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Expand the Intelligence

 Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

In Srimad Bhagavatam 3.14.48 there is a beautiful description of the qualities of pure devotees. By meditating on these qualities we can also advance in devotional service.

sa vai mahaa bhaagavato mahaatmaa
mahaanubhaavo mahataam mahishthah
pravrddha-bhaktyaa hy anubhaavitaashaye
niveshya vaikuntham imam vihaasyati

"That topmost devotee of the Lord will have expanded intelligence and expanded influence and will be the greatest of the great souls. Due to matured devotional service, he will certainly be situated in transcendental ecstasy and will enter the spiritual sky after quitting this material world."

This verse is the glorification of one of the topmost devotee, Prahlad Maharaj. He was born in a demoniac family but he acquires this unassailable position in Srimad Bhagavatam due to his two wonderful qualities. In this verse the two important words to meditate is mahatma - expanded intelligence and mahaanubhaavah - expanded influence.

1. Mahatma - expanded intelligence: We can see that everytime Prahlad Maharaj was tortured by his father Hiranyakashipu, he would just pay obeisances to his atheistic father and accept the punishment. He never rejected his father as he understood that he is part and parcel of Krishna. But at the same time he did not approve his father's mentality of thinking himself as Supreme. He never considered his father as maya. Instead he disagreed the mentality of his father and always humbly submitted to his father that Krishna is supreme. He did not offend his father by his speech also, inspite of his father's cruel actions. In Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.5, Prahlad Maharaj says, "O best of the asuras, king of the demons, as far as I have learned from my spiritual master, any person who has accepted a temporary body and temporary household life is certainly embarrassed by anxiety because of having fallen in a dark well, where there is no water but only suffering. One should give up this position and go to the forest [vana]. More clearly, one should go to Vrindavana, where only Krishna consciousness is prevalent, and should thus take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." In the end, even when Lord Narasinghadev asked Prahlad Maharaj to ask for benediction, he prayed to the Lord to liberate his father.

Intelligence will be expanded only when it is filled with thoughts of Supreme Lord Sri Krishna and service to Him. Because of narrow intelligence, we tend to advise and think, "Our parents are products of maya and therefore we should not associate with them." This is not the way to become pure. We should not think that we will earn for two years and throw the money as repayment of debt to our parents and forget about them the whole of our lifetime. This is not expanded intelligence at all. One of our god-brother who was serving our Gurudev, H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj in the temple, heard that his mother (an atheist) is suffering from cancer. He took permission from our Gurudev and served her till she breathed her last and at the end of the service of 6 months, she became a devotee and requested her son to pray to Krishna to accept her in devotional service. Our Gurudev said that because his service to his mother is on the platform of devotional service, he will go back to godhead. This is really expanded intelligence and also it is called vishadaashayaaha - broad mindedness. Putana came to give poison but the Lord by His wide-heartedness, took the service as the service of a mother, and gave her position of dhaatri. Unless we have expanded intelligence, wide-heartedness, we may not develop pure love of Godhead and cannot see everyone including father and mother as part and parcel of Krishna.

2. Mahanubhaava - expanded influence: The natural result of expanded intelligence would give the next quality expanded influence. Prahlad Maharaj had the expanded intelligence and so he was able to influence all the demoniac friends to become devotees of the Lord. This was simply because he was completely absorbed in devotion and tolerated all the demoniac nature of his friends. By his expanded intelligence and unflinching devotion he was able to influence all the demons to become devotees. Srila Prabhupada went to western world where there was full of demoniac civilization, but because of his purity, complete absorption (magna chittah) and expanded intelligence of causeless compassion and mercy, he was able to convert the maya kingdom to spiritual kingdom.

Because of krpana buddhih (narrow intelligence), we reject our own father and mother and relatives as maya, even though they are pious. So there is no potency of influencing our own self and where is the question of influencing other living entities. It does not mean that we change our consciousness to their consciousness, but to influence them by our own purity and absorption and behaviour. This is what Prahlad Maharaj, Srila Prabhupada and all the acaryas did. Nityananda prabhu tolerated Jagai and Madhai and they became devotees because of expanded intelligence and expanded influence.

Let us pray to Gurudev, Srila Prabhupada and the supremely intelligent and influential Lord and take shelter of them always to spread Their influence to everyone.

Thank you very much
Your humble servant
Sajjanapriya Krishna das
Abudhabi