Intelligence and wisdom

We live in an age that celebrates intelligence. Machines analyse complex data, detect patterns and produce persuasive answers. Intelligence can help us discern what is possible. Wisdom helps us recognise what is worthy, especially when doing what is right comes at a personal cost.

That raises an enduring human question: what kind of person should one become? Mahabharat gives this question a compelling form in the encounter between Yudhishthir and the Yaksh. During their exile, four Pandav brothers disregard a mysterious warning, drink from a lake and fall lifeless. Yudhishthir arrives and agrees to answer the lake's unseen guardian's questions.

Pleased with his answers, Yaksh offers to restore one brother to life. Yudhishthir chooses Nakula. Bhim's strength could protect him; Arjun's skill could help secure victory. Yet, he explains that Kunti still has a surviving son. Fairness requires that Madri, too, should have a son alive.


The decisive test lies in the choice Yudhishthir makes after answering questions. He sets aside immediate advantage to honour both mothers equally. Wisdom enters when intelligence is enlarged by empathy and tested by conscience.

The Jain principle of anekantavad reminds us that reality has many dimensions, and our understanding may grasp only some of them. AI, too, can widen the field of thought by offering information, arguments and alternatives. We must still ask whose interests we overlook and whether we can act on what we discover.