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THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
statement without argument. That is the way of Vedic understanding.
Prof. Kotovsky:  The difficulty is that our approach is that we do not believe in anything without argument. We can believe only things based on argument.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Yes, that is allowed. That is stated in the  Bhagavadgītā  [4.34].  Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā. Paripraśna , argument, is allowed—but not in the challenging spirit, but rather with the spirit to understand. Argument is not denied. But as far as Vedic statements are concerned, they are infallible, and the scholars of the  Vedas  accept them in that way. For example, cow dung is the stool of an animal. Now, the Vedic statement is that as soon as you touch the stool of any animal—even if you touch your own stool—you are impure and have to purify yourself by taking a bath. According to the Hindu system, after evacuating one has to take a bath.
Prof. Kotovsky:  That is quite understandable hygienic knowledge.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Yes.
Prof. Kotovsky:  Yes, that is right.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  But in another place it is stated that cow dung, although the stool of an animal, is pure. Even if you apply it to an impure place, that place becomes purified. This is superficially contradictory. In one place it is said that the stool of an animal is impure and as soon as you touch it you have to be purified, and in another place it says that cow dung is pure. According to our knowledge, it is contradictory—but still it is accepted by those who are followers of the  Vedas . And the fact is that if you analyze cow dung, you will find that it contains all antiseptic properties.
Prof. Kotovsky:  This I don't know.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Yes, one professor in a medical college analyzed it, and he found it full of antiseptic properties. So Vedic statements, even if found contradictory, if analyzed scrutinizingly will prove correct. There may be an exception. But it is accepted, and when scientifically analyzed and examined, it is found to be correct.
Prof. Kotovsky:  Yes, if you analyze from the scientific point of view, that is right.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  There are other instances—for example, the conchshell. The conchshell is the bone of an animal, and according to Vedic instruction if you touch the bone of an animal you become impure and have to take a bath. But this conchshell is kept in the Deity room because it is accepted as pure by the  Vedas . My point is that we accept Vedic laws