Some doubts

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Bhadra Govinda Prabhu wrote as follows:

 

> > Statements in the Saivite Puranas should not be accepted unless they are

> > corroborated by the Vaisnava Puranas. This is confirmed in the Saivite

> > Puranas (Skanda Purana) where Lord Siva says to Karttikeya:

> >

> > "Statements in the Saivite Puranas should be accepted only if they are

> > confirmed in the Vaisnava Puranas."

 

The reply from Rasananda Prabhu:

 

> It would be nice to have the sanskrit and verse reference for this.

 

Yes, a reference for this would be nice. It is a well-known debating ploy in

South India to cite Skanda Purana without giving any exact reference.

According to the Bhagavatam (12.13.7) the Skanda Purana is the biggest of

all of the Puranas. Consisting of eighty-one thousand one hundred verses it

is much bigger than the Padma Purana, which consisting of fifty-five

thousand verses is more than twice as big as the next largest Puranas,

Varaha and Siva, which both have twenty-four thousand verses. The huge size

of the book is often taken advantage of by unscrupulous persons who claim

certain statements to be within it that don't actually exist. I have heard

that it has even become something of a joke, when you don't have any

evidence you just claim that it is in the Skanda Purana.

 

If we have not read the primary source of a pramana we are quoting then at

least we should mention the secondary source where we found it. While in

scholarly circles such secondary sources are generally not given much (if

any) weight, they can still be helpful philosophically or as research clues.

However, without citing our sources clearly, we run into the danger of

thinking ourselves big, big scholars when in fact we may only be tiny, tiny

mice who have barely nibbled on one or two books which we are unable to

digest properly. In the long run such humility and honesty will make a much

deeper impression on our audience than mere parroting of many verses we

aren't really familiar with.

 

This is not to fault Bhadra Govinda Prabhu's nice informative text. Except

for the Skanda Purana quote, he gave proper references for all of the many

pramanas he cited. I am raising this point in a general way for

consideration of the gentle Vaishnava readers. On an individual basis

responsible referencing of our pramanas may not seem so important, however

on a broad basis it is an essential item for the strength and credibility of

our society.

 

Das anudas, Madhavananda Das

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