CC Adi 7.117 (1975)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 117
- jīva-tattva--śakti, kṛṣṇa-tattva--śaktimān
- gītā-viṣṇupurāṇādi tāhāte pramāṇa
SYNONYMS
jīva-tattva—the truth of the living entities; śakti—energy; kṛṣṇa-tattva—the truth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; śakti-mān—the possessor of the energies; gītā—the Bhagavad-gītā; viṣṇu-purāṇa-ādi—Viṣṇu Purāṇa and other Purāṇas; tāhāte—in them; pramāṇa—there are evidences.
TRANSLATION
"The living entities are energies, not the energetic. The energetic is Kṛṣṇa. This is very vividly described in the Bhagavad-gītā, the Viṣṇu Purāṇa and other Vedic scriptures.
PURPORT
As already explained, there are three prasthānas on the path of advancement in spiritual knowledge-namely, nyāya-prasthāna (Vedānta philosophy), śruti-prasthāna (the Upaniṣads and Vedic mantras) and smṛti-prasthāna (the Bhagavad-gītā, Mahābhārata, Purāṇas, etc.). Unfortunately, Māyāvādī philosophers do not accept the smṛti-prasthāna. Smṛti refers to the conclusions drawn from the Vedic evidence. Sometimes Māyāvādī philosophers do not accept the authority of the Bhagavad-gītā and the Purāṇas, and this is called ardha-kukkuṭī-nyāya, "the logic of half a hen." (A foolish farmer once thought he would save money by cutting off his hen's head, which he had to feed, and leaving its tail, which produced the eggs.) If one believes in the Vedic literature, one must accept all the Vedic scriptures recognized by the great ācāryas, but these Māyāvādī philosophers accept only the nyāya-prasthāna and śruti-prasthāna, rejecting the smṛti-prasthāna. Here, however, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu cites evidence from the Gītā, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, etc., which are smṛti-prasthāna. No one can avoid the Personality of Godhead in the statements of the Bhagavad-gītā and other Vedic scripttures such as the Mahābhārata and the Purāṇas. Lord Caitanya therefore quotes a passage from the Bhagavad-gītā (BG 7.5).