Guest guest Posted June 28, 1998 Report Share Posted June 28, 1998 Hare Krishna. Namas tebhyaH. Jaya Prabhupada! It's nice to see a forum like this that is specifically dedicated to answering questions. I hope to see this project continue indefinitely, as it would be extremely useful for those of us who don't have immediate association of senior devotees. I have a question. Jiva Gosvami, in his Tattva-Sandarbha, states quite explicitly that the itihaasas and puraaNas are literally the Fifth Veda. He quotes the Vaayu Puraana to establish that the material left in the original Veda (after Vyaasa divided it into four) became this Fifth Veda. Jiva Gosvami uses this argument to build the bridge to the argument that the Bhagavatam is just as authoritative as the shrutis. The nature of the Vedas, however, is to speak the truth only. We accept them as scripture because they are without flaw. Something that contains falsehoods cannot be an independently authoritative scripture. Jiva Gosvami states that the Bhagavatam is to be accepted as the final authority if there are any contradictions presented in other Puranas. And in CC, the Padma Puraana is quoted which states that various other demigods are sometimes presented in other Puraanas as being Supreme. And again, there are arguments by various acharyas that the Puraanas are full of interpolation. With all this being the case, how can we say that the itihaasa/puraana are the Fifth Veda? If they present other demigods as supreme by design, then that means they tell falsehoods. If they are full of interpolation, then are they not subject to interpretation by referring to shruti? yours, -- H. Krishna Susarla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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