I took the trouble of looking up the meaning given to the Sanskrit word shraddha, which is one of the six subsidiary qualifications required of the aspirant to the knowledge of higher Vedantic philosophy. Here are the results: (1) Monier Williams' massive Sanskrit dictionary laconically defines it as to have "trust"; (2) Govindananda, in his work the Ratna-Prabha, defines it as meaning "a respectful trust in all higher things"; (3) Venkatramiah, in his version of the Aitareyopanishad, says it means "faith in the Vedantic verities as inculcated by the preceptor"; (4) Vasudeva, the ascetic, gives its significance as "the strong faith in the words of one's teacher," in his Meditations; (5) Professor Girindra N. Mallik, M.A., defines it as "faith in the contents of the scriptures." But what is the esoteric and therefore the truest meaning of shraddha? My own interpretation is: "that faith in the existence of truth, that determination to get at truth, come what may, which would make one a hero even in the face of God's wrath."
-- Notebooks Category 20: What Is Philosophy? > Chapter 3 : Its Requirements > # 37
