How can we study scripture not just read it?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, how can we study scriptures rather than simply read them? What is it that makes a difference? What we can know depends on what we know. This is the basic principle in knowledge acquisition.
What we can know depends on what we know. Now, let’s say some uneducated villager comes to a stock market exchange and they’re saying this graph is going down. And everybody is panicking.
And this person is saying, what is this? The line has gone down. Why are you so panicking? So, when they don’t know anything about graphs, they don’t know anything about economics, even seeing the graph going down doesn’t make any sense. So, what we can know depends on what we know.
So, when we study scripture initially, it’s often very difficult to connect with scripture. Not because the scripture itself is difficult to understand, it is because our knowledge of what scripture is saying is so limited. That’s why in initial stages, we learn much more by hearing than by studying.
So, we associate with devotees, we hear classes, and then we understand enough so that we can understand scripture. So, what we can know depends on what we know. So, initially, it’s always good to hear classes.
And by hearing, we can learn. And if you want to study a specific book, then we can try to find out if some devotees, some spiritual teachers have actually spoken on that book. Now with internet available, we can get classes from different parts of the world also.
So, whichever book we want to study, we find out if somebody has given classes on that subject. And if we find out a spiritual teacher who has given classes, which we can connect with, which just makes sense to us, then we read the book and we hear the class on that subject. So, we read Bhagavad Gita verse, we hear a class on the Bhagavad Gita, that verse.
And then we try to correlate. And that way our understanding will deepen. And gradually, as our knowledge increases more and more, then when we study scripture more, we’ll be able to connect more.
We’ll be able to understand better. So, Srila Prabhupada wrote his books. And also, even when devotees were very young, two, three years old in the moment, that time he told them, you should give classes.
Why? Because by those classes, given by living people in front of them, people can ask questions, people can understand. And that is also the oral tradition is vital for knowledge dissemination. It is a written tradition.
Written tradition is usually for more intellectually minded people to go deeper. The oral tradition is what primarily starts and stimulates our spiritual understanding. We do need to study the books.
The books are our basis. At the same time, the understanding of the books usually comes much more by hearing. So, if we hear regularly, we can understand much better.
Okay? Yes, Vinu?