If Hinduism admits Shabda as a means of knowledge, then does it make Hinduism authoritarian or dogmatic?
A.006: The danger exists but there are several reasons why it never materializes in Hinduism. One of the reasons is that what we are dealing with is a theory of knowledge. In Hinduism, all such knowledge must end in realization; thus, theory is merely a means, and realization is the end. So the theory is always subject to experimental verification and secondary to it. A parallel from science might help explain the point. Science proceeds by testing hypotheses. In principle, one can hypothesize anything, and one could thus accuse science of random subjectivity on account of its concept of hypothesis. But, the fact that the hypothesis has to be tested prevents such a development. Moreover, not all Hindu Schools of Philosophy always accept Sabda. Non-Hindu Schools of Philosophy with which Hindu Schools have long engaged in debate such as Buddhism and Jainism do not subscribe to Sabda, the way Hindu Schools do. Thus, in debating these schools, Hindus had either to rely on reason as disting
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