J.N. Mohanty has written extensively on various aspects of śabda pramāna in different systems of Indian philosophy. I shall attempt here an examination of some aspects of Mohanty's interpretation of the concept of śabda pramāna. I shall concentrate on his more recent writings, especially "A Critique of the Theory of Śabdapramāna and the Concept of Tradition", which was Mohanty's contribution to a seminar in Oxford in 1987, and refer to the three lectures which he delivered in the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture at Golpark in Calcutta during July and August 1988. As none of the material has yet been published, I shall quote extensively from the first paper.