Verbal Testimony (Śabda / Āgama)
Some truths no eye can see and no argument can reach — only the trustworthy word can disclose them.
Among the valid means of knowledge, śabda is the reliable word — the testimony of a trustworthy speaker, and supremely of scripture. The Vedānta and Mīmāṃsā schools give it pride of place, arguing that some truths — above all the nature of Brahman and the path to liberation — simply cannot be reached by perception or reasoning, and can be known only because the authorless Veda discloses them. How words convey knowledge, and why scripture should be trusted, became one of the great technical debates of Indian philosophy.
How it traveled
- Tarka-saṃgrahaTelugu country (Andhra region); active in Varanasi · 1650explains
Key passages(20)
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)