.
As stated in Bhagavad-gita, kamais tais tair hrta jnanah: when one becomes lusty, he loses his intelligence. Therefore Agnidhra, having lost his intelligence, could not distinguish whether Purvacitti was male or female.
It is described that due to their lusty desires they have lost their intelligence, and therefore they have taken to worshiping the different demigods.
When one becomes lusty, he loses his intelligence. Therefore Agnidhra, having lost his intelligence, could not distinguish whether Purvacitti was male or female.
Material Desire and the Worship of Demigods
Śrīla Prabhupāda connects the desire for sense gratification with the choice to seek material benefits through demigod worship. The repeated references to the Bhagavad-gītā emphasize that this is a philosophical pattern, not an isolated example. The wording varies across these statements, while each points to desire as the cause of covered intelligence.
Desire and Demigod Worship
In Bhagavad-gita (BG 7.20) it is said that persons who worship demigods have lost their intelligence: kamais tais tair hrta jnanah. They are much attracted to sense gratification, and therefore they worship the demigods.
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains the link between desire and worship.
In Bhagavad-gita it is clearly said that one who worships the demigods has lost his intelligence.
Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes the teaching about demigod worship.
In the Bhagavad-gita it is stated that the worshipers of the demigods have lost their intelligence.
Kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah prapadyante ’nya-devatah: only men who have lost their intelligence worship the various demigods to fulfill their desires - BG 7.20.
Only persons who have lost their intelligence go to worship the demigods.
Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes the result of lost intelligence.
Persons who are impelled by lust and desire go to the demigods to derive some material benefit. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura uses the very specific words nasta-buddhayah, meaning “persons who have lost their sense or intelligence.
The Bhagavad-gita on Desire and Intelligence
The Bhagavad-gītā describes demigod worship as one outcome of intelligence covered by material desire. Śrīla Prabhupāda presents the teaching in several formulations and connects it with the attraction of material benefits. He also contrasts this bewilderment with those who retain their intelligence and avoid material wandering.
Material Desire Covers Intelligence
The Bhagavad-gita (7.20) condemns demigod worship: Only persons whose intelligence is lost and who are mad with lusty desires worship the demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.
The Bhagavad-gita (BG 7.20) says that demigod worship is meant for men who have lost all their intelligence.
The statement in Bhagavad-gita that persons who worship the demigods have lost their intelligence is confirmed in this verse - in SB 3.32.4.
Śrīla Prabhupāda connects the teaching with Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.32.4.
Those who are after material benefits, they can worship different demigods. That is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita. Those who are bewildered or lost of intelligence, they go to worship other demigods.
Śrīla Prabhupāda describes worship sought for material benefits.
Those who are intelligent - in other words, those who have not lost their intelligence - do not involve themselves in this process of wandering up and down.
Śrīla Prabhupāda contrasts intelligence with material wandering.
Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular regulations of worship according to their own natures. One enamored by material benefits is called hrta jnana "one who has lost his intelligence."
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains how material desire distorts the mind.
Anger, Envy, and the Loss of Judgment
Anger begins a chain in which delusion bewilders memory and intelligence is lost. Śrīla Prabhupāda also describes envy as another force that can overcome judgment and lead to destructive action. A further warning in the category shows how the pursuit of gain can compromise religious intelligence.
The Consequences of Anger and Envy
From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.
From anger, delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost, one falls down again into the material pool.
Śrīla Prabhupāda cites Bhagavad-gita 2.63 on anger and delusion.
As their envy increased, they lost their intelligence. Being extremely hardhearted and unable to tolerate the King's neglect, they finally administered poison to the son.
For the sake of getting contributions from the King of heaven," he said, "you have lost your religious intelligence. Therefore I pronounce this curse: your body also will fall.
Śrīla Prabhupāda warns how gain can compromise religious judgment.
Spiritual Self-Interest and Sound Intelligence
Sound intelligence means understanding what truly benefits the self and recognizing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In contrast, Śrīla Prabhupāda describes the rejection of God, animal killing, and insatiable material desire as signs of impaired understanding. These teachings direct attention from temporary bodily demands toward spiritual welfare.
Recognizing the Soul’s Real Interest
Buddha knew everything because He is incarnation of God. But He had to cheat the people in that way because they are not intelligent enough. Why not intelligent? Because they were killers of animals, they lost their intelligence.
Śrīla Prabhupāda connects animal killing with lost intelligence.
Demons have lost all intelligence because they do not know what is actually their self-interest. Even if they have information of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they decline to approach Him.
If you are lost of your intelligence, you can talk all nonsense. "There is no God" means nastatmanah: he's not very intelligent; he has lost his intelligence.
Śrīla Prabhupāda challenges denial of God as sound intelligence.
This doggish civilization, nasta-buddhaya, lost all intelligence. Kamam duspuram. So kamam . . . on account of this body there is lusty desire. We cannot deny it. But don't make it duspuram, never to be satiated. Then finished. Make it limited.
Śrīla Prabhupāda warns against desire that cannot be satisfied.
Distress, Misleading Association, and Neglected Duty
The category also applies the idea of lost intelligence to distinct situations, so its examples should not be confused with one another. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes Rukmiṇī’s distress, criticism of misleading philosophical association, and failure to obey an important instruction. These accounts show how the phrase can appear in different contexts while retaining the theme of impaired judgment or understanding.
Examples of Lost Intelligence
We find that even an illiterate person who has lost all intelligence is elected God, and although he has a temple, it has meat-eating sannyasis, and many polluted activities go on there.
Śrīla Prabhupāda criticizes claims unsupported by sound understanding.
While Krsna was joking with Rukmini in Dvaraka, she was full of distress, fear and lamentation. She had also lost her intelligence. She dropped her hand bangles and the fan she was using to fan the Lord.
Śrīla Prabhupāda describes Rukmini’s distress and bewilderment.
You have lost your intelligence in the association of Gopala, and therefore you are eager to hear the Mayavada philosophy.
Śrīla Prabhupāda warns about misleading philosophical association.
You have so lost your intelligence that, despite my orders, you do not deliver the seeds of herbs and grains formerly created by Brahma and now hidden within yourself.
Śrīla Prabhupāda describes a failure to follow an important order.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does lust cause intelligence to be lost?
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that lust can cloud discrimination and even distort ordinary perception. "When one becomes lusty, he loses his intelligence. Therefore Agnidhra, having lost his intelligence, could not distinguish whether Purvacitti was male or female."
Why is demigod worship connected with material desire?
Śrīla Prabhupāda connects the desire for sense gratification and material benefits with worship directed toward demigods. "In Bhagavad-gita (BG 7.20) it is said that persons who worship demigods have lost their intelligence: kamais tais tair hrta jnanah. They are much attracted to sense gratification, and therefore they worship the demigods."
How can anger lead to the loss of intelligence?
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that anger leads through delusion and confused memory before intelligence is lost. "From anger, delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost, one falls down again into the material pool."
What does spiritual intelligence recognize as the soul’s real interest?
Śrīla Prabhupāda identifies understanding one’s self-interest and approaching the Supreme Personality of Godhead as essential to sound intelligence. "Demons have lost all intelligence because they do not know what is actually their self-interest. Even if they have information of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they decline to approach Him."
Conclusion
Śrīla Prabhupāda’s teachings show that intelligence is lost when material desire, anger, envy, or disregard for spiritual truth overwhelms sound judgment. The pursuit of temporary rewards can draw a person away from the soul’s real interest, and anger can lead to delusion and confused memory. By turning toward the Supreme Lord and spiritual welfare, intelligence can be used in its proper direction.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Intelligence is Lost. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.