316 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 9

people do not believe in the authority of the Vedas. Nevertheless, they accept in-
tellectual speculation and argument. Therefore the preachers of Krsna conscious-
ness should be prepared to defeat others by argument, just as Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu did. In this verse it is clearly said, tarkei khandila prabhu. Lord Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu put forward such a strong argument that they could not
counter Him to establish their cult.

Their first principle is that the creation is always existing, but if this is the case,
there can be no theory of annihilation. The Buddhists maintain that annihilation or
dissolution is the highest truth. If the creation is eternally existing, there is no
question of dissolution or annihilation. This argument is not very strong because
by practical experience we see that material things have a beginning, a middle
and an end. The ultimate aim of the Buddhist philosophy is to dissolve the body.
This is proposed because the body has a beginning. Similarly, the entire cosmic
manifestation is also a gigantic body, but if we accept the fact that it is always ex-
isting, there can be no question of annihilation. Therefore the attempt to annihi-
late everything in order to attain zero is an absurdity. By our own practical ex-
perience we have to accept the beginning of creation, and when we accept the
beginning, we must accept a creator. Such a creator must possess an all-pervasive
body, as pointed out by Bhagavad-gita:

sarvatah pdni-paddam tat
sarvato ‘ksi-siro-mukham

sarvatah srutimal loke
sarvam 4vrtya tisthati

“Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes and faces, and He hears everything.
In this way the Supersoul exists.” (Bg. 13.14)

The Supreme Person must be present everywhere. His body existed before the
creation; otherwise He could not be the creator. If the Supreme Person is a cre-
ated being, there can be no question of a creator. The conclusion is that the cos-
mic manifestation is certainly created at a certain time, and the creator existed
before the creation; therefore the creator is not a created being. The creator is
Pararn Brahman, or the Supreme Spirit. Matter is not only subordinate to spirit but
is actually created on the basis of spirit. When the spirit soul enters the womb of a
mother, the body is created by material ingredients supplied by the mother. Every-
thing is created in the material world, and consequently there must be a creator
who is the Supreme Spirit and who is distinct from matter. It is confirmed in
Bhagavad-gita that the material energy is inferior and that the spiritual energy is
the living entity. Both inferior and superior energies belong to a supreme person.

The Buddhists argue that the world is false, but this is not valid. The world is
temporary, but it is not false. As long as we have the body, we must suffer the
