Five Things You Were Right About

“Vedic knowledge is called shabda-pramana. Another name is shruti. Shruti means that this knowledge has to be received simply by aural reception. The Vedas instruct that in order to understand transcendental knowledge, we have to hear from the authority.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shri Ishopanishad, Introduction)

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1. Hangovers

“I should have listened to you. The pain right now is incredible. The slightest sound sets me off. I am like a living alarm system, except instead of opening a door or breaking a window, any audible movement triggers my internal bells. I have tried researching instant cures for this, but I am too tired to sit up. The fatigue is like nothing I have experienced before. The dehydration will not go away, no matter how much water I drink. You were right to warn me last night, but I was too caught up in the excitement.”

2. Gambling

“I should have listened to you. My entire annual bonus, gone in a flash; like it was never there. I am amazed at how quickly the dealers run through a hand. You put your money down and within five seconds it vanishes. I thought for sure my luck would turn around. You know, that principle they refer to as ‘the gambler’s fallacy.’ It sure is a fallacy, because I did nothing but continue to lose. You were right to warn me in the beginning.”

3. Phone addiction

“I should have listened to you. That phone was becoming too much. I could barely sleep at night. I kept dreaming about the next post. I had to be the first one to comment, to be something like a ‘reply guy.’ Only then would my total impressions increase. I need a certain number of impressions in order to get monetized. I could actually make money from posting on social media.

“That was the trap. I would pay any money now to never use that thing again. I spent one week forced away from my phone and it was great. I never want to go back, but what can we do? So many of the apps are like utilities now. That is the way people communicate. Checking in for flights. Showing tickets to enter a large event. Ordering food. Society is in a lot of trouble, if you ask me.”

4. Chasing after women

“I should have listened to you. I spent decades jumping from one person to the next. As soon as I got bored with one, I moved on to another. I was often cruel. I hurt a lot of feelings. I broke things off abruptly, without an explanation. Many people were reduced to tears. I didn’t care. I thought to myself that staying in a miserable relationship was not worth it.

“But just see where I am now. What did I get for all that trouble? It seems to me that when there is like, there will also be dislike. To judge a relationship simply off of liking and disliking is foolish. You were right to warn me against going down this road. How do I get that time back?”

5. Finding meaning in life

The aforementioned hypothetical situations can be described as incidents where shabda-pramana was available, was offered, was sufficient for avoiding a future mistake, but was ultimately ignored. This shabda-pramana is the way Vedic knowledge flows. That knowledge is jnana, and it is rooted in perfection. The one who never falls down, Achyuta, passes along wisdom for navigating the otherwise turbulent, unpredictable, and misery-producing waters that constitute the large and vast material expanse, which is like an ocean of suffering, samsara.

As more time passes, as more experience accumulates, as the end draws closer, it is inevitable that the individual will search for meaning. That meaning is available in the very beginning, through the aphorism targeted for the precious human birth. That aphorism is athato brahma-jijnasa.

Right now, here, today, in this opportunity to absorb knowledge, to deliberate upon principles, and to reach conclusions with assertiveness, the human being should strive for transcendence. They should understand their eternal position in Brahman and how they are fooled by the illusory energy of maya into identifying with anything and everything that is not Brahman.

The knowledge is there through shabda-pramana, but as we see in the situations above sometimes there is a barrier. The transfer of sound takes place, but there is no acceptance. I might think that I can go it alone, that I do not require advice, counsel, or intervention. I need to experience everything for myself in order to properly understand. At the same time, if the knowledge is correct, if the source has authority based on their character, qualities, and history of obedience to righteousness, it would be foolish to not accept shabda-pramana.

We can find meaning in life through transcendence. Not through accumulating wealth, necessarily. Not through enjoying the senses. Not by swinging on the pendulum of bhoga and tyaga, which are enjoyment and renunciation. Not by speculating that there is no central controller, Ishvara, or that there is no system of right and wrong, guna and dosha. Not by identifying with the temporary body, which is otherwise always changing.

इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत
सर्वभूतानि संमोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप

icchādveṣasamutthena dvandvamohena bhārata
sarvabhūtāni saṃmohaṃ sarge yānti parantapa

“O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conquerer of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.27)

The only way to transcendence is through shabda-pramana. The truth is there in sound. The truth is there in instruction. Our personal experience cannot cover thousands of lifetimes’ worth of data, to then be processed and analyzed to hopefully reach a conclusion. Our inference of past experiences cannot lead to the conclusion of the individual as imperishable spirit constitutionally positioned to serve the Supreme Spirit, in a matter undeterred by time and uninterrupted by desire. Only shabda-pramana can tell us the eternal truth, the Absolute Truth.

In Closing:

Despite having dutifully heard,
Too much by passions stirred.

That full steam ahead I went,
But now regretting the time spent.

This smaller example take,
And extrapolation make.

For journey of rebirth clearing,
Secret from sound hearing.