Dry speculation

Expressions researched:
"dry Vedic speculation" |"dry impersonal speculation" |"dry mental speculation" |"dry mental speculator" |"dry mental speculators" |"dry philosophical speculation" |"dry philosophical speculations" |"dry philosophical speculators" |"dry speculation" |"dry speculations" |"dry speculative" |"dry speculator" |"dry speculators" |"dry, like mental speculation"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 5.1, Translation and Purport:

Arjuna said: O Kṛṣṇa, first of all You ask me to renounce work, and then again You recommend work with devotion. Now will You kindly tell me definitely which of the two is more beneficial?

In this Fifth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord says that work in devotional service is better than dry mental speculation. Devotional service is easier than the latter because, being transcendental in nature, it frees one from reaction.

BG 5.6, Purport:

Dry speculations and impersonal interpretations by artificial means are all useless for the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs. The Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs, who are engaged in devotional service, are happy in the discharge of their transcendental duties, and they have the guarantee of ultimate entrance into the kingdom of God. The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs sometimes fall down from the path of self-realization and again enter into material activities of a philanthropic and altruistic nature, which are nothing but material engagements. Therefore, the conclusion is that those who are engaged in Kṛṣṇa conscious activities are better situated than the sannyāsīs engaged in simple speculation about what is Brahman and what is not Brahman, although they too come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, after many births.

SB Canto 1

SB 1.1.16, Purport:

The age of Kali is the most condemned age due to its quarrelsome features. Kali-yuga is so saturated with vicious habits that there is a great fight at the slightest misunderstanding. Those who are engaged in the pure devotional service of the Lord, who are without any desire for self-aggrandizement and who are freed from the effects of fruitive actions and dry philosophical speculations are capable of getting out of the estrangements of this complicated age.

SB 1.1.17, Purport:

Some of these conditioned souls are engaged in the false enjoyment of material senses and others in simply negating their real life in the spiritual world. These less intelligent persons are known as karmīs, or fruitive workers, and jñānīs, or dry mental speculators. But above these two classes of men is the transcendentalist known as sātvata, or the devotee, who is busy neither with rampant material activity nor with material speculation. He is engaged in the positive service of the Lord, and thereby he derives the highest spiritual benefit unknown to the karmīs and jñānīs.

SB 1.2.28-29, Purport:

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that those who are mahātmās, or those whose minds have been so broadened as to be engaged in the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa, are under the influence of the internal potency, and the effect is that such broadminded living beings are constantly engaged in the service of the Lord without deviation. That should be the aim of life. And that is the verdict of all the Vedic literatures. No one should bother himself with fruitive activities or dry speculation about transcendental knowledge. Everyone should at once engage himself in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

SB 1.5.8, Purport:

The Lord has expanded Himself as living beings in order to accept loving service from them, and this alone can satisfy both the Lord and the living beings. Such a scholar as Vyāsadeva has completed many expansions of the Vedic literatures, ending with the Vedānta philosophy, but none of them have been written directly glorifying the Personality of Godhead. Dry philosophical speculations even on the transcendental subject of the Absolute have very little attraction without directly dealing with the glorification of the Lord. The Personality of Godhead is the last word in transcendental realization.

SB 1.5.22, Purport:

There is no use presenting dry speculative theories for sense gratification. Philosophy and science should be engaged to establish the glory of the Lord. Advanced people are eager to understand the Absolute Truth through the medium of science, and therefore a great scientist should endeavor to prove the existence of the Lord on a scientific basis. Similarly, philosophical speculations should be utilized to establish the Supreme Truth as sentient and all-powerful. Similarly, all other branches of knowledge should always be engaged in the service of the Lord.

SB 1.5.36, Purport:

No one will disagree to partake in a function where good singing, dancing and refreshment are administered. Everyone will attend such a function, and everyone is sure to feel individually the transcendental presence of the Lord. This alone will help the attendant associate with the Lord and thereby purify himself in spiritual realization. The only condition for successfully executing such spiritual activities is that they must be conducted under the guidance of a pure devotee who is completely free from all mundane desires, fruitive activities and dry speculations about the nature of the Lord.

SB 1.5.38, Purport:

The transcendental form of eternal bliss and knowledge can be experienced by our original spiritual senses, which can be revived by chanting of the holy mantras, or transcendental sound representations. Such sound should be received from the transparent agency of the bona fide spiritual master, and the chanting may be practiced by the direction of the spiritual master. That will gradually lead us nearer to the Lord. This method of worship is recommended in the pāñcarātrika system, which is both recognized and authorized. The pāñcarātrika system has the most authorized codes for transcendental devotional service. Without the help of such codes, one cannot approach the Lord, certainly not by dry philosophical speculation. The pāñcarātrika system is both practical and suitable for this age of quarrel. The Pañcarātra is more important than the Vedānta for this modern age.

SB 1.6.35, Purport:

The whole idea is that without devotional service of the Lord, neither the yoga system nor dry philosophical speculation can ever become successful. Pure devotional service of the Lord, without being tinged with fruitive work, mystic yoga or speculative philosophy, is the foremost procedure to attain self-realization. Such pure devotional service is transcendental in nature, and the systems of yoga and jñāna are subordinate to such a process.

SB 1.11.26, Purport:

The Lord Govinda is engaged there in herding the surabhi cows as His natural occupation. These goddesses of fortune can be seen automatically if we are attracted by the bodily features of the Lord. The impersonalists cannot observe such goddesses of fortune because of their dry speculative habit.

SB 1.12.28, Purport:

Material knowledge means ignorance of the knowledge of one's own self. Philosophy means to seek after the right knowledge of one's own self, or the knowledge of self-realization. Without self-realization, philosophy is dry speculation or a waste of time and energy. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives the right knowledge of one's own self, and by hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam one can get free from material attachment and enter into the kingdom of fearlessness.

SB 1.13.2, Purport:

The conditioned soul, the living being in material existence, seeks happiness by employing his senses in the modes of materialism, but that cannot give him satisfaction. He then searches after the Supreme Truth by the empiric philosophic speculative method and intellectual feats. But if he does not find the ultimate goal, he again goes down to material activities and engages himself in various philanthropic and altruistic works, which all fail to give him satisfaction. So neither fruitive activities nor dry philosophical speculation can give one satisfaction because by nature a living being is the eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and all the Vedic literatures give him direction towards that ultimate end.

SB 1.18.22, Purport:

Self-controlled means not indulging in sense enjoyment more than is necessary. And those who are not self-controlled are given over to sense enjoyment. Dry philosophical speculation is a subtle sense enjoyment of the mind. Sense enjoyment leads one to the path of darkness. Those who are self-controlled can make progress on the path of liberation from the conditional life of material existence. The Vedas, therefore, enjoin that one should not go on the path of darkness but should make a progressive march towards the path of light or liberation.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.3.11, Purport:

Only a pure devotee of the Lord can show one the right way of progressive life. Otherwise both the materialistic way of life, without any information of God or the demigods, and the life engaged in the worship of demigods, in pursuit of temporary material enjoyments, are different phases of phantasmagoria. They are nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā also, but the Bhagavad-gītā can be understood in the association of pure devotees only, and not by the interpretations of politicians or dry philosophical speculators.

SB 2.6.40-41, Purport:

The fruitive worker wants reward for his work, the mystic wants some perfection of life, and the empiric philosopher wants to merge in the existence of the Lord. Somehow or other, as long as there is a demand for sense satisfaction, there is no chance for pacification; on the contrary, by unnecessary dry speculative arguments, the whole matter becomes distorted, and thus the Lord moves still further away from our understanding.

SB 2.6.40-41, Purport:

The dry speculators, however, because of their following the principles of austerity and penance, can have knowledge of the impersonal features of the Lord to some extent, but there is no chance of their understanding His ultimate form as Govinda because only the amalātmanas, or the completely sinless persons, can accept pure devotional service to the Lord, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.28):

yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ

janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām

te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā

bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ

SB 2.8.26, Purport:

The disciplic succession from Brahmā, Nārada, Vyāsa and Śukadeva Gosvāmī is particularly different from others. The disciplic successions from other sages are simply a waste of time, being devoid of acyuta-kathā, or the message of the infallible Lord. The mental speculators can present their theories very nicely by reason and arguments, but such reasons and arguments are not infallible, for they are defeated by better mental speculators. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was not interested in the dry speculation of the flickering mind, but he was interested in the topics of the Lord because factually he felt that by hearing such a nectarean message from the mouth of Śukadeva Gosvāmī he was not feeling any exhaustion, even though he was fasting because of his imminent death.

SB 2.9.35, Purport:

Therefore, although He is present in every atom, the Supreme Personality of Godhead may not be visible to the dry speculators; still the mystery is unfolded before the eyes of the pure devotees because their eyes are anointed with love of Godhead. And this love of Godhead can be attained only by the practice of transcendental loving service of the Lord, and nothing else.

SB 2.9.37, Purport:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the text of the Personality of Godhead and His unalloyed devotees, who are also known as the bhāgavatas, and any outsider should have no access to this confidential literature of devotional service. But unfortunately the impersonalist, who has no relation to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sometimes tries to interpret Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by his poor fund of knowledge in grammar and dry speculation. Therefore, the Lord warns Brahmā (and, through Brahmā, all future devotees of the Lord in the disciplic succession of Brahmā) that one should never be misled by the conclusion of the so-called grammarians or by other men with a poor fund of knowledge, but must always fix the mind properly, via the paramparā system.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.4.20, Purport:

The verses of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are purely theistic science understandable by the postgraduate students of Bhagavad-gītā, The unauthorized dry speculators are offenders at the lotus feet of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because they distort the purports of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to mislead the public and prepare a direct path to the hell known as Andha-tāmisra. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (16.20) such envious speculators are without knowledge and are surely condemned life after life.

SB 3.4.20, Purport:

The monistic dry speculators have no business in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam because this particular Vedic literature is forbidden for them by the great author himself. Śrīla Vyāsadeva has definitely forbidden persons engaged in religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and, finally, salvation, from trying to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is not meant for them (SB 1.1.2).

SB 3.6.39, Purport:

The devotees of the Lord see the wonderful dexterity in everything with which they come in contact in all circumstances of eating, sleeping, working, etc. A small banyan fruit contains thousands of small seeds, and each seed holds the potency of another tree, which again holds the potency of many millions of such fruits as causes and effects. So the trees and seeds engage the devotees in meditation about the activities of the Lord, while the mundane wranglers waste time in dry speculation and mental concoction, which are fruitless in both this life and the next. In spite of their pride in speculation, they can never appreciate the simple potential activities of the banyan tree. Such speculators are poor souls destined to remain in matter perpetually.

SB 3.24.30, Purport:

By distributing Sāṅkhya He would increase the honor of the devotees; therefore, Sāṅkhya philosophy is not dry mental speculation. Sāṅkhya philosophy means devotional service. How could the honor of the devotees be increased unless Sāṅkhya were meant for devotional service? Devotees are not interested in speculative knowledge; therefore, the Sāṅkhya enunciated by Kapila Muni is meant to establish one firmly in devotional service. Real knowledge and real liberation is to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead and engage in devotional service.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.5.22, Translation:

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: Thus being satisfied in all respects, the great mystic yogī Durvāsā took permission and left, continuously glorifying the King. Through the skyways, he went to Brahmaloka, which is devoid of agnostics and dry philosophical speculators.

CC Preface and Introduction

CC Preface:

No one can stop a child from playing by leaving him inactive; rather, the child can be stopped from engaging in nonsense by being engaged in superior activities. Similarly, the forceful restraint of sense activities by the eight principles of yoga is recommended for inferior men; superior men, being engaged in the superior activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, naturally retire from the inferior activities of material existence.

In this way Lord Caitanya teaches the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That science is absolute. Dry mental speculators try to restrain themselves from material attachment, but it is generally found that the mind is too strong to be controlled and that it drags them down to sensual activities. A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not run this risk. One therefore has to engage one's mind and senses in Kṛṣṇa conscious activities, and Lord Caitanya teaches one how to do this in practice.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 1.52, Purport:

The transcendental personal forms of the Lord are a mystery, and the symptoms of these forms, which are absolutely different from anything made of mundane elements, are also mysterious. The innumerable forms of the Lord, such as Śyāmasundara, Nārāyaṇa, Rāma and Gaurasundara; the colors of these forms (white, red, yellow, cloudlike śyāma and others); His qualities, as the responsive Personality of Godhead to pure devotees and as impersonal Brahman to dry speculators; His uncommon activities like lifting Govardhana Hill, marrying more than sixteen thousand queens at Dvārakā, and entering the rāsa dance with the damsels of Vraja, expanding Himself in as many forms as there were damsels in the dance—these and innumerable other uncommon acts and attributes are all mysteries, one aspect of which is presented in the scientific knowledge of the Bhagavad-gītā, which is read and adored all over the world by all classes of scholars, with as many interpretations as there are empiric philosophers.

CC Adi 2.2, Purport:

The dryness of material happiness cannot be moistened by so-called philosophers who cry for Brahman, liberation and similar dry speculative objects. The urge of the soul proper is different. The soul can be solaced only by the mercy of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His many bona fide devotees, who never leave the lotus feet of the Lord to become imitation Mahāprabhus but all cling to His lotus feet like bees that never leave a honey-soaked lotus flower.

CC Adi 14.29, Purport:

"Anyone who engages in spiritual devotional service without motivation, rendering such service for the satisfaction of the Lord, is elevated immediately to the spiritual platform, and all his activities are spiritual." Brahma-bhūyāya refers to Brahman (spiritual) activities. Although Māyāvādī philosophers are very eager to merge into the Brahman effulgence, they have no Brahman activities. To a certain extent they recommend Brahman activities, which for them means engagement in studying the Vedānta and Sāṅkhya philosophies, but their interpretations are but dry speculation. Lacking the varieties of spiritual activity, they cannot stay for long on that platform of simply studying Vedānta or Sāṅkhya philosophy.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.82, Purport:

But such activities and motivations are unknown to the gopīs; they are not at all expert in executing such auspicious activities. Already transcendentally enlightened, they simply engage their purified senses in the service of the Lord in the remote village of Vṛndāvana. The gopīs are not interested in dry speculation, in the arts, in music, or other conditions of material life. They are bereft of all understanding of material enjoyment and renunciation. Their only desire is to see Kṛṣṇa return and enjoy spiritual, transcendental pastimes with them. The gopīs want Him simply to stay in Vṛndāvana so that they can render service unto Him, for His pleasure. There is not even a tinge of personal sense gratification.

CC Madhya 6.105, Translation:

Gopīnātha Ācārya then said, “There is no need to quote so much evidence from the śāstras, for you are a very dry speculator. There is no need to sow seeds in barren land.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 3.205, Translation:

"None of you are at fault," he said. “Indeed, even this ignorant so-called brāhmaṇa is not at fault, for he is accustomed to dry speculation and logic.

CC Antya 8.26, Purport:

The word vāsanā ("material desires") refers to dry speculative knowledge. Such speculative knowledge is only material. As confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.4), a person without devotional service who simply wants to know things (kevala-bodha-labdhaye) gains only dry speculative knowledge but no spiritual profit. This is confirmed in the Bhakti-sandarbha (111), wherein it is said:

jīvan-muktā api punar yānti saṁsāra-vāsanām

yady acintya-mahā-śaktau bhagavaty aparādhinaḥ

"Even though one is liberated in this life, if one offends the Supreme Personality of Godhead he falls down in the midst of material desires, of which dry speculation about spiritual realization is one."

CC Antya 8.27, Translation:

One who is attached to dry speculative knowledge has no relationship with Kṛṣṇa. His occupation is criticizing Vaiṣṇavas. Thus he is situated in criticism.

CC Antya 8.31, Translation:

Thus Īśvara Purī became like an ocean of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa, whereas Rāmacandra Purī became a dry speculator and a critic of everyone else.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Preface:

In this way Lord Caitanya teaches the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That science is absolute. Dry mental speculators try to restrain themselves from material attachment, but it is generally found that the mind is too strong to be controlled and that it drags them down to sensual activities. A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not run this risk. One therefore has to engage one's mind and senses in Kṛṣṇa conscious activities, and Lord Caitanya teaches one how to do this in practice.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 15:

There are two kinds of souls who are liberated even while in material bodies: the soul liberated by devotional service and the soul liberated by the cultivation of knowledge. The liberated soul in devotional service, attracted by the transcendental qualities of Kṛṣṇa, becomes more and more elevated, whereas those who engage in dry speculation and simply cultivate knowledge without devotion fall on account of their many offenses.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 32:

Rāmānanda Rāya went on to say that those who have no taste for Kṛṣṇa consciousness or spiritual life are just like crows who take pleasure in eating the bitter nimba fruit. It is the poetic cuckoo that eats the buds of the mango tree. The unfortunate transcendentalists simply speculate on dry philosophy, whereas the transcendentalists who are in love with Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are just like cuckoos enjoying the buds of the mango tree of love of Godhead. Thus those who are devotees of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are most fortunate. The bitter nimba fruit is not at all eatable; it is simply full of dry speculation and is only fit for crowlike philosophers. Mango buds, however, are very relishable, and those in the devotional service of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa enjoy them.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 3:

This first-class devotee is one who has strictly followed the rules and regulations under the training of a bona fide spiritual master and has sincerely obeyed him in accord with revealed scriptures. Thus, being fully trained to preach and become a spiritual master himself, he is considered first class. The first-class devotee never deviates from the principles of higher authority, and he attains firm faith in the scriptures by understanding with all reason and arguments. When we speak of arguments and reason, it means arguments and reason on the basis of revealed scriptures. The first-class devotee is not interested in dry speculative methods meant for wasting time. In other words, one who has attained a mature determination in the matter of devotional service can be accepted as the first-class devotee.

Nectar of Devotion 34:

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī mourns in this connection for persons who are in the fire of false renunciation, the dry speculative habit, and who neglect devotional service. Persons who are attached to the ritualistic ceremonies recommended in the Vedas and to the impersonal Brahman cannot relish the transcendental pleasure of devotional service. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī advises, therefore, that devotees who have already tasted the nectar of devotion be very careful to protect devotional service from such dry speculators, formal ritualistic elevationists and impersonal salvationists. Devotees should protect their valuable jewel of spiritual love from the clutches of thieves and burglars. In other words, a pure devotee should not describe devotional service and its different analytical aspects to dry speculators and false renouncers.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 82:

The family members of the Yadu dynasty and the cowherds of Vṛndāvana had their minds fixed on Kṛṣṇa. That is the symptom of perfect knowledge. And because their minds were always engaged in Kṛṣṇa, they were automatically freed from all material activities. This stage of life is called yukta-vairāgya, as enunciated by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Knowledge and renunciation, therefore, do not mean dry speculation and renunciation of activities. Rather, one must start speaking and acting only in relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

Krsna Book 87:

As the Lord says in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: (BG 18.55) "Only by devotional service can one understand Me." Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has composed a nice verse in this regard, which states, “My dear Lord, let others engage in false argument and dry speculation, theorizing upon great philosophical theses. Let them loiter in the darkness of ignorance and illusion, falsely enjoying as if very learned scholars, although they are without knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Krsna Book 89:

The highest perfectional knowledge is knowledge of the Supreme Lord. He cannot be understood by any process of religion other than devotional service; therefore, the immediate result of perfect knowledge is achieved by executing devotional service. After attainment of knowledge, one becomes uninterested in the material world. This is not because of dry philosophical speculation. The devotees become uninterested in the material world not simply because of theoretical understanding but because of practical experience. When a devotee realizes the effect of association with the Supreme Lord, he naturally hates the association of so-called society, friendship and love. This detachment is not dry but is due to achieving a higher status of life by relishing transcendental mellows.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.1:

When presented with a colorful glass doll and a diamond, a child will naturally be attracted to the doll and not the priceless jewel. Similarly, the people of Kali-yuga, endowed as they are with limited intelligence, have rejected the priceless diamond of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa and instead chosen the cheap doll of fruitive activity and dry speculation. Just as the child cannot comprehend that the invaluable diamond can purchase many thousands of cheap glass dolls, so the less intelligent people of Kali-yuga cannot understand that kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma-kṛta haya: "By rendering transcendental devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, one automatically performs all subsidiary activities."

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.2:

The materialistic, fruitive workers make the mistake of thinking that this supreme transcendental personality is mundane, and thus they become degraded into pseudodevotees. And the dry speculators, having been repulsed by the material phenomena in their search for knowledge of the Absolute, think that the transcendental form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also repulsive, thus clearly proving that their ascending process of acquiring knowledge is insufficient and inferior. Both these groups are in a pathetic spiritual state. Therefore, to shower His causeless mercy upon them, the Supreme Lord has revealed the truth about Himself and His transcendental potencies in the Bhagavad-gītā.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.13:

The dry speculative philosophers may kindly note one point: By using the word teṣām, Lord Kṛṣṇa openly declares that He is always merciful to His surrendered devotees. The reason that the Lord expands Himself as the Supersoul and enters everyone's heart is not to bless the empiric philosophers and yogīs but to bless the devotees from within. If the Supreme Lord Himself wishes to enlighten the devotees with spiritual knowledge and gradually draw them closer to Him, then what question is there of such devotees ever coming under the spell of nescience? Rather, it is out of nescience only that the empiric philosophers try to approach the Supreme Truth on the strength of their own intellect.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.13:

Empiricists such as the atheist Kapila, unable to reach enlightenment by their own efforts, feel great relief in trying to explain away the Absolute Truth as unknowable and unmanifest. But great suffering befalls these dry speculators attached to the theory of the unmanifest Absolute, as Lord Kṛṣṇa confirms in the Bhagavad-gītā (12.5):

kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām

avyaktāsakta-cetasām

avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ

dehavadbhir avāpyate

For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.1:

These materialistic sentimentalists reject the spiritual conclusions of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and try and take shelter of impersonalism. Yet they miserably lack the scholarship and discipline of the impersonalists. They divorce themselves from the impersonalists' scriptural studies and philosophical discussions, regarding discussions on the scripture as dry speculation and their ignorant, sentimental outbursts as spontaneous devotional fervour.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.1:

If one pretends to be a devotee of the Lord but does not understand the difference between dry speculative knowledge and knowledge of the Supreme Absolute Truth, then such a person's devotion borders on impersonalism and is rank with cheap sentimentalism, which is totally against the spiritual teachings of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Therefore jñāna-yoga is not speculation or empirical research; nor is it the sudden emotional outbursts of upstarts pretending to be devotees. By practicing genuine jñāna-yoga, even an empirical philosopher will develop a taste for hearing purely spiritual topics from the scriptures.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.1:

The dry speculators describe the field and its knower according to their own lopsided logic. They say that the body is like a container and that Brahman enters this container like the all-pervasive sky. Once this container is broken—that is, at the time of liberation—the jīva merges back into Brahman, symbolized by the sky. There are many loopholes in this argument.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 15, Purport:

The Lord's fame as a butter thief is not reproachable, for by stealing butter the Lord gave pleasure to His pure devotees. Everything the Lord did in Vṛndāvana was for the pleasure of His associates there. The Lord created these pastimes to attract the dry speculators and the acrobats of the so-called haṭha-yoga system who wish to find the Absolute Truth.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 3.1-5 -- Los Angeles, December 20, 1968:

If you are actually a wise man, then you'll find it is sublime. And if you simply stick to your own religious ritualistic principles, don't try to understand the philosophy of everything, then you become a fanatic. So we should not become religious fanatics, nor dry mental speculators. Both these classes of men are dangerous. They cannot make any advance. The combination. You should be religious, but try to understand each and every line philosophically.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Ahmedabad, December 13, 1972:

So Bhagavad-gītā is that, religion combined with philosophy. If you simply take philosophy, it is dry speculation. No juice. Carvita-carvaṇānām: "Chewing the chewed." There is no benefit. And if you take, simply take religion without basis of philosophy, then it is fanaticism. That's all. So both should be combined. Religion based on philosophy and logic, that is religion.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.3.19 -- Los Angeles, September 24, 1972:

So Bali Mahārāja is one of the authorities. Out of the twelve authorities, first is Lord Brahmā; the next, Nārada; the next, Lord Śiva; then next, the Kumāras; then Kapiladeva; then Manu, Vaivasvata Manu; then Prahlāda Mahārāja; then Janaka Mahārāja; then Bhīṣmadeva; then Bali Mahārāja; then Śukadeva Gosvāmī; and then Yamarāja. It is stated in the śāstra that mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). You cannot understand transcendental subject matter simply by dry speculation and argument. You cannot understand. Neither by reading Vedic literature. The conclusion is that you have to follow those who are authorities. Mahājano yena. Dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). Guhā. Guhā means the cave, mountain cave, and guhā means the heart. So suppose something is very valuable is there in the cave of the mountain, and you do not know how to search it out. But if you know somebody who knows it, if you follow him, that "He is going there so I may also follow..."

Lecture on SB 1.5.12-13 -- New Vrindaban, June 11, 1969:

The other room is not that. Similarly, Nārada says, "Even high, elevated discussions of knowledge, how to get out of this designated or decorated body to self-realization platform, spiritual realization, but if that is acyuta-bhāva-varjita, if there is no mention of Kṛṣṇa consciousness," Vyāsadeva, er, Nārada says, na śobhate, "that does not look very well." Therefore the devotees, they're not very much interested with the dry philosophical speculation because there is no acyuta-bhāva. There is no Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They, they, they have been described as vāk-cāturyam, simply jugglery of words, Māyāvādī philosophical speculation. There must be acyuta... We have got sufficient philosophy, but it is plus Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the difference, Māyāvāda philosophy and our philosophy.

Lecture on SB 1.10.20 -- London, May 24, 1973:

So Vedānta means the, the ultimate platform of acquiring knowledge, up to this. So that "up to this" is Kṛṣṇa. That if you talk of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you talk of all the Vedas. Sarva-śruti-mano-haraḥ. You talk of Vedic knowledge, but if you simply talk of Vedic knowledge, it becomes dry, speculative. But if you talk of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's līlā, Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, then it becomes simultaneously discussion of Vedic knowledge, at the same time, very beautiful. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is described here: uttama-śloka. Kṛṣṇa is never described by ordinary verses. Uttama-śloka. Uttama-śloka means... Uttama means also liberated. Ut. Ut means transcendental, one who has crossed, ud gata. Ut. Ut means one who has gone to the other side. Tama.

Lecture on SB 2.3.11-12 -- Los Angeles, May 29, 1972:

Otherwise both the materialistic way of life, without any information of God or the demigods, and the life engaged in the worship of demigods, in pursuit of temporary material enjoyments, are different phases of phantasmagoria. They are nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā also, but the Bhagavad-gītā can be understood in the association of pure devotees only, and not by the interpretations of politicians or dry philosophical speculators.

Lecture on SB 3.25.5-6 -- Bombay, November 5, 1974:

So here Kapiladeva is tattva-mārga, tattva-mārga-agra-darśanam. So Kapiladeva is the incarnation of Supreme Personality of Godhead. He would explain to His mother. That we shall read from the next verse, what is tattva and how we can approach the tattva-jñāna and how we can enjoy. Not that simply dry speculation. Dry speculation. One, that professor, who has said, that "This Bhaktivedanta's book is not dry speculation. Order all the books made by him." So our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not dry speculation. There are varieties, but they are spiritual varieties. People misunderstand that these varieties are material things. They want nirviśeṣa, nirākāra, void. But our philosophy is not voidness. It is full of varieties and full of transcendental bliss.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- Boston, May 8, 1968:

So bhāgavata-dharma means it is scientific knowledge. It is not sentiment. Religion without philosophical understanding is sentiment. And philosophy without understanding of God is mental speculation. So we should not be both, neither sentimentalist nor dry mental speculator. There is a class of mental speculators, they're writing volumes of books but there is no substance. And there are some religious fanatics, but they do not know, do not understand what is religion. So these two classes of men are now very prominent at the present moment. But Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, or Bhagavad-gītā, if anyone is intelligent he'll know that it is combination of religious sentiment plus philosophy.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- Hong Kong, April 18, 1972:

The mystery of religious life is very, very secret. Secret means for ordinary man it is very difficult to understand. Therefore śāstra says tarko 'pratiṣṭhāḥ. If you want to learn what is spiritual life simply by your argument, dry, philosophical speculation, it will never be achieved. Tarko 'pratiṣṭhāḥ śrutayo vibhinnā. If you study the Vedas, there are different Vedas. Principally Sāma, Yajur, Atharva, Ṛg. But you cannot understand the objective of the Vedas simply by studying yourself. Therefore Vedas says, Kaṭhopaniṣad, tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham samit-pāṇiḥ (MU 1.2.12). Like that. In every śāstra the injunction is if you want to understand the essence of Veda, then you must approach a realized, self-realized person. In the Bhagavad-gītā also the same thing is said. Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā (BG 4.34).

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 27, 1973:

A first-class devotee never deviates from the principles of higher authority, and he attains firm faith in the scriptures by understanding with all reasons and arguments. When we speak of arguments and reason, it means arguments and reason on the basis of revealed scripture. The first-class devotee is not interested in dry speculative methods for wasting time. In other words, one who has attained a mature determination in the matter of devotional service can be accepted as the first-class devotee.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.125 -- New York, November 27, 1966:

So I have no necessity to search out father. I am quite all right." That means, this mundane moralist, if you become mundane moralist, or if you become mundane philosopher or if you stick to the ritualistic process of your particular faith, then there is no hope of reaching to the Absolute Truth. Mundane scriptural, ritualistic way and dry speculative philosophy and mundane moralists. Just like Arjuna and his brother. His eldest brother is Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira; he was very moralist, Dharmarāja. His name was "the king of religious principles," Dharmarāja. So Kṛṣṇa Himself advised him that "You go to Droṇācārya and tell him a lie, that 'Your son is dead. Your son is dead.' " Now Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, he was a mundane moralist, so "How can I tell lie? How can I tell lie? I have never spoken lie in my life." So there was some argument. Of course this was, fight was, some compromise was made between them in the camp. So he became a mundane moralist.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.21-28 -- New York, January 11, 1967:

So those who are actually serious in engaging themselves in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, devotional service, for them knowledge is secondary. Knowledge automatically revealed to them. And those who do not take to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness, devotional service, simply indulge in dry speculation, for them liberation is not possible. Not possible.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.21-28 -- New York, January 11, 1967:

Real knowledge means to understand the last word of the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and surrender unto Him, after knowledge. As it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante: (BG 7.19) "After many, many births, one who is actually in knowledge, he surrenders." So Śrīmad-Bhāgavata practically confirms the same, that śreyaḥ-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho. Any person who does not take to the devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, simply indulge in dry speculation, kliśyanti, takes trouble... Kliśyanti means "takes trouble"; ye, "persons." Kevala-bodha-lab..., simply to understand that "This is not matter, this is not spirit, this is not...," like that, and that there is no separate Supersoul, only one soul is there, and this conception of individual soul is misunderstanding, ignorance—in this way, there are volumes of books of, by Śaṅkarācārya especially, and later on, his disciples.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.21-28 -- New York, January 11, 1967:

So therefore, for them this remark is here that śreyaḥ-sṛtim, that "Actually what is auspicious, devotional service, if somebody gives that path away and takes to simply dry speculation, simply to understand..." Because jñāna means to understand what is the difference between matter and spirit. So they, of course, indulge in that process of knowledge. But simply by that speculation the result is that teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate. The trouble which they accept for discriminating matter from spirit... There is trouble.

Wedding Ceremonies

Wedding Ceremony and Lecture -- Boston, May 6, 1969:

Take prasādam. You can play the records. That's all. (laughter) Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa... You also eat. Everyone eat. Yes. I think it is nicely prepared. You can take one plate. (laughter) Yes. ("Hare Kṛṣṇa Happening" record comes on as everyone takes prasāda) Let me see (?).

catur-vidha-śrī-bhagavat-prasāda-

svādv-anna-tṛptān hari-bhakta-saṅghān

kṛtvaiva tṛptiṁ bhajataḥ sadaiva

vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam **

The spiritual master is satisfied when nice foodstuff, prasādam, is distributed, and it is eaten by the devotees. Our is not dry speculation. Everything substantial.

General Lectures

Lecture with Allen Ginsberg at Ohio State University -- Columbus, May 12, 1969:

Don't be foolishly try to speculate to understand the unlimited. It is not possible. By your tiny senses you cannot understand the unlimited. It is not possible. Therefore the first recommendation is that jñāne prayāsam udapāsya. Don't try to be a dry speculator to understand the ultimate truth. Namanta. Just become meek and humble. Namanta eva san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām. And try to receive the message from authorized sources.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Śyāmasundara: But he says that the highest form that the Absolute manifests itself, the highest mode, is in philosophy. He says that this combines art and religion and it synthesizes them so it is highest, philosophy.

Prabhupāda: Philosophy means that there is some order of God. Just like God says "Thou shall not kill." Now if you want to kill, then you must present your philosophy why you are killing, why you are violating the order of God, or why you are accepting the order of God. This is philosophy, not dry speculation.

Śyāmasundara: He says that philosophy is highest because it can...

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Robert Gouiran, Nuclear Physicist from European Center for Nuclear Research -- June 5, 1974, Geneva:

Puṣṭa-kṛṣṇa: Vālmīki was a great poet, and similarly Vyāsadeva is a great writer, and both of them have absolutely engaged themselves in delineating the transcendental activities of the Lord and by doing so have become immortal. Similarly, science and philosophy also should be applied in the service of the Lord. There is no use presenting dry speculative theories for sense gratification. philosophy and science should be engaged to establish the glory of the Lord. Advanced people are eager to understand the Absolute Truth through the medium of science, and therefore a great scientist should endeavor to prove the existence of the Lord on a scientific basis. Similarly, philosophical speculations should be utilized to establish the Supreme Truth as sentient and all-powerful. Similarly, all other branches of knowledge should always be engaged in the service of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā also the same is affirmed. All "knowledge" not engaged in the service of the Lord is but nescience. Real utilization of advanced knowledge is to establish the glories of the Lord, and that is the real import. Scientific knowledge engaged in the service of the Lord and all similar activities are all factually hari-kīrtana, or glorification of the Lord. Jaya, bliss. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: So? Do you agree or not? (laughter) We welcome scientific knowledge. We don't say that scientific knowledge should be stopped, but it should be utilized to glorify the Lord. Then it is perfect. Otherwise useless. Means you don't get perfection. Perfection is when you scientifically describe the existence of God and His different energies, how they are working. And that is scientist, real scientist. Otherwise, theories, you can give your theory, I'll give you a theory... Temporary. That's all. So everything is there in Bhāgavatam, all knowledge, full knowledge. Vidvān bhāgavata-vādī. So vidvān means, vidvān means one who has learned Bhāgavata, Bhāgavatam nicely. He's vidvān, factually. So you do not read all these things?

Room Conversation with Scientists -- July 2, 1974, Melbourne:

Satsvarūpa: Similarly, science and philosophy also should be applied in the service of the Lord. There is no use presenting dry speculative theories for sense gratification. philosophy and science should be engaged to establish the glory of the Lord. Advanced people are eager to understand the Absolute Truth through the medium of science, and therefore a great scientist should endeavor to prove the existence of the Lord on a scientific basis. Similarly, philosophical speculations should be utilized to establish the Supreme Truth as sentient and all-powerful. Similarly, all other branches of knowledge should always be engaged in the service of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā also the same is affirmed. All "knowledge" not engaged in the service of the Lord is but nescience. Real utilization of advanced knowledge is to establish the glories of the Lord, and that is the real import. Scientific knowledge engaged in the service of the Lord and all similar activities are all factually hari-kīrtana, or glorification of the Lord.

Prabhupāda: This is our process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, everything engaged in glorifying the Supreme Lord. So you are learned scientists. Our request is that you also, by your scientific research, glorify the Supreme. That is perfection.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- March 2, 1975, Atlanta:

Satsvarūpa: "Therefore, all the sages and devotees of the Lord have recommended that the subject matter of art, science, philosophy, physics, chemistry, psychology and all other branches of knowledge should be wholly and solely applied in the service of the Lord. Art, literature, poetry, painting, etc., may be used in glorifying the Lord. The fiction writers, poets and celebrated litterateurs are generally engaged in writing of sensuous subjects, but if they turn towards the service of the Lord they can describe the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. Vālmīki was a great poet, and similarly Vyāsadeva is a great writer, and both of them have absolutely engaged themselves in delineating the transcendental activities of the Lord and by so doing have become immortal. Similarly, science and philosophy also should be applied in the service of the Lord. There is no use presenting dry speculative theories for sense gratification. Philosophy and science should be engaged to establish the glory of the Lord. Advanced people are eager to understand the Absolute Truth through the medium of science, and therefore a great scientist should endeavor to prove the existence of the Lord on a scientific basis. Similarly, all other branches of knowledge should always be engaged in the service of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā also the same is affirmed. All "knowledge" not engaged in the service of the Lord is but nescience. Real utilization of advanced knowledge is to establish the glories of the Lord, and that is the real import. Scientific knowledge engaged in the service of the Lord and all similar activities are all factually hari-kīrtana, or glorification of the Lord."

Prabhupāda: That is perfection. If you can write this book nicely all together, it will be a great service to Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa will bless you and help you.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- February 26, 1976, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (Bengali) Ṣaḍbhir bhaktiḥ prasidhyati. What is this? (break) ...our field or some other field, but food must be there. If you don't eat sufficiently, how you'll be able to work? Yuktāhāra-vihārasya. We are not after dry speculation. Practical. Eat sufficiently. Work sufficiently. Don't be lazy. But the danger is if you eat more than sufficient, then you'll sleep sufficient. Therefore yuktāhāra, as much as you require, take it. Don't take more; don't take less. This is the law of nature. Just like salt. You salt require. But if you take more, it is useless, and if you take less, it is useless. If in the vegetable the salt is more, then it is uneatable; if it is less, uneatable. Take as it is. It is not that "Because there is ocean of salt, let me three pounds' salt." That is going on. "Oh, it is available? Now let me eat." And then he becomes sick.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- April 22, 1977, Bombay:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: ...combination.

Prabhupāda: That is... Rarely they found. Therefore they appreciate. One may comment on scholarship. That is jñāna. And devotion without scholarship-sentiment. Just see. They're both combined. Perfect knowledge. That is wanted. That is my Guru Mahārāja's... He used to say, "Philosophy without religion is dry speculation, and religion without philosophy is sentiment."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, you wrote this in your purport in Bhagavad-gītā.

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to R. Prakash -- Allahabad 22 June, 1951:

(1) To sing "Bhajan" songs glorifying the Almighty and His Pastimes.

(2) To preach the teachings of Bhagavad-gita, Bhagavata, Ramayana, life of such saints as Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Tulsidas etc.

(3) To establish the philosophy of devotional life as against fruitful action or dry speculation of empiric philosophy and meet the opposite elements with all logical weapons. i.e the medicine of "Hari Sankirtana" is administered by threefold action, namely by (a) melodious songs (b) by propaganda through press and (c) by propaganda on platforms.

Letter to R. Prakash -- Allahabad 22 June, 1951:

So the present process of human thinking for material gains only has to be changed by an organized preaching work of Bhagavad-gita as done by Lord Caitanya not only for the benefit the people of India but also for all people in the world. Lord Caitanya's way of preaching is ___ but a practical demonstration of the way of Bhagavad-gita. No amount of dry speculation by easy chair empiric philosophers will be able to implement the teachings of Bhagavad-gita unless we adopt the practical ways of Lord Caitanya as above mentioned.

Letter to Sumati Morarjee -- New York 10 November, 1965:

The ground floor may be utilized for preparation Prasadam of Bala Krishna because the preaching centres will not be for dry speculations only but for actual gain for delicious Prasadam. I have already tested how the people here like the Vegetable Prasadam prepared by me. They will forget meat eating and they will pay for the expenses. The American are not poor men like the Indian and if they appreciate a thing they are prepared to spend any amount for such hobby.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Chaturbhus -- Bombay 21 January, 1972:

Philosophical speculation in the accepted sense then means to try to understand, under the direction of Sastra and Guru, just how Krishna is the taste of water. The points of Bhagavad-gita, though they are simple and complete, can be understood from unlimited angles of vision. So our philosophy is not dry, like mental speculation. The proper function of the brain or psychological activity is to understand everything through Krishna's perspective or point-of-view, and so there is no limit to that understanding because Krishna is unlimited, and even though it can be said that the devotee who knows Krishna, he knows everything (15th Chapter), still, the philosophical process never stops and the devotee continues to increase his knowledge even though he knows everything. Try to understand this point, it is a very good question.