Verbal Testimony (Śabda / Āgama)
Some truths no eye can see and no argument can reach — only the trustworthy word can disclose them.
Among the valid means of knowledge, śabda is the reliable word — the testimony of a trustworthy speaker, and supremely of scripture. The Vedānta and Mīmāṃsā schools give it pride of place, arguing that some truths — above all the nature of Brahman and the path to liberation — simply cannot be reached by perception or reasoning, and can be known only because the authorless Veda discloses them. How words convey knowledge, and why scripture should be trusted, became one of the great technical debates of Indian philosophy.
How it traveled
- Tarka-saṃgrahaTelugu country (Andhra region); active in Varanasi · 1650explains
Key passages(20)
'Speech is better than a name. Speech makes us understand the Rig-veda, Yagur-veda, Sâma-veda, and as the fourth the Âtharvana, as the fifth the Itihâsa-purâna, the Veda of the Vedas, the Pitrya, the
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So let the Shâstra be thy authority in ascertaining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Having known what is said in the ordinance of the Shâstra, thou shouldst act here. The end of t
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Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
'Let us hear what anybody may have told you.' Ganaka Vaideha replied: 'Gitvan Sailini told me that speech (vak) is Brahman.' Yagnavalkya said: 'As one who had (the benefit of a good) father, mother, a
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Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
That doctrine is not to be obtained by argument, but when it is declared by another, then, O dearest, it is easy to understand. Thou hast obtained it now; thou art truly a man of true resolve. May we
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Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
By the words "He is," is he to be apprehended, and by (admitting) the reality of both (the invisible Brahman and the visible world, as coming from Brahman). When he has been apprehended by the words "
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