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Learned Fools

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

 

Sanatan Goswami was holding a big post — government minister. Not only was he a minister, but Nawab Hussain Shah entrusted the whole kingdom in his hands. The king said, "You manage as you like." This is because he knew that Sanatan is a trustworthy man. He'll govern very nicely. And Hussain Shah was a Mohammedan Nawab, so he was engaged in hunting and dancing with girls.
But he was confident that Sanatan is there to take care. Sanatan's name was changed to Sakar Mallik, and his brother Rupa Goswami's name was Dabira Khas. They almost became Muslims. They were very responsible officers. When they wanted to resign, Nawab Hussain Shah's mind became topsy-turvy. He said, "Oh, what do you say? I am depending on you. The whole thing is depending on you. And you want to resign? Oh, have you gone crazy? I cannot allow you." But ever since he met Lord Chaitanya, Sanatan was thinking that, "I am diseased. What is the value of my education and post? I am diseased." This is intelligence. People are enamored by socalled education, so-called high posts, nationality, family, beauty or opulence. These things will not save us. We are under the grip of material nature. karmana daiva-netrena [Bhag. 3.31.1] — you are working under the influence of a certain material quality, and you are preparing your next life. You cannot say, "All right, I am very happy. I'm born in America. My nation is a very great nation, and we are very rich. So in my next life also I shall come to America. I shall take my birth here and enjoy like this." That is not in your hands. That you cannot say. That is daiva-netrena — decided by daivaDaiva means that it is in the hands of supernatural powers. You are currently preparing your next life. The higher authorities will give you a chance if you prepare yourself nicely. You will get a good chance; you will get birth in higher planets. Or if you prepare yourself nicely then you might even go to Krishna. Now it is your choice. But we must know what is our condition. If I am in darkness, I do not understand what is the goal of life or in what condition I am living, then it is conditioned life. Sanatan Goswami understood that. And we should follow in the footprints of Sanatan Goswami. So he understood, "Although I am a minister and although I am very educated, I am actually a fool."
What do you mean by educated? He said, gramyavyavahare kahe pandita — "Some of my neighbors call me a very learned man." Because he was a minister and a Sanskrit scholar, Urdu scholar, from a scholastic point of view he was very educated. He was born in a brahmin family. So people used to address him as pandit. So he was called "Panditji". But he was thinking, "People call me a very learned man, but what sort of a learned man am I?" So he submitted his defects to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He said, "Although these people, my neighbors, they address me as `Panditji', I am such a fool that I accept that I am learned."
Someone may protest, "Why do you say that you are not learned? You are learned." To this, he says,apanara hitahita kichui na jani — "I'm a fool because I do not know what is my destination and what is good for me."
This is the position of conditioned life. Everyone is thinking that "I am very learned, I am very rich, I am very opulent." But if you ask them, "Why are you suffering? Wherefrom have you come? Where are you going in your next life? What is God? What is your relationship with God?" they are silent. You ask anybody, any learned professor in the university, and let him answer. They'll say, "perhaps", "maybe", "like this", "like that". No definite answers, because they do not know. This is our conditioned life. We do not know our position.
 
(Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam 1.5.13, 16 June 1969.)

 

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