The Vedas are known by various names such as Shruti, Agama and Apaurusheya. The literal meaning of the word ‘Veda’ is ‘to know. However, the knowledge which is provided by the sense organs or merely understood as commonsense cannot be the subject matter of the Vedas. In case the Vedas state what is seen by eyes such as a jar or a fire which the mind could easily imply by seeing smoke then what is the importance of the Vedas! Thus, the subject matters of the Vedas are those which could not be known otherwise and cannot be disproved by other means. Hence, the Vedas are self-evident (svatah pramana).
For example, the Vedas talk about Indra in Swarga and the equivalence of Jiva and Brahman. These things cannot be known other than the
Vedas and no other valid knowledge can disprove them. So, how to know their
authenticity?
First and foremost is that the Vedic statement should not oppose the other valid means of knowledge.
“If I see a jar and hundreds of Vedic statements say that it is not a jar then I should believe my eyes not the Vedas” – Adi Shankaracharya.
Therefore, the Vedic statements should not oppose
the standards of reasoning.
Next is the peer review. The same statements are made
by various Vedic passages coming from different shakhas. Sometimes the phrases
are exactly the same. The shakhas were owned by the generation of Rishis. The
Rishis were trustworthy experts in the spiritual field of knowledge. Some
of the trustworthy experts may go wrong, however, when all the Rishis are
of the same opinion then there is hardly any scope for doubt.
How they got this knowledge? No one claim to be the
origin of knowledge. Any knowledge however great and coming from a person
of high trust cannot be called Veda. It’s a Smriti since it has an origin in
the intellect of a person. The Vedas are passed from teacher to pupil across
the generations as it is received by their teacher without a minor change in
pronouncement. So, its origin loses its meaning in the eternal past.
For example, the Kathopnishad narrates a story which occurred
in a distant past and within the story Yama, the teacher states to his disciple
Nachiketa that in the beginning the gods too had a doubt. The intact knowledge that came to the Yama by the generation of teachers that existed before him, cannot be calculated
on a time scale.
- Since, this knowledge survives in an unending tradition of preceptor and student, therefore, it is called Agama.
- Since it has no human origin, it is called Apaurusheya.
- Since it is intact throughout the generation through verbal transmission although scripted for at least five thousand years, it is called Shruti.
