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Do we really need ‘shruti-pramāna’? What does it offer that we cannot get from other instruments of knowledge?

We have already established the need for using the “words of those who know” as an instrument to knowledge. This is needed to augment direct and inferential knowledge about objects, because there are many things that are beyond sensory perceptions and inference. The question is, to what knowledge that we see the Veda as indispensable!

To appreciate the importance of Veda, we need to explore few other words attributed to Veda.

Veda is termed as ‘shastra.’ This comes from the word ‘shāsanā’ meaning ‘instruction’ or ‘rule’ etc. Therefore, Veda is an instruction manual. Like a manufacturer supplies an instruction manual with their produce, Veda is an instruction manual from the supreme power that has produced all. We can question and prove about this assertion later, for now Veda is to be taken as a guide to live well.

“I have been leading my life so well, without even knowing about Veda”, you may say. So where is the relevance of Veda? To check this out, we need to appraise the purpose of our life. What is the purpose of our life?

(to be continued – Mee. Rajagopalan – 15/05/2017)