How do we look at the Vedas?

[Guest guest]

Namaste, Jaishankar Narayanan.

 

This is wonderfully clear prose!

 

What's your website URL?

 

Namste,

-- Max

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

 

I am posting a portion of my website here for you all to read.

 

with love and prayers,

 

Jaishankar.

 

How do we look at the Vedas?

 

The vedas are looked upon as a 'Pramanam'. 'Prama' means valid knowledge. So

Pramanam is 'Prama karanam' - a means of valid knowledge. 'Pramanam' is

translated as 'Authority' by many scholars and this translation totally

misses the point.Now let us see what is meant by Pramanam or means of

knowledge.

 

We all know for knowledge to take place, a Knower should be there first.

Then the object to be known also should be present. Now if the Knower and

Known are there, will knowledge take place? No. A third factor is necessary

which is called a means of knowledge. For example let us consider that you

are facing the computer monitor. Will you automatically see the words on the

screen? No. You have to have a properly working eye looking at the screen.

Then knowledge will take place. So eyes are the means of knowledge for

seeing colors and forms. Similarly Nose is the means of knowledge for smell.

Ears for sound. Tongue for taste etc. The Knowledge gained through our sense

organs as a means of knowledge is called Perception.

 

Based on Perception we can also infer different things and this Inference

also is a valid means of knowledge. Like we know there is fire when we see

smoke. Science as a body of knowledge is nothing but perception and

different kinds of inference or Reasoning.

 

Now there are certain important things to be understood about these

pramanams or means of knowledge.

 

1. A means of knowledge reveals a unique field of knowledge to me. For

example colors are revealed only by the eyes. No other Pramanam has access

to color other than the eyes. The ear or Nose cannot prove or disprove the

fact that the font you are seeing is of brown color. Now what is the

implication of this? If a pramanam reveals a unique field of knowledge not

accessible to other means of knowledge then there can be no proof for what

it reveals. why? If no other means of knowledge has any access to what is

revealed by a particular means of knowledge then how can anyone prove it.

 

For example if your eyes reveal the color of this font as brown, there is no

other proof for proving that your eyes are seeing properly. Your ears cant

prove nor your tongue nor your nose etc. What about somebody else's eye? But

what is the proof he is seeing correctly? This looking for proof will become

regressive. In fact if we look for a proof for any cognition then no

cognition can be called as knowledge because you wont find any proof and you

will end up with regression.

 

But then we do conduct our day to day life on the basis of the cognitions

gained through our senses. When you see something you see that thing and

also you know that you see that thing. The cognition is clinched. That means

we have knowledge as soon as we see something. We dont look for any proof

for the validity of that cognition. Therefore we say any cognition is valid

until it is disproved or negated. This is called Self validity of knowledge.

 

2. A pramanam should not contradict any other known body of knowledge. If it

contradicts then it loses its status as a pramanam with respect to that

cognition. For example you saw a snake when the light was dim. But when you

brought a torch light, it turned out to be a rope. Now with respect to the

snake cognition your eyes are not a pramanam because it was negated by a

later and more lasting cognition of rope. Similarly in the case of the

cognition of blue sky, Stationary earth etc.

 

We use lot of logic while analysing the Vedas only to show that what is

revealed by the Veda is unique and it can neither be proved nor disproved by

any other means of knowledge. There is a discipline called Miimaamsaa in our

traditional studies. Miimaamsaa means Analysis. In English they call it

Hermeneutics. What they do in Miimaamsaa is take each and every Vedic

sentence and analyse whether what it reveals is already known. If it is

already known through some other pramanam then Veda is only restating and it

is called Anuvada. In this case Veda is not a pramanam. But suppose Veda is

revealing that there is heaven. This statement is a 'pramana Vakyam ' or

'revealing Sentence' because Heaven is not available for perception or

Inference. With respect to Heaven veda is a pramanam because heaven can

neither be proved nor disproved by any other means of knowledge.

 

When Veda is revealing the nature of the Self as limitless there are other

contentions that 'Self is limited' or 'Self is of the size of the Body' or

'Self is Shunyam or non-existent' etc. Now we use logic extensively to show

that all these statements are illogical. Anything illogical cannot be

knowledge. But what Veda reveals is not available for logic. So we conclude

that it is knowledge. Again to start with, you should have shraddha to give

the status of a pramanam to Veda. Finally the proof of a pramanam is in

using it and finding out for yourself whether what it reveals is true or

not. It is true for every pramanam right from your eyes. I will explain this

with an example.

 

A congenitally blind person was performed an eye transplant operation and

the day when they have to remove the bandage came. The patient said to the

Doctor who came to remove the bandage 'Doctor, I will allow you to remove

the bandage only if you can prove that my eyes will see because I cant bear

the disappointment otherwise.' Can the doctor prove that the patient's eye

will see? No. He can only say 'You use your eyes and see. If it sees then

you see'. Similarly you use the Veda as a pramana and see. If you see then

it is a Pramanam and there is no reason why you should'nt see what the veda

reveals.

 

Giving this status of Pramanam to the veda is very important because

otherwise what it reveals wont be knowledge and it will only be a

speculation. And with speculations you cant gain Moksha - Freedom from

limitations, but with knowledge you will. But it is upto you to use the Veda

as a Pramanam. That is why Krsna says " Shraddhaavaan labhathe jnanam' -

'The one with Shraddhaa gains knowledge'.