Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c9.s3.2

c9.s3.2

At the outset the author records his intention to avoid the process of reasoning (yukti-vistāra), because he considers Śabda or 'testimony' to be the chief Pramāṇa¹ or source of knowledge; and he thinks that this position is established by the Vedānta-sūtra, I. 1. 3 and II. 1. 11. As Tarka is discarded, the method which he follows is to make a dogmatic statement, which is often definitive, following it up by the process of analysis or classification, and supporting it by elaborate citations chiefly from the Vaiṣṇava Purāṇas or other Vaiṣṇava and Tantra texts. Sometimes the cited texts are further elucidated by means of explanatory Kārikās. The work is an epitome and convenient manual of the whole theological speculation of the school, but the most important part of its treatment is concerned with the doctrine of Avatāra² and its relation to the deity and the devotee.