Text 30] Fundamental Principles of Material Nature 1095

svdpa ity ucyate buddher
laksanam urttitah prthak

sarnisayah—doubt; atha—then; viparydsah— misapprehension; niscayah—
correct apprehension; smrtih—~memory; eva—also; ca—and; svépah—sleep;
iti-thus; ucyate—are said; buddheh—of intelligence; laksanam—charac-
teristics; urttitah—by their functions; prthak—different.

TRANSLATION

Doubt, misapprehension, correct apprehension, memory and sleep, as
determined by their different functions, are said to be the distinct
characteristics of intelligence.

PURPORT

Doubt is one of the important functions of intelligence; blind
acceptance of something does not give evidence of intelligence. Therefore
the word sarnsaya is very important; in order to cultivate intelligence, one
should be doubtful in the beginning. But doubting is not very favorable
when information is received from the proper source. In Bhagavad-gita the
Lord says that doubting the words of the authority is the cause of
destruction.

As described in the Patanfjali yoga system, pramana-viparyaya-vikalpa-
nidra-smrtayah. By intelligence one can understand things as they are.
By intelligence only can one understand whether or not he is the body.
The study to determine whether one’s identity is spiritual or material
begins in doubtfulness. When one is able to analyze his actual position,
the false identification with the body is detected. This is viparyasa. When
false identification is detected, then real identification can be understood.
Real understanding is described here as nigcayah, or proved experimental
knowledge. This experimental knowledge can be achieved when one has
understood the false knowledge. By experimental or proved knowledge,
one can understand that he is not the body but spirit soul.

Smrti means memory, and svdpa means sleep. Sleep is also necessary to
keep the intelligence in working order. If there is no sleep, the brain cannot
work nicely. In Bhagavad-gita it is especially mentioned that persons who
regulate eating, sleeping and other necessities of the body in the proper
proportion become very successful in the yoga process. These are some of
the aspects of the analytical study of intelligence as described in both the
Patafijali yoga system and the sarikhya philosophy system of Kapiladeva
in Srimad-Bhagavatam.
