Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 6.137
Preserve the Authority of Vedic Statements
“The Vedic statements are self-evident. Whatever is stated there must be accepted. If we interpret according to our own imagination, the authority of the Vedas is immediately lost.”
What the purport teaches
- Vedic statements are self-evident and must be accepted. Among the four main types of evidence listed, Vedic evidence is foremost.
- An imagined interpretation can be shaped by what we want to do. It begins as a suggestion or hypothesis rather than self-evident proof.
- Interpreting the Vedas according to our own imagination causes their authority and self-evident proof to be lost.
Try this today
Before rereading this translation, pause and identify one preference that might influence how you understand it.
Ask yourself
Am I trying to understand the Vedic statement, or reshape it to suit what I want?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.