Faith/Reason

[Guest guest]

Namaste All,

What I was saying in a compressed form will be

found in B.S.B.II.i.6 (About Logic and Brahman) in II.i.11 (About

Reasoning)

and in II.i.27 (Faith in the things that are beyond nature).

If the Vedas were not beyond reason(i.e. inference and perception etc)

then there would be no need to for them to have a

pramana of their own. In effect they deal with things

that cannot be known by any other means.

 

However it is also the case that reason can lead

the aspirant a considerable distance along the way

of metaphysical speculation. Sankara treats of this

in his commentary to Ka. II.iii.12/13.

Ka:II.iii.13 - The Self is (first) to be realised as existing

and (then) as It really is. Of these two (aspects)

the real nature of the Self that has been

known as merely existing, becomes favourably

disposed (for self-revelation).

 

The expression 'reason in conformity with the

Vedas' is used by Sankara and that is very well,

but whose Vedas because interpretations vary

even among those who are great Sanskrit scholars.

There are 6 orthodox darshanas are there not?

 

Best Wishes,

Michael

[Guest guest]

advaitin, ombhurbhuva <ombhurbhuva@e...>

wrote:

>

> >

> The expression 'reason in conformity with the

> Vedas' is used by Sankara and that is very well,

> but whose Vedas because interpretations vary

> even among those who are great Sanskrit scholars.

> There are 6 orthodox darshanas are there not?

>

> Best Wishes,

> Michael

>

 

Namste Michael-Ji:

 

IMO - These type of questions and concerns have been faced by most

of the aacaryaa of their times and this is also very important to

understand as well.

 

I think the answer is suggested by kaalidaa -

 

sataa.n hi sandehapadeShu vastuShu pramaaNamantaHkaraNapravR^ittayaH

|| shaaku.ntala 1.10 ||

 

Meaning - Saints depend on their own inner feelings (gut feelings)

as prammaNa, the self validated truths.

 

AchArya Madhva defines pramaaNa - "shAstrArtha yukto anubhavaH

pramANam uttamam.

 

Meaning - The highest and best pramANa, is the experiential that is

in line with shAstrArtha.

 

Saint j~naaneshvara maharaj in j~naneshvari (the advaitic

interpretation of giitaa) says -

 

taisaa vyaasaacaa maagovaa gheta | bhaaShyakaaraante vaaTa pusata |

ayogyahii mii naa pavata | ke.n jaaiina || 18. 1723 ||

 

Meaning – (In order to find the meaning) Being unsuitable to

interpret giitaa he refers to be following veda vyaasa while asking

for directions from many other commentators ( as indicated by

word "bhaaShyakaaraa.nte").

 

This means that they were also looking for some sort of confirmation

of their understanding of scriptures, the knowledge "veda".

 

yaaska says -

 

naiSha sthaNoraparaadho yadenamandho na pashyati | puruShaaparaadhaH

sa bhavati || nirukta 1.16 ||

 

Meaning - If a blind man does not see the pillar in his path then it

is not the fault of the pillar but the fault lies with the blind

person.

 

Finally, it is up to us to understand and realize what has been

said. However if we follow the faith blindly then we cannot see the

hurdles in our path.

 

I am not sure I have been able to throw some light or not without

deviating from the subject.

 

Regards,

 

Dr. Yadu

 

PS: This reasoning also applies to the earlier question why

Vivekananda was looking for clarification?