Proof of Vedanta

Proof of Vedanta

One swami told an interesting story: a man suddenly became blind due to some strange disease. He went to one doctor after another and tried all sorts of medicines. He was even operated upon yet he remained as blind as before. Every means he tried became invalid failed. He was getting frustrated and became vexed with all the promises of the doctors. At last he was taken to one famous surgeon, who said that he could cure the disease. After much coaxing he agreed to the operation. After the operation, the doctor came to the patient saying: ‘Congratulations - the operation went successful and now I will open your bandage’. The surgeon removed all the coverings and asked the patient to open his eyes.

The patient said he would not open his eyes unless the doctor promised that the operation had really been successful and would guarantee that his eyesight has been restored, since in the past he had been so disappointed by the promises of so many doctors. The surgeon said that all indications were that the operation had been successful but that he could not know for certain until the patient opened his eyes and discovered that he could see.

Still, the patient refused to open his eyes unless the doctor assured him that this particular operation had also been fully successful. Now the doctor could not provide any further proof other than telling the stories of how successful other similar patients had been and assuring the patient that there was no reason to doubt that this operation had also been successful. But the real success of the operation could only be established by the patient opening the eyes and testing whether he can see or not.