How Do We Know the Vedic Scriptures Reveal the Ultimate Truth?

There is a common point that has been made in the world today when referring to the various scriptures of the world and questioning how we know which scriptures are true. People say, there are so many scriptures in the world represented by conflicting beliefs, how can we know what the ultimate truth is? This is a worthwhile question to ask- but many people, in an attempt to answer this question, jump to the conclusion that since there are so many different scriptures and everyone thinks that theirs is right, this means that no one really knows the ultimate truth. But we must ask the question, why is it not possible to know the ultimate truth? Why would God leave everyone on earth in ignorance as to what the ultimate truth is? Surely it's not beyond God's power to bless a person to know the ultimate truth. So even if most people may not know, how can we rule out the possibility that some people do? Different paths have varying degrees of strengths and weaknesses, but isn't it possible that there is an ultimate scripture or set of scriptures which God has given us to know the ultimate truth?

If we look in this world at the way life is, whether we are looking at material or spiritual things, we can see that things are not equal. Some people have more good qualities than others, some people are more greedy than others, some people are more violent than others, some people are more concerned about the well being of others than other people are. We look at all the different animals and can see that they all have different natures. And we can look at many different people born in different situations in life, and they are all different according to the family they were born into, their upbringing, and their karma. Considering this, how can we say that all spiritual paths are equal? There will always be some things which are better than others, and there are many factors that go into determining what is better and what is worse, but clearly to think that all things are equal, or more precisely, all spiritual paths are equal, is naive.

The Vedic scriptures were written just over 5,000 years ago and they were all put into writing by the literary incarnation of God, Srila Vyasadeva. These scripures existed before any modern man-made religions, before any isms existed on earth, and at that time everyone on earth was familiar with the Vedic scriptures. The Vedic scriptures are not a religion as the term has come to mean in modern times. Because Vedic scriptures are a transcendental science that applies to everyone, regardless of belief. The laboratory of the Vedic scriptures are devotees who have sincerely and seriously taken to the path of devotional service and have received realizations that this path of devotion to Krishna is the topmost spiritual path, thus proving to themselves that the Vedic scriptures reveal the ultimate truth.

Those who are sincere about trying to find the best spiritual path, who are striving for true spiritual advancement, who do not want to be misled in any way will eventually come to understand that the Vedic scriptures are coming from God. Because the Vedic scriptures literally answer all questions that can be asked about spiritual life. The Vedic scriptures are so voluminous that they cannot be read in one lifetime even if a person dedicates their whole lifetime to reading them. Bee-like spiritualists enjoy the nectar from the flower-like Vedic scriptures which they are naturally attracted to because they are searching for nectar like spirituality. But fly-like materialists, whether they claim to be spiritualists or think that they are spiritualists, or whether they understand or admit that they are materialists, do not become attracted to the Vedic scriptures because they do not have the spiritual intelligence to understand the importance of the Vedic scriptures, which is likened to the way a bee extracts nectar from a flower.

Those who are not serious about spiritual life cannot understand the meaning of the Vedic scriptures even if they read many Vedic scriptures because transcendental knowledge is beyond their capacity to grasp because they don't have enough spiritual merits from previous lifetimes to have the spiritual intelligence to digest and make sense of the Vedic scriptures. Thus they end up thinking that it is impossible for the Vedic scriptures to be true, because Lord Krishna's illusory energy, Maha-Maya, keeps them from being able to understand the nature of the subjects that the Vedic scriptures deal with.

When a person sincerely practices spiritual life under the guidance of a scripturally authentic Guru who is well versed in the Vedic scriptures, gradually realizations come to the person and they start to understand spiritual subjects and the truth behind the words of the Vedic scriptures. As per one's seriousness in practice, that many realizations come. So if someone has at least some sincerity and sincerely chants (not just chanting as an external show of devotion) they will at least come to understand that there is a good chance the Vedic scriptures reveal the ultimate truth. And such a person will gradually receive realizatons over the course of multiple lifetimes until they finally become totally convinced without a doubt that Krishna is God and finally see Him face to face with their transcendental vision.

Just as a fish inside of an aquarium has no awareness of the room that the aquarium is sitting in because the walls of the aquarium function as mirrors and keep the fish from seeing outside of the aquarium, similarly materialistic people cannot grasp that things written in the scriptures about previous ages actually happened, even though they may seem supernatural or impossible by today's standards. Because without spiritual intelligence, one cannot understand the possibilities of what is beyond our immediate perception. And spiritual intelligence is only truly acquired from having performed sufficient spiritual deeds in previous lifetimes. Materialistic people are trapped in this material world thinking that they are happy and cannot see beyond their day to day life. They cannot see beyond what they have been taught in their materialistic schooling and by the materialistic media and actually conceive of what is beyond this material world, what happened in past ages, what will happen in the future, where they will go after death, and that the Vedic scriptures really do reveal the ultimate truth.

Thus, if a person truly desires to understand what the ultimate truth is and how to best practice spiritual life, being open to the best rather than blindly following what they have been taught, they can come to understand that the Vedic scriptures are really coming from God. But those who are less fortunate cannot come to understand that the Vedic scriptures are true because Maha-Maya and Kaliyuga keep them in ignorance. Maha-Maya (usually called Maya) is Lord Krishna's illusory energy which keeps insincere living entities from becoming real devotees of Krishna. Kaliyuga is the personality in charge of this present age of quarrel and hypocrisy and also keeps people from becoming real devotees, making people into hypocrites and filled with vice. One of his functions is that he makes people think things to be opposite to the way they really are. If someone is fortunate enough to realize that the Vedic scriptures are coming from God, they are very fortunate because they can overcome Maya and Kaliyuga and their gateway to liberation from the material world has been opened. Thus, it is always wise to become a sincere devotee because sincere devotees achieve the ultimate pleasure of spiritual ecstacy and at last receive liberation and enjoy eternally with Krishna in the spiritual world.

- James Walker