[Advaita-l] Accepting Possibility of Error in Sastras

[sriram]

Dear
It is fully true that the earth not only moves around the sun but also turns 
around its axis thus creating day and night whose duration variations are 
because of the tilt in the axis of rotation coupled with the position of the 
earth in the orbit in which it journeys around the sun.I dont think our 
scriptures have ever denied this aspect.They have been saying day and night 
are created by sun who is also responsible for the seasons.Perhaps what you 
are not able to reconcile is certain portions of the shruthi which talks 
about astronomical phenomena like grahanam,appearance of comets,planets 
movements across the sky and diseases which afflict humans from time to time 
etc does not give logical reasons  for such phenomena  and its suggested 
remedies donot work always.The stock reply is -from your point of view -one 
should have faith.Attempts have been made by scholars to explain the logic 
behind all these and it is going on.My point is it is all personal 
problems.You have to reconcile science and shastra by proper enquiry and 
deep study.If you feel that science is correct in certain matters accept it 
and passon.There is no point in telling shastras are found wanting.Or if you 
are a die hard vedantist stick to its prescription and move on.Like some 
Christian groups-Penta costsI think they never go to a doctor for any 
illness.-.It is your life and you have to take care of  it according to your 
intellectual capacity.Nobody can answer all the questions to your 
satisfaction is my view.You have to find the answers using science or 
vedantha.Both are correct in their own spheres.Truth is a truth is 
truth.R.Krishnamoorthy.
> support apauresheyam. http://apaureshyatva.blogspot.co.uk/  It is 
> important
> for the traditional scholars to consider the arguments and respond. I
> believe that has been the spirit of the tradition.
>
> Here is one example to show that vedanta tradition is not dogmatic. As we
> know, some of the smrti shastras talk about earth being fixed and held by
> four elephants. Sri Bharathi Teertha Swamigal, the current peetathipathi 
> of
> Sringeri, writes about his guru Sri Abhinava Vidyaterrtha Swamigal,
> "Through his discourses, common folk could understand the topics of 
> srutis,
> smrtis, itihasas and puranas that would have otherwise been difficult for
> them to comprehend. He was not in the least dogmatic. The ancients held
> that the earth is fixed while the modern scientists aver that it moves.
> 'All that is ancient is not good nor is a work censurable because it is
> modern. The wise accept an alternative after examination; the unwise are
> guided by the beliefs of others. (MalavikAgnimitra I.2).' In keeping with
> this statement of the pre-eminent poet Kalidasa, His Holiness subscribed
> only to the position that the earth moves. He ignored, in this manner, the
> distinction of ancient and modern in numerous matters and gave weight only
> to that which was reasonable and accorded with evidence." (rf. Yoga,
> Enlightenment and Perfection Page 6).
>
> Personally, I find it refreshing because I can be intellectually honest
> rather than reject truth on blind faith.
>
> This is one example to show that the vedanta tradition is not dogmatic
>
> On Mon, Dec 31, 2012 at 3:47 AM, Swami Sarvabhutananda <
> swami.sarvabhutananda at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> OM
>> What is born of purusha yatnam has limitations!
>> Vedanta vishayam is undisputable provided you are an adhikAri!!
>> NO AUTHOR IS AVAILABLE FOR THE VEDAS EXCEPT MAHARISHI VEDAVYASA EDITED 
>> THE
>> VEDAS!
>> The subject matter is so very true and acceptable to human beings!!!
>> SWAMI SARVABHUTANANDA
>>
>> On Sun, Dec 30, 2012 at 7:57 AM, Vidyasankar Sundaresan <
>> svidyasankar at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> >
>> >
>> > > If every statement of the veda is only an anuvada, then how can it be
>> > > apauresheya? Or is it that apauresheyam is also an anuvada?
>> > >
>> > > On unseen matters such as the result of yajna that yields svarga, we
>> dont
>> > > have any means of knowledge other than the shastras. But in the case 
>> > > of
>> > > seen matters (e.g. structure of solar system), we have pratyaksha and
>> > > anumana as an alternate source of knowledge. In such cases, which 
>> > > view
>> > > should be accepted - a) one that is supported by observed facts and
>> > > reasoned inference (science) or b) one based on shastras?
>> > >
>> >
>> > There are well reasoned out rules of interpretation that take care of 
>> > all
>> > this. When one says SAstra,
>> > one needs to distingyuish between Sruti and all else. It is absolutely
>> > necessary to keep in mind that
>> > apaurusheyatva is a characteristic of Sruti alone, not of smRti, 
>> > itihAsa,
>> > purANa, yogaSAstra, dharma-
>> > SAstra texts etc.
>> >
>> > Descriptions of the physical universe in these texts do not need to be
>> > taken as literally true. There will
>> > be many details in these other texts that go contrary to contemporary
>> > knowledge about the earth, the
>> > solar system etc. There is no need to put too literal a meaning on what
>> > these texts say. There are many
>> > other layers of meaning in them beyond the literal.
>> >
>> > Even if you find some Sruti reference that is seemingly contradicted by
>> > today's scientific knowledge,
>> > there are other ways to understand the Sruti vAkya, which will bypass 
>> > the
>> > apparent contradiction. To
>> > be more specific, the adhidaiva and adhyAtmika levels of meaning in 
>> > Sruti
>> > can never be contradicted by
>> > science. Maybe the adhibhautika meaning may come into conflict here and
>> > there, but I'm not particularly
>> > aware of any such feature in Sruti. Non-Sruti texts that are broadly
>> > accepted as SAstra are a different
>> > cup of tea. But as I pointed out, we don't claim these other texts as
>> > apaurusheya.
>> >
>> > Vidyasankar
>> >
>> >
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>>
>>
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