CC Adi 17.308
TEXT 308
- acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā
- na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet
- prakṛtibhyaḥ paraṁ yac ca
- tad acintyasya lakṣaṇam
SYNONYMS
acintyāḥ — inconceivable; khalu — certainly; ye — those; bhāvāḥ — subject matters; na — not; tān — them; tarkeṇa — by argument; yojayet — one may understand; prakṛtibhyaḥ — to material nature; param — transcendental; yat — that which; ca — and; tat — that; acintyasya — of the inconceivable; lakṣaṇam — a symptom.
TRANSLATION
“Anything transcendental to material nature is called inconceivable, whereas arguments are all mundane. Since mundane arguments cannot touch transcendental subject matters, one should not try to understand transcendental subjects through mundane arguments.”
PURPORT
This verse from the Mahābhārata (Bhīṣma-parva 5.22) is also quoted in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (2.5.93), by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.