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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 10, Ch. 13]
descending knowledge. Therefore one must accept the  paramparā  system. And the best  paramparā  is that which extends from Kṛṣṇa ( evaṁ paramparā-prāptam ). What Kṛṣṇa says, we should accept ( imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ ). This is called the  avaroha-panthā .
Brahmā, however, adopted the  āroha-panthā . He wanted to understand Kṛṣṇa's mystic power by his own limited, conceivable power, and therefore he himself was mystified. Everyone wants to take pleasure in his own knowledge, thinking, "I know something." But in the presence of Kṛṣṇa this conception cannot stand, for one cannot bring Kṛṣṇa within the limitations of  prakṛti . One must submit. There is no alternative.  Na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet . This submission marks the difference between Kṛṣṇa-ites and Māyāvādis.
The phrase  atan-nirasana  refers to the discarding of that which is irrelevant. ( Atat  means "that which is not a fact.") Brahman is sometimes described as  asthūlam anaṇv ahrasvam adīrgham , "that which is not large and not small, not short and not long." ( Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Up. 5.8.8 )  Neti neti : "It is not this, it is not that." But what is it? In describing a pencil, one may say, "It is not this; it is not that," but this does not tell us what it is. This is called definition by negation. In  Bhagavad-gītā , Kṛṣṇa also explains the soul by giving negative definitions.  Na jāyate mriyate vā : "It is not born, nor does it die. You can hardly understand more than this." But what is it? It is eternal.  Ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre : "It is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. It is not slain when the body is slain." (Bg. 2.20) In the beginning the soul is difficult to understand, and therefore Kṛṣṇa has given negative definitions:
nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ na cainaṁ kledayanty āpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ
"The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can it be burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind." (Bg. 2.23) Kṛṣṇa says, "It is not burned by fire." Therefore, one has to imagine what it is that is not burned by fire. This is a negative definition.