Perception in VP

[Guest guest]

Namaste All followers of this thread,

My point about the

verbal testimony/sabda is that unrestricted use of it may lead to

senseless situations. Suppose there are two of us in a field and the one

says to the other " There's an elephant " and the other looking in another

direction says in reply " If you say so, you know your elephants " . If the

means of achieving the knowledge of the elephant in a definitive way i.e.

by perception, is there for a person then that is way it ought to be got.

It is when it is not possible to achieve knowledge, as with the case of

incorrect counting in the tenth man story, that verbal testimony comes

into its own.

 

For a great many things it is not practiable nor necessary to find out

the truth of the matter for ourselves, atomic theory etc. There are other

things which we have to take on trust also such as report of inner states

of mind, dreams and the like. Is the person reliable or a fabulist is the

question then. VP regards the Vedas as the ultimate authority - " for the

thing they teach viz., the identity of the individual self with the

Supreme Self, is uncontradictable for all time - past, present and

future. " (pg.151)

 

Best Wishes,

Michael.