What Is "Proof"

Even though the deductive process is simple and straightforward by nature,people in general do not wish to accept it. When confronted with words like "God", "scripture", "soul", etc, they ask :"What is the proof of this?" Or Show me God.

People use words like "proof" or "evidence" very lightly without knowing what these words really mean.

1. The first questions to ask in response is " To Whom shall we "prove?

To understand the "proof" for something, we need to be qualified. For example, to understand the proof for some complex mathematical formula, first of all, we need to be trained in mathematics. Then only can one understand the "proof". Similarly, we need to be properly trained in spiritual knowledge before we become qualified to understand the "Proof" for spiritual topics.

2. The next question to ask is, "what kind of proof do you seek?"There are different kinds of "proofs". Is the proof of seeing with your own eyes, you seek. By that standard many things in life and nature cannot be proven.

The Vedas say that there are basically three kinds of "proof". The Sanskrit word for proof or evidence is " pramana".

pratyaksa pramana

anumana pramana

sabda pramana

Pratyaksa pramana

This is the knowledge obtained by direct perception through our senses. Majority of scientific experiments and proofs are based on the principle, " Seeing is believing" which is famous dictum of people arguing about God's existence. But we can give many simple counter Arguments to this misconception.

1. Is the sun just a plate of half-a-meter diameter as we see it with our eyes.

2. A stick appears broken when we insert half of it into water(Refraction).

3. Why do our faces look like that of a ghost in a concave mirror?(Is seeing believing).

we understand that direct perception by our senses is not a very reliable method because the sense organs themselves have only a limited range, thus any knowledge derived will be relative only.

Anumana pramana

This is the knowledge arrived by making hypothesis or inference based on pratyaksa pramana.

For example, upon hearing a loud crashing sound in the next room, we may infer that a flower vase has broken. We cannot immediately know with certainty what has actually happened. Anumana pramana is also unreliable because it relies on our faulty sense perception.

Sabda pramana

This the knowledge or evidence obtained by hearing from a bonafide authority. In our daily life we often accept many things as true, of which we have no first-hand knowledge, simply because they are spoken by an authority. For example, we accept that there is a country called "Ghana" in Africa, even though we may have never been there, because our geography textbooks say so; or we may accept that the atoms consists of electrons and protons although we have never seen them. Of course these authorities, being imperfect, give us imperfect or incomplete knowledge. However, the principle of hearing from an authority holds.

Thus accepting information from a bonafide authority is thus beneficial and necessary because:

1. We have no choice.

2. It saves time and inconvenience.

3. It is safe.

Sometimes we may think that Vedic knowledge is not true because it appears to conflict with our senses percieve. But our senses, as we have seen are not reliable sources of evidence. Thinking that accepting Vedic knowledge, as axiomatic truth is blind faith or dogma, as is the common misconception. It is, in fact, the ultimate knowledge because it is the word of God and by the way we as human beings enjoy the concept of "FREE WILL", that is what we are proud of as humans.