Danda 1995 - Suhotra Maharaja Archives

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Comment by Premarnava dasYou could also try this one, Maharaja.:-(Comment by Jahnu dasOr this one::-/Or this: :-0A QUESTION ABOUT LOGIC BASED ON SASTRASQuestion from (erased object 1833)March 25, 1995, 13:45 SWTDear Maharaja,Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada andhis beloved representatives.A devotee gave me a copy of a book entitled "In Vaikuntha Not Even the LeavesFall." I know that it was recently banned by the GBC. And I know that thequestion of where the jiva fell from is not really the essential topic inspiritual life. My question is not about that. My question concerns the subjectof logic based upon sastra. This is taken up in the Second Wave, Chapter Two ofthis book. Now, in this chapter the authors deal with two excerpts from aletter you placed in Danda and in Philosophical Exchange, although they do notmention your name directly. They say about you, "it is clear that the authordoes not understand the meaning of tarko apratistha." I suppose that you haveseen this book. I am very interested in knowing your reply to their remarksthat pertain to your COM letter.Thank youBh Hap CamperAnswer by Suhotra SwamiMarch 25, 1995, 13:48 SWTAll right, to recapitulate, here's what they quoted from me, followed by myoutline of their response to it."I'm not putting my hand on my heart for blind faith here. We all want tounderstand Srila Prabhupada's instructions on a deeper level, both for ourindividual spiritual progress and for progress in our preaching. But, tarkoapratistha --logical argument is not the basis of that understanding. One mustfollow the mahajana Srila Prabhupada. Thus the truth hidden in his heart willbecome revealed to us by the grace of guru and Krsna. Yasya deve para bhaktiryatha deva Tatra gurau.""I've failed to devise a logical framework into which every one of SrilaPrabhupada's statements on the origin of the jiva fits, seamlessly resolving allapparent contradictions. I admire the devotees who continue to put forward somesuch frameworks. They seek the truth. But the logic of, "whenever SrilaPrabhupada said the jiva originates in Vaikuntha, it was part of strategy to getWestern people to have faith in his overall message," is flawed. This claim istarka of the most insubstantial kind. Here's some reasons why."
That's they quoted from me.In the chapter you refer to, the authors then said ---1) that I contradict myself by using logic in the above statement because thelogical consequence of that quote is that I should just give up logicaltogether;2) that while stating that I failed to logically devise a framework to resolvethe jiva issue, I suggest that no one else has solved it and maybe no one elseever will;3) I made a strawman out of the view that Srila Prabhupada's statements aboutfall from Vaikuntha were part of his preaching strategy, and then I proceed toshred that view;4) after I decry the use of logic and denounce as insubstantial the logic thatSrila Prabhupada could not make adjustments to the siddhanta for the sake ofpreaching, I then give four logica reasons why I believe this, though theauthors do not deal with these 4 reasons because their argument is that I defeatmyself anyway by my own use of logic.It is true, as the title of this chapter of "In Vaikuntha etc." States thatlogic based on sastra is one of our pramanas. The word pramana in Sanskritmeans "source of valid knowledge." There are three kinds of pramana that areaccepted in the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Sampradaya. These are sabda (spiritualsound), pratyaksa (direct perception) and anumana (logical argument). The rootof pramana is prama (cognition); therefore pramana is that by which the truth isascertained. But the acaryas of our sampradaya hold that of the three pramanas,sabda alone is the best evidence because it alone reveals the truth that liesbetone material perception. Direct perception (pratyaksa) and logic (anumana)help us only to understand the Vedic evidence in terms of our prezent condition.But they themselves are unable to reveal eternal truths. Then in what sense areperception and logic accepted as evidence? In the sense that with their help,Vedic knowledge can be demonstrated and confirmed. When employed skillfully,direct perception and logic reinforce faith in the sabda-pramana (evidence ofspiritual sound).What I presented in the first paragraph they quoted is not a denial of theusefulness of logic. I wrote "logical argument is not the basis of thatunderstanding" of the truth of Srila Prabhupada's teachings about the jiva, atruth that lies beyond material perception. In other words, what I said wasthat of the three pramanas, anumana or logic is not the basis of the other two.And I went on to show that their logic (that Srila Prabhupada's teachings on thejiva were compromised) is flawed. Why is it flawed? The first of the 4 reasonsI gave (which they did not bother to quote) is that Srila Prabhupada himselfnever suggested that he used such a strategy. That means there is no sabda(evidence of spiritual sound) behind their logic. Hence their logic isinsubstantial. The next reason was, we have no sastric information of aVaisnava acarya resorting to a compromise on the origin of the jiva in the past,although Vaisnavas preached to Muslims (who rediscovered Greek philosophy beforethe Europeans, and whose religious beliefs are very similar to those of theEuropeans). Again, no sabda.To back up the logic of my presentation, I gave extensive quotes of sabdapramanafrom Srila Prabhupada himself, in the form of excerpts from RenunciationThrough Wisdom. They did not mention this fact anywhere in their book.Instead, they accused me of usány insubstantial (non-sastric) logic. It doesnot appear that they akcept Srila Prabhupada's own explanatory essays as beingon the same level as Vedic sastra.
Page 1 and 2: DANDA1995Questions and AnswerswithH
Page 3 and 4: I have already replied to the argum
Page 5 and 6: Similarly, in an ISKCON temple, a d
Page 7 and 8: even be well-intentioned (let the c
Page 9 and 10: Answer by Suhotra SwamiJanuary 15,
Page 11 and 12: Comment by Vipramukhya SwamiI've me
Page 13 and 14: i.e. his visible form).to.In the pr
Page 15 and 16: 1. The self-realization stage just
Page 17 and 18: ksatriya families worshiped Radha-K
Page 19 and 20: are banished from Kailasa by being
Page 21 and 22: always in competition with each oth
Page 23 and 24: Was that enough, Bhakta Jan? No? OK
Page 25: prakampanaloka-gurusrastaparasmai t
Page 29 and 30: to tell how he was abducted to anot
Page 31 and 32: to come, and these ten avatars corr
Page 33 and 34: emember and speak the best that has
Page 35 and 36: devotees, but I gave them as exampl
Page 37 and 38: CAITANYA UPANISADQuestion from Mukh
Page 39 and 40: for that. So that... This is going
Page 41 and 42: A footnote to the previous text:It
Page 43 and 44: other planets encircle the polestar
Page 45 and 46: TIME PERCEPTIONQuestions from Rohit
Page 47 and 48: Answer by Suhotra SwamiJune 27, 199
Page 49 and 50: connected to the Lord's body. And B
Page 51 and 52: - How to understand there was no cr
Page 53 and 54: SB 6.14.55 p., 1st par.: The subtle
Page 55 and 56: could not even get that. And they l
Page 57 and 58: "Krsna is the supreme living being.
Page 59 and 60: Answer by Suhotra SwamiSeptember 26
Page 61 and 62: Answer by Suhotra SwamiOctober 11,
Page 63 and 64: Vidyabhusana that argued yet anothe
Page 65 and 66: SELF-ENVYQuestions from Vrajendra K
Page 67 and 68: I was studying the second canto cha
Page 69 and 70: Answer by Suhotra SwamiNovember 11,
Page 71 and 72: Answer by Suhotra SwamiNovember 11,
Page 73 and 74: ATHEISMQuestion from Jahnu dasNovem
Page 75 and 76: two years old and under, in accorda
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that sense one would think the exte
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1) Yes, the message of Jesus is uni
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Paul rationalized that Jesus surviv
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The publication I am working on in
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- From the context of the second qu
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Dear Maharaja,I see that it is a qu
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associates, etc. Lord Vamana has Hi
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