Debate - a Vaishnava Tradition

Debate

From: Gadadhara dasa <ccr2k@yahoo.com>
Subject: RE: DEBATE ---
To: charles dowson

Dear Hasti Gopala Dasa,
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada! Please accept my humble obesance.

Thank you for writing me.

I was listing to a morning walk in my car the other day and came across this:

Satsvarupa: One of our men spoke up and said that, the president of Toronto temple, Uttamasloka, he said, "So far we've just discussed different religions from a relative point of view. Why don't we discuss what is the Absolute Truth?" And they all became... They didn't like that. They said, "We feel defensive when you speak like this."
Brahmananda: And Swami Bon said that "You don't know so much."
Satsvarupa: Yeah, he criticized our Uttamasloka. And then he said, "Gaudiya Vaisnavas, they don't engage in argumentation and debate." So Uttamasloka said, "Yes, Lord Chaitanya argued with Prakasananda."
Prabhupada: Oh, yes, very good.
Satsvarupa: But Swami Bon said, "No, He didn't convert him by argument, He converted him by the effulgence."
Prabhupada: [To Bon:] "But there was argument, rascal." [laughter]
Satsvarupa: And as a result of that...
Prabhupada: He is a rascal, rascal.
[Morning Walk--June 30, 1975, Denver]

Your Servant,
Gadadhara dasa