"Is Ignorance really bliss?" (Part 2): An Essay on VII.15 of Bhagavath-Gita

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(Continued from Part 1)

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One of the fundamental problems of life to bedevil

Man, according to Vedanta, is Ignorance. In Sanskrit

Ignorance goes by several names -- 'agnyAna' and

'avidya' are the most commonly heard ones and they are

opposites of "gnyAna" and "vidya" both denoting

"Knowledge".

 

'Ignorance' is such a daunting philosophical problem

even defining it presents difficulties. Vedanta cannot

describe it adequately in any terms other than as the

'opposite-of-knowledge'. The only effective way to

define Ignorance is to say it is "lack of knowledge",

"absence of knowledge" or the "anti-thesis of

knowledge". There is really no stand-alone word in the

Sanskrit language for 'Ignorance' -- it is always

either "a-gnyAna" or "a-vidya".

 

Now, whatever be the school of Vedanta -- Advaita,

Dvaita or VisishtAdvaita -- to which we may owe

allegiance, we should know there is no escape in life

from the problem of Ignorance. Before the light of

'gnyAna' can shine upon him, first the darkness of

'avidya' has to be dispelled in the Ignorant man. So,

who is this Ignorant Man as conceived in Vedanta?

 

In the ordinary sense, Ignorance is defined as "lack

of knowledge". The dictionary meaning is a little more

specific: Ignorance is "lack of knowledge of truth".

 

In Vedanta the meaning becomes even more specific:

"knowledge of truth" ordinarily relates to 'truth of

fact' but Vedantic knowledge refers to "knowledge of

causes"... and, more particularly, to knowledge of

ultimate cause ("para-tattva") enshrined in Godhead.

Such Vedantic knowledge of 'ultimate cause' is really

not so much to be learnt as it is to be realized in

life... which is why it is differentiated as "wisdom"

-- the nearest English equivalent for "gnyAna" or

"vidya".

 

The Ignorant Man is hence, according to Vedanta, the

man of 'un-realized wisdom'. He is unaware, therefore

unmindful of Ultimate Cause.

 

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Next question: What is the nature of this "gnyAna",

the Wisdom of Vedanta?

 

The Chandogya Upanishad tells an endearingly simple

tale (translated by E.Easwaran "The Upanishads")

explaining the nature of this special knowledge that

Vedanta calls 'Wisdom'. It is the story of a bright

young man, Shvetaketu, returning home to his father,

Uddalaka, after 12 years of Vedic study. He was puffed

with every kind of lofty and varied knowledge:

 

"You seem to be proud of all this learning,"

Said Uddalaka, "But did you ask

Your teacher for that spiritual wisdom

Which enables you to hear from the unheard,

Think the unthought, and know the unknown?"

(Chandogya:6-1-2/3)

 

Faced with the startling query, the young and

conceited Shvetaketu was utterly dumbfounded.

 

"What is that wisdom, father?" asked the son.

 

Uddalaka said to Shvetaketu:

As by knowing one lump of clay, dear one,

We come to know all things made out of clay:

That they differ only in name and form,

While the stuff of which all are made is only

clay...

 

So through that spiritual wisdom, dear one,

We come to know that all life is one..."

(6-1-6)

 

When he heard his father say this, Shvetaketu, the

sensitive and noble soul that he was, in a sudden

flash realized that with all his Vedic learning, and

after 12 full years spent in acquiring various

knowledge, he was actually still very Ignorant... He

was an "a-gnyAni" ...in other words, education had

merely stuffed knowledge into him; no real wisdom

however had been drawn out of him.

 

"My teachers must not have known this wisdom,"

Said Shvetaketu, "for if they had known,

How could they have failed to teach it to me?

Father, please instruct me in this wisdom".

 

"Yes, dear one, I will" replied his father"

(6-1-7)

 

And thus, the ChandOgya Upanishad goes on to recount

to us, how Shvetaketu's real education began and

Uddalaka's teachings enabled his Ignorant son to

realize Wisdom.

 

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(to be continued)

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

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