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Re: REQUEST : Queries on Arya Samaj
In article <ghenDyotJp.3y5@netcom.com>, santhan@ee.gatech.edu says...
>As a child Dayananda Saraswati wittnessed mice
>eating the food offerings made to Lord Shiva on Shivaratiri and found
>the idol incapable of defending itself against these mice and
>hence the conclusion that object of worship is not the idol
>but something transcending the idol.
The child had a keen imagination, but even more importantly,
staunch faith in the epistemologies of pratyaksa and anumana
(sense perception and conjecture). These things are found in
most conditioned jivatmas. But the process of sabda-pramana (the
submissive reception of authoritative testimony) has always
been valued more more than pratyaksa and anumana because of
its ability to explain things transcendental, like God. The
boy was probably too young and impatient for this kind of
philosophy however, and so he unfortunately took to mental
speculation instead, which is never a very sure path. I would
think he should have been set aright by his elders, but perhaps
he was too headstrong. Because the Deity (as per Gita,7.25) is
not obliged to reveal His transcendental nature to any foolish
boy doesn't give one a license to deny it. Sober people are
more careful about this. They recognize the value of time
honored traditions based on sastra, which should never be
whimsically rejected (Gita, 16.23).
-m
