Search:
Bhakti List Archives

apaurusheya

From the Bhakti List Archives

Parthasarati Dileepan • May 8, 1998 


Dear members:

Sri Murali Rajagolan's post a few days ago was lucid and 
informative.  Please permit me to submit a few questions.
These are not meant as challenges.  Please forgive me if 
they seem so.

Are the Vedas Apaureshaya?
>From what is presented here it seems that the claim to 
non-authorship of Vedas is based on the fact that the 
Vedas do not say that they are authored.  All they say 
is that the Vedas were taught by the Lord to Brahma at 
the beginning of creation.   But, do they say they were 
not authored?  If not, what we have, at best, is unknown 
authorship, not no-authorship.  In this situation, since our 
Lord was there without a second, and He taught the Vedas 
to Brahmma, it seems reasonable to assume the Lord to 
be author and unreasonable to assume no-authorship.

Why is Apaureshaya important?
It is said that Apaurusheya gives us an independent 
affirmation of our LordÂ’s supremacy.  But why do we 
need independent affirmation?  Can we not believe our 
Lord?  After all, we have only His word for what the 
Vedas say.  That is, we do not have any independent 
confirmation for what the Vedas are supposed to say.
If we are to doubt His own words about His supremacy, 
we can also doubt His version of the Vedas.

Is Apaurusheyam necessary for freedom from defects?
It is also said that Apaureshayam guarantees freedom 
from defects.  But if our Lord made the Vedas that also 
can guarantee freedom from defects, is it not.  Then, 
it seems Apauresheyam is not necessary for a text
to be free of defects.  Thus Apauresheyam by itself 
cannot give superior status for our Vedas in comaprison 
to other texts.


-- adiyEn ramanuja dhasan