Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). You cannot come to the conclusion what is śraddhā and sādhana by simply argument. Tarko apratistha. By argument, we cannot establish. Śrutayo vibhinnā. The scriptures are many varieties. Śrutayor vibhinnā nāsau munir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam. And every philosopher must differ with another philosopher. Therefore, mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ: we have to follow the footprints of great authorities. They are also mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, great authorities:
- svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ
- kapilaḥ kumāro manuḥ
- prahlādo janako bhīṣmo
- balir vaiyāsakir vayam
- (SB 6.3.20)
Yamarāja said that, "These are the eight authorities." Therefore we have got sampradāya: Brahmā-sampradāya, Rudra-sampradāya, then Lakṣmī-sampradāya, Śrī-sampradāya and Kumāra-sampradāya. The present ācāryas, they are Rāmānuja-sampradāya, Śrī-sampradāya, Madhva-sampradāya, Brahmā-sampradāya. In this way.
So we have to follow the footprints of the sampradāya. Just like we are Gauḍīya, Mādhva-Gauḍīya-sampradāya. We are following the footprints of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as enunciated by the six Gosvāmīs:
- śrī-rūpa sanātana bhaṭṭa-raghunātha
- śrī-jīva gopāla-bhaṭṭa dāsa-raghunātha
So we have to follow the authorities. We cannot manufacture. There is no need of research work. Simply if we follow the chalked-out path given by the great authorities, that will help us.