Category:Folly
Theme Analysis
The material world is characterized by the living entity's attempt to measure the unlimited Supreme Lord by a limited, frog-like standard. Śrīla Prabhupāda identifies this as the fundamental folly of modern civilization: giving importance to the material machine of the body while remaining entirely ignorant of the soul that drives it. This ignorance is compounded by scientists and philosophers who, despite their own lack of knowledge, mislead the public into believing they understand the cosmos. Preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness in such an atmosphere is often described by the adage that where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise. In a society of demons or the grossly ignorant, a devotee like Prahlāda Mahārāja is viewed as the one with bad intelligence. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the only way to escape the suffering caused by our own folly is to set aside mental speculation and receive full, unadulterated knowledge from the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the authorized channel of the spiritual master.
- The Folly of Material Science and Speculation Modern scientists and philosophers often mislead the public by presenting themselves as authorities despite their deep ignorance of the soul and the universal presence of living entities. Calculating the greatness of God based on one's own limited, frog-like standard is a primary example of mental speculation.
- The Social Paradox of Ignorance In a society dominated by materialistic or demoniac views, spiritual wisdom is often perceived as a sign of contamination or bad intelligence. This creates a difficult environment for the devotee, as the world is content to enjoy the bliss of ignorance.
- The Risk of Preaching Wisdom Attempting to share Kṛṣṇa consciousness in an ignorant world is often seen as a folly by the masses. Devotees take the risk of offending others or being thought of as fools in order to present the truth and correct the misinterpretations of those who refuse to hear from the Supreme Lord.
- Overcoming Folly Through Higher Knowledge The suffering of humanity is a direct result of individual and collective folly in the cosmic administration. By learning from the Bhagavad-gītā and following the example of liberated souls like Brahmā, one can understand the simple truth of the soul's journey and escape the majority of material follies.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Where Ignorance is Bliss - Addressing the Folly of Modern Civilization.
Subcategories
This category has only the following subcategory.
Pages in category "Folly"
The following 16 pages are in this category, out of 16 total.
1
I
- If majority of the people are meat-eater, then meat is very good, full of vitamin. Therefore it is folly to be wise where ignorance is bliss. But we have to see what is the standard. Standard is given in the Bhagavad-gita
- Ignorance is not bliss, but it is folly to be wise where ignorance is bliss. That is the difficulty. The whole world is enjoying ignorance. And when you talk about Krsna consciousness, they do not very much appreciate it
- In a society or family in which everyone is a demon, for someone to become a Vaisnava is certainly folly. Prahlada Maharaja was charged with bad intelligence because he was among demons, including his teachers, who were supposedly brahmanas
- In the cosmic administration there is only one party, which consists of the servants of God, and the responsible deities of the various planets maintain the cosmic laws in terms of the orders of the SG. But the people suffer on account of their own folly
- It is folly to be wise where ignorance is bliss - The whole world is full of ignorant. Therefore we are trying to preach this Krsna consciousness - it is our folly
- It is folly to be wise where ignorance is bliss. So we are taking the risk of offending people, and they will think we are fools
Y
- You go to a person who has seen the truth and you understand. Because they are not understanding Krsna directly or through the agent, they are misled, they are misinterpreting. That is their folly
- You were a child; that body is finished. So you have got a different body. But this simple truth they do not understand; that is their folly. If the body is finished, then why you were a child, you have become a young man?