Text 137] The Liberation of Sirvabhauma Bhattacarya 267

bone of an animal, and cow dung, although the stool of an animal, are very
sanctified. Even though such statements appear contradictory, we still accept the
fact that conchshells and cow dung are pure and sanctified on the basis of the
Vedic version.

TEXT 137

ASA CA AB CA FAI
art)? Sac WSsaitates-atiy SA $09

svatah-pramana veda satya yei kaya
‘laksana’ karile svatah-pramanya-hani haya

SYNONYMS

svatah-pramana—self-evidence; veda—Vedic literature; satya—truth; yei—
whatever; kaya—say; laksand—interpretation; karile—by making; svatah-pra-
manya—self-evidential proof; hani—lost; haya—becomes.

TRANSLATION

“The Vedic statements are self-evident. Whatever is stated there must be
accepted. If we interpret according to our own imagination, the authority of
the Vedas is immediately lost.”

PURPORT

Out of four main types of evidence—direct perception, hypothesis, historical
reference and the Vedas —Vedic evidence is accepted as the foremost. If we want
to interpret the Vedic version, we must imagine an interpretation according to
what we want to do. First of all, we set forth such an interpretation as a sugges-
tion or hypothesis. As such, it is not actually true, and the self-evident proof is lost.

Stila Madhvacérya, commenting on the aphorism drsyate tu (Vedanta-
stra 2.1.6), quotes the Bhavisya Purana as follows:

rg-yajuh-samatharvas ca
bharatam pajfica-ratrakam

mila-ramayanam caiva
veda ity eva Sabditah

purandani ca yaniha
vaisnavani vido viduh

svatah-pramadnyam etesam
natra kificid vicaryate
