[Advaita-l] Apoureshyatva - Faith or Logic?

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

The discussion on this topic has wandered far afield, from the fundamental question
of veda prAmANya and apaurusheyatva.
 
Whether people born outside of the usual Indian jAti-s have one or another
saMskAra is not quite pertinent to whether the veda is apaurusheya, as a
matter of faith or as a matter of being established logically, in whatever way.
 
Whether evolution theory in biology is correct or not, whether theories of
linguistic evolution are correct or not and whether the universe began with
a big bang or a whimper - none of these is relevant to veda apaurusheyatva.
 
All I wanted to say to Rajaram was (a) that veda apaurusheyatva is to be
taken as a given (in my opinion) and no proof need be established for it,
and consequently, (b) if one wants to establish a proof and then concludes
that a proof is not possible, citing evolution of species and languages as a
reason for giving up is flawed as a reason. If one so wishes, one could
easily accommodate any theories of origins of the universe, formation of
livable planets, specie and language evolution (not just the currently
accepted ones) within the ambit of how and when the apaurusheya veda
has come to us in its present form and structure. That is all. This is not to
suggest that any traditional mImAMsaka or vedAntin today needs to modify
their thinking and conclusions to accommodate them. This also does not
imply, in any way whatsoever, that apaurusheyatva means the same thing
as scientifically established truths, such as the law of gravity. A description
of a physical property of all matter is not the same as the statement
 "svargakAMo yajeta" or "tat tvam asi". 
 
I don't have much else to add to this.
 
Regards,
Vidyasankar