"Is Ignorance really bliss?" (Part 10) CONCLUDED

[Guest guest]

(continued from Part 9)

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What is Ignorance? Is Ignorance really bliss? What is

the nature of Ignorance? Who are the Ignorant of the

world? How may we recognize an Ignorant Man when we

see him?

 

It was answers to such questions that were sought to

be explored in this series of postings so far. The

works of the ancient Vedantic Masters -- such as the

sampling of quotes of AzhwArs, AdiSankara and Sri

RamanujAchArya alluded to in the course of this essay

-- all helped us to an extent in grasping the theme of

"agnyAna" or "avidya". But above all, it was the 15th

verse of Chapter 7 of the Bhagavath-gita -- one of the

most insightful and illumining passages in the Gita --

that came to our aid in understanding the Vedantic

flavour and underpinnings of a rather abstruse

subject-matter.

 

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It is far less difficult to gain Knowledge than to

dispel Ignorance. The Vedantic "achAryA-s" often

remind us that Knowledge simply floods our mind

once Ignorance departs from it -- just as light comes

in and instantly fills a room even as darkness flees

from it. It would not be wrong to say that, often

"gnyAna" -- particularly the "gnyAna" of Vedantic or

Upanishadic kind (described in Part 2 of this series)

-- is nothing but the absence of "a-gnyAna". Knowledge

is that which we shall find has always been with us,

in our possession after all, but only clouded by our

own un-knowing. All it needed was Ignorance to be

erased from our mind for us to re-discover our

"gnyAna". It is this re-discovery that we see being

voiced by Sri Peria-AzhwAr in those exultant lines he

sang in the Tamil hymn "seniyOngu":

 

iRavu seyyum paavakkaadu* theekkoLee i vEhinRadhaal*

aRivai ennum amudhavaaRu* thalaippaRRi vaayk koNdadhE.

 

(verse 2 of "senniyOngu": Peria-azhwAr tirumozhi)

 

"The forest of sins burned away,

The night of un-knowing has fled,

The flood of Knowledge now comes

And washes me away

Upon Truth's nectarine wave..."

(translation: mine)

 

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Vedantic "gnyAna" is never gained by remaining

ignorant of Ignorance all our lives. We cannot say

"Ignorance is bliss" and hope to sound very wise in

life. If ignorance were truly bliss, imbeciles would

be prime candidates for sainthood! Socrates, the

greatest of Greek philosophers, once said, "All that I

know is that I know nothing". He however did not sit

back and enjoy the rest of his life in glib,

self-professed ignorance. His Ignorance became his

inspiration in life. It became the spring-board from

which he vaulted himself to lofty Wisdom -- the wisdom

for which 'Socrates of Athens' is to this day

celebrated in all the world.

 

As Uddalaka taught his son, ShvEtaketu, in the

Chandogya Upanishad, the search for "gnyAna" in life

should commence sooner rather than later in life, with

first a deep and humble inquiry into the nature of

"agnyAna" -- Ignorance. And there is no better place

in the world to begin that search than in the pages of

the Bhagavath-gita. All of us should therefore be

urged -- whatever be the present degree of our

ignorance -- to tarry no further! We should take up

the Gita and embark upon its study seriously... It is

this scripture that shall at once remove our Ignorance

and fill us with Light.

 

Those who are well acquainted with the works of Swami

Venkatanathan (Vedanta Desika, one of the greatest

Vedanta "achAryA-s" after Sri Ramanuja) will recollect

what he said of the 'Gita' in famous lines in the

many-splendoured "daya-satakam", the immortal

one-hundred-stanza Sanskrit poem composed in praise of

the Deity at Holy Tiruvenkatam:

 

"nirA-krita-vatee dayE! nigama-sowdha-deepa-sriyA

vipaschidavi-geetayA jagati geetayA andham tamaha"

(daya-satakam:89)

 

"Hold 'Gita' steady in your hand, the Vedic lamp --

To lead you safely out the world's dark'nd halls

Where shadows of un-knowing lurk and dance,

And blind ruler Ignorance calls."

 

**********

 

In a few days from now, on the auspicious asterism of

"puratAsi-sravanam", the holy day of "Vijaya-dasami"

shall dawn on us. Vijaya-dasami is the day

when all of us resolve to undertake a fresh course of

study or we embark upon a fresh educational

initiative. It is the occasion to pray to the goddess

Saraswati to dispel our Ignorance and grant us "vidya"

-- knowledge.

 

What better occasion than Vijaya-dasami to commence

the study of the Gita and dispel the darkness of

"agnyAna" in our souls?

 

The "tirunakshatram" of the Lord of Tiruvenkatam as

well as that of Swami Venkatanathan also happily fall

on the same day! All devotees and 'AsritA-s' of the

Vedic religion and the Vedantic world will rejoice on

that day! This little essay of mine -- this series of

postings on Ignorance -- could not therefore have been

written on a better occasion, and ended too on a note

better than on the eve of the most sacred "sravaNam"

of the year!

 

***********

 

(CONCLUDED)

 

Regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

2 October'03

Kuwait

 

 

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