Sages & Direct Realisation
The Rishis (sages) through Yoga had a direct realisation (sākṣātkāra) of the Ultimate Truth (Brahman) and the way to attain that experience (Dharma) and through personal instruction (upadeśa) they taught it to others. Direct realisation may occur to an ordinary person, a contemplative or a god.
One who has directly realised the Truth and desires to communicate that experience
without some ulterior motive, is considered to be a “reliable person” (āpta) whose testimony is acceptable.
There is an interesting text which says:—
“When the Rishis were flying up, human beings asked the gods, ‘who among us will now become a Rishi?’ The gods bequeathed this tarka-Rishi (logic/reason) to humankind.
The tarka so given was that which was drawn out by inference from reflection on the meaning of mantras. Therefore, whatever a learned person infers (arrives at through reflection) becomes ‘sageness’ (arsam).” (Kumarila -
Tantra-vārttika 1.2.49)
This is an important text which permits one versed in the Veda to ponder over its meaning and deduce from it something new as the need arises, and that will be just as good as the teaching of a Rishi.
In yore there were sages to guide you; now in their place reason shall do so — this is
what the gods ordained.
Conclusion
There is a passage in the Bṛhadaraṛyaka Upaṇiṣad— “Meditate on Speech as a cow.... Her calf is mind”,
Sankaracharya interprets it as follows:—
The word ‘Speech’ means the Vedas .... It is mind (the calf) which makes (stimulates) the Veda (the cow) to reveal its meaning (its milk), for the
Vedas proceed forward only in a subject thought of by the mind”. Unless the calf approaches the cow, takes its teats into its mouth one after another, sucks, and gently butts its mother’s udder with its head now and then, milk does not flow. Similarly, only a mind which has become active and
reflected deeply and long over a relevant matter (eg., Dharma and /or the Brahman), can study the Veda and absorb and digest its meaning. To the unprepared inactive mind the Veda would mean nothing, just as a cow cannot give its milk to its calf which does not approach it and become proactive in the right manner.
In Vedānta, reason (tarka) is employed —
(i) to ascertain the true purport of Scripture which is our only source of knowledge concerning Dharma and Brahman,
(ii) to remove doubts and contrary beliefs and
(iii) to convince us of the probability of the existence of what is to be known, i.e., Brahman.
The dialectic used by Vedanta must be —
(1) based on Scripture;
(2) must elucidate the content of Scripture, and
(3) must not be opposed to it.
Both Mīmāmsa and Vedānta are hermeneutic philosophies, in which exegesis, apologetics, epistemology, metaphysics and ethics are synthesised.
According to both the great teachers, Gauḍapāda and Śankara, the true meaning of
the Veda must be ascertained with methodical reasoning, and nothing else.
The Rishis (sages) through Yoga had a direct realisation (sākṣātkāra) of the Ultimate Truth (Brahman) and the way to attain that experience (Dharma) and through personal instruction (upadeśa) they taught it to others. Direct realisation may occur to an ordinary person, a contemplative or a god.
One who has directly realised the Truth and desires to communicate that experience
without some ulterior motive, is considered to be a “reliable person” (āpta) whose testimony is acceptable.
There is an interesting text which says:—
“When the Rishis were flying up, human beings asked the gods, ‘who among us will now become a Rishi?’ The gods bequeathed this tarka-Rishi (logic/reason) to humankind.
The tarka so given was that which was drawn out by inference from reflection on the meaning of mantras. Therefore, whatever a learned person infers (arrives at through reflection) becomes ‘sageness’ (arsam).” (Kumarila -
Tantra-vārttika 1.2.49)
This is an important text which permits one versed in the Veda to ponder over its meaning and deduce from it something new as the need arises, and that will be just as good as the teaching of a Rishi.
In yore there were sages to guide you; now in their place reason shall do so — this is
what the gods ordained.
Conclusion
There is a passage in the Bṛhadaraṛyaka Upaṇiṣad— “Meditate on Speech as a cow.... Her calf is mind”,
Sankaracharya interprets it as follows:—
The word ‘Speech’ means the Vedas .... It is mind (the calf) which makes (stimulates) the Veda (the cow) to reveal its meaning (its milk), for the
Vedas proceed forward only in a subject thought of by the mind”. Unless the calf approaches the cow, takes its teats into its mouth one after another, sucks, and gently butts its mother’s udder with its head now and then, milk does not flow. Similarly, only a mind which has become active and
reflected deeply and long over a relevant matter (eg., Dharma and /or the Brahman), can study the Veda and absorb and digest its meaning. To the unprepared inactive mind the Veda would mean nothing, just as a cow cannot give its milk to its calf which does not approach it and become proactive in the right manner.
In Vedānta, reason (tarka) is employed —
(i) to ascertain the true purport of Scripture which is our only source of knowledge concerning Dharma and Brahman,
(ii) to remove doubts and contrary beliefs and
(iii) to convince us of the probability of the existence of what is to be known, i.e., Brahman.
The dialectic used by Vedanta must be —
(1) based on Scripture;
(2) must elucidate the content of Scripture, and
(3) must not be opposed to it.
Both Mīmāmsa and Vedānta are hermeneutic philosophies, in which exegesis, apologetics, epistemology, metaphysics and ethics are synthesised.
According to both the great teachers, Gauḍapāda and Śankara, the true meaning of
the Veda must be ascertained with methodical reasoning, and nothing else.