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I thank Sri Rajaram for focussing on the nature of pramANas

(ways of knowing) in this discussion of science and the Vedas.

 

I would first like to ask Sri Rajaram whether his opinions are based

on the writings of Sri Vaishnava acharyas, or teachers outside the

sampradAya. If the latter (such as Sri Prabhupada or other Hare

Krishna teachers), I urge strong caution before mixing these up with

the conclusions of the Visishtadvaita Sri Vaishnava sampradAya. The

entire approach of these other teachers to Vedanta and pramANas are

markedly different from ours. I get the feeling that Sri Rajaram has

read these other scholars and has left with the idea that they reflect

the opinions of Sri Ramanuja's sampradAya.

 

This is evident from his very first argument:

> 1. Acccepting scientific opinion : Among the sources of knowledge,

> observation with senses and reasoning based on these observation are

> faulty because of the four defects namely imperfect senses, ... and

> illusion. Every scientist will accept that if the tools are

> imperfect, so will be the results.

 

The belief that senses are fundamentally imperfect directly

contradicts Ramanuja's opinion. It is also invalid, according to

Visishtadvaita, to claim that the senses are faulty because they are

under the sway of illusion. It is Sankaracharya and the Advaita school

who believe that the senses cannot be trusted with respect to

reality. Please see Sribhashya 1.1.1 and the many works of Desika.

 

The Visishtadvaita conclusion: except in individual cases where a

sense organ is actually occluded or afflicted with a disease, the

senses and therefore perception MUST BE trusted. In general,

therefore, perceptual observation is 100% reliable. This is an

irrefutable conclusion of Ramanuja.

 

 

I do however agree with Sri Anand Karalapakkam's point that not all

scientific inference (anumAna) can be trusted 100%. However, it is us

to determine whether a particular argument makes sense; it doesn't

mean that scientific inference as a whole is invalid.

 

I also do not understand Sri Rajaram's reluctance to accept Vedanta's

fundamental axiom vis-a-vis the pramANas, that they are independently

valid (svataH-prAmANya). He writes:

> 2. Order of prmanas : All the pramanas are equal only if we are not

> materially conditioned. But in the conditioned state it cannot be

> said so. If you still insist, please answer this. A blind does not

> see and we can see. Which is the correct version of reality ? We

> accept the pratyaksha and anumana of acharyas like Sripad Ramanuja

> or Alwars etc., because they are on the absolute platform.

 

a) The blind person suffers from a defective sense organ. This case is

specifically dealt with by Ramanuja in Sribhashya 1.1.1, as mentioned

above. This just means that the blind man has incomplete knowledge; it

does not mean that sensual perception in general is invalid.

 

b) Ramanuja *never* argues from the standpoint of spiritual

superiority. He never expects anyone to accept his statements simply

because he is supposedly a "realized" being. That would be

theologizing a la the Koran. Rather, Ramanuja consistently requests

the reader to accept his arguments based on reason. At the end of the

Vedarthsangraha, he says that he writes for those clear-thinking

individuals who are 'sAra-asAra-vivekajnAH', those who can distinguish

the essential from the non-essential.

 

c) It is accepted by all Vedantic schools that sabda (Vedas),

pratyaksha (physical observation), and anumAma (logical inference) are

three independent sources of knowledge (svataH-prAmANya). Please see

Sri S.S. Raghavachar's "Introduction to the Vedarthsangraha" where he

discusses this in great detail.

 

d) As I stated before, we accept on faith statements by the Vedas and

Alvars on the nature of ultimate reality, that which is incapable of

being perceived. This means (according to Ramanuja), the nature of

God, the nature of the individual self, their mutual interrelation,

the means of obtaining moksha, and the ultimate cause of the universe.

We *do not* blindly accept statements about, say, the chemical

constitution of water.

 

Based on the above principles, Ramanuja and Desika argue very

forcefully that statements from the Vedas have to be reinterpreted to

fit physical observation. (The opposite argument is made by Sankara

and the Advaita philosophers). Please reread my argument in my

previous article which explains this analysis.

> In Sri Mani's quotation of Sripad Ramanujacharya, all that comes out

> is that science (which depends on perception) cannot explore brahman

> whereas sabda can. He does not say that sabda has to be corrected,

> abandoned or reinterpreted to fit scientific opinion. As for as Sri

> Desika is concerned, Sri Mani has only given his opinion on Sri

> Desika's work. Unless we scrutinizingly study it, we cannot accept

> it.

 

I presume you do not have the original of Sri Ramanuja or Desika, and

you are assuming that I am misunderstanding him. I assure you I am

not. Please see Sri S.M.S. Chari's "Advaita and Visistadvaita", or Sri

Raghavachar's work mentioned above, which explain the relation

between sabda and pratyakshA pramANAs in detail.

 

Ramanuja's fundamental principle is this: "Srutiopapattaye'py

anupapannam viruddham na kalpanIyam" -- "even for supporting the

Vedas, what is against reason or contradicts evidence should not be

postulated" (Vedarthasangraha).

 

I sincerely urge you to study only Sri Ramanuja's and Desika's works,

and then revisit your arguments. Please *do not* base your ideas

about pramANAs on Hare Krishna materials and expect them to be

consonant with the Sri Vaishnava sampradAya.

 

Thank you,

Mani

 

P.S. The question was further raised as to how to understand the

various cosmological details mentioned in the Puranas. (The Vedas, by

the way, never speak of concrete dates). It is important to understand

that the Upanishads themselves propagate different creation theories,

sometimes mutually contradictory at first glance. However, all of

them are meant to only elucidate the principle that God is the

material and efficient cause of the universe, needing no kind of

assistance from anything or anyone else.

 

Where does this leave Rama, Krishna, etc.? I have expressed my ideas

on this subject, and the unimportance of the exact dating of the

avatAras in a previous article (see

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/jan98/0098.html ).

I agree with Sri Venkat Nagarajan's statement that trying to prove the

dating, the exact historicity, etc., simply misses the point of the

avatAras. Rama and Krishna are meant to be *enjoyed* -- this is the

verdict of our Alvars and acharyas. Their lives are entirely TRUE. We

may differ on the details, but this should not of any significant

concern to us. Much is symbolic, much factual, but nothing should stop

us from enjoying Rama, Krishna, et al irrespective of any of this.

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>> 1. Acccepting scientific opinion : Among the sources of knowledge,

>> observation with senses and reasoning based on these observation are

>> faulty because of the four defects namely imperfect senses, ... and

>> illusion. Every scientist will accept that if the tools are

>> imperfect, so will be the results.

>

>The belief that senses are fundamentally imperfect directly

>contradicts Ramanuja's opinion. It is also invalid, according to

>Visishtadvaita, to claim that the senses are faulty because they are

>under the sway of illusion. It is Sankaracharya and the Advaita school

>who believe that the senses cannot be trusted with respect to

>reality. Please see Sribhashya 1.1.1 and the many works of Desika.

 

 

Some context is necessary to differentiate between Sankara's views and those

of the Gaudiyas (aka Hare Krishnas). The former says that the senses are not

to be trusted because for them, the whole world is maayaa. For the latter,

the world is very much real, being an emanation of one of the Lord's

energies, and as such the senses can be used to gather information about it.

The reason members of the latter school regard the senses as imperfect is

because they are *limited*. For example, one can not see his own hand in a

dark room without light, what to speak of seeing (unaided) the spiritual

existence of other jiivas or even the Lord's own spiritual form. Because of

such limitations, the senses are described as imperfect, though they can be

perfected when used in conjunction with shaastra. For example, the

Bhaagavatam 1.3.5 has a reference to the devotees being able to see the

Lord's divine form with "adabhrachakShuShaa" or "perfect eyes."

 

Looking at Sri Bhaashya 1.1.1, it appears that Sri Ramanuja's problem with

the idea of direct perception being faulty is in relation to the Advaitin's

view. Therein, he appears to be arguing with the advaitin's view that direct

perception is false because through it one sees variety, as opposed to the

shaastras which allegedly teach only unity. I don't see anything on first

glance that would contradict the idea of the senses being independently

limited.

>b) Ramanuja *never* argues from the standpoint of spiritual

>superiority. He never expects anyone to accept his statements simply

>because he is supposedly a "realized" being. That would be

 

 

No Vaishnava Vedantin that I have ever heard of argues like that.

Unfortunately, it's not hard to find in every tradition followers who are

less enlightened on epistemology and will assert the correctness of their

beliefs on the basis that their guru is supposedly "advanced,realized,"

etc. For the purposes of discussing any system of Vedanta, it is probably

wise to discriminate between what the acharyas say is the means to acquiring

right knowledge and what their lay followers might say.

>d) As I stated before, we accept on faith statements by the Vedas and

>Alvars on the nature of ultimate reality, that which is incapable of

>being perceived. This means (according to Ramanuja), the nature of

>God, the nature of the individual self, their mutual interrelation,

>the means of obtaining moksha, and the ultimate cause of the universe.

>We *do not* blindly accept statements about, say, the chemical

>constitution of water.

 

There must be *some* sense in which we accept Vedic statements which

describe material phenomena. If we reject them outright (or assign some

totally off-the-wall meaning to them in the name of "reinterpreting")

because they do not seem to be consonant with our direct perception, then

that is tantamount to saying that the Vedas have flaws. If the Vedas cannot

describe material phenomena properly, how can we be sure they are correct in

describing what is beyond our direct perception?

>Based on the above principles, Ramanuja and Desika argue very

>forcefully that statements from the Vedas have to be reinterpreted to

>fit physical observation. (The opposite argument is made by Sankara

>and the Advaita philosophers). Please reread my argument in my

>previous article which explains this analysis.

 

 

I probably missed that article, and I don't think the May archives are up

yet for me to check. However, let me point out that the context of what Sri

Ramanuja said is very important; I think there is concern over taking a

perfectly reasonable directive out of the bounds in which it was originally

spoken. Specifically, Sri Ramanuja's argument about the validity of direct

perception seems to be based on the Sankarite view that it is incorrect,

because of perceiving manifoldness. Ramanuja then points out that if

manifoldness is an error, and thus so too is direct perception, then how can

one state that the Vedas can allow one to arrive at the correct

understanding? Quoting from him, "The very fact that one has to practise

reasoning and meditation on Vedic texts after hearing them shows that a

person, who hears these texts, is aware of their inherent defect that they,

too, have a tendency to show differences, for they are made of words and

sentences which are differentiated." Sri Ramanuja then goes on to point out

that if direct perception is flawed in this way, then one cannot argue that

the scriptures are also without flaws, since consciousness by itself cannot

prove it, and "nor can direct perception prove it, since it is defective and

gives wrong knowledge..." This view of the faultiness of direct perception

does not seem at all related to the view that the senses are limited.

 

If we all agree that the senses independent of shaastra are limited, then we

must accept the possibility in regards to any scientific theory that

contradictory evidence can exist which we do not yet perceive. That seems

reason enough to excercise caution before reinterpreting Vedic statements in

light of theories based on pratyaksha and anumaana. We can't always assume

at any given time that we have seen all the evidence to support a particular

view; nor does the scientific method require this. For any scientist who is

worth his money will tell you that a paradigm is useful only as long as it

continues to explain the available evidence and allows one to correctly make

further predictions. When new evidence is discovered, the old theories must

be modified or thrown out in favor of new ones. Therefore, material science

is by its very nature a constantly changing thing.

 

(cont'd)

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I have said pretty much all that I wish to say on this

subject. I notice that the few who are discussing this

with me now are affiliated with the Gaudiya sampradAya.

We can all continue this discussion offline.

 

A few concluding points to clarify my argument:

 

1) The original question was how to reconcile scientific

opinion and the teachings of the Vedas. People are free

to believe in the literal truth of Puranic cosmology, and

I don't want to convince them otherwise. I am merely stating

my opinion that *if* one finds evolution irrefutable (as I

personally do, others are free to disagree), it is fully

reconcilable with Vedanta.

 

2) I don't wish to engage in debate over Hare Krishna views

on pramANas here either. However, it is accepted by all

mImAmsakas and Vedantins that each pramANa is svataH-prAmANya,

intrinsically valid, so pratyaksha needs to be given full

weight in its sphere of influence.

 

3) It has been argued that Ramanuja only makes these points

in the context of Advaita. This is true of almost all of

Ramanuja's philosophy. It, however, does not mean that

Ramanuja did not espouse these as general principles. This

is easy to deduce from Ramanuja's and Desika's works.

Specifically, pratyaksha is to be trusted absolutely

because it is the 'upajIva' of Sruti. If Sruti and pratyaksha

come into conflict, one's understanding of Sruti must be

wrong, so Sruti must be reinterpreted (whether concerning

the chemical constitution of water or otherwise).

 

4) Sense perception is by its very definition limited. It cannot

perceive the super-sensous, nor that which cannot be detected

by that sense. One does not need to study Vedanta to come to

this conclusion, and I stated this in my first post. However,

given certain sensory data, which much be trusted according to

Ramanuja, how is one to reconcile that with Sabda? This is the

question I sought to address.

 

5) Sri Vaishnava acharyas, to my knowledge, have not specifically

addressed the topic of historicity or evolution. It is not their

primary concern, frankly. I am stating *their* opinion on the pramANas

and *my* opinion on how to reconcile conflicts in the pramANas

based on principles elucidated by the acharyas. By the way,

there is very often not just _one_ Sri Vaishnava opinion on a

subject. There is a certain degree of intellectual freedom on some

issues, as in most schools of Vedanta.

 

In short, if you think that taking the Puranas literally in every

aspect is satisfying and convincing, go ahead. I am not going to

challenge you. In the same vein, I reserve the right to reconcile

conflicts my own way, and I believe I am being fully faithful to

Vedantic principles. My words are addressed to people who are trying

to make a similar reconciliation.

 

rAmAnuja dAsan,

Mani

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Mani Varadarajan <mani

>I have said pretty much all that I wish to say on this

>subject. I notice that the few who are discussing this

>with me now are affiliated with the Gaudiya sampradAya.

 

I think this must be a reference to me, among others. I would like to say

first, that I am no more affiliated with the Gaudiya sampradaya then I am

with the Sri Vaishnava one. Having been born into neither tradition, I am

prepared to question both perspectives and go either way in my philosophical

views. However, that is all besides the point. Any of the remarks I have

made could just as easily have been made by a Sri Vaishnava, an Advaitin, a

Tattvavadi, a Muslim, a Christian, or even an agnostic or atheist. I think

that pegging the discussion as a "Hare Krishna vs Sri Vaishnava" one does

not really do justice to the issue. Because at the heart of the discussion

is *not* whether or not you believe in evolution, but what you ultimately

accept as a spotless authority and how you reconcile it to science. Such

basic questions as how faith can be reconciled with empirical observations

and deduction plague modern day practitioners of almost every ancient

religion, and the discussions which try to answer them strike me as the kind

of practical use of religious forums like this that would be highly

relevant. I think it is unfortunate that such a basic discussion on

epistemology is officially discouraged here. But seeing as how that is the

case, I would like to offer a few clarifying remarks of my own before

letting this thread go.

>1) The original question was how to reconcile scientific

> opinion and the teachings of the Vedas. People are free

> to believe in the literal truth of Puranic cosmology, and

> I don't want to convince them otherwise.

 

Nor am I attempting here to convince others of the literal truth of Puranic

history, cosmology, and so on. Rather, I am only pointing out that the type

of reconciliation spoken of here between the two sources of knowledge is not

as clean and easy as is thought; I personally think it is counterproductive.

I also think that in some cases, there is no need for a reconciliation at

all.

 

I am merely stating

> my opinion that *if* one finds evolution irrefutable (as I

> personally do, others are free to disagree), it is fully

> reconcilable with Vedanta.

 

Respectfully, I would like to point out that many proponents of evolution

consider evolution to be an irrefutable fact. But many proponents of

evolution, when challenged to explain its inconsistencies, can often be

caught saying things like, "well I don't know how to explain that, but I'm

sure the evolutionary scientists have already thought these things through

since they have PhDs, are highly respected, are intelligent, well funded,

etc etc."

 

Now, if a religious man were to claim that his guru's teachings must be

accepted as correct because his guru is a realized soul, a pure devotee, or

some such thing, it would be rejected by any true Vedantin. A real guru is

obliged to provide evidence for his views from scripture; he is not a

prophet whose words must be accepted on the basis of blind faith alone.

 

But this willingness among many Western-educated thinkers to give

evolutionary biologists the benefit of the doubt when inconsistencies emerge

is really nothing more than prophet-acceptance all over again. Why are

scientists given more flexibility than gurus? It is only reasonable that if

a guru must be ready to support his views with scriptural evidence (the

standard by which his beliefs are to be evaluated), then a scientist must be

ready to support his views with at least experimental evidence. There is an

obvious double standard that should not be there. It is hardly correct to

call a theory unassailable if one is unprepared to explain its

inconsistencies himself.

>2) I don't wish to engage in debate over Hare Krishna views

> on pramANas here either. However, it is accepted by all

 

 

Neither do I. First of all, I don't see that they are so different to begin

with. But even if they were, that is irrelevant. The point I am making is

that even according to Sri Vaishnava standards of pramaanas, the acceptance

of mechanistic models of creation and the treatment of Puraanic stories as

quaint mythology presents obvious problems.

> mImAmsakas and Vedantins that each pramANa is svataH-prAmANya,

> intrinsically valid, so pratyaksha needs to be given full

> weight in its sphere of influence.

 

However, there is a world of difference between "intrinsically valid" and

"always correct and never to be doubted." If you acknowledge that senses are

limited in their perception, then so too is deduction based solely on

information gathered through those limited senses. One cannot assert with

any degree of certainty that theories based on the two are always perfect

and correct; even empirical scientists are not supposed to do this.

 

To give you an example, it used to be thought by European navigators that

the Earth was flat and that sailing too far Westward would be a fatal

mistake. That was their deduction based on their limited senses. Now we know

it isn't true. The point I am making here is that information based solely

on pratyaksha and anumaana must be held to be correct in a relative sense;

it is considered correct only as long as contradictory evidence does not

exist and it continues to be a valuable paradigm for making further

predictions. It is unscientific to assert the absolute truth of any theory

at any particular point in time, even within its sphere of influence.

Theories based on limited senses must change as new information becomes

available to those senses. And this is why I caution against the reckless

"reinterpretation" of shaastric truths just to make them consistent with

what we consider to be empirical truths at any given time.

 

Another example that is relevant is the Big Bang theory. It used to be

considered gospel among physicists and the lay public. But now there are

astrophysicists (with no religious affiliation whatsoever) who publicly

disagree with it, based on sound empirical principles (involving the COBE

data among other things). When even scientists allow their views to change,

why must we cling blindly to scientific truths that just happen to be en

vogue? And that too when it requires us to change our understanding of

scripture?

>3) It has been argued that Ramanuja only makes these points

> in the context of Advaita. This is true of almost all of

> Ramanuja's philosophy. It, however, does not mean that

> Ramanuja did not espouse these as general principles. This

> is easy to deduce from Ramanuja's and Desika's works.

> Specifically, pratyaksha is to be trusted absolutely

> because it is the 'upajIva' of Sruti. If Sruti and pratyaksha

> come into conflict, one's understanding of Sruti must be

> wrong, so Sruti must be reinterpreted (whether concerning

> the chemical constitution of water or otherwise).

 

 

Sri Ramanuja's point, however, is that pratayaksha should be used to *help*

understand the shruti, and that it should not be casually rejected as the

advaitins do. I see no evidence that Sri Ramanuja would have espoused the

*rejection* of scriptural truths based on pratyaksha. The difference as I

see it is this: The shrutis must be eternally true and correct in order for

them to be an acceptable source of information for teaching us. If any flaws

exist in them, then all of the shrutis must then come under scrutiny.

Therefore, we may not understand fully certain statements in the shaastras

describing some material phenomena until we get supporting evidence using

pratyaksha and anumaana. A classic example of this is a statement in the

Bhaagavatam describing Bhuu-mandala as a disc so many millions of miles in

diameter. One scholar points out that the description corresponds almost

exactly to the astronomers' conception of the Earth's orbital plane, and

thus "Bhuu-mandala" here must refer to the orbital plane and not the Earth

itself. This I think is an acceptable use of pratyaksha because it does not

contradict the scriptural view; it helps us to understand it better.

 

What I do not believe are acceptable uses of pratyaksha for Sri Vaishnavas

are the rejection of scriptural truths based on: absence of empirical

evidence or speculation based on limited information. There are two cases

mentioned in this thread which I would like to point out.

 

1) Rama's appearence in Treta yuga. This is millions of years ago if we are

to believe in the Puraanic accounts. Because we allegedly do not have

empirical evidence of human existence before a few thousand years ago, we do

not really have to believe that Lord Rama appeared in Treta Yuga. We can say

instead that the dates mentioned in shaastras are convenient exaggeration,

or somehow symbolic, and assert with conviction that whatever the evidence

allows us to believe is what we can believe to be the actual truth.

 

But absence of evidence is *not* the same thing as evidence of absence. It

is ludicrous to assert that the events did not happen as told because

empirical evidence does not yet substantiate it. Supporting evidence could

be discovered tomorrow, or next year, or ten years from now. Or it could be

never, given that common sense holds that fossil and archaeological evidence

from millions of years ago is harder to find than those from only a few

thousand years ago. Why must we look for empirical evidence before accepting

Vaalmiiki's view? The important point is that there is no *contradictory*

evidence.

 

2) It is asserted by many that macroevolution is an unassailable fact. Yet

the shaastras state that creation was accomplished by Brahma, who was first

born from a lotus emerging from Lord Vishnu's navel, and who then went on to

create the various species and Prajaapatis who in turn gave birth to the

entire human race. Therefore, because this account of creation differs with

the neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory, the scriptural accounts must be

regarded as poetic exaggeration, as symbolic (or in other words, incorrect).

After all, pratyaksha is intrinsically valid and must be given full weight

within its sphere of influence. And scriptural truths have to be

reinterpreted in light of what we observe with our senses.

 

But who here has observed macroevolution occurring? Can even one person step

forward and claim that he has seen it? The scientific method requires that a

theory be replicated with experimental evidence. Can anyone replicate

macroevolution? Obviously not, since evolution is by its very nature an

unobserved and unreproducible phenomenon (except of course, for God who

could probably conjure up millions of material universes for His

laboratories). There is evidence of evolution on a much smaller scale, but

whether or not macroevolution can be inferred from it is in dispute. I can

discuss this point in more detail with reference to professional journals if

it is desired. Suffice it to say that the grounds for dismissing the

scriptural view on the basis of pratyaksha is shaky; there is no observation

of evolution, only the inference that evolution occurred based on a limited

(and some would say, biased) sample of evidence.

---

 

Furthermore, just to drive home the relevance of all this to Sri

Vaishnavism, I think an important question must be asked. Do you think Sri

Ramanuja would have condoned the dismissal of Puraanic stories as mythology

based on the absence of supporting evidence? For example, you point out that

it is hard for some to believe that Sri Rama could have appeared at the

beginning of the Treta Yuga, because no empirical evidence exists supporting

that notion or the notion that any humans existed on Earth millions of years

ago.

 

Well, if no empiricial evidence exists now to support the idea of human

existence in the Treta Yuga, then it logically follows that such evidence

did not exist in Ramanuja's time. So did Sri Ramanuja reject the literal

understanding of the timing of Sri Rama's appearance because of the absence

of empirical evidence? You are probably more well read in his works than I;

you tell me.

 

Personally, I find it telling that no evidence has yet been provided from

the writings of Sri Vaishnava acharyas, past *or* present, which use Sri

Ramanuja's views of pratyaksha vis-a-vis shabda to compromise with shaastric

accounts of creation or of the Lord's descents.

>4) Sense perception is by its very definition limited. It cannot

> perceive the super-sensous, nor that which cannot be detected

> by that sense. One does not need to study Vedanta to come to

> this conclusion, and I stated this in my first post. However,

> given certain sensory data, which much be trusted according to

> Ramanuja, how is one to reconcile that with Sabda? This is the

> question I sought to address.

 

I think there are ways to do it without compromising the sanctity of sabda

pramaan. If we were allowed to discuss it, there are many points I would

love to bring up.

>In short, if you think that taking the Puranas literally in every

>aspect is satisfying and convincing, go ahead. I am not going to

>challenge you. In the same vein, I reserve the right to reconcile

>conflicts my own way, and I believe I am being fully faithful to

>Vedantic principles. My words are addressed to people who are trying

>to make a similar reconciliation.

 

I want to mention something I brought up earlier. I said before that

everything I have said on this subject could have been said by anyone. Let

us say for the moment that I am not a Vaishnava, but instead a seeker

looking for something to believe in. When I find you asserting the

correctness of your beliefs on the basis of scriptures which you only accept

on your own terms to begin with, I naturally feel quite skeptical as an

outsider looking in. For example, one reason I could never be, say, a

Christian is because I note that many of my Christian friends have obvious

problems with specific teachings of the Bible; they can't believe that I am

going to hell for not being a Christian. But they want very badly to feel

like Christians, so they follow the rest of the Bible and "reinterpret" (or

in other words, change the meaning of) those passages which they find

intellectually troublesome. To me, that is tacit acknowledgement that the

Bible has flaws in it to begin with, and thus I could never accept it as a

spotless authority.

 

In a similar vein, I might point out that young people born and brought up

in Sri Vaishnava families will likely notice the compromises with shaastra

that elders choose to make, and this will affect their decision about where

to place their faith to begin with. In the Telugu smaartha community in

which I grew up, I can think of not even one among the first generation

immigrants who faithfully accept the shaastras, but prefer instead to

compromise with the historical details, all the while claiming that they are

great for the spiritual/philosphical/intellectual truths they teach us.

Their children notice this, and go even further into left field with their

views: if scripture cannot be counted on to teach us historical truths even

when it tries, why should we trust it in spiritual truths? And thus the

whole problem of passing on religious values develops.

 

I am sorry for the long mail.

 

namo naaraayaNaaya,

 

- Krishna

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