What is vidvat pratiti? How can it be attained?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. Question.
What is Vidvat Pratiti? How can it be attained? In one of the quotes from Chaitanya Shikshamrita, you mentioned about Vidvat Pratiti. So what is this? And how can it be attained? Answer. Vidvat Pratiti refers to the perception.
Pratiti is perception. Vidvat is enlightened perception. Vidvat Pratiti is the perception of the ignorant.
So basically here, Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s differentiation between transcendental realization and merely intellectual conception. So when a person is not in spiritual consciousness, in personal mental consciousness, one cannot probe into spiritual realities. And that’s why when we try to understand spiritual reality, often we get caught, sidetracked by controversies.
Okay, this seems like this, this seems like this, that seems like that. What is the actual reality? And we are unable to understand, to arrive at a clear understanding of the actual reality. But if we become purified, if we rise to the spiritual level of consciousness, then the material misconceptions which are obstructing that perception, those mental impurities are removed.
And thereby we can perceive accurately what is the actual reality. So in this way, the essence of Vidvat Pratiti is realized vision. So by purification, we move from the lower modes to goodness and beyond goodness to transcendence.
And then when we are at the transcendental level, then we can perceive reality properly. So, yes, we do use our intelligence to try to understand Krishna, but we also understand that the intelligence alone can’t understand Krishna. So we focus also on the practice of bhakti, which purifies us.
And by that purification, we rise higher and higher to come to the transcendental level, and then we understand Krishna properly. So that is the difference between Vidvat Pratiti, which comes through purification and transcendental realization, and Avidyat Pratiti, which focuses primarily on intellectual conception and analysis and rationalization, reasoning based on that, which can give some understanding, but not precise understanding. So Bhaktivinoda Thakur says that whenever there seems to be contradiction in scriptures, that is because of Avidyat Pratiti.
So when we rise to Vidvat Pratiti, then there will not be contradiction among scriptures. We’ll see the reconciliation underlying the contradictions. And Prabhupada also talks about this in the purport of jnana-vijnana-trupta-atma.
This is when we have knowledge and realization. Then, in this 6.8 verse, Krishna says, then we’ll become trupta, we’ll become contented. Because we’ll truly realize Krishna’s beauty and glory and relish that, and that will bring satisfaction.
Thank you. Hare Krishna.