BY: SUN STAFF
Dec 5, CANADA (SUN) —
Tattva Sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
SECTION NINE
To ascertain the meanings of the four topics hinted at in the previous verse--vishaya, as Krishna; sambandha, as vacya-vacaka; abhidheya, (a synonymn for vidheya, or process) as service to Krishna; and prayojana, as love of Godhead--the means of acquiring valid knowledge will be decided.
Human beings are bound to have four types of defects: They are subject to delusion, make mistakes, have a cheating propensity, and imperfect senses. Thus they are unable to understand the inconceivable spiritual reality, for their means of acquiring knowledge by direct perception, inference, and so forth prove inadequate.
Sri Jiva Toshani Commentary
Without knowing the purpose of a book it is difficult for the reader to take a keen interest in it, so in the previous annucheda Srila Jiva Gosvami outlines his subject and purpose in brief. Now, with the words tadabhajanalaksana-vidheya, he indicates that devotional service as explained in the scriptures is the process to achieve the goal, prema bhakti. But before one practices a process he must have correct knowledge about it. Thus the need arises for discerning the means of acquiring valid knowledge. Subsequently, this portion of Tattva-sandarbha deals with the vaishnava epistemology. In other words, Jiva Gosvami first establishes the validity of the source of his knowledge before analyzing the four topics mentioned in the previous anuccheda.
Knowledge is of two types--valid and invalid. Valid knowledge is called prama and the process of acquiring it is called pramana. Pramana also means proof, evidence, or authority.
Jiva Gosvami is interested in an infallible means of acquiring knowledge. Human beings use various means to acquire knowledge, but none of them are infallible. This is owing to the four inherent defects, found in all humans without exception: Every human being has the tendency to be deluded (bhrama), makes mistakes (pramada), has a cheating propensity (vipralipsa), and has imperfect senses (karanapatava).
Bhrama, or delusion, is of two types. One type is to consider the body as the self. This delusion is inherited at birth, but its intensity varies depending upon the degree of attachment to one's body. Owing to this defect we mistake the temporary and misery-causing sense objects as permanent and pleasure-giving. The second kind of delusion is called samsaya, or doubt. It happens when our senses perceive what isn't present, such as a mirage or an hallucination. At that time we have a doubtful or wrong perception.
Pramada, the second of the four defects, means that inadvertently we make mistakes. If our mind is not cooperating with a particular knowledge acquiring sense--the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, or touch--we do not get the corresponding knowledge. For example, a person may sit through a lecture but miss portions of it on account of the flickering nature of his mind. By inadvertence he fails to get knowledge. This defect is so commonplace we say, "To err is human."
The third defect is called vipralipsa. It means propensity to cheat. Material conditioning causes a person to consider himself the material body, which can never give happiness due to its temporary nature. Still, out of delusion he seeks happiness through sense gratification. When unable to get it to his complete satisfaction, he takes to cheating in an attempt to improve his chances. As a result, spouses cheat each other, friends cheat friends, politicians cheat the public, and so on. Even in spiritual life sometimes a so-called guru cheats his disciple or the insincere disciple tries to cheat his guru. This cheating propensity manifests at all levels of material existence.
Lastly is the defect of karanapatava, imperfect senses. We have five knowledge acquiring senses--eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and sense of touch. These five senses work only in a limited range. The human eye for instance can see between infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths, but there are many other wavelengths that the eye cannot discern, like radio waves, x-rays, and so on. Even within the visible range our eyes cannot see clearly if the light is too bright or too dim, if the object is too far or too close. In this way, upon analysis each sense has some limitation.
The conclusion is that whereas perfect knowledge about material objects free of these four defects is not always possible, perfect knowledge about the transcendental realm is altogether impossible. This premise is the cornerstone of Vedic epistemology. Naturally, acknowledging these four defects makes the quest for a reliable pramana more exacting, a greater challenge. In India's philosophical tradition ten pramanas or valid means of acquiring knowledge are recognized. Some philosophers accept certain combinations of these as valid and reject others. Each gives arguments to support his diverse conclusions. The ten traditional pramanas are:
1. Arsya: These are utterances of a sage or demigod. There are many exceptional sages, Kapila, Gautama, Patanjali, and others, who founded a school of philosophy. They naturally have differences of opinion and therefore the Mahabharata (Vana Parva 313.117) says, na asau rishi yasya matam na bhinnam, "One is not considered a philosopher if his opinion is not different from others." As they are great thinkers we consider their utterances, but for a common man it is impossible to determine who gives the valid conclusion.
2. Upamana, or comparison: Knowledge about an unknown object can be gained by comparing it to a familiar object. If we have seen a cow, for example, but have not seen a "gavaya" or a forest cow, and if someone tells us that a forest cow resembles a cow, by comparison we can recognize a forest cow.
3. Arthapatti, or presumption: Here we assume an unknown fact in order to account for a known fact that is otherwise inexplicable. For example, if fat Devadatta does not eat during the daytime, one can safely assume that he eats at night. Otherwise his stoutness without eating during the daytime remains unexplained, as Devadatta cannot get fat by fasting nor can he maintain his weight without eating.
4. Abhava, or non-existence: Non-perception of a qualified object by a qualified sense is called perception of the abhava or the non-existence of that object. For example, a book is a qualified object for the visual perception and the eyes are the qualified senses or means of perception. When one does not see a book on a table he experiences it's non-existence. This is classified as a separate category of perception, because there is no actual contact between the object and the sense instrument. Thus what is perceived is the non-existence of the object.
5. Sambhava, or inclusion: This pramana is based on the experience that the higher quantity includes the lower quantity. A hundred dollars automatically includes ones, fives, tens, and so on. To infer this knowledge, gained by inclusion, is called sambhava.
6. Aitihya, or tradition: This pramana applies when something is known by common belief or tradition but the original source of that knowledge is unknown. For instance, there is a popular belief that the Old Fort in New Delhi was built by the Pandavas. We have no written proof or scriptural authority to support this, but the belief has been passed down for generations to the present day by tradition.
7. Ceshta, or gesture: To acquire knowledge through bodily gestures or symbols is called ceshta. For instance, one makes a "V" sign with his fingers to indicate victory, or in Deity worship mudras are shown to the Deity to convey certain messages.
8. Pratyaksha, or direct perception: What we directly perceive with our senses may be valid or invalid knowledge; however, only valid knowledge is to be considered as pramana. Sense perception is the principal means of acquiring knowledge in this material world. Both theistic and atheistic philosophers generally accept pratyaksha pramana as one of the means to valid knowledge. Direct perception is of two types--external and internal. An external perception is when knowledge is acquired through our senses. An internal perception is when the knowledge is acquired by our mind. In Bhagavad-gita (15.7) Lord Krishna lists the mind as the sixth sense (manah-shashthani-indriyani). Through the mind we perceive emotions such as pain, pleasure, love, hate, and so forth.
On account of the inherent four defects pratyaksha is not always a reliable process of acquiring valid knowledge. It is limited only to the present time; it cannot extend into the past or future. According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, however, perfected devotees who achieve direct perception of the Lord, His abode, and His associates through their spiritual trance, all have purified senses and have transcended the four defects. Such persons are reliable sources of knowledge because of their purified sense perception. This is confirmed in the ninth chapter of Bhagavad-gita where Lord Krishna says that this knowledge leads to direct realization of transcendence by experience (pratyakshavagamam). Likewise, in the sixth chapter of Bhagavad-gita, the Lord assures Arjuna that in the state of transcendental trance, samadhi, the devotee acquires pure knowledge through his purified intelligence and transcendental senses (buddhi-grahyam atindriyam vetti). This is called vaidusya pratyaksha and it is flawless.
9. Anumana, or inference: This is when we acquire knowledge by deduction. Literally, anumana means "knowing after," because the knowledge is arrived at after putting together known bits of information to arrive at an unknown but apparently logical conclusion. Such inferred knowledge is based on the probable relation between what is known and what is deduced. That in turn is based on prior direct perception or prior verbal testimony. This means the deduced outcome is dependent on the evidence. This concomittant relation between the evidence and the deducted conclusion is called vyapti.
Inference is of two kinds, inference for one's self and inference for others. An example of inference for one's self is when a person may make out the concomitant relationship between smoke and fire and arrive at the universal generalization "Wherever there is smoke there is fire" after repeatedly experiencing it in the kitchen and elsewhere. Then if he sees smoke hanging over a mountain in the distance he may recall his prior experience, that wherever there is smoke there is invariably fire, and thus he concludes, "The mountain is on fire."
Inference for others consists of a syllogistic formula that has five steps. After arriving at an inferred conclusion a person employs this method, with a view to enable others to arrive at the same inferred conclusion. A syllogism follows this format:
1. Proposition: The mountain has fire.
2. Reason: Because it has smoke.
3. Universal proposition: Wherever there is smoke there is fire.
4. Application: The mountain has smoke.
5. Conclusion: Therefore it is on fire.
Any error in perceiving the cause or any deviation in the universal generalization then the conclusion will be faulty. In the above example, if the observer mistakes clouds over the mountain for smoke or perceives the smoke just after rain has extinguished the fire, then his deduced conclusion will be wrong. Hence, anumana, like pratyakshya, is not a foolproof method of acquiring knowledge.
10. Sabda, or revealed knowledge: Sabda literally means sound, but as a pramana it refers to articulate sound, which has meaning and which is spoken or written by an apta-purusha, a trustworthy person, an authority. Ultimately, sabda applies to revealed knowledge about the transcendental reality that specifically comes through a trustworthy person who is free from the four defects. This kind of sabda is distinct from the sabda used in mundane transactions, called paurusheya sabda, which is not always trustworthy. For Srila Jiva Gosvami sabda is restricted to the revealed knowledge of the Vedas. This is called apaurusheya sabda, revealed knowledge from a superhuman source. It originates from the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is received in disciplic succession from a bonafide guru. Apaurusheya sabda, therefore, because it is free of the four defects is the perfect pramana.
At present people generally have an aversion for accepting the authority of sabda pramana concerning absolute knowledge because of skepticism about who is a trustworthy source. They say, "Question authority" and they champion knowledge gained by experience or direct sense perception. Yet we constantly rely on knowledge passed through sound in many spheres of life. We depend on knowledge revealed from parents, teachers, books, magazines, T.V., radio, and numerous experts for their knowledge. Hearing from authorities enhances our learning many times over. If it was dispensed with we would be unable to function in our complex modern society.
Those who consider experience superior to sabda forget that experience itself shows that we gain most of our knowledge by hearing, not by experience. Experience is a great teacher, but it is severely limited by the four defects and the time consumed in acquiring it. And ultimately, no amount of experience would give us access to the transcendent spiritual reality. Indeed, paurusheya sabda, despite its usefulness in the mundane sphere, is also not reliable for understanding transcendence. For that apaurusheya sabda pramana is our only hope.
As a means of acquiring knowledge, sabda is not limited only to the present time. It extends into the past and future as well. It is the most powerful tool for conveying knowledge from one person to another, especially if separated by time or place, which is precisely the case in relation to the spiritual world. For all these reasons therefore, philosophers in virtually all of India's traditions accept the revealed knowledge as the flawless means for acquiring transcendental knowledge.
To Srila Jiva Gosvami and all followers of India's orthodox tradition sabda pramana means the Vedas. They alone deliver knowledge of reality beyond our sensual perception. As explained in the next section, the Vedas are not human creations. They are manifest from the Supreme Lord (vedo narayana sakshat), who is free from any defect.
In Sarva-samvadini, while discussing the principle of sabda pramana, Srila Jiva Gosvami writes:
"Although there are ten means of acquiring knowledge, sabda is the primary process because all other means are afflicted with the four human defects. In all other knowledge acquiring processes it is difficult for a common person to ascertain whether the knowledge gained is valid or invalid."
Although different schools of philosophies accept varying combinations of the ten pramanas, Srila Jiva Gosvami, following in the footsteps of Madhvacarya, accepts only pratyaksha (direct perception), anumana (inference) and sabda (revealed knowledge) as valid means of acquiring knowledge. Pratyaksha and anumana serve as assistants to sabda. Whenever they may contradict sabda, preference is given to sabda pramana. Some of the scriptural references for these three pramanas are given below:
"A person inquisitive about religion should try to understand the process of direct perception, inference, and the various scriptures (sabda), as these three are the means of acquiring Vedic knowledge."(M.S 12.105)
"Lord Krishna said: With the help of direct perception, inference and revealed scripture know the objects which have a beginning and an end as temporary. Becoming free from attachment to them maintain yourself in this material world." (S.B. 11.28.9)
In Srimad Bhagavatam (11.19.17) Lord Krishna includes aitihya, tradition, along with sense perception, inference and sabda as the means of acquiring knowledge, but it is usually accepted as part of sabda, though not necessarily apaurusheya sabda.
By accepting only three of the ten pramanas Jiva Gosvami does not exclude the other seven. He says that pratyaksha, anumana, and sabda includes the other seven pramanas. The breakdown is as follows: upamana, arthapatti, sambhava, and ceshta are included in anumana; abhava is in pratyaksha; arsya and aitihya in sabda.
In mathematical logic, Godel's theorem proves the importance of sabda pramana. His theorem states that within any system some parameters always remain unexplained, so a system cannot be understood completely by the known parameters. Knowledge of certain parameters outside the system is required and the only means to this knowledge is by word, because all other means of knowledge lie within the system, the material world. Similarly, to understand transcendence we require knowledge outside our experience. The means to this knowledge is by transcendental word, or sabda pramana.
Next, Srila Jiva Gosvami explains what process is suitable in deciding vishaya, sambandha, and prayojana and why.
Go to Section Ten
Return to Section Eight
