Intelligence: What Is Indigenous to India and What Is Shared?

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511616648.010

9 - Intelligence: What Is Indigenous to India and What Is Shared?

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012

Bibhu D. Baral and

J. P. Das

Edited by

Robert J. Sternberg

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Bibhu D. Baral: Affiliation:
University of Alberta
J. P. Das: Affiliation:
University of Alberta
Robert J. Sternberg: Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut

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Summary

The story is told of a discourse on mind, self, and intelligence that occurs in one of the seminal books of traditional knowledge, the Upanishad (Radhakrishnan, 1953). There is a learned man, Narada, who commutes between the land of gods and humans – he is dissatisfied in spite of his knowledge of books, which he teaches to humans; he wishes to know the nature of the self. He seeks out a wise man who is innocent of scriptural and book knowledge but is virtuous and practices love for all; this man is truly innocent like a five-year-old child. But he knows about the self. Narada asks him for lessons on self-knowledge, because he has heard that those who have such knowledge live beyond sorrow, and Narada says he is sad because he cannot cross over to the other side of sorrow! The wise man tells Narada to describe what knowledge he has already acquired, and then they can discuss how to go beyond it.

NAME, SPEECH, AND MIND

Narada's knowledge is vast – he knows the scriptures, mathematics and astronomy, medicine, warfare and weapons, the science of natural disasters, serpents, and the fine arts of dance and music. The boy-like wise man remarks that is good, you know the Name (declarative and procedural knowledge?), and as far as nomenclature goes, you should pursue it and be happy.

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Type: Chapter
Information: International Handbook of Intelligence , pp. 270 - 301

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511616648.010 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2004

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