When Vedas are said to be superior to pratyaksha and anumana, which meaning of Veda is used?
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When Vedas are said to be superior to Pratyakshana Hanuman, which meaning of Veda is used? Well, we shouldn’t confuse things like this.
It is Shabda that is considered superior to Pratyakshana Hanuman and it is even then it is not that simple. Pratyakshana Hanuman also have their validity when Hanuman is searching for Sita, he does not wait for some Shabda to reveal to him where Sita is. He goes and searches Lanka and uses Pratyakshana to find Sita.
So with respect to transcendental matters, subjects beyond the domain of perception, for that Shabda is the primary authority. Now how exactly that will work out? That will vary from situation to situation. Now when the Vedas are said to be, are the Vedas literally equal to Shabda? Yes, the Vedic body of knowledge is Shabda Pramana.
Now when we talk about Shabda Pramana, one of the biggest, every Pramana, every way of acquiring knowledge has its strengths and its challenges. So in Shabda Pramana, the biggest challenge is to determine what exactly is Shabda Pramana, what exactly is Shabda teaching and that is why from the same Vedic body of knowledge, so many different systems of philosophy have emerged and there have been fierce debates among these various schools of philosophy about which is the actual meaning of the word Veda, actual import, the ultimate conclusive teaching of the Vedas. So it is the Vedic body of knowledge understood rightly, that is Shabda and Shabda is what is superior to Pratyakshana Pramana.
So now depending on the tradition that we are a part of, generally in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, the word Vedas, the principle of the infallibility of the Vedas is extended to include the words of the Acharyas also. So it is more of the second level of meaning that is generally adopted by various particular traditions to refer to the Vedic body of knowledge as being equivalent to Shabda. Thank you.