Dvaita Vedanta leans on three time-tested pramanas—pratyaksha (perception), anumana (inference) and shabda (verbal testimony)—as the bedrock of knowing. Perception grabs the world through the senses, yet never tells the whole story. Just as a smartphone camera captures light but misses the nuances of an entire scene, the eyes, ears and touch deliver fragments of truth. That’s where inference jumps in: by piecing together observations—“if smoke appears, fire must be lurking”—it builds a bridge from the seen to the unseen.

Verbal testimony, though, holds pride of place. The Vedas, hailed as apauruṣeya (authorless) and infallible, serve as an unshakable lighthouse. Trustworthy teachers, past and present, carry this torch, passing on insights that can’t be swiped aside. Recent conferences—like the 2025 Vedanta Symposium in Varanasi—have shown a renewed fascination with how Madhvacharya’s emphasis on shabda resonates with today’s information age, where data integrity and trusted sources make or break entire industries.

Dvaita’s take on pramanas steers clear of treating comparison (upamāna) and postulation (arthāpatti) as standalone avenues; they’re viewed more as handy tools within inference or testimony. Memory (smṛti) doesn’t make the cut either, since recollection can be as slippery as a fish out of water. By blending direct experience, logical reasoning and authoritative word, this dualist school ensures that every claim about the Supreme Lord, individual souls and the material realm stands on firm ground.

At a time when debates swirl around “fake news” and AI’s reliance on curated datasets, the Dvaita framework feels remarkably timely. It reminds that knowing isn’t just about data collection— it’s about weaving perception, logic and trusted testimony into a tapestry that honors both divine otherness and human curiosity.