One Who Has Intelligence, Has Strength

In a lecture, Prabhupada remarked that foolish people often criticize devotees as do-nothings and weaklings, but such people do not understand the intelligence of a devotee. Therefore, a devotee does not have to heed such people. To illustrate the point, Srila Prabhupada told a story. Some laborers were criticizing the minister of the king, claiming that he only sat around and did no work. The king reminded them that it took intelligence to become a minister. He said he would give everyone a test, including the minister. Whoever could pass the test could become the next minister. The king said, "Take this big elephant, weigh him, and let me know the exact weight." The ordinary men were baffled. Where was there a scale for weighing an elephant? They could not do anything. They came back to the king with no information. Then the king turned to his minister and asked, "Will you kindly weigh this elephant?" In six minutes he came back and reported, "It is twenty mounds (1,930 lbs)." The other men were standing open-mouthed in surprise. "How is that?" they asked. "Within six minutes he came back and he gave the exact weight!" The king asked, "How did you weigh him? Did you get some very big scale?" "No, sir," replied the minister. "It is not possible to weigh the elephant on a scale. It is very difficult." "Then how did you weigh it?" "I took it on a boat. When I got him on the boat then I saw the watermark and I marked it. Then, after getting the elephant off the boat, I added weight onto the boat, and when it came to the same watermark, then I understood." So the king addressed the laborers and questioned them. "Now you see the difference?" They agreed, "Yes." After telling this story, Prabhupada quoted from the scripture. "Buddhir yasya balim tasya-nirbuddhes tu kuto balam: one who has got intelligence, he has strength, and one who has no intelligence, a rascal, has no strength." Prabhupada concluded, "Scientists, atheists, and different critics of devotees are like that  -  rascal, fools. We don't take advice from them. We take advice from Krishna or His representative."