What is the meaning of āmnāya vākya (authoritative statement or knowledge)? Concerning this, there is the following kārikā (verse):
āmnāyah śrutayaḥ sāksād brahma-vidyeti viśrutaḥ
guru-paramparā prāptāḥ viśva kartuḥ hi brahmaṇaḥ
Āmnāya refers to the scriptures called brahma vidyā or knowledge of brahman originating from Brahmā, the creator of the universe and passed down by disciplic succession.
That the knowledge was passed down from Brahmā is stated in Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.1, 1.2.13.
brahmā devānām prathamaḥ sambabhūva viśvasya
kartā bhuvanasya goptā sa brahma-vidyāṁ sarva-vidyā-
pratiṣṭhām atharvāya jyeṣṭha-putrāya prāha yenākṣaraṁ
puruṣaṁ veda satyaṁ provāca tāṁ tattvato brahma-vidyām
Brahmā, the creator of the universe and protector of the worlds, the first among the devatās, taught brahma vidyā, the basis of all knowledge, to his eldest son Atharva. He taught that knowledge by which the indestructible Supreme Person can be known in his true form
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad says:
asya mahato bhūtasya niḥśvasitam etad ṛgvedo
yajur vedaḥ sāma vedātharvāṅgirasa itihāsaḥ
purāṇaṁ vidyā upaniṣadaḥ ṣlokāḥ sūtrāṇy
anuvyākhyānāni sarvāṇi niḥśvasitāni
From the Supreme Person's breath came the four Vedas, the histories, the Purāṇas, the Upaniṣads, the verses and Sūtras and all the anuvyākhyās (commentaries). The word "histories" refers to Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārat and other similar works. The word "purāṇas" refers to the eighteen major Purāṇas of which Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is supreme, and eighteen secondary purāṇas (upapurāṇas). Upaniṣads refers to the eleven Upaniṣads such as Īśa, Kena, Kaṭha, and Praśna. "Verses" refers to the collection of verses in meters such as anustup composed by ṛsis. "Sūtra" refers to the concise statements which explain the meaning of the Vedas, written by major teachers. Anuvyākhyā refers to commentaries on the sūtras written by great teachers. All of these are called āmnāya. The primary meaning of āmnāya is Veda.
Caitanya Caritāmṛta also accepts the authority of the Vedas.
svataḥ pramāṇa veda- pramāṇa-siromaṇi
lakṣaṇā haite svataḥ pramāṇatā hāni
The self-evident Vedic literatures are the highest evidence of all, but if these literatures are interpreted, their self-evident nature is lost. (C.C. Adi 7, 139)
pramāṇera madhye śruti pramāṇa pradhāna
śruti ye mukhyārtha kahe sei se pramāṇa
svataḥ pramāṇa veda yei satya kahe
lakṣaṇā karile svataḥ pramāṇya hāni haye
Although there is other evidence, the evidence given in the Vedic version must be taken as foremost. Vedic versions understood directly are first-class evidence. The Vedic statements are self-evident. Whatever is stated there must be accepted. If we interpret according to our own imagination, the authority of the Vedas is immediately lost. (C.C.Madhya 6, 135, 137)
The works of the Gosvāmīs such as the Sandarbhas and Caitanya Caritāmṛta of Kṛṣṇa das Kavirāja are included among the anuvyākhyās. Therefore Vedas, Purāṇas, histories, Upaniṣads, Vedānta Sūtras, the commentaries by the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas are all considered authoritative knowledge. These sources of authoritative knowledge are glorified in the Bhāgavatam.
kālena naṣṭa pralaye vānīyaṁ veda saṁjñitā
mayādau brahmaṇe proktā yasyāṁ dharmo mad
ātmākaḥ tena proktā svaputrāya manave
yābhir bhūtani bhidyante bhūtānāṁ patayas tathā
evaṁ prakṛti-vaicitryād bidyante matayo nṛṇām
pārasparyeṇa keṣāṁcit pāṣaṇḍa-matayo'pare
(Śrī Kṛṣṇa speaks to Uddhava)
I first recited the Vedic message to Lord Brahmā, telling him about the ultimate path of pure devotion. That message is eternal. At the time of devastation, it disappears and at the time of creation I explain it clearly to Lord Brahmā. Brahmā spoke this knowledge to his son Manu and others. Thereafter, the devatās, ṛsis, and mankind all received this knowledge. The living entities and their lords are all different, receiving natures according to the three modes, goodness, passion and ignorance. According to these different natures, various philosophies have been produced by various interpretation of the meaning. O Uddhava, those who received the actual statements of the Vedas through guru paramparā anuvyākhyā (explanations) from Brahmā have the real truth. All others philosophies have become the servants of various offensive teachings. (S.B.11.14.3,7,82)
Here it is clearly understood that the Brahmā sampradāya has existed from the time of creation. In this Brahmā sampradāya, the pure message of the Vedas has come down through the guru paramparā and has preserved the real teachings of bhagavat dharma. Thus these teachings are called āmnāya (ā + mnā (to remember)+ ya: that which is learned by passing down) Those who do not accept the brahma sampradāya which is shown to be authoritative by such statements as "Brahmā, the lord of the universe, is the first student of Nārāyaṇa, Lord of Vaikuṇṭha"3 are called preachers of irrelevant philosophy (pasanda mata) by Kṛṣṇa. Though a person accepts the teachings of Lord Caitanya, if he cannot accept this paramparā line, is he not most deceptive? The fortunate people consider this knowledge handed down in paramparā as the best of proofs. This is Lord Caitanya's first teaching.
In the Tattva Sandarbha (9.10), Jīva Gosvāmī says:
athaivaṁ śūcitānāṁ śrī-kṛṣṇa-vācya-vācakatā-lakṣaṇa-
sambandha-tad-bhajana-lakṣana-vidheya- tat-prema-lakṣaṇa-
prayojanākhyānām arthānāṁ nirṇayāya pramāṇam tāvad
vinirṇīyate tatra puruṣasya bhramādi-doṣa-catuṣṭayatvāt
sutarām acintyālaukika-vastu-sparśāyogyatvāc ca tat-
pratyakṣādinyāpi sadoṣāni tatas tāni na pramāṇānīty
anādi-siddha-sarva- puruṣa-paramparāsu sarvalaukikālaukika-
jñana-nidānatvād aprākṛta-vacana-lakṣano veda evāsmākaṁ
sarvātīta- sarvāśraya- sarvācintyaścarya-svabhāvaṁ vastu
vividiṣatām pramāṇam
I have just mentioned sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana. In order to explain the meaning of these terms, I first will define the nature of authoritative proof. Mankind is by nature afflicted with the four defects (bhrama etc.) and therefore cannot understand inconceivable I, non-material matters. Direct sense perception will always be faulty, and therefore sense perception, inference and other normal means of knowledge cannot be considered as authoritative means of knowledge. The only means of knowledge (pramāṇa) for persons desiring knowledge of the ultimate supreme object, the ultimate shelter, the inconceivable, endowed with the most remarkable nature, is the Veda. The Veda is perfect knowledge concerning both material and spiritual topics, handed down through a paramparā of realized persons.
Having established the authority of the Vedic knowledge, Jīva Gosvāmī then shows how the Purāṇas contain the same message as the Vedas, and establishes the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam as the best of all pramāṇas. The same qualities which make Śrīmad Bhāgavatam the best of all knowledge are present in the words of Brahmā, Nārada,Vyāsa, Śukadeva, and in the writings of Madhvācārya and his followers Vijayadvaja, Brahmatīrtha and Vyāsatīrtha.
By all these statements, it is evident that the Brahma sampradāya is the sampradāya of Lord Caitanya and his followers. Ascertaining this, Kavikarṇapūra has written the sequence of the paramparā in his work Gaura Ganodeṣa Dīpika. The Vedānta Sūtra commentator Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa also confirms this paramparā line. Anyone who does not accept this paramparā is without doubt the greatest enemy of the followers of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Concerning authoritative knowledge of the Vedas, the following should be especially noted. The Vedic statements are perfect and self-evident. There is no need for interpreting an indirect meaning. The meaning is understood by hearing the words with their direct meaning. "The son of Śacī is directly the son of Nanda." On hearing these words a person can understand that Lord Caitanya is none other than Kṛṣṇa. The phrase "cowherd on the Gaṅgā" however makes no sense by taking the direct meaning of the words. By indirect interpretation one can understand that the phrase means " A cowherd village on the bank of the Gaṅgā." In Vedic statements one should not resort to interpretation unless necessary.
In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad it is said, "I surrender to the energy through Śyāma. I surrender to Śyāma through His energy." When a sensible meaning can be derived from taking the direct meaning of the words, why should we infer that the words "śyāma" means "the impersonal Brahman in the heart, " as Saṅkarācārya does? Liberated persons worship the forms of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. This is the real meaning of the statement. Because of this, in the Caitanya Caritāmṛta it is stated that by resorting to indirect meanings the value of the Vedas as authority is lost.
There are many varieties of interpretations. Jagadīśa mentions in Śabda Śakti Prakāśika that there are countless types of interpretation, such as jahatsvārtha, ajahatsvārtha, nirūḍha and adhunikā.
jahat svārthājahat svārtha nirūḍhādhunikadikāḥ
lakṣaṇā vividhas tābhir lakṣakaṁ syād anekadhā
However, none of these interpretive means can be used to define the nature of something spiritual. Rather, in doing so, they give rise to misinterpretation. Saṅkarācārya argues that direct meaning of words cannot be used in relation to indescribable phenomena; therefore, the indirect interpretation must be used for find the meaning of Vedic statements. Madhvācārya has objected to this as follows:
nāṅgikṛtābhidhā yasya lakṣaṇā tasya no bhavet
nāsti grāmaḥ kutaḥ sīmā na putro janakaṁ vinā
In examining the power of words, it is seen that where direct meaning is not accepted, interpretation also has no place. Where there exists no village, can one ague about its extent or size? Where there is no father, can one speak of his son? (Tattvamuktāvalī 22)
If the direct meaning is rejected in relation to spiritual matters, then what use is interpretation of the same words, which must depend ultimately upon the direct meaning? Therefore the intelligent man will reject interpretation and accept the direct connotative power of the words of the scriptures in trying to understand the absolute truth.
The following kārikā summarizes the point:
ya ādikavaye tene hṛdā brahma-sanātanaṁ
sa caitanyaḥ kalau sāksād amārjīt taṁ mataṁ śubham
vipralipsā pramādaś ca karaṇāpāṭavaṁ bhramaḥ
manuṣānāṁ vicareṣu syād dhi doṣa catuṣṭayam
tad-adhokṣaja-tattveṣu durnivāryaṁ budhair api
apauruṣeya-vākhyāni pramāṇaṁ tatra kevalaṁ
pratyakṣam anumānaṁ ca tad adhīnatayā kvacit
Lord Caitanya, who bestowed the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmā, has appeared in Kali Yuga in Navadvīpa. . He has revealed the pure essence of the Vedas, freeing the pure Vedic philosophy from the contamination of Kali Yuga. The human being in concluding anything must certainly indulge in the four faults of error, omission, limitation and cheating. In relation to spiritual matters, even the greatest learned men cannot avoid these four defects. Therefore, in spiritual matters, the only authority is the word of Veda, which has no human author. All other proofs, such as sense perception, inference, simile and tradition, when they are in agreement with the Vedic word, can be useful and relevant.