Answer each of the questions with an essay of between 200 and 400 words.

Essay Questions for Tattva-Viveka

1. Suppose that you met the following challenge:

“Your own scriptures state anya-çästra nindä nä kariba—“the devotee should not
study or criticize other scriptures.” (CC Madhya 22.119) Why then does your
acarya Bhaktivinoda Thakur violate this instruction by writing Tattva-viveka, a
book whose sole purpose is to study and criticize other scriptures? There’s enough
religious conflagration in the world, why fuel it with your own brand of
proselytization? A genuinely humble devotee is tolerant and accommodating; he
would quit arguing his superiority and just let others be.”

Resolve this alleged contradiction and respond to this challenge on the basis of Srila Bhaktivinoda
Thakur’s writings.

2. The first verse of the Dasa-mula Tattva states the following:

na yuktis tarkakhya pravisati tatha sakti rahita

“Reasoning that is only based on logic is always crippled when evaluating inconceivable subject
matters, since logic and argument have no access in the realm of the inconceivable.”

If logic appears to be such a lame, ineffectual tool, why does Bhaktivinoda Thakur place so much
emphasis on using logic to defeat other philosophies and ascertain the truth? Is this not contradictory?
Explain using Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s Sanskrit terminology, if possible.

3. Choose one of the following Western philosophers: (1) Auguste Comte, (2) David Hume, or (3)
George Berkeley. How does this thinker reply to the three fundamental questions posed at the
beginning of Tattva-viveka (Who am I? What is this world? What relation have I with this world?)
Furthermore, describe this philosopher’s epistemological viewpoint—how is knowledge acquired and
what kind of things can we be sure of? Compare and contrast these postulates with the Gaudiya
Vaishnava understanding of psychology and epistemology.

4. Christian theological history is beset with controversy. First, choose a major schism which occurred
within the Christian Church. Second, give a key reason why this weakness arose in the first place, and
how a Vaishnava philosopher would comment on the theological issues under debate.

5. Not surprisingly, history bears witness to parallel developments in philosophical thought in distant
places and times. Identify a Western thinker and an Eastern thinker who share the same philosophical
pedigree. Comment on the pairs’ belief systems, where they agree and disagree, and how their views
were shaped in response to the predominant intellectual culture of the time.

6. What are the different varieties of Advaitavada philosophy? What is their origin and their unifying,
central flaw? How does Gaudiya tattva resolve this problem?

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7. What is the relationship between the five kinds of knowledge (listed in the vrtti to Text 19), the five
levels of human consciousness (listed in Caitanya-siksamrta), the panca-kosa (listed Bg. 13.5 purport),
the three gunas, and the stages of jnana, karma, and bhakti?

Essay Questions for Apasampradayas

1. Compare and contrast the jata-gosani apasampradaya with the smarta-brahmana apasampradaya.

2. Suhotra Swami states that “it may be readily concluded that there is only one apasampradaya—the
prakrta-sahajiya—with twelve sub-branches going under different names”. However, many of these
branches showcase wide disparity in thought and practice—some are even morally upstanding. How
then can one defend this statement? Why is sahajiya specifically considered the umbrella term?

3. Suppose a sahajiya gave the following justification for his regular illicit acitivities:

‘In the the Padma Puräëa it is stated that “Kåñëa should always be remembered and never forgotten at
any time. All the rules and prohibitions mentioned in the çästras should be the servants of these two
principles.” In addition, sastra explains:

akämaù sarva-kämo vä
mokña-käma udära-dhéù
tévreëa bhakti-yogena
yajeta puruñaà param

“A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material desire,
without any material desire, or desiring liberation, must by all means worship the
supreme whole, the Personality of Godhead.” (SB 2.3.10)

‘You see? The highest principle of scripture is to remember Krishna, it’s the ultimate rule that
subordinates all others. We follow the bonafide sarva-käma path of bhakti. While you fight to restrain
your senses in vaidhi-bhakti, we advance by constantly remembering Krsna-lila during our nocturnal
affairs.’

Refute this claim.