tarke ihā nāhi māne yei durācāra |
kumbhīpāke pace, tāra nāhika nistāra ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.17.307)
“An ill-behaved person who because of argument does not accept this fries in Kumbhīpāka. There is no deliverance for them.”
avijñāta-tattve’rthe kāraṇopapattitas tattva-jñānārtham ūhas tarkaḥ |
(Nyāya-sūtra: 1.1.40)
“Tarka is [a type of] deliberation in the form of demonstration [i.e., proposition] of causes for the purpose of [attaining] knowledge of the nature (tattva) of an object the nature of which is unknown.”
saiṣā hy upaniṣad brāhmī pūrveṣāṁ pūrva-jair dhṛtā |
śraddhayā dhārayed yas tāṁ kṣemaṁ gacched akiñcanaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.3)
“One who can adhere with śraddhā to this renowned Upaniṣad [i.e., this esoteric knowledge], related to Brahman and adhered to by the predecessors of our ancestors [i.e., by those such as Sanaka who came before Nārada and others], can become detached [i.e, free from adjuncts beginning with the body, or, free from possessiveness, that is, one can become an unalloyed bhakta] and attain weal [i.e., the supreme abode, or, bhakti-yoga, or Bhagavān’s lotus feet].
na hy adbhutaṁ tvac-caraṇābja-reṇubhir
hatāṁhaso bhaktir adhokṣaje’malā |
mauhūrtikād yasya samāgamāc ca me
dustarka-mūlo’pahato’vivekaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.13.22)
“[Rahūgaṇa to Jaḍa Bharata:] It is certainly not astonishing that by [touch of] the dust of your lotus feet pure bhakti to Adhokṣaja has manifest within me, whose sin has been dispelled, since my indiscrimination rooted in wrong argumentation has been destroyed by [just] momentary association with you.”
hetuvādo na kartavyo hetunā patate naraḥ ||
(Nāradīya Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 12.280)
“Disputation should not be done, as by argument a person falls down.”
pūrvāparāvirodhena ko nv artho’bhimato bhavet |
ity ādyam ūhanaṁ tarkaḥ śuṣka-tarkaṁ ca varjayet ||
(Kūrma Purāṇa; cited in Sarva-saṁvādinī, Govinda-bhāṣya, Prameya-ratnāvalī)
“‘What is the intended meaning [of a particular expression] free from contradiction to preceding and succeeding statements?” Reasoning such as this is the best form of deliberation. Dry reasoning, however, should be abandoned.”
anukūlo matas tarkaḥ śuṣkas tu parivarjitaḥ |
(Prameya-ratnāvalī: 9.4)
“Reasoning that is favorable is desired. Dry reasoning, however, is rejected.”
vedāntārthānuguṇo’sau na nivāryate |
(Siddhānta-ratna: 1.14)
“Reasoning that conforms to the meaning of the Veda is not prohibited.”
tat-poṣa-kārī tarkas tv apekṣata eva |
(Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta-sūtra: 2.1.11)
“Reasoning which supports that [i.e., Śruti] is certainly necessary.”
mahāśakti-vilāsātmā bhāvo’cintya-svarūpa-bhāk |
raty-ākhyā ity ayaṁ yukto na hi tarkeṇa bādhitum |
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.92)
“This bhāva, known as rati, by constitution an expression of the supreme potency [i.e., the hlādinī-śakti], and [thus] possessed of an inconceivable nature, is not fit to be assailed with argument.”
