Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 74 Vādo nāvalambyah SYNONYMS vādah — debate; na — not; avalambyah — to be resorted to. TRANSLATION One should not indulge in argumentative debate. As the Vedānta-sūtra (2.1.11) declares, tarkāpratishthānāt: Logical reasoning is inconclusive. Nārada discourages the egotistic wrangling spirit. One who is proud of his debating skills and eager to defeat others will lose his humility, which, as Nārada says in Sūtra 27, is essential for pleasing Krishna. The existence of God is not something to be proven or disproven merely by a battle of logical wits. The spiritual reality cannot be understood by material logic or the speculations of the material mind. As the Vedānta-sūtra (2.1.11) declares, tarkāpratishthānāt: Logical reasoning is inconclusive. However, when a Krishna conscious preacher defends the Lord or the Vaishnavas against blasphemy, that should not be taken as vain controversy. The devotee doesnt argue on his own account, but on Krishnas. Also, a devotees preaching is not based on mental speculation, which is always imperfect, but on the perfect process of receiving knowledge from the śāstra and the ācāryas. As it is said, Mistakes, illusion, cheating, and defective perception do not occur in the sayings of the authoritative sages (Cc. Ādi 2.86). Also, the Vaishnava ācāryas have all argued against Māyāvāda interpretations. This kind of argumentation is not to be avoided but is rather one of the duties of the madhyama-bhakta, or preacher. Krishnadāsa Kavirāja states, A sincere student should not neglect the discussion of such conclusions [concerning the philosophy of Krishna consciousness], considering them controversial, for such discussion strengthens the mind. Thus ones mind becomes attached to Krishna (Cc. Ādi 2.117). But sometimes a preacher will avoid a fight if he sees that the challenger simply wants to argue for the sake of argument. Rūpa Gosvāmī once declined to debate a rascal who came to defeat him, but then Rūpas nephew, Jīva Gosvāmī, took up the challenge. So a devotee may or may not choose to meet the challenges of the atheists and voidists, depending on the circumstances, but in any case he knows that debate and challenge do not lead to a true understanding of God. Certainly the devotee himself has no challenging spirit when he approaches the scriptures or the ācāryas. He accepts them axiomatically, beyond argument. The best method for solving ones personal doubts is to inquire submissively from advanced Vaishnavas, who will always be able to answer in terms of śāstra and reason.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 05:45:02 +0000
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