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Scripture should not be much doubted, being more reliable than the words of one鈥檚 mother and father, for one cognizes through scripture personally. It occupies the same rank as the senses.^[1]

The purpose of this chapter for the global goals of the dissertation is to delimit the space of Vedic theology which 艢补峁卥补谤补 inhabited, and thus demarcate the field of his interlocutors. I said in the Introduction that the sense in which I take 痴别诲腻苍迟补 to have been uttara or posterior to 惭墨尘腻峁僺腻 was the commitment to the Veda as a source of knowing from linguistic utterances that are considered non-testimonial in character, a commitment which was not shared by other theologies in the same intellectual space. As is well known, the two branches of Vedic theology, the 笔奴谤惫补 and Uttara 惭墨尘腻峁僺腻, had two distinct concerns stated at the beginning of their respective canonical texts鈥�dharma or ritual and Brahman or the great Being from which everything proceeds鈥攜et they shared the conviction that the Veda in all its parts possesses epistemic validity and is the sole reliable warrant for all supersensible things. Whatever course of development the relation between the two brands of Vedic theology may have initially had, by the time of 艢补峁卥补谤补 and his near contemporary 碍耻尘腻谤颈濒补, the idea of a single canon which includes the 鲍辫补苍颈峁�a诲蝉 was firmly established.^[2]

Additionally, 惭墨尘腻峁僺补办补蝉 and Ved膩ntins shared the commitment to the Veda not only as a reliable warrant, but as the sole means of attaining the highest good as well. This second commitment will take our attention in the rest of the dissertation. Here I want to focus on the epistemic validity of the Vedas constructed around three key ideas, 艣谤耻迟颈, 艣腻蝉迟谤补 and 补辫补耻谤耻峁�e测补迟惫补, a complex which forms the connective tissue of Vedic theology. Understanding this complex is necessary not only to set the scope of the field, but also to grasp properly how the relation of scripture with the highest good was conceived. The key among these three ideas is that of 艣谤耻迟颈, which is so common in scholarly literature but so little understood that I will preface my account with a short review.