14 Aug 2021
[Dr. J.S.R. Prasad, Prof. of Sanskrit, Central University of Hyderabad: It is told that traditional practice (Ācāra) generates justice or Dharma (Ācāraprabhavo dharmaḥ). Hence, shall we not strictly follow our traditional practices? In the Gītā also, God told that we shall follow our old and older ancestors in practicing justice (pūrvaiḥ pūrvataraiḥ kṛtam).]
Swāmi Replied:- The next line of your quotation is that God Viṣṇu is the protector of justice (dharmasya prabhuracyutaḥ). Let us take the case of Prahlāda. The ancestors of Prahlāda practiced opposition towards God Viṣṇu. In your quotation, due to the protection of God Viṣṇu only, the justice generated from traditional practice is gaining the value. Hence, in the case of Prahlāda your quotation supported by the Gītā is generating mutual contradiction. If Prahlāda follows the traditional practice of his ancestors in opposing God Viṣṇu, the authority itself gets contradicted since God Viṣṇu is the protector of justice generated by traditional practice of ancestors! Now, what shall be done by Prahlāda? Therefore, the correlation of the authority must be done by good logic and not by bad logic (dustarkaḥ suviramyatām – Śaṅkara). The good logic is like this:- Here, you must supply the new word ‘Śiṣṭaiḥ’ to ‘Pūrvaiḥ pūrvataraiḥ’. This means that you should follow the practice of good ancestors only. That is why the authority is told to be the practice of good elders (Śiṣṭācāraḥ pramāṇam). Since ancestors of Prahlāda were not good, their practice is to be refused. In this way, the correlation must be done, which is always perfectly done by God Datta only not by others. The logicians of Nyāya school say that the practice of good elders, which was not criticized by logical analysis must be accepted (avigīta śiṣṭācāra viṣayatvāt).
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