CC Madhya 17.186
Bengali
তর্কোঽপ্রতিষ্ঠঃ শ্রুতয়ো বিভিন্না
নাসাবৃষির্যস্য মতং ন ভিন্নম্ ।
ধর্মস্য তত্ত্বং নিহিতং গুহায়াং
মহাজনো যেন গতঃ স পন্থাঃ ॥ ১৮৬ ॥
নাসাবৃষির্যস্য মতং ন ভিন্নম্ ।
ধর্মস্য তত্ত্বং নিহিতং গুহায়াং
মহাজনো যেন গতঃ স পন্থাঃ ॥ ১৮৬ ॥
Verse text
tarko ’pratiṣṭhaḥ śrutayo vibhinnā
nāsāv ṛṣir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam
dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ
mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ
nāsāv ṛṣir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam
dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ
mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ
Synonyms
tarkaḥ — dry argument; apratiṣṭhaḥ — not fixed; śrutayaḥ — Vedas; vibhinnāḥ — possessing different departments; na — not; asau — that; ṛṣiḥ — 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-janaḥ — self-realized predecessors; yena — by which way; gataḥ — acted; saḥ — that; panthāḥ — 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 Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja in the Mahābhārata, Vana-pārva (313.117).