Category:Acquiring Knowledge
Theme Analysis
The Vedic perspective on acquiring knowledge stands in stark contrast to modern empirical methods. While contemporary science relies on the ascending process—gathering data through imperfect senses to form theories—the Vedic system advocates the descending process. In this method, perfect knowledge is received from a higher authority, ultimately descending from the Supreme Personality of Godhead through a bona fide disciplic succession. This approach bypasses the inherent defects of the material senses, such as the tendency to commit mistakes and be illusioned, offering a path to absolute truth that is not subject to change or speculation.
- The Two Paths of Knowledge: There are two distinct methods for gathering knowledge: the inductive or ascending path (aroha-pantha), which relies on personal research, and the deductive or descending path (avaroha-pantha), which relies on hearing from authority.
- Imperfection of Material Senses: The instruments of the body—the eyes, ears, and mind—are inherently limited and defective; therefore, knowledge acquired solely through direct perception (pratyaksa) is always imperfect and subject to illusion.
- The Parampara System: Valid knowledge must be received through the chain of disciplic succession (parampara); just as a law student learns from a qualified professor, spiritual knowledge is acquired by hearing from a realized spiritual master.
- The Goal of Knowledge: The ultimate purpose of all inquiry and philosophy is not merely to understand material nature, but to understand the Absolute Truth, Krsna; real knowledge leads to detachment and devotional service.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Vedic System of Acquiring Knowledge.
Subcategories
This category has the following 7 subcategories, out of 7 total.
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Pages in category "Acquiring Knowledge"
The following 144 pages are in this category, out of 144 total.
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- Acquire full knowledge
- Acquire knowledge by hearing
- Acquire knowledge by speculation
- Acquire knowledge through the senses
- Ascending process of acquiring knowledge
- By rendering devotional service, one acquires causeless knowledge and detachment
- Descending process of acquiring knowledge
- Human life is meant for acquiring knowledge
- Instruments of acquiring knowledge are imperfect
- Knowledge acquired by studying
- Process of acquiring knowledge
- Simply acquire knowledge
- Stages of acquiring knowledge
- Vedic system of acquiring knowledge
- Want to acquire knowledge
- We have to acquire knowledge
A
- A living being is sufficiently potent to possess knowledge from the Lord in the proportion of fifty sixty-fourths, or seventy-eight percent of the full knowledge acquirable
- A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogi (or mystic) when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled
- A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogi (or mystic) when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled. BG 6.8 -1972
- According to Brahma-samhita there are two ways of acquiring knowledge - the ascending process and the descending process
- Acquire knowledge from the right source
- Acquiring transcendental knowledge does not mean that we become indifferent to our present state of affairs, but it means that we should not be overwhelmed by the coming and going of happiness and distress
- After acquiring perfect transcendental knowledge, one acquires qualitative equality with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, becoming free from the repetition of birth and death. BG 1972 purports
- After many attempts to acquire knowledge, one understands that the origin of everything is Krsna
- All acquisition of knowledge in science, philosophy, fine arts, nationalism, economic development, religion and great activities are being spoiled by being used as dresses for dead men
- All methods of acquiring knowledge can be divided into two groups. One group is called aroha-pantha, or research, inductive process. And another method is called deductive process, or avaroha-pantha
- All other senses, both for working and for acquiring knowledge, are controlled by the different demigods. The demigods are assistants of the Lord in the management of material affairs
- All the knowledge that Sri Sanatana Gosvami and Rupa Gosvami directly acquired from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was broadcast all over the world by their expert service
- Always thinking of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, acquire knowledge from the right source. Thus practicing bhakti-yoga, you will patiently and enthusiastically be elevated in knowledge and will be able to give up the false ego
- As the decision of the supreme court of a state is final, similarly the judgment of Brahmaji, the supreme authority in the universe, is final in the Vedic process of acquiring knowledge
B
- Basic principle of acquiring knowledge
- Because my mind, my senses, everything imperfect, so how can I have perfect knowledge? So this is not the process of acquiring right knowledge. Our process of acquiring knowledge: to hear from the right
- Bhakti is a process. Bhakti is not knowledge. That knowledge you acquire by your sense perception, and bhakti is the pure activities of the senses
- Brahma acquired knowledge directly from the Supreme Lord within the heart; therefore he is sometimes called svarat and aja
- By our imperfect sense perception we cannot understand the form of the Lord. We have to acquire knowledge about Him
- By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from this world
- By the ascending process one is elevated by knowledge acquired by himself. In this way one thinks - I don't care for any authorities or books. I will attain knowledge myself by meditation, philosophy, etc. In this way I will understand God
- By transcendental engagement, one achieves all transcendental qualities automatically, by the grace of the Lord, and thus his liberation is complete in itself, without his making extraneous endeavors to acquire knowledge. BG 1972 purports
E
- Even a person with no knowledge can immediately acquire all knowledge simply by the benediction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Therefore I (Krsnadas Kaviraja Gosvami) am praying to the Lord for His causeless mercy upon me
- Everyone is sleeping in the darkness of Kali-yuga, but when there is a great acarya, by his calling only, everyone takes to the study of the Vedas to acquire actual knowledge
- Everything depends on knowledge. Without knowledge, how can we make progress? Student means to acquire knowledge. Serious student means to acquire knowledge
H
- How is it one can tolerate such dualities? "A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogi (or mystic) when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization." - BG 6.8
- Human activities should be to understand God, or the Absolute Truth. That is the philosophy of Vedanta philosophy. Veda means knowledge, and anta means ultimate. We are acquiring knowledges in so many departmental, but ultimate knowledge is to know God
- Human life is meant for acquiring knowledge and detachment to the material world
I
- If Brahma or the sun cannot create anything without acquiring knowledge from a superior, then what is the situation with the material scientists who are fully dependent on so many things?
- If we want to acquire transcendental knowledge, our first duty will be to understand that the spirit soul is eternal truth. The external ingredients, the body and the mind which develop around the spirit soul, are all relative or partial truths
- If we want to go still further and acquire knowledge transcendental, we must first of all seek qualified transcendental preceptors who can lead us on the path
- Illuminating knowledge can be acquired by studying the teachings of Lord Caitanya, and by such knowledge one can advance in spiritual existence - CC Preface
- Illusion means to accept something false. The same mistake. And then our imperfectness of the senses: we acquire knowledge; we gather knowledge by perception of our these material senses, but our material senses are imperfect
- Impersonalists undergo severe austerities to acquire knowledge to become one with the Lord. But ultimately they become dependent on some rich disciple who supplies them with money to build monasteries and temples
- In former ages people underwent so many penances and austerities to acquire knowledge, but in this age this process is not possible because our lives are very short and we are always disturbed
- In Vedic literatures it is said that in order to understand the transcendental science of Krsna consciousness, we must try to acquire knowledge of how to extinguish this blazing fire of problems
- Instrument for acquiring knowledge of taste
- Intelligent persons, they will see this instruction of Krsna, "Krsna says..." That is our method. Our method of acquiring knowledge is to hear from the authority. That's all. Now, who can be better authority than Krsna?
- It is also said in Srimad-Bhagavatam that by the acquisition of knowledge, one becomes liberated immediately. That knowledge can be very easily acquired, for it is simple: God is great, and I am very small
- It is assumed that even if a person acquires some spiritually uplifting knowledge, circumstantially he is prone to forget it
- It is not that He (Krsna) has to undergo penances to acquire knowledge or that He at any time has to receive knowledge or attain knowledge. At all times and in all conditions He is full of knowledge
- It is our position to hear Bhagavad-gita from the lips of Arjuna or his bona fide representative, the spiritual master. After hearing, it is necessary to practice this acquired knowledge in daily life
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- Just imagine in your previous lives you had been a great man of knowledge, but in this life, since your childhood, you had to go to school, college, and acquire knowledge. The knowledge which you had in your previous lives is now forgotten
- Just try to understand this. The principle is that if you receive knowledge from the real authority, that is perfect and quick. And if with your imperfect senses you want to acquire knowledge by searching out, it will never be successful
K
- Knowledge is acquired from two sources: by direct perception and by hearing. Just like we are hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam. This is knowledge also
- Knowledge is the best sacrifice because this conditional life is due to ignorance. The purpose of sacrifice, penance, yoga and philosophical discussion is to acquire knowledge
- Knowledge means knowing things as they are, and if by deliberation it is found that there are things which are at all unnecessary, naturally the person who has acquired knowledge leaves aside such unwanted things
- Krsna is present everywhere, but one has to acquire knowledge in order to know how to see Krsna. That is mukti, liberation. That is Krsna consciousness. That is also the process of bhakti-yoga-sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam... - SB 7.5.23
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- No illicit sex, no intoxication, no gambling, no meat-eating. This is renouncement. So this renouncement and knowledge can be acquired, simply this method of bhakti-yoga, what is that? Thinking of Krsna
- Nobody is actually happy, even if you have got enough money. But still, there is unhappiness. But that they cannot understand. But actually, poverty is want of knowledge. Therefore the acquiring knowledge, that is real richness. That is real richness
O
- O hunter, the qualifications which you have acquired - such as nonviolence & others - are not astonishing, because one who is engaged in devotional service to the Lord cannot be a source of trouble for anyone under any circumstance - Skanda Purana
- One should not simply acquire knowledge without reaching the goal of life or the basic principle for acquiring knowledge-bhakti-yoga
- One who has very nicely heard, one who has acquired Vedic knowledge by the hearing process, srotriyam brahma-nistham, and the result is that he is fully, firmly fixed up in Brahman
- Only those who have surrendered to the lotus feet of Vasudeva can understand the Absolute Truth. "By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Krsna, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge & detachment from the world" - SB 1.2.7
- Our knowledge is, therefore, always imperfect. On that we must agree. If we foolishly think that we have acquired all forms of knowledge and we have advanced in science, this is another foolishness. It is not possible
- Our process is, process of acquiring knowledge, is very easy and perfect. That is Krsna consciousness. We cannot say anything which is not accepted by the authorities coming from Krsna
- Our process of accepting knowledge is the parampara system. Avaroha-pantha. There are two ways of acquiring knowledge, aroha-pantha and avaroha-pantha. Knowledge coming from the authorities, that is perfect knowledge
- Our process of acquiring knowledge: to hear from the right. So any, that is the system of Vedic civilization, that anything which is described in the Vedas, that is real proof, that is real knowledge
- Out of the three methods of acquiring knowledge, the Vedas say that the third method, that of receiving knowledge from higher authorities, is the most perfect. Direct perception is always imperfect, especially in the conditional stage of life
P
- People are thinking that they have acquired knowledge because they know how to manufacture and drive cars, but before the car was here people were still going from one place to another
- Perfect knowledge, how it can come? The perfect knowledge can come from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the process of acquiring knowledge, so far we are concerned. Evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh
R
- Read one sloka and discuss and then go on to the next sloka on the next day, and so on, and even you discuss one verse each day it will take you 50 years to finish Srimad-Bhagavatam in this way. So we have got ample stock for acquiring knowledge
- Reciprocation, there must be study and inquiry. Just like a nice scholar in the college, he inquires from the professor, at the same time studies. So the process of acquiring knowledge is to study and to inquire
S
- Sankhya philosophy is the basic principle of acquiring knowledge, as will be explained by the sage Maitreya
- SB 1.2.6-7: "By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world"
- SB 1.2.7: "By rendering devotional service unto the Sri Krsna, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge & detachment from the world." To be situated on the platform of pure religion, one should perform bhakti-yoga in relationship with Krsna, Vasudeva
- Sense organs for acquiring knowledge, such as the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and touch, should be fully controlled and should not be allowed to engage in self-gratification. BG 1972 purports
- Some of the senses are meant for acquiring knowledge, and some are meant for executing the conclusions of our thinking, feeling and willing. So practice means employing both the mind and the senses in practical devotional service
- Sravanam, or hearing, is the first step in acquiring transcendental knowledge. One should not give aural reception to unauthorized persons, but should approach the proper person
- Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura writes in his Anuvrtti commentary that too much endeavor to acquire knowledge on the part of mental speculators or dry philosophers falls within the category of atyahara
- Such a person (satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization) is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled. He sees everything - whether it be pebbles, stones or gold - as the same. - Bg 6.8
- Sāṅkhya philosophy is the analytical study of all existence. One has to understand everything by examining its nature and characteristics. This is called acquirement of knowledge
T
- That realization (struggling life after life & no real enjoymen) requires knowledge, & that knowledge can be acquired by association with a sadhu. Freedom from this struggle with material existence is further explained by Lord Kapila in the next verse
- The Absolute Truth remains above the philosophers and their acquired knowledge. The conception of the Absolute is never perfectly attained by such an ascending process, because of its being born of imperfect, material senses
- The acquirement of speculative knowledge is also considered a method of atonement
- The body of intelligence enjoys the objects of sense gratification that cover it, such as smell, vision and hearing. The word sunasam ("beautiful nose") indicates the organ for acquiring knowledge by smell
- The ego produces the five objects of sense perception, which produce the ten senses (five for acquiring knowledge and five for working), the mind and the five gross elements
- The five sense organs through which knowledge is acquired are subjected to six kinds of whips: lamentation, illusion, infirmity, death, hunger and thirst
- The five working senses and the five senses that acquire knowledge are all male friends of Puranjani. The living entity is assisted by these senses in acquiring knowledge and engaging in activity
- The followers of the Vedas have a different method of acquiring knowledge. They accept the statements of the Vedic literatures as authority in toto, as we have already discussed in Canto One
- The formless Brahman conception can be received only by aural reception and not by personal experience. Knowledge is therefore acquired by aural reception. It is confirmed in the Vedanta-sutra, sastra-yonitvat
- The fruits of bodily happiness are experienced through five senses for acquiring knowledge in the midst of six circumstances: lamentation, illusion, old age, death, hunger and thirst - SB 10.2.27
- The knowledge that we gather by our education in the schools and colleges may help us temporarily in the study of some particular subject in the present span of life, but this acquisition of knowledge cannot satisfy our eternal need
- The material cosmos is composed of twenty-four elements: the five gross material elements, the three subtle material elements, the five knowledge-acquiring senses, the five active senses, the five objects of sense pleasure, and the mahat-tattva
- The Mayavadi monists undergo a severe process of austerity and penance to acquire knowledge of becoming one with the Lord, but ultimately they become dependent on some rich follower who supplies them with requisite paraphernalia
- The mouth is the instrument for acquiring knowledge by taste, for by chewing an object and touching it with the tongue we can understand its taste
- The primordial matter, or prakrti, material nature, consisting of three modes, generates four groups of five. The third group is the five sense organs for acquiring knowledge: eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin
- The purified stage of acquiring knowledge becomes the basis of devotional service to the Lord
- The sane man, therefore, without being puffed up, as if he were the God of the universe, abides by the instructions of the Vedic literature, the easiest way to acquire knowledge in transcendence
- The sannyasi or renouncer relieves himself of all worldly responsibilities in order to free himself for acquiring knowledge relating to the all-pervasive Spirit. The mystic takes similar measures so that he can enhance his meditation
- The sense organs for acquiring knowledge - the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and touch - should be fully controlled and should not be allowed to engage in self-gratification
- The senses for acquiring knowledge and the organs for action number ten, namely the auditory sense, the sense of taste, the tactile sense, the sense of sight, the sense of smell
- The senses for acquiring knowledge and the organs for action number ten, the active organ for speaking, the active organs for working, and those for traveling, generating and evacuating
- The subtle body of the living entity consists of the mind, the sense objects, the five senses that acquire knowledge and the five senses for acting in the material condition
- The tongue is described here as the instrument for acquiring knowledge of taste. Because taste is a product of water, there is always saliva on the tongue
- The Vaisnavas, the unalloyed devotees of the Lord, do not follow the process of acquiring knowledge by direct sense perception or mental speculation
- The Vedic knowledge comes in a tradition from the spiritual master through the chain of disciplic succession, and the knowledge must be acquired through this chain, without deviation
- The Vedic system of acquiring knowledge is the deductive process. The Vedic knowledge is received perfectly by disciplic succession from authorities. Such knowledge is never dogmatic, as ill conceived by less intelligent persons
- The very first step in acquiring knowledge is coming to understand that - I am not this body. I am spirit soul, and my aim of life is to get out of this material entanglement
- The ways of acquiring knowledge are described metaphorically - in SB 4.25.22
- There are different levels of acquired knowledge - direct knowledge, knowledge received from authorities, transcendental knowledge, knowledge beyond the senses, and finally spiritual knowledge
- There are false ego, intelligence & the unmanifested stage of 3 modes of nature. Then there are 5 senses for acquiring knowledge: the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and touch. Then 5 working senses: voice, legs, hands, the anus & the genitals. BG 1972 purports
- There are five groups of five. One group is the sense objects, one is the five elements, one is the five sense organs for acquiring knowledge, another is the senses for working, and the fifth group is the five deities who control these divisions
- There are two kinds of processes of acquiring knowledge. One process is deductive, and the other process is inductive. Deductive knowledge is considered to be more perfect
- These subjects (spoken by Krsna in Bhagavad-gita) are called adhoksaja because our direct perception by which we acquire material knowledge fails to approach them
- This is called acquirement of knowledge
- This knowledge, we have to acquire, that "We have got the greatest powerful friend in Krsna, and He is with me." This is knowledge. Just like when you chant Krsna, Hare Krsna, actually the fact is Krsna is dancing on your tongue by sound vibration
- This Krsna consciousness movement is teaching people to control the mind and five knowledge-acquiring senses by a definite process
- Those who are striving to acquire knowledge - after many, many births, when actually by the grace of God and by the grace of a devotee they come to knowledge, then such persons agree, - Oh, vasudevah sarvam iti: (BG 7.19) Krsna is everything
- To acquire knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one must take shelter of the samvit potency of the Supreme Lord
- Two things must be there—jnana and vairagya. I have already explained that actually our aim of life, human life, is to acquire knowledge and vairagya. Simply talking of knowledge is useless. There must be vairagya also
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- Vedas are called sruti. Sruti means this is not experimental knowledge. This knowledge is acquired by hearing, that's all. If you have got nice receptive power through the ear, then your life can be successful. You don't require to use any other sense
- Vedic knowledge says sometimes contradictory. Just like cow dung, stool of an animal, is pure. And if you analyze, you will find it is pure. So our process of acquiring knowledge is from the Vedas
- Vedic process is not to acquire knowledge by ascending process, inductive process. Vedic knowledge is to receive knowledge by descending process, knowledge coming from authority
W
- We are acquiring knowledge through our senses, and if our senses are imperfect, how we can acquire perfect knowledge?
- We have got our senses, and by senses we acquire knowledge. But God, God is not to be understood by this direct perception of the senses. That is not possible, because we cannot see directly God. We cannot smell God. We cannot hear
- When one surpasses the stage of acquiring knowledge by the descending process, he is immediately situated on the transcendental platform
- Whoever hears or recites these descriptions of the expansions of Krsna's body is certainly a very fortunate man. Although this is very difficult to understand, one can nonetheless acquire some knowledge about the different features of Krsna's body
- Whole Vedic process . . . nobody can deny in the Vedic process that there is no need of spiritual master. There is. So sraddhavan. Therefore the faithful, the faithful can acquire knowledge