Appendix: Pramāṇa-tattva
Sources of Right Knowledge
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Describes the Four Kinds of Evidence.
Appendix 1
śrutiḥ pratyakṣamaitihyam anumānaṃ catuṣṭhayam
pramāṇesvana-vasthānād vikalpāt sa virajyate
There are 4 kinds of evidence by which reality may be known:
1. revelation,
2. perception,
3. history and hearsay and
4. inference.
(Bhāg. 11.19.17)
Manu-saṃhitā Describes Three Kinds of Evidence.
Appendix 2
pratyakṣaṣ-cānumanañca śāstrañca vividhāgamam
trayaṃ suviditaṃ kāryaṃ dharma-śuddhim-abhisatā
If one wants to understand what is reality, one must consider the 3 kinds of evidence:
1. Vedic evidence,
2. perception, and
3. inference.
(Manu 12.105)
The Ancient Vaiṣṇava Mādhva Muni Explains the Three Kinds of Evidence.
Appendix 3
pratyakṣe 'ntarbhaved yasmād-atithyaṃ tena deśikah
pramāṇaṃ trividhaṃ prākhyāt tatra mukhyā śrutir-bhavet
Since hearsay is included in perception, Madhvācārya has said that the means of proper knowledge are 3, among which śruti, or revelation, is the highest.
(Prameya-ratnāvalī 9.2)
Divine Sound is the Best Evidence for Understanding Reality
Appendix 4
yadyapi pratyakṣānumāna-śabdāryopamānārthāpattyabhāva-sambhavaitihya-ceśṭhākhyāni daśa pramāṇāni viditānī, tathāpi bhrama-pramāda-vipralipsā-karaṇāpāṭava-doṣa-rahitavacanātmakaḥ śabda eva mūlaṃ pramāṇam
If one carefully examines the 10 kinds of evidence, namely:
pratyakṣa, anumāna, ārya, upamāna, arthāpatti, abhāva, sambhava, aitihya, and ceśṭha,
one will find that all of them are contaminated with the 4 defects of material life:
1. cheating,
2. imperfect senses,
3. illusion, and
4. mistakes.
Therefore of all of these, revelation, śruti, is considered to be superior for it is above the four defects.
Śruti is, therefore, the root of all evidence.
(Tattva-Sandarbha, Sarva-samvādini)
Appendix 5
pramāṇera madhye śruti-pramāṇa pradhāna
śruti ye mukhyārtha kahe, sei se pramāṇa
jīvera asthi-viṣṭhā dui śaṅkha-gomaya
śruti-vākye sei dui mahāpavitra haya
svatah-pramāṇa veda satya yei kaya
"lakṣaṇā" karile svatah-prāmāṇya-hāni haya
[Caitanya Mahāprabhu said] Although there is other evidence, the evidence given in the Vedic version must be taken as foremost. Vedic versions understood directly are first-class evidence.
Conch-shells and cow dung are nothing but the bones and the stool of certain living entities, but according to the Vedic version they are both considered very pure.
The Vedic statements are self-evident. Whatever they state must be accepted. If we interpret according to our own imagination, the authority of the Vedas is immediately lost.
(Cc. Madhya 6.135-137)