Lazy intelligence is better than active foolishness - Bhagavad Gita ch4:17

The wise learn from the mistakes of others and avoid following suit. Most of us make mistakes, learn from them and avid repeating them. But a fool never learns.

Similarly there are active people and passive or inactive. In our materialistic, goal-driven, results- based society we are trained to work. A lazy person is frowned upon and this makes sense.

We need to work just to get our daily food and shelter to survive. This is clearly obvious in regions with annual winter snow. If you don't work hard in summer, you starve or freeze to death in winter. That's where the work ethic makes sense.

Even in warm climates we all need to earn our food and accommodation. However, in these warm regions people may depend less on work because the climate is so mild or pleasant that there's no chance of dying in the winter. I see it personally in my home country of South Africa, where locals are very lazy, compared to other places.

I've heard it's the same in Thailand, where it's very difficult to find reliable staff in the service industry. The climate is just to fine all year long and people are not desperate for work to earn their basic needs.

However, there is something worse than a lazy person who does not like to work, and that is a malicious actor. Worse than no work is bad work, that kind of action which is going to directly drag one down instead of uplift one.

The wisest person knows how to apply lazy intelligence, where they don't have to work too hard, but know how to delegate work to others or how to make their money work for them, via investments in assets that appreciate in value.

Second to that comes active intelligence, where one knows how to work hard and get the reward.

Lower than that is lazy foolishness, where the person is a fool who does not know how to gain any benefit for themselves or others. And they may be lazy.

Yet worse than that and worst of all is active foolishness. This is worse than lazy foolishness because it doesn't merely lead to nothing, but it leads to disaster or destruction.

So sometimes work, in and of itself, is not enough. One needs to know what kind of work is truly favorable and how to avoid work that is unfavorable. Even a fool can work hard at their foolish project and end up making things worse for themselves or others.

Bhagavad Gita ch4:17

karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ
boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ
akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṁ
gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ

SYNONYMS
karmaṇaḥ—working order ; hi—certainly; api—also; boddhavyam—should be understood; boddhavyam—to be understood; ca—also; vikarmaṇaḥ—forbidden work; akarmaṇaḥ—inaction; ca—also; boddhavyam—should be understood; gahanā—very difficult; karmaṇaḥ—working order; gatiḥ—to enter into

TRANSLATION
The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is, and what inaction is.

PURPORT
If one is serious about liberation from material bondage, one has to understand the distinctions between action, inaction and unauthorized actions. One has to apply oneself to such an analysis of action, reaction and perverted actions because it is a very difficult subject matter. To understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness and action according to the modes, one has to learn one's relationship with the Supreme; i.e., one who has learned perfectly knows that every living entity is the eternal servitor of the Lord and that consequently one has to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The entire Bhagavad-gītā is directed toward this conclusion. Any other conclusions, against this consciousness and its attendant reactions, are vikarmas, or prohibitive actions. To understand all this one has to associate with authorities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and learn the secret from them; this is as good as learning from the Lord directly. Otherwise, even the most intelligent person will be bewildered.

Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A C Bhaktivedanta, original MacMillan 1972 edition, freely available at prabhupadabooks.com.

Edited and published from my mobile device onto the Hive blockchain for those performing the Great Work.Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/children-people-rice-field-view-4955009/