Advaita, while emphasizing direct realization, does not reject reason or proper inquiry. It accepts six pramanas (valid means of knowledge): Pratyaksha (direct perception through senses)—most people trust this most, though Advaita notes its limitations. Anumana (inference)—logical reasoning from observed to unobserved, like inferring fire from smoke. Upamana (comparison/analogy)—knowing something through similarity to known thing. Arthapatti (presumption)—assuming something to resolve contradiction, like presuming someone eats at night if they're fat but never seen eating daytime. Anupalabdhi (non-apprehension)—knowing absence through non-perception, like knowing no pot exists by not seeing one. Shabda (verbal testimony)—knowledge from reliable authority, particularly Vedic revelation (shruti). For worldly knowledge, perception and inference suffice. But for Brahman—which is not an object of perception, beyond sensory and mental grasp—only shabda pramana (revealed scripture as interpreted by guru) can point the way. Yet even scripture ultimately negates itself through statements like "where one sees nothing else, hears nothing else, knows nothing else—that is the Infinite." The highest knowledge transcends even the words that pointed toward it.