Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c9.s1.3

c9.s1.3

It is true that in some older systems of Indian philosophy mere Tarka or discursive reasoning is deprecated as a means of attaining ultimate truth; and in most systems, belief in Śruti or revelation and interpretation of revealed texts are at least theoretically accepted as the proper mode. But in the speculations of the Bengal school, this attitude of reverence for infallible testimony appears to have been carried to its extreme limit, and theological heresy is counted as a grievous sin. The Bengal school of Vaiṣṇavism, believing that everything is revealed by the grace of a personal god, theoretically rejects all Pramāṇas (sources of knowledge) excepting Śabda or revealed word, but Śabda as a source of belief has a peculiar significance in this school. We shall have occasion later on to explain its theory of Pramāṇa, but briefly speaking, the appeal is not to reason but to a peculiar system of scriptural authority. It is true that theoretical homage is paid to Śruti or the Veda in the wider sense of Indian philosophy, but the term Śabda in practice denotes other kinds of sectarian scriptures which, as Smṛti, are hardly admitted by older philosophical schools. The Pramāṇa is practically circumscribed to a few Vaiṣṇava Purāṇas and other sectarian texts; but it is curious to note that these texts are regarded as revealed or authoritative chiefly on the strength of statements to that effect contained in these texts themselves. Older Śruti texts, when convenient, are indeed cited with respect, but we are told that the sense of the earlier Śrutis is unfathomable, and that the Vaiṣṇava Purāṇas, which can explain them properly, are the only kinds of revelation which are accessible at the present decadent age. In the compilation and exposition of the Purāṇa and Smṛti texts, again, the same dogmatic attitude is prominent. Non-vaiṣṇava texts are rejected as tāmasika and untruthful; and even among Vaiṣṇava texts the Śrīmad-bhāgavata alone is regarded as the quintessence of all Śastras and as possessing the supreme authority. Other schools of Vaiṣṇavism propound their doctrines by writing elaborate commentaries on the *Vedānta-sūtra* and interpreting it in their own way; but the Bengal school regards the *Śrīmad-bhāgavata* as Vyāsa's own commentary on his *Vedānta-sūtra*, and therefore confines itself to an interpretation of this Purāṇa in its own light, instead of composing a separate commentary on the Sūtra. The Bengal school, therefore, proceeds almost entirely on an explication of the *Bhāgavata Purāṇa*. If some of the texts cited from this or other sources are apocryphal, this fact makes no difference so long as they fall in with the peculiar doctrines of the school. Even of Vaiṣṇava texts there is a careful selection and arrangement of those which are favourable; and inconvenient texts are sometimes quietly forgotten or glossed over and sometimes twisted in an ingenious way to suit its particular views. These methods are not unfamiliar to students of sectarian religious literature, but they possess little philosophical interest. The details of such a method may prove interesting and valuable to the faithful devotee, but they hardly appeal either to the general reader or to the critical enquirer.