Those who consider themselves greatly learned, and proudly state that they know, do not really know. Those persons who, on the other hand, think that they do not know anything, may be the ones who actually know. So if we want to know who is knowledgeable and who is ignorant, it will be very difficult to arrive at a correct judgment. Offhand we cannot make any comment. Just phat́ kare [impulsively], we cannot say anything. Before deciding we shall have to ponder very deeply.

I shall conclude with a few remarks on a particular word I just used – the word phat́. In the Tantric system of old there were three biijas [acoustic roots] – phat́, vaśat́ and vaośat́. Before performing different sorts of kriyá [work], one of the biijas would be uttered. This was the system. In whatever the work, the biija was quickly transformed into action. That is to say, the thought process was made to act very quickly. An example would be if someone had a sudden desire to go to Cuttack and he or she set out then and there – he or she gave his or her wish an immediate actional form.

So in this Tantric system, if one wanted to transform his or her work or thought into quick action, then the phat́ mantra was uttered before performing the action. Therefore we still say [in Bengali] that such-and-such person is doing something phat́-phat́ – is doing something very phat́-phat́. Phat́ is that Tantric biija. Baŕŕa phat́phat́áni – loke bale ná sab! [“This man is blurting out his thoughts abruptly and impulsively!”]

And as I said, one cannot tell phat́ kare whether a particular person is a learned person or a fool. One has to think a great deal before commenting on such a thing. Here it is better not to apply the Tantric biija, phat́.