Hindu Epistemology

3. Hindu Epistemology

"Our science - Greek science - is based on objectification. … But I do believe that this is precisely the point where our present way of thinking does need to be amended, perhaps by a bit of blood-transfusion from Eastern thought."

-Erwin Schrödinger

The vast area of philosophical enquiry known as epistemology is an enquiry into knowledge and many authors also call it as the theory of knowledge. In scientific approach to knowledge, an empirical logic based on experiments, observations and inferences is fundamental. In Vedanta this process is called aroha-pantha or jnana marga, ascending path/process or the bottom-up process. But this process has its own limitations. This scientific process can, at the most, indicate about the existence of God. It cannot lead to the deeper knowledge of God. This is because of the fact that our senses have four inherent limitations. Hence, scientific knowledge based on one's intellect and sense perception is incomplete and the spiritual knowledge provides the deeper knowledge for the existence of God.

Vedanta recognizes the scriptures as the authority and the deciding factor for the complete knowledge of God. Just like the words of the mother are the authority in regard to our question about the true identity of the father, similarly, according to Vedanta the scriptures are the authority for the proof of God's existence. This Vedantic process is called avaroha-pantha in sanskrit language. This means that real knowledge should be received by the parampara, descending process or top-down approach.

In nutshell, Vedantic epistemology stresses the acquisition of knowledge mainly from three different ways: pratyaksa (sense perception), anumana (inference) and sabda (revealed knowledge). These terminologies are briefly explained below. Srila Jiva Goswami, an erudite philosopher of the sixteenth century India, has elaborately presented the vedantic epistemology in his treatise Tattva Sandarbha21. As it will be evident below, the Vedantic epistemology justifies the necessity for a synthesis of avaroha-pantha --- the top-down process and aroha-pantha --- the bottom-up or scientific approach to the complete knowledge of God.

3.1 Pratyaksa (direct perception)

According to Vedanta, knowledge gained directly with the help of the senses is known as pratyaksa. The gross senses are the eyes (vision), ears (sound), nose (smell), skin (touch) and tongue (taste). In addition, mind is regarded as the subtle and sixth sense and one can also acquire knowledge with the help of the mind. The role of pratyaksa is certainly important in acquiring knowledge in Vedantic approach. However, because of the physical limitations of the senses, knowledge gained through pratyaksa may not be complete. For example, a blind man and a mad man have limitations to acquire knowledge through their eyes and mind, respectively. However, a normal man whose senses are all in a proper condition can acquire knowledge using all his senses and can have a better knowledge than that of a blind or a mad man. Under ordinary circumstances, knowledge gained from pratyaksa has four limitations. Thus the bottom up approach will be unable to have the complete knowledge of God. However, in the Vedantic tradition a spiritual seeker is trained to perfect one's senses by undertaking a very rigorous spiritual discipline and the senses and the mind can be totally purified and at that stage one can receive the knowledge of the Ultimate Reality through pratyaksa. At this point the material senses are completely transformed into spiritual senses.

3.2 Anumana (inference)

Although the sense capability of ordinary human beings is limited, the quest for scientific knowledge in Vedantic tradition is to know the absolute reality which is beyond the domain of material senses. Anumana means inference about an unknown object based on its relationship with another object that is conceivable through the senses. For example, a stream of alpha particles which have electric charge would leave a trail of ions as it passes through the gas in a cloud chamber. When water vapor condenses on these ions, the track of alpha particle becomes visible as a line of water droplets. Thus, although we can't see the alpha particles, we can infer them from the trail of water droplets condensed on the ions. Anumana involves logic. Logic constitutes the development of a set of arguments that can represent an observed phenomenon in nature. Since the sense perception is limited, logic, therefore, also has limitations and cannot be referred to be the absolute answer for an observed phenomenon.

3.3 Limitations of Pratyaksa and Anumana

As stated before there are four limitations of the senses. Srila Jiva Goswami has discussed these limitations in the Sat Sandarbha as follows: (a) Bhrama: The senses including the mind often malfunction under various circumstances and are thus illusioned, for example, a mirage seen in the deserts. (b) Pramada: This means that the senses may misguide a person and he is liable to commit mistakes. Due to the limitations in our intellectual conception we sometimes wrongly interpret the sense observations.

Therefore, in this world everyone is liable to commit mistake. Thus the popular saying, "To err is human." (c) Karanapatava: It means that our senses are very limited and can perceive only a very limited portion of reality. For example, we do not hear sounds which have frequency below 20 Hertz and over 20,000 Hertz. Similarly, we cannot detect electromagnetic radiations in the ultra-violet or infra-red range. (d) Vipralipsa: It refers to the cheating propensity. Honesty is the virtue of human life. However, sometimes one is overcome by pride, false ego and arrogance and one's senses are polluted by the lower material modes of nature and one becomes dishonest and the cheating propensity dominates a person at that time. According to Vedanta this cheating propensity is a symptom of the lack of spiritual knowledge.

Logic cannot provide a final proof of anything. This is further supported by the statement - one should not use logic to understand what is inconceivable. (Mahabharata, Bhisma Parva 5.22). Hence it can be concluded that a scientific and logical study will always be incomplete. An argument is the famous Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem. This theorem states that if 'A' is a mathematical system which involves the natural numbers 0,1,2,3,…then there are questions in 'A' which cannot be answered using the axioms of 'A'. In order to answer a question of this kind, one could expand the set of axioms by adding a new one. But the new system will again be subject to Gödel's theorem and there will be other questions that cannot be answered. Thus, Gödel's theorem ensures that there will always remain unanswered questions. In other words, scientific knowledge will always remain incomplete and cannot fathom the depths of Ultimate Reality or God. Hence, we should seriously consider the role of metaphysical conception beyond logic and sense perception in understanding transcendental knowledge and God. In this regard, Max Planck stated, "… the fundamental and indispensable postulates of every genuinely productive science are not based on pure logic but rather on the metaphysical hypothesis - which no rules of logic can refute - there exists an outer world which is entirely independent of ourselves. It is only through the immediate dictate of our consciousness that we know that this world exists."22 Freeman Dyson also expressed, "God may have

more qualities than we humans are capable of imagining. If we could enlarge our senses and our emotions beyond the human range, we would experience a very different God…My conception of God is not weakened by my not knowing whether the physical universe is open or closed, finite or infinite, simple or multiple. God for me is a mystery, and will remain a mystery after we know the answers to these questions. All that we know about Him is that He works on a scale far beyond the limits of our understanding."

3.4 Sabda (Revealed Knowledge) and the Top-Down Process

In Vedantic epistemology sabda is the most important in receiving a valid knowledge and the other two epistemic elements, pratyaksa and anumana are to assist the sabda pramana. A revealed knowledge is transmitted from the Supreme Authority, God, to the bonafide and sincere recipients. The qualification of the recipient is that he should be a completely surrendered soul to the Supreme Lord and he should be eligible to receive the transcendental mercy of the Lord. As mentioned earlier this process is also called a top down approach in receiving knowledge (avaroha-pantha). A simple example is to make an investigation about the true answer to the question, "Who is the father of child A?" In a scientific or the bottom-up process, one can make an extensive research work by matching the DNA profile of several candidates with that of the child. However, it will be extremely difficult to find a real answer by this process. Most likely, needless to say, a real answer may never be found by this approach. This is because the real person may not be tested for a variety of causes. So, the easiest and most reliable approach will be to simply ask the genuine mother, and her answer will be the final verdict. The fact is that a genuine mother will never tell a lie to her loving child. If somebody wants to confirm this answer scientifically, a DNA test can still be done. In this way, the matter is resolved. This process implies a genuine faith the child has in the words of the mother. According to Vedanta, this genuine faith is a deep spiritual quality of life.

In avaroha-panthah (top-down approach) or descending process of Vedantic tradition, God is the ultimate source of everything, and the divine consciousness flows downward from God to every living being. In scientific discoveries and other artistic and poetic works and spiritual works of total sacrifice and renunciation, many sincere individuals receive knowledge through inspiration from a guiding source. This type of knowledge can also be regarded as some kind of revealed knowledge. In this way, knowledge is also directly transmitted by the Supreme Authority to the sincere seekers of truth. Lord Sri Krsna states in the Bhagavadgita (15.5):

sarvasya caham hridi sannivisto

mattah smritir jnanam apohanam ca

vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo

vedanta-krid veda-vid eva caham

"I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge, and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas."

There are three fundamental principles in realizing the revealed knowledge. Firstly, every revealed knowledge should be accepted as a divine axiom. All the aphorisms of the Vedantasutra can be regarded as divine axioms. Secondly, the genuine scriptures should be understood as they are and they should not be interpreted in any way to suit the motives of any particular individual or group. The author would like to mention that it is because of the misinterpretation of scriptures and over-intoxication by the materialistic

concept of religion that people kill each other in the name of religion and God. Thirdly, in the Vedantic tradition, a mood of true humility is essential in receiving divine knowledge of God. In this regard, we also see many great scientists who show symptoms of utter humility. For example, we often quote what Sir Isaac Newton had once remarked:

"I am still collecting pebbles on the sea shore, while the vast ocean of undiscovered truth lies before me."

4. Time and Space

The concept of time and space is extremely important in both science and Vedanta. In Vedanta, Kala, time is eternal. It is the impersonal aspect of the Supreme Lord. In the Bhagavadgita Lord Krishna says, kalo 'smi loka-ksaya-krit pravriddho - "Time I am, the great destroyer of the world."23 This was the verse uttered by Robert Oppenheimer at the first test of the atom bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA on July 16, 1945. In the Srimadbhagavatam sage Maitreya24 explains that eternal time is the primeval source of the interactions of the three modes of material nature. It is unchangeable and has no limit, and it functions as the instrument of the Supreme Lord for His manifest activities in the material creation.25

When the living entity comes in contact with material nature and under the control and purview of eternal time, many different activities called Karma are created. Real time is measured in terms of its covering a certain space of atoms, and space is calculated in terms of atoms.26 Thus time and space are closely connected in Vedantic cosmology and Kala - time is the root cause of all events and drives all activities in the material universe.

Srila Prabhupada writes in his commentary of the Srimadbhagavatam, "Metaphysically, time is distinguished as absolute and real. Absolute time is continuous and is unaffected by the speed or the slowness of material things. Real time is astronomically and mathematically calculated in relation to speed, change and life of a particular object. Factually, however, time has nothing to do with the relativities of things; rather, everything is shaped and calculated in terms of facility offered by time. Time is the basic measurement of the activity of our senses, by which we calculate past, present and future; but in factual calculation, time has no beginning and no end."27

5. Two States of Matter and Generation of Matter from Spirit

It is to be noted that in Hinduism the fundamental cosmic ingredients are in two states - inactive and active. The unmanifest, inactive and primordial total substance is called pradhana. At the time of creation, pradhana is activated by the Supreme Lord, and matter becomes manifest, which is called prakriti. Both matter and spirit are eternal. However, at the time of creation, which goes on in cosmic cycles like the change of seasons, the unmanifest sum-total of matter is activated by the Supreme Spirit and the cosmic energy begins to manifest. This is called the temporary manifestation of material energy. This material energy is then transformed by the presence of a conscious spiritual entity. In other words, matter as such is inactive but gets animated by the presence of the spirit, just like a live bird. The bird can fly because jiva or atman, the spiritual spark, "spiriton", is within. However, because of the arrangement of nature, the body has a limited time period. When the spirit leaves the body, the body becomes dead and inert again. When the entire universe is wound up the material components return again to the unmanifest form, which is eternal. That is the distinction between spirit and matter. The Supreme Spiritual Being is the primeval source of both matter and spirit. The spirit however is transcendental and beyond sense perception, and according to Vedanta the Supreme Lord or the Supreme Spirit is behind the cosmic creation.

6. Explanation of God in Hinduism

Hinduism is monotheistic. There have been many streams in Hinduism and many of them propound many aspects of God. This generally arises due to the misconceptions about the nature of personal aspect of God being steeped in pantheism or anthropomorphism.

From the Vedantic perspective however, the Personality aspect of God is most important. This does not imply that the concept is anthropomorphic. It is not that we give a human shape or characteristic to a god or anything whimsically. Rather it is the revelation of God Himself. A divine maxim is found in the Srimadbhagavatam (S.B. 3:26:49) stating that the cause exists certainly in its effect as well. Following this argument, since we all experience very clearly that all developed living beings have individual personality, it is certainly conceivable that the Supreme source of all must also possess personality. According to Vedanta, this material creation emanates from God. Taittiriya Upanisad declares:

yato va imani bhutani jayante yena jatani jivanti

yat prayanty abhisamvanti tad vijignasasva tad brahma

"The Absolute Truth or Brahman or God is that from which the cosmic manifestation has emanated, by which it is maintained and into which it merges after annihilation."28 Similarly, Chandogya Upanisad declares: sarva khalv idam brahma - "Brahman, the Supreme, is present in everything."29 Hence according to Vedanta this material nature is not working blindly. It is working under the control of the Supreme Lord.