Verse 2.2.222

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.2.222:

महा-रसेऽस्मिन् न बुधैः प्रयुज्यते सुकोमले कर्कश-तर्क-कण्टकम् ।
तथापि निर्वाण-रत-प्रवृत्तये नवीन-भक्त-प्रमुदे प्रदर्शितम् ॥ २२२ ॥

mahā-rase'smin na budhaiḥ prayujyate sukomale karkaśa-tarka-kaṇṭakam |
tathāpi nirvāṇa-rata-pravṛttaye navīna-bhakta-pramude pradarśitam || 222 ||

mahā-rase–to the great mellow; asmin–this; na–not; budhaiḥ–by the wise; prayujyate–should be applied; su-komale–very soft; karkaśa-tarka–of harsh logic; kaṇṭakam–thorns; tathā api–however; nirvāṇa–to impersonal liberation; rata–for attachment; pravṛttaye–who have an inclination; navīna-bhakta–to the new devotees; pramude–for the delight; pradarśitam–shown (logic).

Learned scholars do not apply sharp, thorn-like logic to the gentle, most excellent mellow of loving service to Bhagavān. However, because neophyte devotees are busy endeavoring for liberation from material suffering, to remove this defect of desire for liberation and to grant them happiness, we have simply used thorn-like logic.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

The bhakti-śāstras say, “Logical arguments are categorized in four ways: pratyakṣa, or direct understanding; anumāna, or hypothetical understanding; aitihya, or historical understanding; and śabda, or understanding through sound. Although within these categories, there are many brilliant arguments that establish bhakti to be more glorious than liberation, we have used them sparingly. This is because great souls who understand the conclusive truth of that supremely sweet nectar (mahā-rasa) of devotion to Bhagavān know that bhakti is supersoft and gentle in nature, and therefore unfit for the use of the hard thorn of logical argument.”

Śrī Gopa-kumāra might ask, “Why is that?”

“It is not only great foolishness to use sharp, thorn-like logical arguments on this very gentle topic, but according to the logic of rasakaṇṭakatā (a thorn in sweet nectar), they also diminish the happiness of bhakti. Nevertheless, logic has been sparingly used.”

“Why?”

“Because neophyte practitioners, whose discrimination is immature, may have some attachment for the liberation of merging into oneness (sāyujya-mukti), to obtain relief from the suffering of material existence (nirvāṇa). Without hearing strong logical arguments, they will not be able to give up that desire, and unless they give it up, they will not be able to enter the path of bhakti. Therefore, following the logic of kaṇṭaka kaṇṭakenaiva (removing one thorn with another), the thorn of incisive logic has been used to remove the thorn of impersonal liberation from the hearts of neophyte devotees. This thorn of logic has also been used to give incalculable joy to all new devotees whose faith is not yet firm. Hearing how bhakti is more glorious than liberation will totally uproot the thicket of thorns of doubt from their hearts and enable boundless, resplendent joy to manifest in their minds, causing the treasure of their devotion (bhakti-sampatti) to continuously increase.

“Significantly, in the Nyāya texts that deal with dualism, or dvaita, there are many examples of hard-hitting logical analyses in the four categories mentioned above. Scriptures in relation to Vedānta that are devoted to the philosophy of non-dualism (advaita) do not contain such strong logical arguments, but rather give prominence to evidence based on personal experience and only contain gentle (komala) logical reasoning. The bhakti scriptures (bhakti-śāstras), on the other hand, contain even softer and gentler (su-komala), as well as fewer, logical arguments than the monistic Vedānta scriptures.

“No sooner is the mind immersed in all the logical arguments of the followers of Nyāya and monism than it becomes bewildered, causing an obstacle in the complete ripening of the mellow of bhakti. Therefore, the wise sparingly use very tender logic to expound the philosophic principles of bhakti.”