Analogy (Letters)

Expressions researched:
analogy |analogy's |analogical |analogies |analogize |analogous |analogously

1968 Correspondence

The analogy concerning the spiritual body of the Sat-Guru is acceptable, but not in the material sense. In the material world, the gold box and the gold plated box may be different in price, but in spiritual world there is no such distinction.

Letter to Madhusudana -- Los Angeles 1 February, 1968: Yes, the analogy concerning the spiritual body of the Sat-Guru is acceptable, but not in the material sense. In the material world, the gold box and the gold plated box may be different in price, but in spiritual world there is no such distinction. There the gold box and the gold plated box are the same. In material world there is difference between a sweeper and a cooker; in the spiritual world a person who sweeps the Temple and a person who worships in the Temple are all the same. That is absolute knowledge.

Regarding your analogy of sowing KC seeds, I may inform you that there is a Bengali proverb—Sa bure Meoya Phale. This means that fruits like chestnuts and pomegranates, or similar other valuable fruits and nuts take some time to be fructified.

Letter to Gurudasa -- Los Angeles 24 December, 1968: Regarding your analogy of sowing KC seeds, I may inform you that there is a Bengali proverb—Sa bure Meoya Phale. This means that fruits like chestnuts and pomegranates, or similar other valuable fruits and nuts take some time to be fructified. So any good thing comes in our possession after hard struggle and endeavor. So Krishna Consciousness is the greatest of all good fruits. We must therefore have necessary endurance and enthusiasm to get the result. We shall never be disappointed when things are presented in reversed order. Anyway, your honest labor is now coming to be fructified. Always depend upon Krishna and go on working with enthusiasm, patience and conviction.

1975 Correspondence

We give analogy for the general mass of people who have no faith in sastra. Analogy is not proof; sastra is proof. Foolish people cannot understand or accept, so we use analogy.

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Johannesburg 21 October, 1975: Concerning our use of analogy. We do not bring in imperfect analogy, but we follow the instructions of the Sastras strictly. Our authority is on the basis of Sastra, not analogy. So, Vyasadeva while giving the history of creation says "Janmadyasya . . . adhikavaye" . . . so He impregnated the heart of Brahma with all the designs of creation. So what is wrong there? If I instruct someone you do like this, and he does it, then what is the difficulty? This is the system. Our authority is sastra. We give analogy for the general mass of people who have no faith in sastra. Analogy is not proof; sastra is proof. Foolish people cannot understand or accept, so we use analogy. The conclusion is not drawn from the analogy but from the sastra. We don't use a combination of logic and authority, we use authority. Logic we use to convince someone who doesn't accept the authority. The basic principle is authority. Vedas say that cowdung is pure and we accept it. There is no logic, but when we practically use it we see that it is correct. The logic of using analogy is called in the sastra "sakha candra nyaya." It is easier to focus on the moon through the branches of a tree. The moon is great distance away, and you say that it is just through the branches. So you can focus more easily on the moon because 2 points joined make a straight line. So focusing on the nearby object helps us to focus on the far-away object. This is the use of analogy.