On the way to Vrindavana, he passed through Varanasi (Benarés), which at that time was the cultural center of Indian Mayavadism. He went there on purpose, with the intention of convincing the masters of spiritualist monism of the falsity of the impersonal theses taught centuries earlier by Shankara Acarya, according to which God is not a person distinct from all others.
The main consequence of this doctrine is that love for God (bhakti) loses all meaning, undermining the right path back to Krsna. He succeeded in convincing the Mayavadi sannyasis, headed by Prakasananda Sarasvati, that the Vedanta Sutra does not deny that the Absolute is personal, that on the contrary it exposes its individuality and that it teaches the various stages of devotional service. In careful reading, in fact, it will become clear that the first two chapters of the Vedanta Sutra explain the purposes of the Sambandha, Abhidheya and Prayojana Vedas. Sri Caitanya not only referred to the famous Vedanta Sutra, but also referred to the Srimad-Bhagavatam, showing unequivocally that the catuh-sloki (the four original verses of the Bhagavatam) state the same.
The same point was addressed in Jagannath Puri during a heated debate with the esteemed Professor Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, a firm believer in Shankara’s monist theses. Again, Mahaprabhu established that devotional service to the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, is the means and at the same time the supreme goal. He showed that all the Vedic scriptures affirm the same thing, and therefore this cannot fail to be the highest doctrine. Any other must be considered either a step to get there or an open and deliberate blasphemy against God.
Therefore, Sri Jiva’s decision to base his treatise on the division of Sambandha, Abhidheya and Prayojana is not something invented by him, but is in perfect harmony with the teachings of Lord Caitanya.
But section 9 of the Tattva-sandarbha does not directly address the matters just mentioned, but establishes the so-called pramana, i.e., trustworthy means of knowledge.
In fact, before proceeding with any inquisition, it is advisable to check what tools are going to be used and what their respective limits are. So far we have spoken without first having laid firm foundations. What are the authorities that can be accepted? Is our intelligence an authority? Isn’t it? Are our senses that allow us to have contact with the outside world and that make us see, hear and touch reliable? Or do we believe it is right to accept an inspirational God or the messages of men of wisdom of the past?
This is a section of the book “Tattva Sandarbha”, in English.
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