Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Madhya 17.186

tarko 'pratishthah śrutayo vibhinnā

nāsāv rishir yasya matam na bhinnam

dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhāyām

mahājano yena gatah sa panthāh

SYNONYMS

tarkah — dry argument; apratishthah — not fixed; śrutayah — Vedas; vibhinnāh — possessing different departments; na — not; asau — that; rishih — great sage; yasya — whose; matam — opinion; na — not; bhinnam — separate; dharmasya — of religious principles; tattvam — truth; nihitam — placed; guhāyām — in the heart of a realized person; mahā-janah — self-realized predecessors; yena — by which way; gatah — acted; sah — that; panthāh — the pure unadulterated path.

TRANSLATION

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, "'Dry arguments are inconclusive. A great personality whose opinion does not differ from others is not considered a great sage. Simply by studying the Vedas, which are variegated, one cannot come to the right path by which religious principles are understood. The solid truth of religious principles is hidden in the heart of an unadulterated, self-realized person. Consequently, as the śāstras confirm, one should accept whatever progressive path the mahājanas advocate.'"

PURPORT

This is a verse spoken by Yudhishthira Mahārāja in the Mahābhārata, Vana-pārva (313.117).

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