How to respond to scholars who consider abstract principles more important than bhakti specifics?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
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so sorry the first part was about specifics so the so many scholars they try to reduce the specifics in scripture especially in bhakti tradition they are just specifics and they are not important so yes it’s a very important point which you made actually that the bhakti understanding is that there is a spiritual world which is also very specific so we move from the specifics of the material world which are illusory to the universal of Brahman which is generic there is nothing specific in but the bhakti when the Bhagavad Gita says so it is like a upside down it’s a reflection that means there are specifics in the spiritual world also so the ladder of abstraction is primarily in terms of understanding principles for applying in this world but specifics when you talk about specifics directly connected with Krishna they are we understand a part of Krishna’s self-existence in the spiritual world so Krishna wears a peacock feather you know is it that it was that because at that time in that country 5000 years ago people thought that peacock is beautiful that’s why peacock feather is there no that’s there in the spiritual world eternal the specifics directly connected with Krishna they are the details of the spiritual world and as I said it is specifics which evoke emotion universal principles they don’t attract so much emotion they are the universals appeal to the intelligence specifics appeal to the mind or the heart whichever way you want to put it but the point is so Krishna then the bhakti scriptures are also rich with specific details at the same time there is an understanding that the specific details are indicative they are not exhaustive so it is that when we say Krishna is blueish black you know it is not that I can take blue and black and combine them and say this is Krishna no that is the indication the experience is much richer the experience is much deeper when you actually experience Krishna so the specifics are given in scripture and the specifics are depicted in the bhakti tradition to attract our attention towards Krishna and the specifics don’t necessarily exhaustively or entirely depict Krishna but there are specifics in the spiritual world also so the bhakti philosophy is very clear that there are specifics in the spiritual world and that we have to understand not just in terms of the contextual application but it is an essential message of bhakti Krishna’s form is specific isn’t it? Krishna’s form is not what are you going to do bhakti do it isn’t it? So there are specific details and there are transcendent details also but my point is that every single detail in scripture is not transcendent so there is sometimes a description of heavenly opulence in scripture that heavenly opulence that is a specific description so there are specifics now with respect to deity worship is it a specific thing actually