View source for There are three kinds of evidences - pratyaksa, anumana and aitihya. Pratyaksa means that you can directly perceive. Anumana means you can conjecture, make an . . . "It may be like this. Perhaps." Aitihya means to take evidences from the authority

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[[Category:There Are]]
[[Category:Three Kinds of Evidences]]
[[Category:Pratyaksa]]
[[Category:Anumana]]
[[Category:Meaning of Sanskrit Words]]
[[Category:You Can]]
[[Category:Directly Perceived]]
[[Category:Conjecture]]
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[[Category:Perhaps]]
[[Category:Take]]
[[Category:Evidence]]
[[Category:Authority]]
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<h2>Lectures</h2>
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<h3>Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures</h3>
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There are three kinds of evidences—pratyakṣa, anumāna and aitihya. Pratyakṣa means that you can directly perceive. That is called pratyakṣa. And anumāna, anumāna means you can conjecture, make an . . . "It may be like this. It may be like this. Perhaps it is like this." This is called anumāna. And the other evidence is aitihya. Aitihya means to take evidences from the authority.
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[[Vanisource:660311 - Lecture BG 02.13 - New York|660311 - Lecture BG 02.13 - New York]]
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Nirākāra means we cannot calculate the ākāra, the actual form. Nirākāra does not mean that it has no form. It has form. Just see. That they say, that the point has no length and breadth. Similarly, the soul has everything, length and . . . within that point it has got his head, leg, everything, consciousness, everything there. And because it is beyond the calculation of our human knowledge, therefore they are disappointed: "Nirākāra, nirākāra, nirākāra." Not nirākāra. It has ākāra. But we are so . . . our senses are so blunt that we cannot calculate.

Now, now this, in these days of scientific advancement, you take a dead man. You sit down. Now, we shall see how the soul transmigrates from this body to another. You cannot see. You cannot see. Our eyes are not qualified to see it. Therefore the all the senses, they should be spiritualized. If we want to see the spirit whole . . . the Lord is spirit whole. We cannot see even the spirit part. Our, our . . . we are very much proud of our senses, but our senses are so imperfect that . . . now I see with my eyes, but I cannot see my eyelid. You see? The eyelid is always attached with my eye, but I cannot see.

So our power of using the senses, that is very limited. So we should not depend only on the senses. Pratyakṣa. It is called pratyakṣa-anumāna. There are three kinds of evidences—pratyakṣa, anumāna and aitihya. Pratyakṣa means that you can directly perceive. That is called pratyakṣa. And anumāna, anumāna means you can conjecture, make an . . . "It may be like this. It may be like this. Perhaps it is like this." This is called anumāna. And the other evidence is aitihya. Aitihya means to take evidences from the authority.

So according . . . out of these three evidences, this aitihya evidence, just like we are taking instruction of Bhagavad-gītā, sound, sound vibrated by the greatest personality, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That sort of pramāṇa is acceptable. That is the best. This is the best way of acquiring knowledge. Because so far direct evidence is concerned, it is impossible. Because our senses are so imperfect, we cannot have anything. We can . . . we can have some direct experience of certain things, but not for all, especially for these spiritual things, which is beyond our experience.

So pratyakṣa means direct evidence you cannot have. And anumāna means speculation, simply, "It may be like this. It may be like that," oh, that is also imperfect, because our thinking power is also limited, because our senses are limited. So our thinking power, mind, is one of the senses. Out of the ten, mind is considered to be the eleventh sense. There are five karmendriya and . . . five sensory organs and working organs, ten, and the mind is the chief. So mind is also considered as one of the senses, the chief senses. You see? So because it is sense, it is imperfect.

So by mental speculation we cannot have into a right conclusion, by mental speculation. Those are simply speculating on mind, they can make some progress to a certain extent, but they cannot reach the ultimate goal. It is not possible by mental speculation, neither it is possible by direct evidence. The only, only possible evidence is authority. Authority.

Just like yesterday also I gave you that example. Just like if a child asks his mother that "Who is my father?" now the mother says: "Here is your father." Now, if the child says: "I don't believe it," so he has no other source of knowledge. Except the fath . . . mother's version that, "Here is your father," he has no other alternative to know who is father. It is such a thing that neither he can imagine, speculate, "Oh, he may be my father, he may be my father, he may be my father." Lots of father he can gather. That is not possible. And neither it is possible for direct perception. The only possibility is the mother's evidence.

Similarly, as the mother is authority for the child, similarly, the śruti, the Vedas, they are called mother, mother of knowledge. So for such spiritual knowledge we have to accept the authority. Now here, the Bhagavad-gītā is authority. It is accepted . . . don't think that it is a scripture of the Hindus. No. It is for all human being. There is reason. There is science. There is philosophy. It is not dogmatic. So it is to be understood simply. And not only that: actually it is accepted by all countries. Not only in your country, but in other countries also, Bhagavad-gītā is accepted as one of the greatest book of authority.
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