English Translation of my 2 Hindi posts
अर्धनारीश्वर and विकल्प
--
I’m looking for learning something from you.
What is the very first step towards understanding the sanātana-dharma ?
I read your blog.
It seems you don’t think study of Veda by women is advisable.
But now, I have no other option.
--
What is the very first step towards understanding the sanātana-dharma ?
I would like to draw your attention that the purpose of attaching the word ‘dharma’ with sanātana in sanātana-dharma is to make it clear that ‘dharma’ is what is sanātana, that exists for ever, without an end. ‘Time’ has been accepted in 4 forms. Eternal, transitory, recurring, and immutable, -unmoving. The one who accepts this ‘Time’ is the right and the eligible recipient who takes the ‘Time’ in these 4 ways. The recipient is the one who deserves for and can hold ‘Time’ in this way in his understanding. How far and how much, one can grasp, depends upon the eligibility and the capacity, the merits and demerits of the recipient. Accordingly, how he can apply this in the right way and transmit the same to others.
Here, the ‘recipient’ means the man.
The man is again a complex and consequential of two elementary fundamental principles :
the male and the female principles.
Again the according to the साङ्ख्य दर्शन / sāṅkhya darshana, the male principle is पुरुष / puruṣa and the female is प्रकृति / prakṛti .
Though Veda treats them as the Divine ‘Mother-principle’/ मातृ-शक्ति / देवी / devī / mātṛ-śakti and the Divine ‘Father-principle’ शिव-तत्व / śiva-tatva respectively.
As a conscious being, identification with प्रकृति / prakṛti means : to lose the ego.
As a conscious being, identification with पुरुष / puruṣa means : to have ego,
And transcending the same (ego) by the proper understanding of this ‘ego’.
In both these ways, the conscious being attains the right understanding of the ‘Self’ – the आत्मन् / ātman
Which is another name for ब्रह्मन् / brahman only.
One there-by realizes one’s identity as आत्मन् / ātman / and ब्रह्मन् / brahman .
The physical body is प्रकृति / prakṛti, -the nature-external, while the ‘mind’ / अन्तःकरण / antaḥkaraṇa
/ inner organ / consciousness is the nature-internal .
In the process of being eligible (पात्र / pātra, अधिकारी / adhikārī ), there are four streams according to the age, and the four distinct classes of society, to be followed by a human being.
Thus ब्रह्मचर्य / brahmacarya, गृहस्थ / gṛhastha, वानप्रस्थ / vānaprastha, संन्यास / saṃnyāsa आश्रम / āśrama / are the four stages in life according to one’s age, while ब्राह्मण / brāhmaṇa , क्षत्रिय / kṣatriya, वैश्य / vaiśya, शूद्र / śūdra are the four social classes or, वर्ण / varṇa. This classification of वर्ण / varṇa, is not ‘caste’ as we are often told. Caste is the professional occupation of the family.
So every-one has to undergo these stages of age by nature itself and no one can escape this. Just as a child one has to learn the skills and get educated about life and manners, ethics and all that, when grown up as an adult one has to run the life of a house-hold and raise the family and clan, when old enough to retire to renounce the family and the worldly pursuits and retire and go to forest for preparation of attaining the higher, spiritual truths, other than worldly and finally to attain the eternal state of the the ब्रह्मन् / brahman.
This is the general outline.
Again the external signs (gender) of a person also determines what tendencies are natural to him / her that will help him / her most to gain the best in life and even after one is dead. As female is ‘nature’ / being प्रकृति / prakṛti which is kind of passive energy, which always gives only, so ‘service’ of the family and the needy is the only virtue that makes her attain the (Highest) State of Self and she has no other obligations any. Thus devotion भक्ति / bhakti alone is enough and sufficient way of her emancipation.
But in case of a male, the ego and aggressiveness inherent in him make him entrepreneur, dominating and industrious, that is active. That is natural for him.
In this way, study and performing of the rituals and sacrifices (अनुष्ठान / anuṣṭhāna यज्ञ / yajña) is natural and obligatory for a person with a पुरुष / puruṣa -male body. This is quite against the nature of a female-person, and at the same time detrimental to her natural rhythm as well.
For a female, that is a woman the simple way is service and following the duties as are enjoined upon her by scriptures. The highest form of such a dharma / virtue is to practice पातिव्रत-धर्म / pātivrata-dharma, which means following the husband and accompanying him in all walks of life, in all his pains, troubles, joys and pleasures. Veda declares this the highest virtue and such a woman is treated as Mother Divine, a Goddess in human form and body. She has power to change the course of destiny as is evident from the examples of सावित्री / sāvitrī, सीता / sītā, अनसूया / anasūyā, and other such noble women of yore.
In comparision, man (male) is but a labourer, kind of a servant who has to go through austerities that are quite hard and arduous. Woman even if fallen is free of sin while man (male) is quite prone to be stained by sin and has to suffer the results and consequences.
Study of scriptures is thus only for males and that too for a ब्राह्मण / brāhmaṇa only.
Because he has to perform the rituals that means propitiating divine entities (देवता / devatā ) which are the core-principle of all Vedika procedures.
This is verily the आधिदैविक / ādhidaivika sphere of subtle elements of nature who govern the whole life at a subtle level and as they could be contacted through मंत्र / maṃtra and यज्ञ / yajña only, this is rather a strict condition that could not be ignored.
Therefore study of Veda is the prerogative of a male and a ब्राह्मण / brāhmaṇa only.
Then such a ब्राह्मण / brāhmaṇa only needs to follow the injunctions as are dictated by Veda with perfect compliance to them.
Veda is not a book or merely a text, but the compilation of मंत्र / maṃtra and the procedures that are not, could not and should not be translated into any other language. That is the beauty of Veda. Veda is the Code of Creation, discovered and rediscovered from time to time by the ऋषि / ṛṣi, by the sages, so every single letter, phoneme, syllable of Veda is well-defined देवता / devatā ) while a मंत्र / maṃtra is again such a देवता / devatā.
That is how the Veda is the Wisdom and Intelligence independent of ‘Time’ (in terms of our concept of ‘Time’) . Study of Veda is therefore the duty and right of a ब्राह्मण / brāhmaṇa only.
Without initiation from a capable आचार्य / ācārya and the proper sacrifices (यज्ञ / yajña) and मंत्र / maṃtra, such a man is not a द्विज / dvija and all his ‘knowledge’ of Veda is just vain, useless and invalid. If the वर्ण / varṇa (the social-class) and the संस्कार / saṃskāra of a man favour, even a अब्राह्मण abrāhmaṇa could be initiated in the system of Vedika Learning as is evident from the case of
सत्यकाम जाबाल satyakāma-jābāla.
This implies and is a proof that ‘caste’ is not same as the social-class वर्ण / varṇa .
Veda never imposes anything upon any-one, but only warns about the results, -auspicious or inauspicious one reaps by one’s actions (karma) here and afterwards. In this life and in the next lives. Veda never forces
that one should accept Veda nor threatens about the harmful consequences that befall upon one by not following Veda.
As Veda is not a ‘book’ but a compendium of मंत्र / maṃtra, rituals and procedures, so as to facilitate the performance of those strictly according to the rules, these have been preserved in the written form also. And it is evident that these Vedika texts could never be translated in any language whatsoever. The genre छन्दस् / chandas also indicates that Veda is poetry in metre-form. So also just as in the case of poetry, it is almost impossible to translate the core of these texts so as to convey correctly the essence. Of course one could find out ‘stories’ in Veda but that is just speculative and takes nowhere. Again the छन्दस् / chandas and the मंत्र / maṃtra also are the instruments only and just like a computer-programe they have no inherent meaning any but are of use only. Veda are closely related with the Divine Powers आधिदैविक / ādhidaivika देवता / devatā element which the scholars have deliberately or through error treated as inert natural powers.
But there is also an alternative for those who are pure at heart and humble enough to see their limits and understand that The Supreme Power that is the foremost cause of this whole existence could be reached through devotion as well. And they can adhere to and follow the way of पुराण / purāṇa / which emphasize that according to one’s inclination that power could be invoked in the form of whatever देवता / devatā one worships according to his / her interest / inclination.
This stream of भक्ति / bhakti or ’Devotion’ is also equally effective in attainment of the Supreme.
This भक्ति / bhakti or ’Devotion’ or the निष्ठा / niṣṭhā / the natural conviction arises in the heart of one who is earnest in seeking the ‘Savior’, Who can save one from the sorrow of repeated incarnations in the world.
This Savior is not a ‘Messenger’ but Truly the Supreme God-head Himself who assumes the form of a living-being and not only a human-one but also some other like Fish, Tortoise, …etc.
The पुराण / purāṇa narrate in much detail about them and that is not just a wishful imagination, because all relate and refer to one-another in such a closely compact manner that no human-intellect can think.
This भक्ति / bhakti or ’Devotion’ leads one to तप / tapa that is spontaneous for the aspirant and absolves him from all sin. Woman and those who don’t fall under the category of वर्ण / varṇa (the social-class) are the best suitable for this path.
Gita Chapter 30, verse 30, 31, 32, 33 shed light upon this aspect of भक्ति / bhakti or ’Devotion’.
--
I don’t know much about this terminology of this पुरुष / puruṣa and प्रकृति / prakṛti tendencies, but an urge for knowing the Self has come up from the deep, Longing to come under the proverbial बोधि-वृक्ष / bodhi-vṛkṣa / and attain the Enlightenment that makes one a Buddha.
Looks like my fate is to become first a ‘कालिदास / kālidāsa’ (-an utter stupid) and then the विद्योत्तमा / vidyottamā (-a learned woman).
What is the meaning of ‘अर्धनारीश्वर / ardhanārīśvara’ ?
What is the purport of ‘अथातो ब्रह्मजिज्ञासा / athāto brahmajijñāsā’ ?
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‘अथातो ब्रह्मजिज्ञासा / athāto brahmajijñāsā’ ?
is the first aphorism of the famous Vedika-Text ब्रह्म-सूत्र / brahma-sūtra यह ब्रह्म-सूत्र (ग्रंथ) का प्रथम सूत्र है । which is taken at par with गीता / gītā and उपनिषद् / upaniṣad. Together they form the traditional प्रस्थान-त्रयी / prasthāna-trayī.
When one realizes that all the knowledge earned by him is mediate, indirect (acquired through a medium that is senses, mind, intellect, experience and memory), and so partial, limited, incomplete, absurd and useless then there is a question in his mind :
“Is there such a knowledge which is not mediate, but direct, immediate, so partial, limited, incomplete, absurd and useless?”
The knowledge gained by means of senses is indirect / mediate.
All experience is kind of knowledge acquired through senses.
Experience itself is perception through senses.
That is limited and partial according to the capacity of senses.
Whatever is seen through eyes, whatever is heard through the ears, are of mutually different kinds.
And you can’t translate one kind of experience into another kind of experience. You can not translate such experience / knowledge into another kind of experience / knowledge. Even if you invent some language for this purpose that could facilitate such translation, that will be a programe of the kind as is used in computer. And you know the coding and decoding only. The experience of seeing can’t be translated into the experience of hearing. And if you could somehow do this miracle happen, there will be thousands of such translations and which one is the only correct will always be doubted.And you can’t provide proof for the same.
The intellect does the same; -translates the experience in such a way. We say a song was pleasant and a sight was pleasant.
And because intellect depends upon and is supported by logic, there are innumerable intellects.
This knowledge therefore by means of ‘intellect’ could not be reliable.
Then we conjure up premises and formulate them. We create theory / verbal forms whicha are taken as ‘True’. And that theory is accepted as evidence’.
The intellect is again the indirect / mediate knowledge.
The ‘one’ who gains such knowledge is always the same irrespective of the conditions.
And the ‘one’ who knows this ‘one’ is again oneself.
So knowing of oneself is intuitive and though not verbal (and could not be made verbal), it is immediate and impartial, complete and undivided in terms of the knowledge, the known and the ‘one’ who knows.
This may look a little awkward and rather difficult, but once you go through this contemplation you at once discover how true it is.
In this knowledge, there is no division of ‘knower’-‘known’-‘knowledge’. and the शायद यह आपको कठिन या निरर्थक श्रम लग रहा हो किंतु इस श्रम से गुज़रने पर ही उस ’ज्ञान’ से परिचय होता है जो ’अपरोक्ष’ (इम्मीडिएट) ज्ञान है । जहाँ ज्ञाता-ज्ञान और ज्ञेय में विभाजन नहीं है । The same Trth is what is known, the one who knows and the knowledge of oneself.
Let us hava another glance at it.
अब इसे दूसरे ढंग से देखें ।
Whatever is ‘known’ is information. And what is thought of hitherto unknown is grasped as information becomes known. This way we just move in a circle from known to known only, yet we hope we can (possibly in some distant future) know all knowldge some day. And we hope we shall have the ‘complete’ knowledge.
‘Enlightenment’, ‘Supreme knowledge’ ’पर-ज्ञान’ / ’परम-ज्ञान’ बोधि-वृक्ष / bodhi-vṛkṣa are no doubt wonderful words, and we get enchanted by these words but are vacant, meaningless to us as long we have not realized that thought and such mediate knowledge is essentially limited, absurd, fragmentary and misleading too. And we keep wandering in dark.
In comparision and contrast, when we test the element of permanency in each and everything that we come across, and on this criteria intutively see / realize that there is nothing permanent. The objects, the experience, the knowledge, the memory, the intellect, and then there may be a deep urge in us to find out : “What is there that is imperishable, never changing, immutable, and abiding.” And then we can feel avertion towards all sensory pleasures, experiences, the objects of enjoyment. This kind of maturity is called ‘dispassion’ which is different from like or hatred. Then we are told :
“There is such a Truth, a principle which is the Ultimate Supreme Reality the ‘ब्रह्मन् / Brahman’.
Without this urge one can go through scriptures and though studied in great detail, can’t come to it.
--
Unfortunately ‘Spirituality’ has been turned into a lucrative business and the simple, natural truth and Reality is for sale.
--
’अर्धनारीश्वर’ could be explained and interpreted on the basis of genetics but that would be only a distortion to and deviation from what Veda and पुराण / purāṇa would tell us about ardhanārīśvara .
--
अर्धनारीश्वर and विकल्प
--
I’m looking for learning something from you.
What is the very first step towards understanding the sanātana-dharma ?
I read your blog.
It seems you don’t think study of Veda by women is advisable.
But now, I have no other option.
--
What is the very first step towards understanding the sanātana-dharma ?
I would like to draw your attention that the purpose of attaching the word ‘dharma’ with sanātana in sanātana-dharma is to make it clear that ‘dharma’ is what is sanātana, that exists for ever, without an end. ‘Time’ has been accepted in 4 forms. Eternal, transitory, recurring, and immutable, -unmoving. The one who accepts this ‘Time’ is the right and the eligible recipient who takes the ‘Time’ in these 4 ways. The recipient is the one who deserves for and can hold ‘Time’ in this way in his understanding. How far and how much, one can grasp, depends upon the eligibility and the capacity, the merits and demerits of the recipient. Accordingly, how he can apply this in the right way and transmit the same to others.
Here, the ‘recipient’ means the man.
The man is again a complex and consequential of two elementary fundamental principles :
the male and the female principles.
Again the according to the साङ्ख्य दर्शन / sāṅkhya darshana, the male principle is पुरुष / puruṣa and the female is प्रकृति / prakṛti .
Though Veda treats them as the Divine ‘Mother-principle’/ मातृ-शक्ति / देवी / devī / mātṛ-śakti and the Divine ‘Father-principle’ शिव-तत्व / śiva-tatva respectively.
As a conscious being, identification with प्रकृति / prakṛti means : to lose the ego.
As a conscious being, identification with पुरुष / puruṣa means : to have ego,
And transcending the same (ego) by the proper understanding of this ‘ego’.
In both these ways, the conscious being attains the right understanding of the ‘Self’ – the आत्मन् / ātman
Which is another name for ब्रह्मन् / brahman only.
One there-by realizes one’s identity as आत्मन् / ātman / and ब्रह्मन् / brahman .
The physical body is प्रकृति / prakṛti, -the nature-external, while the ‘mind’ / अन्तःकरण / antaḥkaraṇa
/ inner organ / consciousness is the nature-internal .
In the process of being eligible (पात्र / pātra, अधिकारी / adhikārī ), there are four streams according to the age, and the four distinct classes of society, to be followed by a human being.
Thus ब्रह्मचर्य / brahmacarya, गृहस्थ / gṛhastha, वानप्रस्थ / vānaprastha, संन्यास / saṃnyāsa आश्रम / āśrama / are the four stages in life according to one’s age, while ब्राह्मण / brāhmaṇa , क्षत्रिय / kṣatriya, वैश्य / vaiśya, शूद्र / śūdra are the four social classes or, वर्ण / varṇa. This classification of वर्ण / varṇa, is not ‘caste’ as we are often told. Caste is the professional occupation of the family.
So every-one has to undergo these stages of age by nature itself and no one can escape this. Just as a child one has to learn the skills and get educated about life and manners, ethics and all that, when grown up as an adult one has to run the life of a house-hold and raise the family and clan, when old enough to retire to renounce the family and the worldly pursuits and retire and go to forest for preparation of attaining the higher, spiritual truths, other than worldly and finally to attain the eternal state of the the ब्रह्मन् / brahman.
This is the general outline.
Again the external signs (gender) of a person also determines what tendencies are natural to him / her that will help him / her most to gain the best in life and even after one is dead. As female is ‘nature’ / being प्रकृति / prakṛti which is kind of passive energy, which always gives only, so ‘service’ of the family and the needy is the only virtue that makes her attain the (Highest) State of Self and she has no other obligations any. Thus devotion भक्ति / bhakti alone is enough and sufficient way of her emancipation.
But in case of a male, the ego and aggressiveness inherent in him make him entrepreneur, dominating and industrious, that is active. That is natural for him.
In this way, study and performing of the rituals and sacrifices (अनुष्ठान / anuṣṭhāna यज्ञ / yajña) is natural and obligatory for a person with a पुरुष / puruṣa -male body. This is quite against the nature of a female-person, and at the same time detrimental to her natural rhythm as well.
For a female, that is a woman the simple way is service and following the duties as are enjoined upon her by scriptures. The highest form of such a dharma / virtue is to practice पातिव्रत-धर्म / pātivrata-dharma, which means following the husband and accompanying him in all walks of life, in all his pains, troubles, joys and pleasures. Veda declares this the highest virtue and such a woman is treated as Mother Divine, a Goddess in human form and body. She has power to change the course of destiny as is evident from the examples of सावित्री / sāvitrī, सीता / sītā, अनसूया / anasūyā, and other such noble women of yore.
In comparision, man (male) is but a labourer, kind of a servant who has to go through austerities that are quite hard and arduous. Woman even if fallen is free of sin while man (male) is quite prone to be stained by sin and has to suffer the results and consequences.
Study of scriptures is thus only for males and that too for a ब्राह्मण / brāhmaṇa only.
Because he has to perform the rituals that means propitiating divine entities (देवता / devatā ) which are the core-principle of all Vedika procedures.
This is verily the आधिदैविक / ādhidaivika sphere of subtle elements of nature who govern the whole life at a subtle level and as they could be contacted through मंत्र / maṃtra and यज्ञ / yajña only, this is rather a strict condition that could not be ignored.
Therefore study of Veda is the prerogative of a male and a ब्राह्मण / brāhmaṇa only.
Then such a ब्राह्मण / brāhmaṇa only needs to follow the injunctions as are dictated by Veda with perfect compliance to them.
Veda is not a book or merely a text, but the compilation of मंत्र / maṃtra and the procedures that are not, could not and should not be translated into any other language. That is the beauty of Veda. Veda is the Code of Creation, discovered and rediscovered from time to time by the ऋषि / ṛṣi, by the sages, so every single letter, phoneme, syllable of Veda is well-defined देवता / devatā ) while a मंत्र / maṃtra is again such a देवता / devatā.
That is how the Veda is the Wisdom and Intelligence independent of ‘Time’ (in terms of our concept of ‘Time’) . Study of Veda is therefore the duty and right of a ब्राह्मण / brāhmaṇa only.
Without initiation from a capable आचार्य / ācārya and the proper sacrifices (यज्ञ / yajña) and मंत्र / maṃtra, such a man is not a द्विज / dvija and all his ‘knowledge’ of Veda is just vain, useless and invalid. If the वर्ण / varṇa (the social-class) and the संस्कार / saṃskāra of a man favour, even a अब्राह्मण abrāhmaṇa could be initiated in the system of Vedika Learning as is evident from the case of
सत्यकाम जाबाल satyakāma-jābāla.
This implies and is a proof that ‘caste’ is not same as the social-class वर्ण / varṇa .
Veda never imposes anything upon any-one, but only warns about the results, -auspicious or inauspicious one reaps by one’s actions (karma) here and afterwards. In this life and in the next lives. Veda never forces
that one should accept Veda nor threatens about the harmful consequences that befall upon one by not following Veda.
As Veda is not a ‘book’ but a compendium of मंत्र / maṃtra, rituals and procedures, so as to facilitate the performance of those strictly according to the rules, these have been preserved in the written form also. And it is evident that these Vedika texts could never be translated in any language whatsoever. The genre छन्दस् / chandas also indicates that Veda is poetry in metre-form. So also just as in the case of poetry, it is almost impossible to translate the core of these texts so as to convey correctly the essence. Of course one could find out ‘stories’ in Veda but that is just speculative and takes nowhere. Again the छन्दस् / chandas and the मंत्र / maṃtra also are the instruments only and just like a computer-programe they have no inherent meaning any but are of use only. Veda are closely related with the Divine Powers आधिदैविक / ādhidaivika देवता / devatā element which the scholars have deliberately or through error treated as inert natural powers.
But there is also an alternative for those who are pure at heart and humble enough to see their limits and understand that The Supreme Power that is the foremost cause of this whole existence could be reached through devotion as well. And they can adhere to and follow the way of पुराण / purāṇa / which emphasize that according to one’s inclination that power could be invoked in the form of whatever देवता / devatā one worships according to his / her interest / inclination.
This stream of भक्ति / bhakti or ’Devotion’ is also equally effective in attainment of the Supreme.
This भक्ति / bhakti or ’Devotion’ or the निष्ठा / niṣṭhā / the natural conviction arises in the heart of one who is earnest in seeking the ‘Savior’, Who can save one from the sorrow of repeated incarnations in the world.
This Savior is not a ‘Messenger’ but Truly the Supreme God-head Himself who assumes the form of a living-being and not only a human-one but also some other like Fish, Tortoise, …etc.
The पुराण / purāṇa narrate in much detail about them and that is not just a wishful imagination, because all relate and refer to one-another in such a closely compact manner that no human-intellect can think.
This भक्ति / bhakti or ’Devotion’ leads one to तप / tapa that is spontaneous for the aspirant and absolves him from all sin. Woman and those who don’t fall under the category of वर्ण / varṇa (the social-class) are the best suitable for this path.
Gita Chapter 30, verse 30, 31, 32, 33 shed light upon this aspect of भक्ति / bhakti or ’Devotion’.
--
I don’t know much about this terminology of this पुरुष / puruṣa and प्रकृति / prakṛti tendencies, but an urge for knowing the Self has come up from the deep, Longing to come under the proverbial बोधि-वृक्ष / bodhi-vṛkṣa / and attain the Enlightenment that makes one a Buddha.
Looks like my fate is to become first a ‘कालिदास / kālidāsa’ (-an utter stupid) and then the विद्योत्तमा / vidyottamā (-a learned woman).
What is the meaning of ‘अर्धनारीश्वर / ardhanārīśvara’ ?
What is the purport of ‘अथातो ब्रह्मजिज्ञासा / athāto brahmajijñāsā’ ?
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‘अथातो ब्रह्मजिज्ञासा / athāto brahmajijñāsā’ ?
is the first aphorism of the famous Vedika-Text ब्रह्म-सूत्र / brahma-sūtra यह ब्रह्म-सूत्र (ग्रंथ) का प्रथम सूत्र है । which is taken at par with गीता / gītā and उपनिषद् / upaniṣad. Together they form the traditional प्रस्थान-त्रयी / prasthāna-trayī.
When one realizes that all the knowledge earned by him is mediate, indirect (acquired through a medium that is senses, mind, intellect, experience and memory), and so partial, limited, incomplete, absurd and useless then there is a question in his mind :
“Is there such a knowledge which is not mediate, but direct, immediate, so partial, limited, incomplete, absurd and useless?”
The knowledge gained by means of senses is indirect / mediate.
All experience is kind of knowledge acquired through senses.
Experience itself is perception through senses.
That is limited and partial according to the capacity of senses.
Whatever is seen through eyes, whatever is heard through the ears, are of mutually different kinds.
And you can’t translate one kind of experience into another kind of experience. You can not translate such experience / knowledge into another kind of experience / knowledge. Even if you invent some language for this purpose that could facilitate such translation, that will be a programe of the kind as is used in computer. And you know the coding and decoding only. The experience of seeing can’t be translated into the experience of hearing. And if you could somehow do this miracle happen, there will be thousands of such translations and which one is the only correct will always be doubted.And you can’t provide proof for the same.
The intellect does the same; -translates the experience in such a way. We say a song was pleasant and a sight was pleasant.
And because intellect depends upon and is supported by logic, there are innumerable intellects.
This knowledge therefore by means of ‘intellect’ could not be reliable.
Then we conjure up premises and formulate them. We create theory / verbal forms whicha are taken as ‘True’. And that theory is accepted as evidence’.
The intellect is again the indirect / mediate knowledge.
The ‘one’ who gains such knowledge is always the same irrespective of the conditions.
And the ‘one’ who knows this ‘one’ is again oneself.
So knowing of oneself is intuitive and though not verbal (and could not be made verbal), it is immediate and impartial, complete and undivided in terms of the knowledge, the known and the ‘one’ who knows.
This may look a little awkward and rather difficult, but once you go through this contemplation you at once discover how true it is.
In this knowledge, there is no division of ‘knower’-‘known’-‘knowledge’. and the शायद यह आपको कठिन या निरर्थक श्रम लग रहा हो किंतु इस श्रम से गुज़रने पर ही उस ’ज्ञान’ से परिचय होता है जो ’अपरोक्ष’ (इम्मीडिएट) ज्ञान है । जहाँ ज्ञाता-ज्ञान और ज्ञेय में विभाजन नहीं है । The same Trth is what is known, the one who knows and the knowledge of oneself.
Let us hava another glance at it.
अब इसे दूसरे ढंग से देखें ।
Whatever is ‘known’ is information. And what is thought of hitherto unknown is grasped as information becomes known. This way we just move in a circle from known to known only, yet we hope we can (possibly in some distant future) know all knowldge some day. And we hope we shall have the ‘complete’ knowledge.
‘Enlightenment’, ‘Supreme knowledge’ ’पर-ज्ञान’ / ’परम-ज्ञान’ बोधि-वृक्ष / bodhi-vṛkṣa are no doubt wonderful words, and we get enchanted by these words but are vacant, meaningless to us as long we have not realized that thought and such mediate knowledge is essentially limited, absurd, fragmentary and misleading too. And we keep wandering in dark.
In comparision and contrast, when we test the element of permanency in each and everything that we come across, and on this criteria intutively see / realize that there is nothing permanent. The objects, the experience, the knowledge, the memory, the intellect, and then there may be a deep urge in us to find out : “What is there that is imperishable, never changing, immutable, and abiding.” And then we can feel avertion towards all sensory pleasures, experiences, the objects of enjoyment. This kind of maturity is called ‘dispassion’ which is different from like or hatred. Then we are told :
“There is such a Truth, a principle which is the Ultimate Supreme Reality the ‘ब्रह्मन् / Brahman’.
Without this urge one can go through scriptures and though studied in great detail, can’t come to it.
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Unfortunately ‘Spirituality’ has been turned into a lucrative business and the simple, natural truth and Reality is for sale.
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’अर्धनारीश्वर’ could be explained and interpreted on the basis of genetics but that would be only a distortion to and deviation from what Veda and पुराण / purāṇa would tell us about ardhanārīśvara .
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