You are here: SriPedia - SriRangaSri - Archives - Oct 2003

SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00027 Oct 2003

 
Oct 2003 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


 (continued from Part 9)
-------------------------------------------------------


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. 

*************

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)

************

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 


________________________________________________________________________
Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner online.
Go to http://yahoo.shaadi.com




[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list