Speculating (CC and Other Books)

Expressions researched:
"speculate" |"speculated" |"speculates" |"speculating"

CC Preface and Introduction

CC Introduction:

That which is beyond our power of conception is called acintya, inconceivable. It is useless to argue or speculate about the inconceivable. If something is truly inconceivable, it is not subject to speculation or experimentation. Our energy is limited, and our sense perception is limited; therefore we must rely on the Vedic conclusions regarding that subject matter which is inconceivable.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 2.60, Translation:

Not knowing that Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān are all features of Kṛṣṇa, foolish scholars speculate in various ways.

CC Adi 5.14, Purport:

Empiric philosophers, unable to go beyond these elements, speculate that anything beyond them must be avyakta, or inexplicable. But the world beyond the twenty-four elements is not inexplicable, for it is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā as the eternal (sanātana) nature. Beyond the manifested and unmanifested existence of material nature (vyaktāvyakta) is the sanātana nature, which is called the paravyoma, or the spiritual sky.

CC Adi 6.14-15, Purport:

A Vedic injunction states, sarve vedā yat padam āmananti (Kaṭha Up. 1.2.15): all Vedic knowledge is searching after the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, another Vedic injunction states, nārāyaṇa-parā vedāḥ: the Vedas are meant for understanding Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Lord. Similarly, the Bhagavad-gītā also confirms, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: (BG 15.15) by all the Vedas, Kṛṣṇa is to be known. Therefore, the main purpose of understanding the Vedas, performing Vedic sacrifices and speculating on the Vedānta-sūtra is to understand Kṛṣṇa. Accepting the impersonalist view of voidness or the nonexistence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead negates all study of the Vedas.

CC Adi 7.33, Purport:

Māyā refers to material existence, which is characterized by the reactions of fruitive activities. Māyāvādīs consider devotional service to be among such fruitive activities. According to them, when bhāgavatas (devotees) are purified by philosophical speculation, they will come to the real point of liberation. Those who speculate in this way regarding devotional service are called kutārkikas (false logicians), and those who consider devotional service to be fruitive activity are called karma-niṣṭhas.

CC Adi 7.79, Purport:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu hints in this verse that to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa one does not need to speculate on the philosophical aspects of the science of God, for one automatically becomes ecstatic and without consideration immediately chants, dances, laughs, cries and sings just like a madman.

CC Adi 7.127, Purport:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead knows very well how to do everything perfectly. He is abhijña, always fully conscious. The Lord therefore says in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.26) that He knows everything, past, present and future, but that no one but a devotee knows Him as He is. Therefore, the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, is at least partially understood by devotees of the Lord, but the Māyāvādī philosophers, who unnecessarily speculate to understand the Absolute Truth, simply waste their time.

CC Adi 14.32, Purport:

This simple philosophy propounded by Śacīmātā, even though she is a woman, can defeat the Māyāvādī philosophers who speculate on oneness. The defect of Māyāvāda philosophy is that it does not accept the variety that is useful for practical purposes. Śacīmātā gave the example that although an earthen pot and a lump of dirt are basically one, for practical purposes the waterpot is useful whereas the lump of dirt is useless.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 6.82, Purport:

Foolish people are enchanted by magical demonstrations, and when they see a few wonderful things done by mystical power, they accept a magician as the Personality of Godhead or an incarnation. This is not the way of realization. Nor should one guess or speculate about an incarnation of God or the Personality of Godhead. One has to learn from the bona fide person or from the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, as Arjuna did, by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya 6.84, Translation:

""My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate in order to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.""

CC Madhya 11.104, Translation:

"(Lord Brahmā said:) "My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.""

CC Madhya 17.185, Purport:

For the demons, Hiraṇyākṣa, Hiraṇyakaśipu, Rāvaṇa, Rāvaṇa's son Meghanāda, Jarāsandha and others are accepted as mahājanas. For materialistic anthropologists speculating on the evolution of the body, a person like Darwin is a mahājana. The scientists who are bewildered by Kṛṣṇa's external energy have no relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, yet they are accepted by some as mahājanas.

CC Madhya 18.99, Purport:

The puzzled people who visited Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu were actually seeing Lord Kṛṣṇa, but they were mistaken in thinking that Lord Kṛṣṇa had come to Kālīya Lake. They all said that they had seen Kṛṣṇa directly performing His pastimes on the hoods of the serpent Kālīya and that the jewels on Kālīya's hoods were blazing brilliantly. Because they were speculating with their imperfect knowledge, they saw Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as an ordinary human being and a boatman's light in the lake as Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya 20.147-148, Translation:

“(Lord Kṛṣṇa said:) "What is the purpose of all Vedic literatures? On whom do they focus? Who is the object of all speculation? Outside of Me no one knows these things. Now you should know that all these activities are aimed at ordaining and setting forth Me. The purpose of the Vedic literatures is to know Me by different speculations, either by indirect understanding or by dictionary understanding. Everyone is speculating about Me. The essence of all Vedic literatures is to distinguish Me from māyā. By considering the illusory energy, one comes to the platform of understanding Me. In this way one becomes free from speculation about the Vedas and comes to Me as the conclusion. Thus one is satisfied."

CC Madhya 20.248, Purport:

"The Supreme Lord is not obtained by means of expert explanations, vast intelligence or even much hearing. He is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person, He manifests His own form."

athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-

prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi

jānāti tattvaṁ bhagavan-mahimno

na cānya eko ’pi ciraṁ vicinvan

(SB 10.14.29)

"My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue studying the Vedas for many years."

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 5.124-125, Translation:

“"This present form, or any transcendental form expanded by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is equally auspicious for all the universes. Since You have manifested this eternal personal form, upon whom Your devotees meditate, I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You. Those who are destined to be dispatched to the path of hell neglect Your personal form because of speculating on material topics.""

CC Antya 8.26, Purport:

"Even liberated souls sometimes fall down to material desires, but those who fully engage in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead are not affected by such desires."

These are references from authoritative revealed scriptures. If one becomes an offender to his spiritual master or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he falls down to the material platform to merely speculate.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction:

It is not possible to obtain information of anything beyond this material nature by experimental means. That which is beyond our power of conception is called acintya, inconceivable. It is useless to argue or speculate about what is inconceivable. If it is truly inconceivable, it is not subject to speculation or experimentation. Our energy is limited, and our sense perception is limited; therefore we must rely on the Vedic conclusions regarding that subject matter which is inconceivable.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 17:

In this connection there is a verse written by His Holiness Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī in his book Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛta which states that materialistic persons are very enthusiastic to maintain their family members, wife and children, and that there are also many mystic speculators who are engaged in speculating about liberation from the miseries of material life and who therefore undergo various austerities and penances. But those who have discovered the greatest transcendental flavor in the movement of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu no longer have a taste for such activities.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 17:

The impersonalists speculate on the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His devotees and subject them to the tests of direct perception. However, the Lord, His devotee and His devotional service are not subject to direct perception. In other words, spiritual variegatedness is unknown to the Māyāvādī philosophy; therefore all the Māyāvādī philosophers and sannyāsīs criticized Lord Caitanya when He was conducting His saṅkīrtana movement.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 32:

The unfortunate transcendentalists simply speculate on dry philosophy, whereas the transcendentalists who are in love with Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa enjoy fruit just like the cuckoo. Thus those who are devotees of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are most fortunate. The bitter nimba fruit is not at all eatable; it is simply full of dry speculation and is only fit for crowlike philosophers. Mango seeds, however, are very relishable, and those in the devotional service of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa enjoy them.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 9:

Nārada Muni tells his disciple Vyāsadeva, "My dear Vyāsa, you should know that persons who are engaged in executing austerities and penances, studying the Vedas, performing big sacrifices, chanting the hymns of the Vedas, speculating on transcendental knowledge and performing charitable functions have for all their auspicious activities simply to gain a place in the association of devotees and chant the glories of the Lord." It is indicated here that chanting about and glorifying the Lord is the ultimate activity of the living entity.

Nectar of Instruction

Nectar of Instruction 7, Purport:

By bhajana-kriyā one attains freedom from the contamination of materialistic life. He no longer goes to a restaurant or hotel to taste so-called palatable dishes made with meat and onions, nor does he care to smoke or drink tea or coffee. He not only refrains from illicit sex, but avoids sex life entirely. Nor is he interested in wasting his time in speculating or gambling. In this way it is to be understood that one is becoming cleansed of unwanted things (anartha-nivṛtti). The word anartha refers to unwanted things. Anarthas are vanquished when one becomes attached to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

At the end of their investigation, the Sāṅkhyaites finally accept only a transcendental (antimaterial) nonactive principle. However, difficulties arise for all these mental speculators because they speculate with the help of inferior energy. They do not accept information from the superior. In order to realize the real position of the antimaterial principle, one must rise to the transcendental plane of superior energy. Bhakti-yoga is the very activity of superior energy.

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

As long as a living being has to put on the shackles of material bondage, there is no relief from this changing process, which continues even in the highest stage of material life. The Russian fiction writer may speculate, as fiction writers are apt to do, but saner people with some knowledge of natural law will not agree that man can life forever within this material world.

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

Nonbelievers put forward their own theories of the creation, which usually result in statements such as, "It's hard to understand," "Our imagination cannot conceive it, but it's quite possible," "It's incomprehensible," and so forth. This only means that their information has no authoritative basis and is not backed by scientific data. They simply speculate. However, authorized information is available in the Bhagavad-gītā.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 2:

Dear Lord, if You did not appear in Your eternal transcendental form, full of bliss and knowledge—a form which can eradicate all kinds of speculative ignorance about Your position—then all people would simply speculate about You according to their respective modes of material nature.

Krsna Book 2:

"Our dear Lord, the way of understanding is not to study Your absolute nature, form and activities by mental speculation. One must engage himself in devotional service; then one can understand Your absolute nature and Your transcendental form, name and qualities. Actually, only a person who has a little taste for the service of Your lotus feet can understand Your transcendental nature or form and qualities. Others may go on speculating for millions of years, but it is not possible for them to understand even a single part of Your actual position."

Krsna Book 87:

After much deliberation and consideration, when one has attained the perfection of knowledge, one comes to the conclusion that Kṛṣṇa, or God, is the original cause of all causes. Instead of speculating about the measurement of God—whether He is so long or so wide—or falsely philosophizing, one should come to the conclusion of the Brahma-saṁhitā: "Kṛṣṇa, or God, is sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Bs. 5.1), the cause of all causes." That is the perfection of knowledge.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.10:

Living entities, or jīvas, belong to the Lord's marginal potency, which emanates from His transcendental, internal potency. Therefore anyone who considers the demigods to be independent Supreme Gods is speculating and is totally wrong, because as jīvas they are invested only with temporary powers and position.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.13:

My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the best path for self-realization. If one gives up that path and engages in the cultivation of speculative knowledge, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired result. As a person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.5:

My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the best path for self-realization. If someone gives up that path and engages in the cultivation of speculative knowledge, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired result. As a person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.3:

If Dr. Radhakrishnan possesses such a sketchy and incorrect perception of the Gītā that he thinks Bhagavān is different from Brahman then how can he claim to have read the Gītā? He argues that Bhagavān and Supersoul Kṛṣṇa are products of māyā, while Brahman is not! Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has severely criticized such speculative philosophy. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta he writes, "Not knowing that Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān are all features of Kṛṣṇa, foolish scholars speculate in various ways."

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.