Text 137] The Liberation of Sarvabhauma 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
ASAMe CAM AS CAS FH |
HT! STH ASssitaty-Vtfe VA 909 |
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Out of four main types of evidence—direct perception, hypothesis, historical
reference and the Vedas —Vedic evidence is accepted as the foremost.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
