Why is Vedic knowledge received through disciplic succession?
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Transcript
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Thank you Why is Vedic knowledge received through disciplic succession that ensures the accuracy of the knowledge just as when we learn say medical science anybody can read a book and say that I have read a book on surgery so I can do surgery. It may be that they are expert and they can actually do surgery competently but how do we know so the normal system of authorization is that a person goes to a body of authorized surgeons and they have learned from previous authorized surgeons and when this body of surgeons authorizes ok this person has studied this person is trained and now this person we certify is capable of conducting surgery then that’s how there is authorization in the transmission of knowledge same principle applies to the spiritual knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita in specific and the broad body of Vedic knowledge in general that the disciplic succession is a method of preserving the authenticity of the learning that is being transmitted down the generations so disciplic succession basically means that there is a guru there is a spiritual master there is a seer and there is a disciple a seeker.
Seeker comes to the seer learns from the seer and in due course of time the seeker becomes a seer and that means the seeker internalizes the message of the spiritual knowledge so much that they themselves can see the world through it and then after that the next generation comes so from the seeker from the seer to the seeker who then becomes the seer and then it comes the next seeker and this seeker becomes the seer this seer can transform to the next seeker and this way the knowledge is transmitted from seer to seeker generation after generation after generation and this ensures that the knowledge stays authentic. Now of course just as somebody may go to the world’s top surgeons university and be incompetent and not really learn surgery properly so like that it is not necessary that every seeker who goes to the seer will naturally become a competent seer but there is a reasonable system for ensuring authenticity that happens through disciplic succession and just therefore for us if we want to get systematic knowledge it is recommended that we get that knowledge from the disciplic succession. The Sanskrit word used for this is sampradaya samyak rupena pradayate it is sampradaya that which gives knowledge pradayate gives samyak completely in full form just like sometimes even in our home our grandmother may have some traditional cures for cough or cold and they do work there is no denying the working of those medicines but then we won’t go to our grandmother to learn how to become a professional doctor we will accept the validity of the healing methods our grandmother is using at the same time to learn the knowledge of healing systematically we will go to a proper medical university same way spiritual insights insights about life and living they can be got from various thinkers and various teachers but if we want them in a systematic coherent body of knowledge where there is authentic and authorized transmission then for that the vedic knowledge should be received in time honored disciplic succession thank you